but I mainly received a lot of encouragement to formula feed, if anything I was being guilted as I wanted to breastfeed.
This is what I had to deal with when DD1 was born. Was told that she was too little to BF fully and *needed* formula top ups that i had to sign off on; there was no room for informed consent and I was bullied into that move. it was heartbreaking to watch her get the formula from a cup, from a stranger while i watched (against their wishes) while i had milk pouring down my shirt. A mistake i will not allow myself to make again.

My thinking is that the whole baby industry (not babies or families, but industry) is geared towards us, as mothers, fathers and families to feel guilt, shame, inadequacy. I have no idea why this is? What is wrong with our society that this has become the norm?

I have a perfect example of this: was at a cafe with a bestie and our two young babies. I was BF and had some dude and his wife give me the filthy look that implied that i should desist from that heinous activity (), to the point that they asked to be moved lol! and then about 20 minutes later had a random old lady come up and pat me on the shoulder as she walked past and tell me "it is so refreshing to see a mother BF her baby, so many girls just give up too easily" (). little did she know that my bestie beside me had been through hell and back to try to BF her 6 week old baby and had just made the switch to formula (and in her case it made a huge difference to both her and her baby's happiness and relationship). In both cases I felt nothing more than mortification and it really got me thinking about what a messed up place we live in that instead of showing gentle encouraging and informed support, we are so quick to judge and harass.

I do agree with Robin Barker that we do need to keep the manufacturers of formula honest. that is a concept that i doubt, anyone would reject. It sucks bum that the Big Companies in the industry have taken leave to make claims that fall outside of fair trading and have had a history of changing the base of the products that have negatively impacted on babies. One thing that cannot be denied is that if formula is what is feeding a baby, then we need to make enough noise to keep ensuring that the product is the best and safest it can be. I love consumer advocacy and on this topic it needs to be of paramount importance!