Make Breastfeeding Compulsory for 6 mths? WDYT?

[Anise3]

I've been following this thread since it started and have found both "sides" of the debate interesting. I found it to be a sensitive, informative, healthy debate and as a FF mother have not been offended by anything posted............ until it was said that it'd be better to BF your baby with your system full of drugs or alcohol than to formula feed.

Now that is offensive.

On topic though, I agree that formula should not be sold in supermarkets in the baby food section. It does make it too easily accessible for those moments when you're ready to cave in because you're exhausted, in pain and over it. But more importantly than that would be more support for BF issues and access to lactation consultants, if I had of had these then maybe I would have made it past 4 months... I got sick of the health nurse just lecturing me and telling me "if it hurts then you're doing it wrong" when I was doing everything she suggested. In the end I was too scared to mention it again that I made the switch. In retrospect I wish i'd persevered but hindsight is a wonderful thing and hopefully I'll be more successful with this next baby.

[briggsy's girl]

No one said BW should of b/f with her meds. No one.

true. no one told her that she should have
same as no one acknowledged that she couldn't and shouldnt have

just a post soon after she posted saying someone pushed through their medication to continue feeding.

yes i quoted kass, hers was the post most immediately after BW's to say something similar to five or more others before that. all saying, in their own way, that choosing not to BF because of medication (or illicit drugs/alcohol) wasn't necessary and to just feed through it because it's better than the ABM alternative. Kass, if you have taken it as a personal thing, i apologise. i was feeding DD as i typed so couldn't go back and grab all the posts that i wanted to quote. it seemed everyone was happy to, more than once, gloss over the fact that sometimes, it's just not right. some medication is dangerous - genuinely dangerous. yes, most are ok in small doses, but some aren't. and it was being ignored

[Kazmar]

I've been following this thread since it started and have found both "sides" of the debate interesting. I found it to be a sensitive, informative, healthy debate and as a FF mother have not been offended by anything posted............ until it was said that it'd be better to BF your baby with your system full of drugs or alcohol than to formula feed.

Now that is offensive.

See research says alchole laced bm is still better. LACED is not trashed and not hard drugs. Im yet to find that.....

Dont get offened buy that fact, if it was vise versa I couldn't deny the fact.

[Kazmar]

true. no one told her that she should have
same as no one acknowledged that she couldn't and shouldnt have

just a post soon after she posted saying someone pushed through their medication to continue feeding.

yes i quoted kass, hers was the post most immediately after BW's to say something similar to five or more others before that. all saying, in their own way, that choosing not to BF because of medication (or illicit drugs/alcohol) wasn't necessary and to just feed through it because it's better than the ABM alternative. Kass, if you have taken it as a personal thing, i apologise. i was feeding DD as i typed so couldn't go back and grab all the posts that i wanted to quote. it seemed everyone was happy to, more than once, gloss over the fact that sometimes, it's just not right. some medication is dangerous - genuinely dangerous. yes, most are ok in small doses, but some aren't. and it was being ignored

No no, just didn't want anyone thinking I was telling them they should have fed through

[Anise3]

See research says alchole laced bm is still better. LACED is not trashed and not hard drugs. Im yet to find that.....

Dont get offened buy that fact, if it was vise versa I couldn't deny the fact.

I thought the person said that they knew of "trashy stoner mums" then was quoted and told it is still better than formula.... maybe I didn't read the wording correctly and if that's the case i could be overreacting!!

[Kazmar]

I thought the person said that they knew of "trashy stoner mums" then was quoted and told it is still better than formula.... maybe I didn't read the wording correctly and if that's the case i could be overreacting!!

Ummmm, not sure if that was said.......

I wasn't speaking in relation to that anyway

[Little Chicken]

While only laced sounds good, remeber it is being fed to a very small person constantly, what would happen to you if only drank water that had been laced with vodka all day and that was all you had? Might be a bit trashed by the end of the day.

[Kazmar]

While only laced sounds good, remeber it is being fed to a very small person constantly, what would happen to you if only drank water that had been laced with vodka all day and that was all you had? Might be a bit trashed by the end of the day.

The baby doesn't get the full alcohole %.

Also aside from this thread- I would be a very happy person if some wonderful person laced my water with vodka ........ok back to thread

[Little Chicken]

The baby doesn't get the full alcohole %.

Also aside from this thread- I would be a very happy person if some wonderful person laced my water with vodka ........ok back to thread

I agree sometimes that would be nice

No they don't but it adds up, that baby will always have some alcohol in their system and how good is that for brain dvelopment? Doesn't that negate the advantages of breast milk?

[Anise3]

i know quite a few trashy mothers who bf thier children whilst either stoned or wasted beyond belief. surely you're not going to tell me they're doing a better job at feeding their child than someone who formula feeds???

The problem in this scenario isn't the method of feeding but the intoxication of the parent. An intoxicated mother who breastfeeds doesn't have to mix her breastmilk but an intoxicated mother who uses ABM does have to mix it. That's a recipe for disaster right there - the harm done by incorrect measuring could be pretty awful.
It's also entirely possible that a stoner mum might produce milk that is more nutritionally sound than ABM.

As for 24 hour chemists - the human race has survived for thousands of years without 24 hour chemists and funnily enough many still do. AFAIK they still haven't been placed on the hierachy of needs.

Ummmm, not sure if that was said.......

I wasn't speaking in relation to that anyway

I was talking about the above quotes... talking about being "wasted beyond belief" then being told "it's entirely possible that a stoner mum might produce milk that is more nutritionally sound than ABM". I just find that hard to believe

[nickle730]

I am yet to see a reputable long term study conducted by a trustworthy impartial source which demonstrates that formula is more damaging to a baby than BM from a drug or alcohol affected mother??

Seriously, I could search the 'net and find a study which 'proves' that it's a 'fact' that a person is more likely to be charged by a brown bull if their hair is blonde and they are wearing green knickers.

A lot of 'facts' are being thrown around in here which are quite contentious and would be better expressed as 'opinions'.

[boobaloo]

I thought the person said that they knew of "trashy stoner mums" then was quoted and told it is still better than formula.... maybe I didn't read the wording correctly and if that's the case i could be overreacting!!

yep, i did say trashy stoner mums, and i'm talking TRASHY STONER MUMS.
and yes, i was told that's better than feeding your child formula.
bizarre.

[Shanti]

Once again, isn't that a mothers freedom of choice? If she's 'tired' of breastfeeding, shouldn't she be allowed to make the decision which only affects her and her baby's life?

Yes you're right Taurean, it IS a mothers choice.... I agree that noone can force a Mum to continue BF their babies.... HOWEVER you are wrong when you say that their decision only affects them and their baby. It actually affects the whole of society. I'm happy to list a few things if you want but don't really want to get into that. At the end of the day, I don't want to judge other Mum's for their choices as we all make different choices on so many different things...... but these are the facts.

[Mother Goose]

yep, i did say trashy stoner mums, and i'm talking TRASHY STONER MUMS.
and yes, i was told that's better than feeding your child formula.
bizarre.

Ok I haven't read the 6 pages that have developed since I last logged on. But I am going to say that I find the above refernce to substance abusers highly offensive. Please have some respect and refrain from refering to people who may have substance abuse issues as "Trashy Stoner Mums". As an ex Drug and Alcohol worker - I find it offensive and non-conducive. Further more, it is a derogatory term and I fail to see how it adds anything of value to this discussion.

I would also like to say that before anyone makes statements such as it being better to BF with alochol or drugs in the system than to FF to PLEASE make sure you are fully informed. I am yet to find any substantial study to prove this point. In my field, we NEVER advocated that clients did this. The risks of the drugs and alcohol can be too great.

[Taurean]

Yes you're right Taurean, it IS a mothers choice.... I agree that noone can force a Mum to continue BF their babies.... HOWEVER you are wrong when you say that their decision only affects them and their baby. It actually affects the whole of society. I'm happy to list a few things if you want but don't really want to get into that. At the end of the day, I don't want to judge other Mum's for their choices as we all make different choices on so many different things...... but these are the facts.

I am curious! I really don't understand how a mothers choice to formula feed their baby can impact a whole society (excpet for Onyx's post which included the link to the research but there is research for and against EVERYTHING these days so it's really getting difficult to believe any of it to be honest)

[Shanti]

The amount of alcohol that you need to consume to pass it on in your milk in any significant amount is so large that you would probably pass out instead of feeding. Breastmilk is nutritionally appropriate food even in cases when mothers have ludicrously inappropriate diets.

That's very true. Even with a crap diet, breastMILK is STILL more nutrionally sound than Formula is..... it still has all the immunological benefits, among many others, in it that formula will never have.

[Shanti]

I am curious! I really don't understand how a mothers choice to formula feed their baby can impact a whole society (excpet for Onyx's post which included the link to the research but there is research for and against EVERYTHING these days so it's really getting difficult to believe any of it to be honest)

Taurean, TBH, the impact on society as a whole, not just babies will not really be known yet for another I say 20yrs or so.... if you look at the generations now receiving FF as opposed to years and years ago when it was mainly BF, when most families couldn't afford formula as it was too expensive...... we really don't know the implications this will all have on our society and environment until further down the track. It is still too early to tell I believe.... I do know however, that nature designed breastmilk for babies. This is what nature ALWAYS intended babies to have.

Yes I have had to use formula for my DD when she was very young (low milk supply issues and low weight gains).... but I corrected the issues we had an exclusively BF her from 5mths onwards..... it was never easy for me. But I fought for DD's right to breastfeed and to receive breastmilk as i knew it was her birthright to receive it until (at least) 12mths.

I don't understand how people can argue with nature???

[Little Chicken]

That's very true. Even with a crap diet, breastMILK is STILL more nutrionally sound than Formula is..... it still has all the immunological benefits, among many others, in it that formula will never have.

Just to clarify, if for whatever reason you couldn't breastfeed anymore, you would happily accept the breastmilk of a mother who drank, say, a bottle of jim beam a day as a replacement?