What do you think is the biggest barrier to breastfeeding In Australia?

[hannahfroodoo]

I hear so many women saying they wanted their babies to sleep through the night so they switched to formula It's such a myth too as my fully breastfed baby slept 12 hours a niight from 2 months old. The problem is that there are a lot of well meaning family and friends out there spreading this myth further and further.

I too had a fully breast fed baby who slept 12 hours a night before 3 months of age. In my mother's group, I have heard discussions about trying baby out on a bottle of formula before bed in the hopes that this is what will get them sleeping through. It is a huge myth.

On the education topic - Yes, there is a lot of advertising out there for the 'Breast is Best' campaign. and I think that advertising is good and necessary BUT there is a lack of education on the how-to side. Not just 'this is how you do it' but 'this is what you do and where you turn if you have problems.'
I didn't even know LCs existed until my DD was a week old.
I love the idea of having a LC come to see you prior to discharge from hospital just as you can't discharge until the OB and peadeatrician have seen you, you should have to see the LC too.

I always thought everyone KNEW that BF is better for baby than FF - but I had a friend who told me (in my vulnerable state when DD was 1 week old and I was having BF problems) "these days, FF is just as good as BF. They put all the nutrients into formula that your baby needs."
If you want to/need to FF your baby, there is no problem with that. And your baby will still be happy and healthy. However, I think there is a problem with believing that FF is equivalent to BF in terms of what is good for your baby.

Let's face it - BF IS hard. And FF can be so much more convenient - you don't have to wait to find a quiet spot, you can whip the bottle out without stopping what you're doing and no one looks twice. If we DON'T consistently seek to educate people that BF is better for baby, where is the motivation to do it? Why wouldn't you just FF straight up?

As Liz said:
I've seen posted on these boards "no-one can tell me that breastmilk has all the ingredients that are listed on the tin of formula". OMG - no it certainly doesn't. It has far more than what's on the tin, and far less of the bad stuff that's on the tin (ie sugar)

100% agree. People forget that there are ingredients in breastmilk which science can't even isolate and identify - let alone replicate.