Ok, this is the way I see it. Yes I know I am going to offend more then one person but please remember, this isn’t a personal attack on people who FF for what ever the reasons. These people who are offended by the information really need to let go of the emotional side of things. I KNOW that every choice made with your children is made out of love. I think its fantastic that so many FF babies are doing so well.
Back to my point. Smoking is a known killer. The diseases it causes are non mistakeable. So if Aunty Flow is on her 80’s, smoked since she was 15 & has never missed a beat & is imperfect health for her age. Does this mean Smoking is in fact ok & all the health scare tactics are a load of bull?? NO it doesn’t it just means Aunty Flow is lucky.

When a person is given something that is not natural to their body (ie formula) then for those who are lucky and have a normal, healthy, strong metabolism, it may have very little effect. For many babies, all you notice is the 'processing' problem - harder poos and yucky smell due to the ingredients of formula. For many babies that will be the only obvious sign. For some babies however, formula causes cramps, colic, unsettled behaviour, gastric upsets, skin problems such as eczema and nappy rash. Further up the scale, it can cause or make worse autoimmune problems such as diabetes, crohns disease and allergies. In extreme cases babies can have an anaphylactic reaction and die.

A mum who has a breastfed baby with rashes and illness may be eating something that her baby is sensitive to, but that usually means that baby would be worse off on formula, with its associated risks. Mum can often adjust her diet and baby's symptoms will stop or ease.

B456 is right, for some children, formula will not have any measurable effect - same with anything else, antibiotics are fine for some people, dreadful for others.

It is easy to say 'Babies who are not breastfed are not as healthy as babies who are.' but people hear 'Every breastfed baby is healthier than every bottlefed baby.' No one is saying that and it is clearly not the case. Actually it is more precise to say, 'as a group, babies who are not breastfed record a higher incidence and severity of certain illnesses. We therefore conclude that not breastfeeding increases an individual's risk of illness.'

I don’t believe that by telling parents that there are risks involved with formula feeding that we are trying to send them on a guilt trip, if that’s hows it taken then you need to remove yourself emotionally & look at it is academically. I feel that it is every parents right to know all the facts & be able to make informed choice. For example BW has to take medications that may not be suitable while Bfing, so by knowing all the facts about both sides she will be able to make an informed choice on what will be the best way to feed her baby. (BW, you should call Mother safe 1800 647 848 they will be able to give you the most up to date information on the medications you are taken and how they may effect Bfing & your baby. Get the heads up now ).
Of course if it turns out that Bfing while on these drugs are really bad, then she has the choice of managing with out the drugs or Ffing. If Ffing means she is able to better care for her baby then fantastic, it’s an easy choice.

If you went to your Dr while PG & he informed you of all the risks involved with smoking while pg (say you were smoking) would you be offended by this? I should hope not, your Dr is helping you make informed choice of what to do. Continue to smoke or quit. So say for instance you were never told that by Ffing you could be increasing the chances of your baby developing XXX later in life. Then later in life you child comes down with XXX, wouldn’t you be ****ed off that you were never actually informed that this was a possible problem associated with Ffing?

I have put a link to web page from NZ that has a bit more stats etc for research that has been done. It’s the most local I can find but can get my hands on some US based information if any one is interested.