Human milk fortifier for healthy full term 4 month old?

[DragonflyWing]

My mother is a pediatric nurse, and she's been getting seminars from the drug reps on Similac human milk fortifier. She sent me a whole bunch of samples and is pushing me to add it to my baby's milk (he takes bottles of pumped milk when I'm at work).

My little guy is 4 months old, he was healthy and full term, and is in the 78th percentile for weight...why in the world would I want to add this to his milk?

She says it has added lutein and DHA...but I can get that just by eating foods rich in those things, I don't need to add a synthetic product to my milk.

Even my 8 week preemie twins only got HMF in their milk until they came home from the hospital, then they were on regular breastmillk. I don't understand why my mom is pushing this so hard.

It's like she's been brainwashed by the drug reps that breastmilk isn't enough, and I'm not giving my baby the best possible nutrition.

I'm not sure how to get her to back off without sounding ungrateful and defensive.

 

[Rhiannon137]

that's just bizarre! My son was failing to thrive in his first month and the peds didn't even mention considering additives until he had fallen to around 5th %ile (while at 95th for length). Fortunately things started to turn around then and we didn't need to go that route. I'm guessing that with the renewed interest in BFing (in the US at least) the formula companies are grasping at attempts to make profits.

 

[noon_child]

That is awful. Why would a robust system like breastfeeding need fortifying? It is already plenty 'fort'. The only supplement I would ever say was necessary was vit D for the nursing mother if she lives North of...well...Spain probably, and has a modern lifestyle (ie stays indoors more than outdoors, drives when she has to go long distances, wears makeup or sunscreen). Even getting outdoors every day with my daughter I didn't give her enough vitamin D because we live in the North of England , but kept being told I didn't need vitamins! That formula company is holding marketing seminars not medical ones! I can't believe medical professionals buy in to this stuff without questioning it! For all we know this stuff could damage the way breastmilk works!

 

[hiladun]

Scary isn't it? Think of all the other HCPs giving the same 'advice' as your mum to new mothers who maybe don't know to question it.

Makes me so sad and angry.

 

[MindUtopia]

Have you seen the 'formula for breastfeeding mums' and the 'energy bars for breastfeeding mums' marketing by the formula manufacturers? It's like formula, in powder form, that YOU mix up and drink while you are breastfeeding to give you more nutrition. Same idea with the energy bars. It's because it's a way to make money and bring consumers into your market when they have already intentionally opted out of using your products. It's sad, and it's only because people are uneducated and feel vulnerable (and in the case of HCPs, that they get kickbacks from the corporations), that they feel like they have to use these things. I don't think formula or formula companies, in and of themselves, are evil. I breastfed and then also formula fed my daughter because I was in a situation where I had no other choice. And when people need to use those sorts of products instead of breastmilk, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But I hate the encroachment of formula companies into breastfeeding with the development of all these alternative products designed for breastfeeding mums and babies. It's dishonest and it makes people doubt their bodies, and that's wrong.

 

[DragonflyWing]

Thank you, I do give vitamin D drops as per my pediatrician's advice. I appreciate my mother's concern, but I absolutely refuse to "fortify" my breastmilk when my baby is perfectly healthy and thriving all on his own.

My mother and I have very different views on what is acceptable as a healthcare professional. When I and my siblings still lived at home, she brought home flu vaccines each year and even antibiotics and gave them to us to "save us from having to make an appointment," and she had the doctors at her practice write prescriptions for my teen sister's birth control when they had never even laid eyes on her, let alone examined her. I think that's wrong, she thinks it's a perk of being a nurse and that she knows what's best. Apparently she also thinks she knows what's best for my children, but that's not going to fly with me.

 

[patch2006uk]

I think you have to be pretty hardline with this tbh. It's unnecessary, unethical and downright weird! I think you need to have a long chat with her about what you will and won't accept, and perhaps let her know you'll be looking into alternative childcare if you can't trust her. If she's really taking so many liberties in her job, I'd even consider getting in touch with her employer and making it known that she is giving inappropriate advice. I wouldn't let this fly, personally

 

[DragonflyWing]

Oh, she lives 1000 miles away from me now, so childcare is not an issue, thankfully. It's just her constant texts and phone calls trying to "sell" me on the Similac fortifier. She even resorted to saying "Don't you want what's best for your baby? You're depriving him of nutrients that will make him smarter." WTF?!

 

[patch2006uk]

The power of marketing, eh? Sorry, I misread and assumed she had LO in her care. At least that's not a concern. I think you need to say something along the lines of "I am not comfortable with you pushing this product. I don't want to discuss this again with you" and hopefully if you just keep shutting the conversation down, she'll stop eventually. What a pain, though!

 

[Zephram]

Oh boy. She's certainly bought that one hook, line and sinker! The formula company's marketing department will be patting themselves on the back.

I get that she obviously cares about your LO and wants the best for him, but it is unnecessary, your LO does not need it, and she's going to push you away if she keeps on at it. Just be direct, it's usually the best approach. Say your LO is healthy and thriving and you will not be adding anything to his feeds.

 

[Lilaala]

If you reply to every line she throws at you about it with: "You sound like a pharmaceutical salesperson" and nothing else, maybe she'd drop it?

She is out of line.