Study on FF v BF

[modified]

You cant say peep about formula but you can about breastfeeding.

Really? Where were you when several people, the original poster of the thread being the main target, were branded uneducated, selfish and lazy for merely thinking about formula feeding recently? It was demanded of them to justify their decisions to complete strangers. It went on for numerous pages of name slinging before it was closed!

It's about respect and some formula feeders here may lack it but I have yet to come across a thread where ff mums are name calling and bullying bf mums or demanding they explain themselves. I've seen it the other way round numerous times.

 

[lau86]

There are still many many differences between siblings that will affect the results of the study, fetal environment, genetics, birth order, family lifestyle. Yes it's pretty close but I am inclined to think the study is nonsense.
I haven't read it btw!!! Anyway, ff should not need this kind of thing to make themselves feel better. We know what we know, which is the contents of breast milk and formula. I think it would be flawed to try and say bf children are smarter than ff because of the way they were fed! How can you possibly prove that?!

 

[Dragonfly]

You cant say peep about formula but you can about breastfeeding.

Really? Where were you when several people, the original poster of the thread being the main target, were branded uneducated, selfish and lazy for merely thinking about formula feeding recently? It was demanded of them to justify their decisions to complete strangers. It went on for numerous pages of name slinging before it was closed!

It's about respect and some formula feeders here may lack it but I have yet to come across a thread where ff mums are name calling and bullying bf mums or demanding they explain themselves. I've seen it the other way round numerous times.

I have not seen that in this forum but I do not doubt it exists too. But mum wars is on both ends, Why fuel it more?

 

[Noodlebear]

I think it's good for people to have all the information and I think ignoring a couple of poorly worded sentences to see the bigger picture is important. I always read these articles, no matter which 'side' they are on as it's interesting and I like to keep myself up to date. There's no question that breastfeeding gives the best start in life but it's nice, for those who can't or don't want to, to read that the long term differences aren't necessarily all that. That doesn't take anything away from breastfeeding, it's still great for bonding, weight loss, cost etc but allows the playing field to be evened out a little and perhaps some of the judgments to relent. I don't understand why that has to be turned into something negative. Everyone does the best they can for their children and the pros and cons of everything baby related should be out there for all to see.

 

[My_First]

Exactly this ^^^^

No one is arguing that breast feeding is best in this article/study, just reinforcing what many have suspected for so long; the long terms benefits are somewhat exaggerated. (Or more research is needed to demonstrate either way).

 

[Dragonfly]

If it makes some mums feel better, what ever. Have fun.

 

[Noodlebear]

I don't understand why you've tried to make it all nasty, you're the only one whose been nit picking to make it something it isn't but yes, if it makes some mums feel better then let it be. It's quite simple really.

 

[My_First]

I don't even think it's about making people feel better, it's about presenting all the facts and people making their decisions based on that. I don't understand the aggressiveness towards that? Shouldn't we all be exposed to as much information as possible regarding everything, and people can make decisions not just ignore research just because its not in your ethos?

 

[moomin_troll]

I haven't read the link or the thread, I'm just so sick of seeing ff v bf. it's feeding our children. It shouldn't be anything verses anything.

 

[Dragonfly]

Course the article telling mums to piss off is perfectly ok. And where is the other side presented? information is not balanced here at all.

 

[Noodlebear]

I think it's important to realise that just because something is 'pro' breastfeeding, formula feeding, co sleeping, baby wearning, cloth nappies, disposable nappies etc it doesn't mean that it's against the alternatives. And I agree with the above post, it shouldn't be a stupid competition all the time

 

[Noodlebear]

Course the article telling mums to piss off is perfectly ok. And where is the other side presented? information is not balanced here at all.

The information doesn't have to be balanced if it's promoting something, you'll find many one sided articles around, that's just the way it goes but similarly it's not slamming anything else. I think I'm interpreting this totally different to you "Hopefully this study will give women who can’t or don’t want to breast-feed for whatever reason more ammunition to tell the breast-is-best purists to piss off." that's not saying 'piss off' to breastfeeding mothers and that's a bizarre conclusion to come to. That's saying 'piss off' to the ones with a holier than thou attitude, everyone with that sort of judgmental attitude needs to be told where to go no matter what aspect of parenting (or anything else for that matter) it is referring to.

 

[My_First]

Course the article telling mums to piss off is perfectly ok. And where is the other side presented? information is not balanced here at all.

Okay. I can understand why that got your goat, I would be pissed off too. My point was to ignore this article and to read the Time magazine or The daily mail version if you chose. Point being the content of the study is the same. I am not sure anyone is arguing that this article has a nasty turn of phrase, the actual study outcomes have not changed. If it's going to be a debate/ discussion have it about the salient points, not about the things that everyone disagrees with...

 

[cat lover]

In fairness DF you are being unnecessarily inflammatory. If it makes ff mums feel less guilt, where is the harm? Nowhere does it say bf is bad, if you are getting that from it perhaps you have a persecution complex

 

[moomin_troll]

I have bf my second for 8 months but ff my first.
It's the woman who can control if she feels guilty or not, not some article on the internet.
And trust me bf mums get a lot more grief then ff mums.
People need to learn to take responsibility for their own feelings and emotions

 

[Noodlebear]

Having BF and FF I must say that I don't agree that one gets more grief than the other. You get treated completely differently and it's not really comparable. I think on forums like this FF mothers get spoken to worse though as it's the science behind it that's used against you and you're made out to almost be wreckless and irresponsible. You sometimes get this from other people and HVs too. Whereas in RL it's BF mothers that have to deal with being stared at, asked to go feed their kids in a toilet etc and have to put up with being judged for not weaning their LO off the breast by a certain age. It's not a competition, they're just different.

 

[lau86]

Tbh i don't think the article does anything for the ff cause. Not very grown up to tell people to piss off is it. And yes it did get my back up as a breastfeeding mum, I am not a purist or whatever she said, there's a fine line. If you're going to ff you're not exactly going to consult the article first are you. So what's the point

 

[Noodlebear]

When I was BF I wouldn't try to impose my views on anyone and tell them they were wrong so articles like this wouldn't bother me as I don't feel like they applied to me. I guess I just don't get why people try to link it to themselves and ruin it for other people.

 

[lau86]

Well she was aiming it at someone, it's not like she said 'oh I had this incident with a breastfeeding purist, I wish she hadn't done that' or something

 

[moomin_troll]

When my son was ff, I was never questioned about his feeding habbits. My second was doing great at breast feeding, never lost weight, gained fast and was perfect...a doctor said I should "supplement" with formula, I had no reason to.
Ff outside the home I was never given dirty or sometimes pervy looks like I did while bf.
ff parents aren't called pedos, where yes some idiots call breastfeeding insest.

So they can actually be compared.
There's always going to be this stupid devide when some woman takes offense to being asked if she tried to bf when infact she might not have, or like me it was just too damn painful with my first.
Someone else couldn't make me feel guilty, because I'm my own person.

As adults a fair few need to grow up and stop trying to find some kind of validation in what is a childish article which doesn't even deserve to be shared