What If There Was No Formula?

[staybeautiful]

In my case if there wasnt formula when I had my first baby at 17 I would have had more support and managed to continue bf, I combi fed as my bf at the time wanted to use the milk tokens we were entitled too and I was naive and young and did as he said! then my milk dried up so I went to ff.
with this LO not wanting the HUGE cost that formula is here for OH was a massive factor in me perservering with bf through loads of difficulties.

here the campesinas (peasant mountain women) cant afford formula and they all bf, im sure a very small percentage literally cant and I really dont know what they do.......but I was in a bus station the other day and an older lady had a baby who was crying and everyone was telling her "give the baby milk! dale teta! (give her boobie)" she said, I cant! its my grandaughter I dont have milk, so another lady said oh pass her over I do, and took the baby and breastfed her! so everyone mucks in here still I guess!

Amazing!

 

[Liesje]

I heard someone recently say that dolls with bottles should be discontinued because they give children the impression that formula feeding is normal. For me, as a child I knew breastfeeding was normal, but since children have no boobs, there was no other way to make believe feed their dolls besides bottles. It would have seemed a little pointless and unimaginative to just shove a doll under my shirt and sit there
At least with a bottle you can pretend to prepare them, test them, wash them, etc.
Most kids are smarter than we think.

 

[JASMAK]

I never had breastfeeding classes. The only baby I ever saw fed was my sisters and he was bottle fed due to a lactose intolerance. My mum breastfed us but it never came up in conversation.

And yet I knew there were two ways to feed babies. I do wonder how women get to the stage of becoming or nearly becoming mothers without realising their boobs are designed to feed them. I mean, what did you think they were for?

Sexual objects. Yep thats it. I never seen breastfeeding, wasnt told about it anywhere, all formula fed kids in family. No one ever talked about breastfeeding it was always formula. I fed my sister formula when she was a baby to.No sex ed in school at all, no biology and sod all. May seem obvious to you when you say what did you think they where for but formula advertising was rather heavy in the past when I was growing up and even now it still is. You cant even get a breast pump or nipple shields in my town My other half praises breastfeeding and said it to his mates who where having another baby, they where horrified and said "we dont do that sort of thing to our children". Funny enough they dont speak to him any more. She was a smoker, liked a drink etc the norm for a parent around here.

Same. Kids play with dolls woth bottles. My mum DID breastfeed all us kids, but it was never spoken about. Boobs were private, tucked away, and not spoken about.

 

[JASMAK]

I heard someone recently say that dolls with bottles should be discontinued because they give children the impression that formula feeding is normal. For me, as a child I knew breastfeeding was normal, but since children have no boobs, there was no other way to make believe feed their dolls besides bottles. It would have seemed a little pointless and unimaginative to just shove a doll under my shirt and sit there
At least with a bottle you can pretend to prepare them, test them, wash them, etc.
Most kids are smarter than we think.

I actually throw those dumb baby toy bottles away. My kids dont even know about formula. My 2 year old calls her nipples, milk.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

Yeah, what's wrong with breastfeeding a doll?

 

[Liesje]

Nothing is wrong with it, it's just uneventful and boring.
It's like playing in a toy kitchen and using the little phone on the side to pretend order out and then just sitting there waiting for the pretend food to arrive.
No one can tell me with a straight face that they as adults didn't know what breastfeeding was an option because their doll had a bottle when they were 4.
It even says that all over the side of formula cans.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

I never had a doll with a bottle lol.

 

[KiwiMOM]

my mother wouldn't allow us to have dolls with bottles. I won't be buying my DD dolls with bottles (or I'll throw them away). I don't want washing bottles, testing and preparing them to be something my daughter acts out, personally. I didn't go into breastfeeding with the "if it doesn't work out, it's not a big deal" attitude, BFing is how babies are fed in my family and short of not being able to produce any milk FF isn't an option. And even then I'd use my bfing friends milk before I FF, personally. I'd like my daughter to have the same attitude because I think I wouldn't have succeeded with any less, personally.

My friend had a double mastectomy and through donated EBM her little boy hasn't had a single bottle of formula, her baby is 3-4 and still going strong on their freezer stash, people all over the country, including myself have donated her milk.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

That is awesome, kiwi

 

[Liesje]

Isn't donated breastmilk still feeding out of a bottle?

 

[Ozzieshunni]

Yes, but it's breast milk. I don't see the issue here? My son is breast fed and has had the occasional bottle of expressed milk. It's not the same as formula.

 

[Liesje]

I never said it was? I just said I don't think a child who plays with a doll with a bottle won't grow up not knowing what breastfeeding is.
I never even played with dolls and I figured it out.

 

[KiwiMOM]

Isn't donated breastmilk still feeding out of a bottle?

Yep, but people don't look at a bottle and think "breast feeding". There could be breast milk in the bottle, but my daughter doesn't take a bottle because I had to choose which was more important to me in the early days of breastfeeding and I chose getting a good latch over having the option of feeding her a bottle of EBM.

 

[JASMAK]

I never said it was? I just said I don't think a child who plays with a doll with a bottle won't grow up not knowing what breastfeeding is.
I never even played with dolls and I figured it out.

Well, you must be MUCH smarter than me then, because I didn't know.

 

[Liesje]

I never said it was? I just said I don't think a child who plays with a doll with a bottle won't grow up not knowing what breastfeeding is.
I never even played with dolls and I figured it out.

Well, you must be MUCH smarter than me then, because I didn't know.

It didn't have much to do with brains, there are about a billion articles on the subject, books, youtube videos, etc.
It's not like I invented the procedure.

 

[JASMAK]

I never said it was? I just said I don't think a child who plays with a doll with a bottle won't grow up not knowing what breastfeeding is.
I never even played with dolls and I figured it out.

Well, you must be MUCH smarter than me then, because I didn't know.

It didn't have much to do with brains, there are about a billion articles on the subject, books, youtube videos, etc.
It's not like I invented the procedure.

LOL...there was no youtube when I was a kid, nor did I have a TV, and my mum didnt buy/brin me books on breastfeeding as a kid, and as a teenager I never babysat, nor did I like babies, and all my dolls had bottles. I certainly cant be the only person on the planet to not lern of BFing until adulthood. There wasnt the internet when I was a kid. My mum certainly never spoke of it! My kids know about it because I breastfed, but when I BF in public, I had children...10 years old some of them, asking me WHAT I was doing!!

 

[Liesje]

I never said it was? I just said I don't think a child who plays with a doll with a bottle won't grow up not knowing what breastfeeding is.
I never even played with dolls and I figured it out.

Well, you must be MUCH smarter than me then, because I didn't know.

It didn't have much to do with brains, there are about a billion articles on the subject, books, youtube videos, etc.
It's not like I invented the procedure.

LOL...there was no youtube when I was a kid, nor did I have a TV, and my mum didnt buy/brin me books on breastfeeding as a kid, and as a teenager I never babysat, nor did I like babies, and all my dolls had bottles. I certainly cant be the only person on the planet to not lern of BFing until adulthood. There wasnt the internet when I was a kid. My mum certainly never spoke of it! My kids know about it because I breastfed, but when I BF in public, I had children...10 years old some of them, asking me WHAT I was doing!!

So there you go... Someone can go their entire life without knowing what boobs are for and still breastfeed. There is no need to rip bottles out of their dolls' hands because it has absolutely no influence on their decisions as adults.

 

[Dragonfly]

I never had breastfeeding classes. The only baby I ever saw fed was my sisters and he was bottle fed due to a lactose intolerance. My mum breastfed us but it never came up in conversation.

And yet I knew there were two ways to feed babies. I do wonder how women get to the stage of becoming or nearly becoming mothers without realising their boobs are designed to feed them. I mean, what did you think they were for?

Sexual objects. Yep thats it. I never seen breastfeeding, wasnt told about it anywhere, all formula fed kids in family. No one ever talked about breastfeeding it was always formula. I fed my sister formula when she was a baby to.No sex ed in school at all, no biology and sod all. May seem obvious to you when you say what did you think they where for but formula advertising was rather heavy in the past when I was growing up and even now it still is. You cant even get a breast pump or nipple shields in my town My other half praises breastfeeding and said it to his mates who where having another baby, they where horrified and said "we dont do that sort of thing to our children". Funny enough they dont speak to him any more. She was a smoker, liked a drink etc the norm for a parent around here.

Same. Kids play with dolls woth bottles. My mum DID breastfeed all us kids, but it was never spoken about. Boobs were private, tucked away, and not spoken about.

boobs where also tucked away here, objects for men not babies.

I never said it was? I just said I don't think a child who plays with a doll with a bottle won't grow up not knowing what breastfeeding is.
I never even played with dolls and I figured it out.

Well, you must be MUCH smarter than me then, because I didn't know.

Indeed she is give her a cookie. I only ever seen formula made up for babies from tins.

I never said it was? I just said I don't think a child who plays with a doll with a bottle won't grow up not knowing what breastfeeding is.
I never even played with dolls and I figured it out.

Well, you must be MUCH smarter than me then, because I didn't know.

It didn't have much to do with brains, there are about a billion articles on the subject, books, youtube videos, etc.
It's not like I invented the procedure.

30 years ago we had no internet, you tube and all that. Only a few channels on tv. And only books I had certainly had no boobs in them. I know girls that still dont know you feed from the breast. And there is information at hand in this day and age. But least in my day we where not as informed. I wasnt even helped when breastfeeding or asked was I. Its assumed you are formula feeding here and back when I was born it was also the norm. I hope you can understand that.

 

[JASMAK]

I never said it was? I just said I don't think a child who plays with a doll with a bottle won't grow up not knowing what breastfeeding is.
I never even played with dolls and I figured it out.

Well, you must be MUCH smarter than me then, because I didn't know.

It didn't have much to do with brains, there are about a billion articles on the subject, books, youtube videos, etc.
It's not like I invented the procedure.

LOL...there was no youtube when I was a kid, nor did I have a TV, and my mum didnt buy/brin me books on breastfeeding as a kid, and as a teenager I never babysat, nor did I like babies, and all my dolls had bottles. I certainly cant be the only person on the planet to not lern of BFing until adulthood. There wasnt the internet when I was a kid. My mum certainly never spoke of it! My kids know about it because I breastfed, but when I BF in public, I had children...10 years old some of them, asking me WHAT I was doing!!

So there you go... Someone can go their entire life without knowing what boobs are for and still breastfeed. There is no need to rip bottles out of their dolls' hands because it has absolutely no influence on their decisions as adults.

Well, see, I wouldn't have breastfed. Was going to AT ALL....never considered it, until hubby said I HAD TO...so, yes, I would say my upbringing DID influence me to NOT breastfeed, but, my hubby knew better (his sister had breastfed and he knew more about it).

 

[Dragonfly]

I wasnt going to either. When someone said it to me I was disgusted and my family where disgusted at the suggestion to. My friends where telling me what to say if I was asked if I was breastfeeding in hospital and filled my mind with absolute crap about it. I look back now in horror at what they thought.

I seen something on childrens tv here, and showed baby lambs being fed from bottles and what did the program say and show "baby lambs are fed from bottles just like our babies" and showed a girl feeding a baby from a bottle. What was wrong with telling the truth? was it so awful? my cousins got pusged away by my horrified aunt when I fed my second born and she stopped visiting. Some waited over a year to meet my second as they asked if he was being fed a lot before they came down and never came down. It was a way to clear the room when my first was born, garentee people would be up and leaving once he wanted fed. My own mum would tell me to feed in toilets and go to my room in my own house, saying my granddad dosnt want to see it or any one. My aunt protested for no reason that her kids where fine on formula, not that I was even interested?? she just started trhat conversation with my mum every birthday party and get together there was. Me sat there feeding feeling weird. Them two clucking away they they and us are all healthy me biting my lip as they very much arnt all healthy but keeping the peace. My health visitor, doc, pead and dietician all coming out with anti breastfeeding crap. Isnt it any wonder Northern Ireland has the lowest breastfeeding rates in the UK? I am glad I breastfeed though, its paid off. I would do it again and again and again. I educated myself. I will educate my children on it to.