Have we all been assimilated into using Follow On Milk

Ms2011

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

I am lucky my mum has an extensive veg garden all organic

Love being able to give my little fella fruit & veg from the garden.
I grow my own onions, garlic, carrots, peppers, lettuce, strawberries, grapes & raspberries, going to grow tomatoes next year too, me & my OH don't like them so I haven't bother before but I use alot when cooking for J. I'd love to have the room to grow more as it saves money, is relaxing, takes v.little effort & they taste so much better plus you won't get fresher than just picked fruit & veg :-)

dublinlady

Well done I green fingered ladies! I'm well impressed! I think im doing well if I grow basil!!

implausible

dublinlady wrote: »

Mine was breastfed for 3 months. Aptamil 1 fir three months then follow on from 6 months to 12. She's ten months now.

I'm giving my wee woman (8 months) Aptamil 1 all the time and she's doing alright on it. I never went above 1 with the wee buck either and just moved gradually onto cow's milk from 10 1/2 months.

I think most of the gripes on this thread are with the "Growing Up" milk, not the follow on - at least that's what I was giving out about.

How Strange

No it's follow on milk too. Follow on from what? My husband commented on the aptamil ad for follow on milk this evening saying here's your favourite ad. The thing has me spitting stones. It creates this perception that breastfeeding stops at 6 months and their product is the ideal product to replace it as it benefits from 30 years of breastmilk research. Whatever the hell that means.

It's an insidiously clever marketing campaign though as I've heard a lot of mums saying they were going to or had stopped breastfeeding at 6 months. If asked why they'd say it's because they thought that's what you did.

implausible

How Strange wrote: »

No it's follow on milk too. Follow on from what? My husband commented on the aptamil ad for follow on milk this evening saying here's your favourite ad. The thing has me spitting stones. It creates this perception that breastfeeding stops at 6 months and their product is the ideal product to replace it as it benefits from 30 years of breastmilk research. Whatever the hell that means.

It's an insidiously clever marketing campaign though as I've heard a lot of mums saying they were going to or had stopped breastfeeding at 6 months. If asked why they'd say it's because they thought that's what you did.

Thanks How Strange, I was getting confused there. I knew I read it somewhere, but can't remember where, that ordinary baby formula was grand if combination feeding or weaning from the boob. My two are only getting a few months of the stuff anyway. Roll on moo milk!!

You're right though, very clever marketing, slyly putting in the assumption that you stop at six months, conveniently the earliest age they are allowed to aim their advertising at:rolleyes:

liliq

How Strange wrote: »

No it's follow on milk too. Follow on from what? My husband commented on the aptamil ad for follow on milk this evening saying here's your favourite ad. The thing has me spitting stones. It creates this perception that breastfeeding stops at 6 months and their product is the ideal product to replace it as it benefits from 30 years of breastmilk research. Whatever the hell that means.

It's an insidiously clever marketing campaign though as I've heard a lot of mums saying they were going to or had stopped breastfeeding at 6 months. If asked why they'd say it's because they thought that's what you did.

My husband calls it my favourite ad too, I hate it. I hate the 'healthy babies' giggly ad too. And I hate the alternate names given for Synthetic Milk Adapted.
It's horrible that mums are so undermined in so much of the marketing in these powders.
Like, really, the vast majority of parents give their child a diet that it good enough not to need any of these growing up follow on processed, added to, taken from, synthesised cows/ goats/ whatever milks!

Hannibal Smith

I think I'm seeing a different ad....'breast milk is perfect for your baby...nothing compares to it...SHOULD you decide to move on from it there blank follow on milk'.

is that what's causing anger/confusion? no formula company, whether infant, follow on or otherwise is allowed to put forward the concept that formula feeding is to replace or is superior to breastmilk. that is the law....if you feel these laws she being broken...you should report the ad.

it seems perfectly clear to me though...it promotes breastmilk but says if you want to move on chose the advertised brand. that's how advertising works...its supposed to make you think their product will benefit you...otherwise its not advertising lol ...everyone has a choice whether to follow the ad or not.

there is a difference between the follow on dformulae and the toddler 12 months follow on however. whether you buy the first formula or the follow on formula you will still have to purchase one of them until the child is 1...so there's no huge issue with that. its the post 12 months when you don't have to buy the product that is my issue.

pwurple

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Have to totally disagree with you on the organic front there is a huge difference in nutritional quality. Watched an episode of river cottage where they took normal chicken, corn fed and organic and had the nutritional % investigated by food scientist (sorry cant remember technical name for them) and there was a massive difference in composition of chicken the organic had much higher levels of omegas than the normal one which was mostly fat. Organic is te only way I ensure no gm also

Saw it. That wasn't a normal chicken, it was a battery chicken. That is up there with saying tesco mince is the same as what you get from a butcher. Disgusting cling-filmed styrofoam trays of meat on their gross little sanitary pads. Ugh.

My dad's family have been farming lamb and beef for as far back as I can trace, so at least 6 generations. They farm the cattle and sheep traditionally, not intensively, slaughter properly in their own slaughterhouses, store it properly, age it for at least 28 days and have their own craft butchers selling to the public. There are no growth hormones used, the animals are grass fed. When needed, they use pesticides like rat poison around the perimeter of the farm, and they treat any sick animals with medicine. That meat is some of the best quality in Ireland, and they take huge pride in it. The animals win prizes at shows, the meat is recommended every other month in local and national reviews, and used in restaurants across the country, including michelin starred. It is not certified organic. You would have a very hard time persuading me that it is not nutritious.

There are heaps of similar traditional craft butchers and farmers in Ireland who have been farming on this land for generations. They are not certified organic either, but I think that experience is worth a lot. From what I have seen, it is the new blow-ins with good intentions, but no farming experience, who are trying to farm here to certified organic guidelines, and from what I have seen of the condition of those farms, I don't trust it. Maybe it is that it is just getting started, and they need a bit of time.

The alternative to certified organic is not the massive intensive tesco-supplying factory farms as hugh fearnley-whittingstall implies with that test... I wouldn't eat from those either. But local traditional butchers are right here already with the good stuff.

/end rant

Back on the milk and ads, they are totally insidious. That one with the beige-clad soft-focus breastfeeding woman having a lovely time on a couch who was pure torture for me when I was having difficulty breastfeeding. There I was in tears, blood streaming down my chest from my stupid inverted cracked nipples, baby crying from hunger, trying to hook up a breast-pump with both nipple shields and shells on, hormones gone gaga, and this goddamned ad came on. I felt like such an utter failure. Cue the bottle.

Hobbitfeet

pwurple wrote: »

Saw it. That wasn't a normal chicken, it was a battery chicken. That is up there with saying tesco mince is the same as what you get from a butcher. Disgusting cling-filmed styrofoam trays of meat on their gross little sanitary ugh

Lol made me spit out my tea with laughter!!! Yes have to agree that there are some very good traditional farmers and meat in Ireland. It's just hard to know what exactly you are getting unless you personally know the farmers or go organic. I think. We are lucky that most of our farm animals are grass reared here.

Back to formula and ads have to say they p**s me off and at the bottom small print it says consult you doctor before using?? Who does this?? Sorry to hear you had a hard time bfing. I'm lucky had no major problems of course my nipples were tender, broken skin and bleeding for awhile at the start i think this I normal. Pain for 1st few seconds of feed again normal. I grew up around breastfeeding women and I think this is a huge part of being successful at bfing. Your a new mum who do you turn to for advice?? Your own mum your family and if your mother didn't bf how can she give you advice and support on it?? Sorry off topic again lol

movingsucks

I will say one thing, when I moved to "follow on" milk I found it damn hard to find any info on why I should move from the first formula (in my case SMA gold) to the next one or what benefits there was to it.

pwurple

My mum did breastfeed me, and all of us, including twins.

Hannibal Smith

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Lol made me spit out my tea with laughter!!! Yes have to agree that there are some very good traditional farmers and meat in Ireland. It's just hard to know what exactly you are getting unless you personally know the farmers or go organic. I think. We are lucky that most of our farm animals are grass reared here.

Back to formula and ads have to say they p**s me off and at the bottom small print it says consult you doctor before using?? Who does this?? Sorry to hear you had a hard time bfing. I'm lucky had no major problems of course my nipples were tender, broken skin and bleeding for awhile at the start i think this I normal. Pain for 1st few seconds of feed again normal. I grew up around breastfeeding women and I think this is a huge part of being successful at bfing. Your a new mum who do you turn to for advice?? Your own mum your family and if your mother didn't bf how can she give you advice and support on it?? Sorry off topic again lol

they have to say consult your doctor...its the law...same way they have to put it on the side of the box. I wouldn't say they give a monkeys whether you consult anyone...but by law they have to put that on their box and as part of any ad campaign.

Hobbitfeet

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2012/1120/1224326834302.html

Article in Irish times health section on growing up milk

implausible

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2012/1120/1224326834302.html

Article in Irish times health section on growing up milk

Great article. This jumped out at me:

A 100g serving of plain mashed potato, costing a few cent, contains more protein, more energy, twice as much fibre, plenty of vitamins and minerals, and 20 times less fat than a serving of growing-up milk.

And this:

From January 2013 the HSE will begin using the UK-WHO growth charts that are benchmarked against optimal growth of breastfed children only.

About time too.

Hobbitfeet

Unbelievable isn't it!! It's scary to think that people are giving this to their children and thinking they are doing the right thing. I can't believe there is not more publicity about this.

IvyTheTerrible

I agree that the ads about follow-on milk are pushy. However, I think there is a place for it, for example, for babies who are very very difficult eaters. My nephew (22 months old), it takes an hour for him to eat just a tiny bit of solid food. He is at the bottom of the growth curves. The only thing he actually takes without any hassle, is his bottle of follow on in the morning.

How Strange

IvyTheTerrible I'd have to disagree with you. Follow on and growing up drinks are not created by dieticians, nutrionalists or paediatricians. They're made in a factory. They're not medically supervised meal replacements for sick or under nourished children. They contain vegetable oils, emulsifiers, far too much sugar which are hardly the most nutritious ingredients.

My son ate hardly anything over Christmas. However a quick read of any parenting forum will show that fussiness and a lack of appetite in toddlers is not unusual. A toddler actually needs very little food but we parents think about how much we eat in a day and assume if a toddler isn't eating similar quantities then there's something wrong. I looked up portion sizes for a toddler as I hadn't a clue and I was amazed at how small they actually are.

If however a toddler is so fussy at eating that it's making them unwell then they should be referred to a paediatric dietician.

What the pharma companies have cleverly done is make parents believe that these products are necessary.

How Strange

Also giving too much milk or milk based products to a toddler can suppress their appetites making it even more difficult to get them to eat food.

IvyTheTerrible

How Strange, I did not know that. Hmm, now to think of a way to discuss this with the brother-in-law without being too pushy.

liliq

How Strange wrote: »

Also giving too much milk or milk based products to a toddler can suppress their appetites making it even more difficult to get them to eat food.

And a big reason for that is all the iron, which the follow on milk claims toddlers need! (obviously they do need a certain amount, but the excess can act as an appetite suppressant)

Hobbitfeet

Maybe suggest that they read 'my child won't eat' by Carlos Gonzalez. My sister boy who is 2 was a great water as a baby and now eats very little she still breastfeeds and this book has really helped her