Philadelphia Nesties
Tianacheron
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
No more formula samples!
Ridin dirty
Re: No more formula samples!
Meh. This doesn't bother me and I don't think it will affect someone that is against breastfeeding.
And it does say it will give the samples if medically necessary. I wonder if they will give them out upon request if a mother states she does not want to breastfeed.
#1 12.11.11
#2 10.23.13 EDD
I think it's a great idea. Bf'ing is so hard. I think it's too tempting and easy to stop nursing if you have a standby.
I think with all the benefits of nursing it needs to be encouraged more.
I also love how the formula sellers are like, "Trust moms to make their own decisions!" Um, we can still do that without being sent home with formula.
hmmmm i'm torn. ds has been ebf, and we were able to do it easily. so i would say that for me, i am in favor of breast feeding. but i don't think formula is the devil and if you can't bf or don't want to bf i think it should be available to you (without something ridiculous like a script from a doc).
i think it is like having "no pain meds" in your birth plan and telling the nurses up front not to ask if you want them- just do the same for formula.
i have 3 cans of the powder in a cabinet and i am afraid to donate it because as soon as i do, i know my supply will tank and then we will need it. i was never tempted to use it for ds, even in the early days.
I think samples are great when/if a doctor tells you to supplement... you can go home right away with some formula and not stop at the store with a tiny baby.
I do think nursing might be pushed a bit much on mothers that aren't bfeeding for whatever reason. I had to stop nursing after a month and felt like crap over it and was a mess, and to receive all these emails from babycenter and whattoexpect.com pushing breastfeeding and making it sound like you are a bad mom if you bottle feed really upset me. These came in emails that talked about my developing baby, not articles that I went online to seek out, so it's not like I knew I was going to see that when I opened the email.
This.
Honestly, if the samples were not available to me in the hospital I would have been even more of a mess. I tried to ebf and had never even heard of being tongue tied or heard of having your tongue clipped. After being awake in labor for almost 2 days then having a shitty c section and a kid who pushed my boob away and being in so much pain that I couldn't hardly stand up straight I was horrified when they told me my best option was cutting his tongue. I had such horrible anxiety from all the stress I was under and wasn't in my right frame of mind to think calmly and inquire more about it or even look it up online. I went for the formula, maybe I chose it too quickly but at the time it was the best decision for him and for me.
I was already heartbroken about not being able to bf and pushing enough guilt on myself that I really didn't need all the pro bf'ers shoving their opinion down my throat at that point. On the flip side, I didn't have any RN's pushing formula on me at all.
We ended up not clipping it. It was offered to us in the hospital and I was so unsure about it. When we had our first appointment at his ped office a few days after we got home from the hospital the Dr said it wasn't a bad tongue tie and that they didn't see the need to have it clipped if I wasn't breast feeding anyway. This was confirmed by another Dr at the practice a few weeks later (because I wanted a second opinion).
My dh is tongue tied as well and was never clipped. His is not bad either. From what I understand some babies tongue's are almost fused to the bottom of their mouth because that little flap is so short which obviously causes nursing and speech problems. Tommy's is apparently short enough to cause nursing issues but they said he should have no problems with speech.
See, I didn't get samples until I was told by the PED to supplement. I am all about samples in that circumstance. I guess I am confused by what's considered medically necessary samples... special dietary needs of baby or an inability to breastfeed?
I agree, if someone has no interest in them, they should not be pushed on them. Or maybe give the option for those cans to be donated instead. I know, wishful thinking.
But I also don't think formula is the devil and if someone wants/needs the samples, they should be able to have them.
i guess i kind of look at it like hotel shampoo/soap- you can take it if you want/need it or you can leave it there. same with formula samples or diaper samples. you can always refuse. if you are cloth diapering, will/did you take the disposable samples or did you just leave them?
i just think it should be readily available so tired moms, whose milk hasn't come in, has a tongue tied kid, just doesn't want to bf for whatever reason, can not feel like crap because of their decision.
my niece had reaction to all kinds of formula at the hospital so she needed special kind, it was pricey so they ordered it as a medicine for them for a while?
i'm just trying to say if you want it you should ask for it, but not just be given it.
I will be leaving both the disposable diapers and the formula samples.
Maybe if the formula companies stopped giving out samples to everyone (instead of people who request it or need it due to allergies/chemo/etc) they'd be able to lower formula costs for people that actually need/want it.
#1 12.11.11
#2 10.23.13 EDD
I agree with that. If you want it, you should be able to get it, but too much junk is given out for free and ends up in the trash. Why did I take home the extra pads from the hospital???
I don't think it will change minds. I think samples might make it easier to choose a brand (if you just go with whatever sample you got) but as someone said earlier, if you want to bottle feed, you will bottle feed, and if you want to breast feed, you'll do so. I can't imagine wanting to breastfeed and planning to breastfeed and then saying "oh, well I've got this small container of Enfamil that I got for free just sitting here; I'll just do that instead."
I totally disagree that most people make up their mind about feeding ahead of time. Unless people are talking out of their bums, almost everyone tells you "Oh, I am going to try breastfeeding". I am sure some of them probably don't mean it, but most people say it with good intentions.
I'm not necessarily anti samples - DS had a tongue tie and was jaundice, and we did need to supplement for a few days after nursing sessions. But the problem is there is ZERO breastfeeding education out there unless you proactively register for a pricey class. I know plenty of people that have no clue how a breastfeed baby eats, or about growth supports, and think they "couldn't" breastfeed or "didn't make enough".
I much rather see breastfeeding education become a standard part of pre-natal care before they ditch samples for people who need it, or who are properly educated and then make a decision not to breastfeed. But I had plenty of free samples and never used them once his tie was clipped - because I knew what to expect.
Excellent point.
#1 12.11.11
#2 10.23.13 EDD
I really cannot even count the number of women I have encountered on the nest who are literally wracked with guilt and actually grieving that they have to give up breastfeeding or cannot do it. I don't think it's a choice that many women take lightly, at all. I've also seen a lot of bullying from breastfeeding advocates.
I think amy's idea is a great one, for some people it just happens but for a lot of people it sounds like some education would help things out greatly.
Yeah that's right my name's Yauch!
I feel like I know endless people who have done this.
Formula companies know that the first weeks especially are horrific when it comes to breastfeeding, and bank on mothers having zero knowledge about how breastfeeding works. Normal is still very hard! And all of that time, that free can is just sitting on your shelf, waiting for your breakdown.
here i go bringing up the black thing again, but 95% of my friends and family knew that they weren't even going to attempt breast feeding......
Ti- I am not black and had no intentions of BF so the race card isn't going to work this time!
I am in the minority here but had no intentions of BF with T2 or T3 and do not regret this decision.I dont wish to turn this into a FF vs BF war and I don't think that was Ti's intention with the post either. That being said, my mind was made up regardless if a sample was given to me at the hospital. I will say that the brand given out did influence me to keep using it because I didn't know better.
I agree with Ering's- the formula should be offered to all and there for the taking
Jonathan Dean 4.5.08
Anna Capri 5.4.11
TJW arrived 7/28/11
Jonathan Dean 4.5.08
Anna Capri 5.4.11
wow! sometimes i feel like my little guy will pass my daughter in weight before he starts walking. he is a chunk! but i love it
TJW arrived 7/28/11
I couldn't agree more. When I was in the hospital for my booby issue, the lactation consultant was in my face that I still had to breastfeed and having a tube in my breast for a month shouldn't make a difference, eff...you. I had to get security to kick her out and had the hospital staff on notice not to allow her back into my room...she was one crazy beotch.
Also, I agree with Amy. They should be there for whomever wants the samples and if one doesn't want it, just leave it. A lot can change with breastfeeding, things happen, like in my case which of course was extreme but I really was made to feel like shiit after the surgery though I did continue to pump one booby for another 3 months..hell.on.earth.