Hi mums
I dont know what some of you will think of this but I think its disgusting.
I went into boots yesterday to get some cow and gate comfort for Theo and handed it over at the till along with my advantage card but the woman serving told me that you cant collect advantage point on first stage formula milk as they want to promote breastfeeding. I had no idea about this as every other time I've brought it I must have been getting something else at the same time so was entitled to points on the other items.
I think its absolutley awful they do that. Having breastfed Theo for the first 4 weeks I gave up because he was a very hungry baby and my nipples were both cracked and bleeding. I felt incredibly guilty about it without huge companies making me feel worse.
What do other mums think about this?
xxx

I completely agree with you. I also had similar problems breastfeeding. Unfortunately I don't think its down to Boots, as at the supermarkets you can't collect clubcard points either. I think its down to the Health people and goverment etc. But I agree its not fair!

How awful that they do that, dont they think us mums have enough pressures without being made to feel guilty because we either choose to bottlefeed, or we have problems breastfeeding like yourself and i also had. I think a complaint should be made and find out who it is who makes these rules, why should we lose out??

Thats disgusting! I cant believe it! I used my points a while ago to buy a bottle (am bf, want my lo to take ebm) and there were no probs with that!

I definatly think you shoul write a letter complaining or a petition - i'm sure loads of us would sign it, inc me!

Hi,
Think its a Governement/ Dep of Health thing. Been that way for a while. The supermarkets are the same, no Nectar points at Sainsburies. It is frustrating!

Its like no-one can be seen to recommend/promote bottlefeeding. When we were having problems with Dylan in hospital, he was really jaundiced, they kept saying to feed him more, he was latching on but my milk wasn't in so he wasn't getting much. At no point did any of the midwives suggest giving formula, my milk didn't come in until day 4-5 so he just continued to get worse. It was a support worker who came across and said we should top him up with formula, then when he was reviewed by the midwife practitioners from scbu the 1st thing they said was he needed topped up until my milk came in. When i asked the midwives on the ward what milk to use (i hadn't bought any milk or even thought about it as i'd expected bf to be totally natural!) they said they weren't allowed to recommend, but that most mum's used cow and gate.
I think if we had topped up before we did we could avoided him ending up in scbu, lots of blood tests, and avoid 6 nights in hospital! Plus on discharge the midwife practitioner recommended we continue to top up as he needed. Don't think it was the individual midwife's fault, just what they're taught.
x

As far as im aware its not Boots who decides not to give points but rather the government not allowing them.

In this country you are not allowed to advertise formula for babies under 6 months, which is why all tv adverts are for follow on milk and if they use a picture of a bottle it has handles on it and all babies in advert are 6 months.

I used to work in retail and we were not allowed to give points for formula designed for babies under 6 months, and we could not offer multibuy savings or discounts for baby formula but we could for formula designed for babies over 6 months.

xxDBxx

As DoubleBubble and Spedshaw both say its not just Boots.

it is actually the Food standards agency who dictates not Boots...The new controls will ensure that all types of formula will meet the nutritional needs of babies and the marketing and promotion of such products won’t undermine breastfeeding.

see the link below.....

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/pressreleases/2007/nov/babymilkpress

I understand its not the actual shops fault now, but still dont you think its wrong that the goverment have decided this?
xx

I think it depends on how you look at it. I can see why you are annoyed as formula is bloody expensive, but it is sort of like prescription drugs. I think the theory is that if you need to buy it then you need to buy it, they don't want people to buy it just because the manufacturers are doing a special offer, or giving away a free gift or something (not that I am suggesting any of you lot are that gulible, but do you see what I meen?) Now I'm sure that no one would be daft enough to stop bfing just to get a free gift (you'd have to me insane given the price of the formula!) but it might encourage people to buy one formula over another regardless of which was actually better for the baby.
Not sure if any of that made any sense at all, appologies if it didn't!!
xx

P.S. I do think formula should be cheaper, personally I choose to bf but if you can't, or don't want to it seems wrong that the only alternative is so bloody expensive.

I cant believe that they think anyone would choose to bottlefeed in order to collect more points!
Unlike Spedshaw when Nathan was in hospital I was told to give him a bottle as his blood sugar dropped very low and he wasnt getting enough milk form me. The hospital were great and several of the staff helped me with trying to get him latched on but he was so sleepy that as soon as he latched on he fell asleep, (prob because of the blood sugar). They are meant to recommend formula if there is a medical reason to do so and they have worked with you to help bf but still been unsuccessful.
They also wouldnt recommend a brand but I have a friend who works as a Nurse on the unit who had already recommended Aptimal if I ff so I knew what I would use.
I do think its wrong that so many mums feel guilty for not bf ad that nearly all feeding support stops as soon as you formula feed. I have stopped going to clinic except for the odd weigh in as the HV's dont tell me anything I cant read in a book.
When I had Lauren 11 years ago my hv was great and used her experience to advice me rather then just spouting off guidelines.

I think it is terrible to be honest - it's ridiculous how formula milk and cigarettes have similar advertising/offers/points restrictions when they are totally different things! Though we all know breast milk is best, formula is still a nourishing food for lo's and babies thrive on it! Yet supermarkets still do cheap deals on booze which encourages binge drinking which puts a fair few people in hospital every year, whereas formula saves the lives of babies whose mums can't bf for medical reasons and so on.
On the other side of the coin, I'm in malta atm and most mums must BF as there is practically no formula here at all. The nearest supermarket is a 30 min walk and they only have a few tiny tins of SMA!

I knew Boots & Sainsbury's didn't give points on first stage formula but I didn't know that was the reason why! I just assumed they were putting in the same category as prescription medicines - still ridiculous anyway. As someone else said who in their right mind would stop breastfeeding just to collect a few points on formula? But for those who are unable to breast feed or those that choose not to, those few extra points would come in very handy!

im sick to death of reading 'breast is best'

my hv told me hospitals have to get so many numbers of breastfeeding mums a year (she was a good hv lol)

i was too scared to tell my hv i was bottlefeeding (or that sam had a dummy, i actually used to hide it from her incase she spotted it) and when she found out she was so nice, its the goverment thats made me feel so bad!!! i stopped bf'ing because sam was miserable with reflux, i really enjoyed bf whilst it was a calm affair, however i also think bottlefeeding is great. sam was bottlefed from 3 months old. he took to it very well and is a healthy and happy little boy.

it makes me sick how the goverment can manipulate mums like this and remind us on formula packs or whatever, that we're not doing the best for our baby!! wtf? no one EVER has the right to do that.

never mind that some women are unable to breast feed - some women just dont want to do it! they have made an informed choice, and that is that! they should be supported - not victimised- for this!!

does the advert for follow on milk make you decide which milk you want to AF with? no it doesnt, because most women will use the same brand from start to finish (unless suspected problems). the reason it is done is as said, it is a legal loophole in advertising formula. tbh, i wouldnt waste my money on it - babies should stay on the first milk for as long as poss, then go on cows milk.

did seeing a follow on advert make you think that you should just go straight to formula instead of breast feeding. it isnt adverts that make you decide how you feed your baby, it is you!

seeing as more than likely you know what milk you want to af with - either before or after trying breast feeding, it doesnt make a bit of difference to the pesky government!

why shouldnt you be able to get clubcard / advantage points etc.!!!!

when i had my 1st & 2nd, ALL formula was £4.80 at the clinic, and they are now not allowed to sell it due to the Breast Feeding police! i've just finished paying just less than £8 for a box of Aptamil. thank god for cows milk!!!

as for recommending milk in hospitals - we'd get hung, drawn and quartered for doing so!! it really annoys me that we cannot appear to respect womens choice on how they choose to feed their baby, without making them feel guilty!

when tesco had the spend £50+ for 5p a litre off petrol a few months ago, i got the cashier to stop my bill at just over £50, then paid (thinking i could get 2 vouchers as i had a big shop!!). the voucher didnt come off the till, and when i pointed it out, he told me that is was because my first lot of shopping contained 2 packs of formula! needless to say, i was not best pleased!

sorry rant over!

Yep I had the same argument in Tescos as didn't get my points, unfortunatley like most things this government has control over it is pure PANTS!!
Katie.x x x

I can't believe the government put a rule on such a thing!!!! I'm sure the shops wouldn't mind giving the points for formula and no-one would choose to use formula as they would get points as breast milk is free!!!

We get points on junk food when the government is pushing healthy eating ! Lol!

I used to work for boots for about 4 years. I was informed its because the companies choose not to let customers get advantage points on their products. hi didnt realise the gov were to blame. Well, I've learnt something new today!! xxx

[Modified by: Joey08 (aka Bumpety Bump) on October 13, 2008 06:32 PM]</p>

Way to go for the government to make you feel bad if you can't breastfeed.
I never produced more than 10ml of milk at a time and for obvious reasons couldn't breastfeed, even though that's what I planned to do.
As if I didn't feel guilty enough about it at the time, that really would have annoyed me if I'd known it.
Not everyone who uses bottles chooses to do so after all.

It still upsets me now, 6 months down the line that I wasn't able to breastfeed. I was ill after the baby was born & I tried but I got no elp from the hospital & I was producing very little at a time which was why I thought I would rather my daughter was getting something rather than nothing.
I have now discovered you don't get points on the 2nd stage milk either & this is obviously because it is suitable from birth as well!

This is yet more of the 'Nanny' state syndrome that seems to be prevailent at the moment. The government seems to think that no one is capable of making an informed choice and that we all need to be told what to do. What worries me is that future generations actually won't be able to make choices for themselves!

What annoys me most is that those of us that have had to give up bfing have all felt guilty about it at some point when we have no reason to. My LO is far healthier now that she is actually getting enough to eat! Why on earth should I be made to feel guilty about that! But I did at first!

As for the formula issue, I don't have a problem with not having special offers/free gifts etc. It's not good to constantly swap between brands and some people may be tempted to do this. But why on earth should we not be able to get points - that's not going to influence which brand you buy!

Sorry this is a bit of a rant but as you can probably tell I don't like being told what to do!