Hi All,
    I want to agree with Keitha, I have seen moms who will put anything,
it really shocked me, into a bottle. When I was in Germany, a neighbor
of a friend of mine, was in an urgent situation needing infant formula
(long story) and she brought the father to me, knowing that Sarah was
fairly new born. I however, was breastfeeding and had no formula, but I
did have the list of new and expectant moms on post that I work with. We
went to a half dozen houses, and only one had formula (powdered) and not
enough to spare. At the time, I wondered what they were feeding their
babies.
    Later that winter our 'commissary' ran out of formula and I found
out that these mothers chose to feed cows milk, homemade formula, juices
and milk thickened cereal in place of going into town and purchasing
German formula. I have seen soft drinks, chocolate milk, juices, fruit
drinks, cereal mixes, and even alcohol (beer or wine)[supposedly to
'help' them sleep]. It is scary to me, and one of the things I stress as
a danger to expectant moms that I talk with. I have also seen bottles in
a condition that would make your stomach turn. That is another reason I
turned to breastfeeding, I started back in the days, when it was
stressed to sterilize, and I was sick of it by the time #2 came along.
Also for those who teach formula feeding, I believe it it Marsha
Walker's piece in the JHL a while back that lists 50% of formula fed
infants are switched to different types due to feeding problems. That is
a high number in my mind, and I am sure most moms are not aware that it
is such a common problem.

Leslie Ward
Vine Grove, KY
"Teaching by example is not the main way to learn, it is the only way."
Albert Einstein