Jan Barger wrote:

>I'm beginning to think that knowing the risks of formula won't make much
>difference for most mothers.  Many come from a mindset of the tree w/o the
>escalator (just got off the phone with two of these); and that in their mind,
>formula
>isn't as good as breastmilk, but a) my other children did fine b) I did fine
>c) my neighbor's kid did fine.....

It isn't enough, somehow. I've even quoted the "formula fed infant 5 times
more likely to die in the first year" and it still doesn't move some people.

A person would have to living under a ROCK not to know the trite "Breast is
Best!" even the formula can says so. But I think people think breast is best
in the same way that going to an Ivy League college is best. Sure we'd ALL
love to send our kids there, but state college is fine too. I'm not saying
Ivy League schools aren't the best, I mean everyone agrees they are - even
the state colleges! Guidance counselors at high schools tell kids to have at
least one "safety school" to apply to, I remember being told not to aim too
high. Besides, Ivy League schools might be the best but they are more work,
and much more money. State school will suffice for my kid!

(The challenge is getting parents to see that it is not a case of "Harvard
vs. UMass" but more of a case of Good State College vs. phoney 'college' in
back of shady magazine that promises to send a certificate of PhD for just
$300 and an essay. In other words, there is no comparison. One is not a
substitute for another.)

Or to try another analogy, I hear over and over that Volvo is a safe car,
safer than most, and I believe it. But my Ford will have to do - all my
family have them anyway and no ones ever been hurt. It is a nice car too,
and it gets me whee I want to go, etc.

The second challenge is getting past the fact that, yes the data is there
showing the harm of formula... but if it were so bad, my doctor would not
recommend it. It must be ok since what doctor or nurse would really tell me
to use it if it were really causally connected to illness? that is where the
cognitive dissonance sets in.

Harvard sounded so damn prestigious I didn't even dream of applying. One of
the many ways in which the ABM companies suceed is in making breastfeeding
seem like far more work, less possibility for sleep and help and more
feeling "tied down"; Whereas formula is merely the norm that the "average
Jane" can expect. With that, it is harder to explain that it is not only the
presence of breastmilk, but the *absence* of ABM that is important.

Michelle DePesa
(thinking of Diane Weissinger!)

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