Formula and breastmilk differences I am prompted by recent advertising of a formula in the UK as being closer to breastmilk and implying that the brand had already been close to breastmilk. I am not mentioning the brand name as lactnet could well do without a libel action and here in the UK the burden of proof is on lactnet not the formula company. Anyway it reminded me that if their marketing people are correct, and goodness knows they can afford the best, formula and breastmilk are still considered virtually the same in this country. However, classes and writing on breastfeeding tend to overlook this. To launch straight into trying to teach breastfeeding without first explaining why caring for a formula fed baby is so different from breastfeeding is a bit like trying to put paint onto something without stripping off the old first. It may look good for a while but it is soon in a worse state than before you started. Can I suggest teaching straight off that Formua is thicker than breastmilk-this takes care of worries about women’s milk being too thin for their babies Formula takes much longer to digest than human milk so baby starts giving signs he wants to suckle eg head turning, chewing fists, crying hours before it is safe to feed again as he will still be digesting the formula. Hence the need for pacifier, baby rockers, mobiles between feeds. Hence also the need for scheduling formula feeds. With the breastfed baby it is perfectly in order to feed the baby when it gives these cues to feed as the last feed will have been digested. It is also why these necessities for formula feeding ie scheduling and satisfying(or attempting to ) the instinct to suckle by artificial means are neither necessary or desirable in breastfeeding. Then and only then can someone take in the damage to the milk supply of these activities. Formula contains no properties to relax a mother so the suggested time apart from her baby is part of coping with this hormone imbalance. In the breastfeeding mother this necessity is not present so mothers can feel much more comfortable about not giving in to pressure to separate. Formula feeding does not provide a mother with sensitivity to her infant during cosleeping as she tends to sleep back to back with the infant whilst the breastfed infant’s mother makes a safe space for the baby with her arms and body during the night. A high proportion of formula remains undigested by the baby so the stools are unnaturally large. This takes care of concerns that the breastfed baby is sick when a mother’s formula feeding friends and relatives see the stools. If a formula fed baby has stools like that it probably is sick. I’m posting this not because it is news but because the basic differences between the two are very much underestimated and misunderstood by the mothers we help. Susan Stockwell Poole UK _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html