It's just like a drug. It should be locked up and nurses should not be able to give that fake milk stuff to infants unless they fill out paperwork justifying every bottle.
You have to love New York City. It's a dirty, grimy, expensive place with lotsa muggings and homeless people. But the government wants to make sure babies are breastfed and nobody drinks too much soda. Seriously.
You do know this will lead to babies going hungry for hours because forms aren't filled out. It will also lead to too many nurses in the drug cabinets too often and things going missing. Somehow.
I got some really nice diaper bags and formula in the hospital when I had Patrick. He never drank any formula until he ate cereal, when it was mixed in. Free stuff is good! Why can't the formula companies get a crack at buying my business? Let them try. Peter Rabbit is really cute.
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ReplyDeleteI could cry.
Hey, NY's not all that bad.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo... 16-18 years ago in NY, I had to fight tooth and nail for breastfeeding support and threaten lives to prevent the kids from being given formula. How times have changed.
ps I am from the NYC area, but the kids were born wayyyy upstate in Rochester, so I can't speak to the practices of NYC hospitals at that time.
ReplyDeleteHere is my idea for encouraging breast feeding. Make mom's on WIC pay even a part of the cost of using formula instead. My daughter was breastfeeding until she got on WIC. She got 9 cans a month absolutely free. Yep, about $150 of formula free every. single. month.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many moms would breast feed if formula weren't subsidized? I wonder if formula companies would continue to charge an arm and a leg if they had to compete in a free market without government assistance?
And, having been mixing it for going on 5 months now, it is gross! The powder is sticky, it is a pain in the neck to travel with... and, let's not mention the foul formula poops.
this is a great point. When I was breastfeeding and washing cloth diapers myself, my brother was calling me for papers and formula money. He got pretty ticked off when I said no, but if I could breastfeed and process diapers for my kids, why should I be paying for yours to take the more expensive route>
DeleteYES, formula is expensive and the powder is nasty. Breast milk is better and cheaper, too.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of WIC. I don't "get" why they would give zillions of bucks out on that program JUST for kids under six (seven? five? something.) It's as though once you're not pregnant any more or your kid is above a certain age, who cares about you? It would be nice if food stamps worked similarly, though, so much meat or milk or cheese per month. You get some choice but not a lot.
PS Have lived near NYC as a young teen. No way I could afford/want to live there now.
What sickens me as a New Yorker is that right now on most of the Facebook garage sale sites you will find several postings of formula that was FREE from either WIC, or hospitals, or the 'hey you had a kid, were mailing you some free samples' that families are selling for just a dollar or two under what the stores charge. As a tax paying resident this infuriates me! Why are we giving away formula (or any food for that matter) when people will just turn around and try to get cash for it?
ReplyDeleteYes, breastfeeding is best...and no, it's not for everyone...but I for one am sick of people 'milking' the system and taking everything the can only to turn around and bite the hand that feeds them. Literally.
Is locking up the formula the answer? No. But on any freebies there should be clear markings on the cans to ensure they cannot be resold. It's stealing.
My first thought is, "So... did these children get to eat or not?" because that's even more sick than reselling gifts. I don't want to think about it.
DeleteBut you're right: people shouldn't resell that stuff. I had no idea! I got the formula samples "just in case." Because "just in case" does happen, and so long as you are not pressured to use the formula, I don't see a problem with that.
We lived in a poor area when Patrick was born and our local food bank was the very grateful recipient of this stuff when we realized we didn't need it. I hope it actually FED some hungry children, but as a giver I can only give and cannot always be sure my gifts wind up in the right place. :(
Hmmm... I'm having trouble nursing right now and have tried everything I can think of to get more milk. I finally had to go buy formula the other night to suppliment. :(
ReplyDelete((Hugs!))
DeleteIt's got to be hard to even have five minutes to sit down, let alone do whatever you need to do to get the milk going. I think any bit of milk Juliet is getting is going to help her. :)