# That new SMA understanding parents TV ad - what a crock



## Betsy Og (29 Aug 2007)

Its all very nicey and everything about he'll be the best daddy in the whole world but some of the stuff in it is pure cringe, schlock like:

"I'll tell you regularly how brilliant you are and how proud I am of you yadda yadda....."

Now its a fine sentiment but could you ever picture a  real man (and by that I dont mean a macho/strong but silent/other overly masculine type) saying any of that stuff. Obviously written by women for women and, speaking frankly, its a pure guilt trip on your average man (like myself).

Put it this way, if it was written by men for men and a woman was reading the part it would be something along the lines of:

"I'd rush back from the gym where I've been keeping myself fit for you, perform fellatio before fixing your tea and then we'll go at it all night cos your the best in the whole world ...."

Again "noble" sentiments but what would you think if you hubby was smiling over at you as that trundled out on the telly.

Signed,

A guilt-tripped average daddy.


----------



## Jock04 (29 Aug 2007)

Betsy Og said:


> its a pure guilt trip on your average man (like myself).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

Not entirely sure that your average man would adopt the nick "Betsy"....... 

But you're right, terrible ad


----------



## capall (29 Aug 2007)

Agree,would love to see the meeting in the ad agency when they were brain storming this one

Its also the kind of ad which the more you hear ,the more you want to throw something at the TV   

Actually most of the ads voiced over like this are vomit inducing


----------



## foxylady (29 Aug 2007)

Whoever wrote it must have been smoking something


----------



## ClubMan (29 Aug 2007)

Advertisment implicated in emotional blackmail/guilt trip manipulation shocker! 

Next!


----------



## annR (29 Aug 2007)

Whats SMA?


----------



## ClubMan (29 Aug 2007)

Infant formula.


----------



## Betsy Og (29 Aug 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Advertisment implicated in emotional blackmail/guilt trip manipulation shocker!
> 
> Next!


 
Not so much that its a shocker tactic - just that its such a cringe - and the subtle difference is that it could be counter productive for once. Most of the charity adds have that guilt trip angle but you wouldnt typically say "I was going to give them money but now I wont". 

Whereas with SMA I'd be saying - what a shower of fools - I'll take Farleys instead. 

p.s. wouldnt you think in such a perfect family the mother would be breastfeeding .... better for baby y'know ......enlightened Scandanavians all do it .... hope you're not some low life harming your child ..... you'll burn in hell for this ............   (I'm counter blackmailing them  )


----------



## ClubMan (29 Aug 2007)

Betsy Og said:


> Whereas with SMA I'd be saying - what a shower of fools - I'll take Farleys instead.


Yeah - it's cheaper for a start. Ever since that salmonella incident(s?) a while ago!


----------



## Thirsty (29 Aug 2007)

> Whats SMA?


Artifical Baby Milk

"Formula" was a dreamt up marketing word to make it sound more scientific.


----------



## nelly (30 Aug 2007)

i am glad I am not alone in thinkin that its a silly smug irritating add 


Betsy Og said:


> p.s. wouldnt you think in such a perfect family the mother would be breastfeeding .... better for baby y'know ......


the same thing occurred to me and I'm actually not anti formula's until i have watched this a few times.


----------



## Vanilla (30 Aug 2007)

Agree: Ad is cringe worthy.

Also can understand the use of word 'Nazi' in connection with La Leche who are really extremist and, in my opinion, the cause of many a mother turning in despair from breast feeding to formula ( spoken as someone who did breast feed two babies, followed La Leche guidance on number 1 but was much the wiser and happier not following La Leche on number 2).


----------



## sinbadsailor (30 Aug 2007)

foxylady said:


> Whoever wrote it must have been smoking something



Picture it, group of high powered, power-suit wearing marketing females, sitting around a table discussing the ad with 'mothering consultants' because they are too busy with creating such muck to have any understanding of what it would be like to be a home-mother.

And then at the end all it comes down to is 'buy this crap milk for your babies....it's synthetic, unnatural and will pile on the pounds, but heh at least your boobs won't sag and you'll save some nipple pain!

I'll probably be jumped on for the above, but heh, just 'letting off steam'


----------



## Gabriel (30 Aug 2007)

The majority of ads are aimed at women...even some that are supposedly aimed at men. No man really wants to see another naked man jumping across his tv screen in the name of some nice smelly!!

My favourite ad right now is for Vagisil - hilarious


----------



## Carpenter (30 Aug 2007)

Kildrought said:


> Artifical Baby Milk
> 
> "Formula" was a dreamt up marketing word to make it sound more scientific.


 
I've heard formula and bottle feeding referred to as "artificial feeding" by one overzealous nurse...


----------



## sinbadsailor (30 Aug 2007)

I would go as far to say that any mother that doesn't breastfeed, barring medical grounds, is not putting her childs needs first. Time contraints, convenience etc do not cut it I'm afraid. 

These products are just making our babies fatter, giving them too many unnatural 'goodies', and will in the long run only serve to weaken their immune systems...although I have no scientific fact to back that up, but any food product that gives the body something that t has the ability to produce itself is not helping


----------



## Gabriel (30 Aug 2007)

sinbadsailor said:


> I would go as far to say that any mother that doesn't breastfeed, barring medical grounds, is not putting her childs needs first. Time contraints, convenience etc do not cut it I'm afraid.



They should be flogged....or stoned in public perhaps


----------



## Summer (30 Aug 2007)

A lot of men these days are getting in touch with their feminine side. Just look at all the pink shirts. Real men do not wear pink shirts.  As for breast feeding, why do breast fed babies have to have an injection of vitamin K?


----------



## sinbadsailor (30 Aug 2007)

Summer said:


> A lot of men these days are getting in touch with their feminine side. Just look at all the pink shirts. Real men do not wear pink shirts.  As for breast feeding, why do breast fed babies have to have an injection of vitamin K?



Men don't have a femine side, they are men. No more than women have a male side.

As for the Vitamin K, I have no idea. Are you suggesting that a child does not get everything it requires nutritionally from breast milk and that 'artifical' injections are required?


----------



## ClubMan (30 Aug 2007)

sinbadsailor said:


> I would go as far to say that any mother that doesn't breastfeed, barring medical grounds, is not putting her childs needs first. Time contraints, convenience etc do not cut it I'm afraid.
> 
> These products are just making our babies fatter, giving them too many unnatural 'goodies', and will in the long run only serve to weaken their immune systems...although I have no scientific fact to back that up, but any food product that gives the body something that t has the ability to produce itself is not helping


Sure if we're in the realm of making things up I'm going to claim that breastfeeding is bad too. So there.


----------



## sinbadsailor (30 Aug 2007)

Just hoping to provoke some discussion on the baby feeding subject, just because I state I don't have any scientific fact to back something up, doesn't mean that I made it up? Sometimes the condascending attitude doesn't help much ClubMan.


----------



## ubiquitous (30 Aug 2007)

sinbadsailor said:


> I would go as far to say that any mother that doesn't breastfeed, barring medical grounds, is not putting her childs needs first.



That's a very sweeping statement to make. One problem with breastfeeding (according to my other half, a mother of 2 kids) is that it is difficult to know how much or how little milk a baby is consuming while feeding from the breast. In comparison when a baby feeds from a bottle, it is usually quite easy to monitor the volume that they consume.

She believes that it is possible (based on the experiences of some of her own peers) that some breastfed children end up underfed.


----------



## ubiquitous (30 Aug 2007)

sinbadsailor said:


> Just hoping to provoke some discussion on the baby feeding subject ...


If I had known that the purpose of your earlier statement was simply to stir up a row, frankly I wouldn't have bothered replying.


----------



## michaelm (30 Aug 2007)

Summer said:


> . . why do breast fed babies have to have an injection of vitamin K?


AFAIK all newborns in Ireland, breastfed or not, get a once-off vitamin K injection; my five did anyway when each landed in the Coombe (each about 40 weeks after my wife 'fell' pregnant ).  The ad that irritates me is the one about 'Progress'? formula . . 'You may have breastfed, then moved on to formula, now that he's one - why stop protecting him? . . well because he doesn't need it! (must keep remembering to mute the ads).


----------



## Gabriel (30 Aug 2007)

ubiquitous said:


> She believes that it is possible (based on the experiences of some of her own peers) that some breastfed children end up underfed.



How on earth could a baby being breastfed be underfed? I could understand them being overfed as babies are greedy little beggars...but underfed? Unless a baby is feeling off they only have three moods - _hungry_, _sleepy_ and _wet_


----------



## sinbadsailor (30 Aug 2007)

ubiquitous said:


> She believes that it is possible (based on the experiences of some of her own peers) that some breastfed children end up underfed.



I presume this can also work the other way. I would ahve thought the baby would eat their fill, so to speak? 

This subject interests me, only becasue I will have a sprog of my own next year, that all.


----------



## sinbadsailor (30 Aug 2007)

ubiquitous said:


> If I had known that the purpose of your earlier statement was simply to stir up a row, frankly I wouldn't have bothered replying.



Discussion != row, ubiquitous.

What happened to people just talking, giving opinions and learning from others posts. Why does it always com down to who is right & who is wrong? Isn't the aim of the forum about knowledge-sharing, not judging people by what they say?


----------



## ubiquitous (30 Aug 2007)

Gabriel said:


> How on earth could a baby being breastfed be underfed? I could understand them being overfed as babies are greedy little beggars...but underfed? Unless a baby is feeling off they only have three moods - _hungry_, _sleepy_ and _wet_



You'll have to ask my wife that - she's the expert in our house on this particular subject. I think she believes that some babies are less hungry, or lets say, a little more laid-back when it comes to feeding, than others. Again this is only in the realms of theory so I can't really answer for sure


----------



## Westbound (30 Aug 2007)

The other thing about this ad and some others is the CGI smile they stick on the babies - they look a little freaky!

Does anyone remember the bank of Ireland (I think) ad from a year or two back, the father in the creche/nursery making the same type of promises to his child, except it turned out he was talking to the wrong child. That really really annoyed me as if it was a reverse role scenario, there would have been war over it.

On the other topic - at the end of the day the will I/won't breastfeed decision is down to the mother who has to look after the child after all. I've noticed that alot of mothers-to-be are given a real guilt trip (dirty looks), even by their best friends,espcially those who don't actually have kids, if they say they intend not breastfeeding. It only adds to the stress of being a new mother and they should be supported in whatever decision they make.

Our daughter was formula/bottle/artificially fed and she is slim and healthy. In fact, since we took her out of the creche, she hasn't been sick at all (that's 6 months ago), so the immune thing is probably a load of codswallop as plenty of breastfeb babies still get colds and other bugs.


----------



## Vanilla (30 Aug 2007)

This is turning into a breastfed-v- bottlefed debate!

Personally I feel that a happy and relaxed mother means a happy and relaxed baby. So whatever works for the mother is what is best.

I don't know if I give too much credence to all the claims of how much better breast feeding is for the baby. Swings and roundabouts I would have thought.

Westbound- you mention someone being made feel guilty for not breastfeeding. But in my case I was the only person ( on my first baby) on the ward who was breastfeeding and I really did feel like the odd one out. I also had embarrassing reactions from friends and acquaintances at the fact that I was breastfeeding- a common reaction was that it was a kind of new age/hippy sort of thing to do. 

I found breastfeeding my first baby to be very, very hard going. If there had been a bit more experienced, flexible and kind advice it could have been much easier. You live and learn though, and I found breastfeeding my second baby to be much easier.

As I said, I really don't know if the benefits are as great as they are made out to be. However as this is Ask About Money, I will say that breast feeding is much cheaper...LOL.


----------



## Purple (30 Aug 2007)

It's just another ad that sells stuff to women by taking the **** out of men. Nothing new.


----------



## Thirsty (30 Aug 2007)

> "artificial feeding" by one overzealous nurse


It's not really anything to do with being "overzealous", it's a standard term often used by medical professionals.  Just like (say) heart attack vs. cardiac arrest.


----------



## Betsy Og (30 Aug 2007)

Since this has become a pro or anti breastfeeding thread I want to state, for the avoidance of doubt (as the fella says), that I dont have any strong views on that subject - despite the bit of craic below. 

On our wee man we (well my wife if you must know  ) tried it but it wasnt working out so onto the bottle & have a hail & hearty lad, no complaints TG. 

I dont think its a big issue, if it works great & if not then dont sweat it. I'd agree that in Ireland the negative reaction is more likely to come if you are breastfeeding than if not.


----------



## Summer (30 Aug 2007)

http://www.womens-health.co.uk/vitk.asp


----------



## Gordanus (31 Aug 2007)

While I happily and discreetly breastfed my baby in any number of public places, only being noticed once by 2 middle-aged women, I've found that Irish breastfeeding = breastfeed at home/in private (sometimes withdrawing to a different room); when going out, express milk and feed the baby the expressed milk from the bottle.  Which takes ALL the convenience away from the feeding!  Typical Irish "modesty" (=confusion about sexuality)- which brings me to a merger with the religious thread...


----------



## Carpenter (31 Aug 2007)

Kildrought said:


> It's not really anything to do with being "overzealous", it's a standard term often used by medical professionals. Just like (say) heart attack vs. cardiac arrest.


 
I hadn't heard the term used before; I was amused by this, especially since our own two children were breastfeed and never sampled this "artificial feeding"!


----------



## sydthebeat (31 Aug 2007)

my wife happens to love that ad.... 
'ooooh', she would coo, 'that ad is so lovely...'




i have to do my best not to puke.....


----------



## michaelm (31 Aug 2007)

Gordanus said:


> . . I've found that Irish breastfeeding = breastfeed at home/in private (sometimes withdrawing to a different room); when going out, express milk and feed the baby the expressed milk from the bottle.  Which takes ALL the convenience away from the feeding!...


Can't agree with this.  It straight forward to feed pretty much anywhere and the vast majority of people will be oblivious; and I've never heard of anyone expressing so they can bottle feed when in public, that sounds crazy to me.


----------



## PM1234 (2 Sep 2007)

michaelm said:


> Can't agree with this. It straight forward to feed pretty much anywhere and the vast majority of people will be oblivious; and I've never heard of anyone expressing so they can bottle feed when in public, that sounds crazy to me.


 
My friend (first baby due in October) and currently attending her antenatal classes has been advised to do this. The advantages of it are a) able to measure the volume consumed b) elimates the problems some people have with changing over to bottles and c) partner can participate (particularly helpful to  tired new mums for nightfeeds etc)


----------



## Purple (2 Sep 2007)

PM1234 said:


> partner can participate (particularly helpful to new mums for nightfeeds, a couple of hours timeout etc.



Yea, a friend of mine gave me a great piece of advice when Mrs Purple was expecting our first one. He said "Get 'em on the tit. They’ll bond and you'll get a night sleep". 
It didn't work out that way and I did all the night feeds on number one so to all expecting fathers out there: breast fed is best... best for the fathers anyway!


----------



## Carpenter (2 Sep 2007)

Purple said:


> He said "Get 'em on the tit. They’ll bond and you'll get a night sleep".


 
Been there mate, twice and it does work, great stuff that breast milk (and I never woke!).


----------



## casiopea (3 Sep 2007)

sinbadsailor said:


> I would go as far to say that any mother that doesn't breastfeed, barring medical grounds, is not putting her childs needs first. Time contraints, convenience etc do not cut it I'm afraid.



I think that is a very sweeping statement, bordering on ignorant.  Many women don't breast feed for many reasons that aren't related to Time constraints/convenience.  One of the most common reasons for not breast feeding is the baby itself not taking to the breast.  For me sweeping statements do not cut it I'm afraid.


----------



## sinbadsailor (3 Sep 2007)

casiopea said:


> I think that is a very sweeping statement, bordering on ignorant.  Many women don't breast feed for many reasons that aren't related to Time constraints/convenience.  One of the most common reasons for not breast feeding is the baby itself not taking to the breast.  For me sweeping statements do not cut it I'm afraid.



As I had mentioned, medical grounds or reasons out of mother and babies control were the exception.

The reason I have that point of view is that I have friends/family members that breastfeed but the mainly of them don't, and when asked why the reasons ranged from 'my poor breasts!'...to 'people would stare in public'...to the fact that it's more convenint for the mother to use the formula. I don't find these as valid reasons I'm afraid, that's all


----------



## casiopea (3 Sep 2007)

sinbadsailor said:


> As I had mentioned, medical grounds or reasons out of mother and babies control were the exception.



In fairness, the first time you didn't say reasons out of a mothers and babies control just medical grounds.

My experience has been different to yours, Id say 90% of the woman I know have breast feed and those that havent, havent done so as it didnt suit/embarassment/etc.  but rather because it didnt take.  In one case a friend stop quite quickly as it hurt very badly.  I would agree with Vanilla - 



> I feel that a happy and relaxed mother means a happy and relaxed baby. So whatever works for the mother is what is best.


----------



## ragazza (3 Sep 2007)

Originally Posted by *sinbadsailor* http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=478738#post478738 
_I would go as far to say that any mother that doesn't breastfeed, barring medical grounds, is not putting her childs needs first. _


Rubbish! All women and babies are different, and the same solution doesnt suit everyone. I agree with Vanilla when she said a happy, relaxed mum helps make a happy, relaxed baby.

My sister was determined to breast feed, and it was the worst decision she ever made.
She had a huge, hungry baby, and just was not producing enough milk to feed her child. Her baby had to be brought to hospital a few times, since she was vomiting blood - turns out to be my sister's blood from cracked nipples. Still, my sister persevered, and ended up an exhausted shadow of herself, and had a hungry, fractious baby.

I and none of my siblings was breastfed, and we're all healthy with normal immune systems.
Each mum should just do what suits her circumstances, without taking into account "helpful" sweeping statements like the one above.


----------



## nelly (3 Sep 2007)

Its "icky" for some women to think of BF - leaking boobs in public, demand feeding every 2 hours etc, having to drink loads of water and avoid foods and alcohol etc and i think thats why many do not do it. sure why not when you can get SMA and get yer man to make them up. 

In countries like NZ where the majority of mums BF (infact women look at you like you were crazy when you suggest bottle feeding as even an alternative there) there is far more support and knowledge from community midwives than here, the downside is that if you don't BF you can feel very guilty there. To quote one MW in New Zealand out there "its more than my job is worth to give you information on bottle milk - if you need it the doctor will tell you"  just a different view.


----------



## Purple (3 Sep 2007)

Carpenter said:


> Been there mate, twice and it does work, great stuff that breast milk (and I never woke!).


Yea, three times and not a breast in sight.


----------



## autumnleaf (3 Sep 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Sure if we're in the realm of making things up I'm going to claim that breastfeeding is bad too. So there.


 
OK, let's inject some actual scientific facts into the discussion then:

"Research in developed and developing countries of the world, including middle-class populations in developed countries, provides strong evidence that human milk feeding decreases the incidence and/or severity of a wide range of infectious diseases, including bacterial meningitis, bacteremia,diarrhea,respiratory tract infection,necrotizing enterocolitis, otitis media, urinary tract infection, and late-onset sepsis in preterm infants....Some studies suggest decreased rates of sudden infant death syndrome in the first year of life and reduction in incidence of insulin-dependent (type 1) and non–insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes mellitus, lymphoma, leukemia, and Hodgkin disease, overweight and obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and asthma in older children and adults who were breastfed, compared with individuals who were not breastfed. Additional research in this area is warranted...

Important health benefits of breastfeeding and lactation are also described for mothers. The benefits include decreased postpartum bleeding and more rapid uterine involution attributable to increased concentrations of oxytocin, decreased menstrual blood loss and increased child spacing attributable to lactational amenorrhea, earlier return to prepregnancy weight, decreased risk of breast cancer, decreased risk of ovarian cancer, and possibly decreased risk of hip fractures and osteoporosis in the postmenopausal period."

[Source:
[broken link removed]]


----------



## Seagull (3 Sep 2007)

Gabriel said:


> How on earth could a baby being breastfed be underfed? I could understand them being overfed as babies are greedy little beggars...but underfed? Unless a baby is feeling off they only have three moods - _hungry_, _sleepy_ and _wet_


You left out smelly. 


Some nurses place too much concern on how the baby matches the weight charts. Breastfed babies are frequently underweight according to the charts. That's because there are two charts - one for breastfed and one for bottle fed, and the breast fed weight line is lower. The issue is that they are actually separate charts, and it is frequently the bottle fed chart that is used as the guide. They also insist that the baby should gain at least a certain amount of weight. I have a cousin where both she and her husband are in the bottom 15% of population in terms of height. Their mothers would both fall into the bottom 5% of population in terms of height. This would suggest that they will have small children. Their district nurse was insisting that their baby was not putting on enough weight. She was looking at the bottle fed chart, and not factoring in the size of the parents.

There is a concern that bottle fed babies are overfed, in that they get a whole bottle with each feed, rather than feeding on demand and self-regulating the amount they eat.


----------



## sinbadsailor (4 Sep 2007)

ragazza said:


> Rubbish!. She had a huge, hungry baby, and just was not producing enough milk to feed her child. Her baby had to be brought to hospital a few times, since she was vomiting blood - turns out to be my sister's blood from cracked nipples. Still, my sister persevered, and ended up an exhausted shadow of herself, and had a hungry, fractious baby.



I think that comes under the 'out of mothers and babies control' statement.

I am beginning to think I should never had said what I said, and kept my opinion to myself on this one! So I will leave it at this then...

In my humble opinion, even though medical tests have shown that breastfeeding has the possibility to be a better health solution for any given child, circumstances out of the mothers and babies control, such as cracked nipples, pain, tiredness, laziness, vanity, medical grounds, personal opinion etc etc.....some mothers feel it is better to feed their children from formula milk that some feel is not as beneficial for a babies health.

No more baby talk from me!


----------



## Bazoo (6 Sep 2007)

sinbadsailor said:


> I think that comes under the 'out of mothers and babies control' statement.
> 
> I am beginning to think I should never had said what I said, and kept my opinion to myself on this one! So I will leave it at this then...
> 
> ...



Until perhaps you've had your own baby next year. Then you might actually have an idea what you're talking about.

As for the SMA ad - it ticks me off for different reasons than any of those mentioned. The part where the father goes 'I promise to wake at 2am to do the feed' or somesuch. Why shouldn't he?? Does he expect a medal for doing this? Leads me to believe the ad was NOT created by women.


----------



## Carpenter (6 Sep 2007)

Bazoo said:


> ...The part where the father goes 'I promise to wake at 2am to do the feed' or somesuch. Why shouldn't he?? Does he expect a medal for doing this? Leads me to believe the ad was NOT created by women.


 
I thought that was quite humourous to be honest, but then again I am a man and probably would like a medal for getting up at 2am "to do the feed"; thank God for breastfeeding


----------



## Vanilla (6 Sep 2007)

Bazoo said:


> As for the SMA ad - it ticks me off for different reasons than any of those mentioned. The part where the father goes 'I promise to wake at 2am to do the feed' or somesuch. Why shouldn't he?? Does he expect a medal for doing this? Leads me to believe the ad was NOT created by women.


 
Too right!

I 've thought of another advantage to breast feeding if it suits...your babies poo smells better! Seriously! Might not seem important now but wait until you are in the midst of nappy changing...

I can't believe Carpenter and Purple- what you never winded a baby or changed their nappy at night when they were newborn to give your wives a break? Black marks for both of you!


----------



## Purple (7 Sep 2007)

Vanilla said:


> I can't believe Carpenter and Purple- what you never winded a baby or changed their nappy at night when they were newborn to give your wives a break? Black marks for both of you!


It's not like you to misread posts, I did all the night feeds on number one (and I mean all, Mrs Purple never did even one of them) and about two thirds of them on the other two. That's why I think that the blatant sexism of these ads is offensive to men and patronises women.


----------



## Carpenter (7 Sep 2007)

Vanilla said:


> I can't believe Carpenter and Purple- what you never winded a baby or changed their nappy at night when they were newborn to give your wives a break? Black marks for both of you!


 
I'd better clarify : I never did any night feeds because baby was breast feed; breast fed babies generally don't suffer from wind in my experience but I do at least 50% of the nappy changes, preparing baby meals, bathtime etc etc.  I am thoroughly modern dad


----------



## Purple (7 Sep 2007)

Carpenter said:


> I am thoroughly modern dad


Yea, same here.
Bloody women jumping to conclusions, eh?


----------



## Vanilla (7 Sep 2007)

Sorry Carpenter and Purple...totally misread your posts.


----------



## ailbhe (7 Sep 2007)

I wasn't expecting this on AAM! Breast vs bottle debate!

Just to point out that (in my experience) breast feeding HURTS!!!! Really really badly! I was bleeding and babs wasn't getting enough milk, She slept for 12 hours straight through at 2 days old and I had to force a nurse to give me a bottle (her blood sugar had plummeted from lack of food). She had no interest in the boob but took to the bottle but was I ever given hell over it!

Anyway, the SMA ad makes me sick. It's insulting to dads and promotes the old fashioned idea that dads don't help out with babies and if they do they should be patted on the back. 
A pet peeve of mine is when I go out without the other half and people ask if Mr. Ailbhe is babysitting. Eh, no. He's at home with his kids like he is every evening. Just because I'm not there doesn't mean he's doing some sort of massive favour!


----------



## The Pool Boy (13 Sep 2007)

This ad exists for one reason only as far as I'm concerned.

Companies cannot advertise formula milk. So they get around it by advertising follow on milk and imply you used formula previously.


----------



## Perplexed (16 Sep 2007)

I've experience of both here. Tried with no 1 but gave up after 3wks couldn't keep him happy unless I sat feeding him all day ......big hungry lad.
No 2 never had a bottle in her life....wouldn't entertain it but was the happiest baby you ever could see & such a petite little thing.
No 3 I had to stop after 7 wks as I developed a breat abscess. This was the most painful experience of my life, so a warning.....if you/your wife develop cracked nipples please get them looked after promptly.

One other benefit not mentioned is that fully breast-feeding uses up to 2000 calories a day.....great cos you can eat like a horse & get your figure back at the same time !


----------

