Tag Archives: formula

Infant Formula Warning: Metal Shavings Found in Enfamil Powder

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Enfamil’s A.R. formula has been found to have aluminum granules in the powder from the lid.

From NBC:

Michele Myler of Ridge, N.Y, says she noticed tiny dark particles blocking the nipple of her son Joey’s bottle during a feeding in April.

“I knew they were hard and I knew they were grey. It looked like metal, but I don’t think that I could wrap my head around thinking there was actually metal in his formula,” Myler said.

When Myler sent a sample of the formula – a brand called Enfamil A.R. — back to the manufacturer, a company representative left a voicemail message confirming the metal shavings were aluminum dust.

If any of your Enfamil cans have metal in the powder, please contact the FDA & Enfamil to complain. They will recall the product if it is a big enough concern and Enfamil will have to redesign their lid.

FDA: 1-866-300-4374 | Enfamil: 1-800-BABY123

And if you really want to minimize your family’s ingestion of and exposure to aluminum:

  • Check your county’s water fluoridation levels or only drink filtered water
  • Consider reading up on the vaccines that contain aluminum and asking for alternatives or opting out
  • Avoid foods high in aluminum, such as microwave popcorn, baking mixes, and other pre-made baked goods that don’t use aluminum free baking powder or yeast.
  • Avoid products that have aluminum in them and buy better alternatives that don’t. Beware of anti-perspirants, body lotions, cosmetics, shampoos and conditioners, soaps, suntan lotions, lip balm.

Do you use formula? Does your can have an aluminum lid?

 

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Support for Bottle feeding Mamas

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Who here bottle feeds? Raise your hands. Do you feel supported in your community? Where do you go for online support? Have you heard of The Fearless Formula Feeder yet? Suzanne Barston is known as the Fearless Formula Feeder on Facebook and on her popular blog and is one awesome lady. I’ve been reading her thoughts for a couple years now and the raw honesty from herself and stories from bottle feeding mothers on her page helps me keep my perspective on the whole infant feeding debacle.

I love this little clip of Suzanne talking about the support all mothers need.

Suzanne has a book worth checking out - Bottled Up: How the Way We Feed Babies Has Come to Define Motherhood, and Why It Shouldn’t.

Description: Part memoir, part popular science, and part social commentary, Bottled Up probes breastfeeding politics through the lens of Barston’s own experiences as well as those of the women she has met through her popular blog, The Fearless Formula Feeder. Incorporating expert opinions, medical literature, and popular media into a pithy, often wry narrative, Barston offers a corrective to our infatuation with the breast. Impassioned, well-reasoned, and thoroughly researched, Bottled Upasks us to think with more nuance and compassion about whether breastfeeding should remain the holy grail of good parenthood.

You can read the entire first chapter of Bottled Up online for free. Check it out online at University of California Press.

Why am I all of a sudden sharing bottle feeding information? Everyone who reads my blog and chats on my Facebook page knows that I am a breastfeeding mama. It is pretty obvious that my passion is providing information and support for breastfeeding mothers because that is what I know, especially ones that feel the social stigma of nursing in public and pressure to wean an older child. Why? Because that is where I am as a mother, in my nursing relationship with my children. I know that there are other respectable, valid methods to feed a baby but because my life doesn’t revolve around feeding a child a different way, I am aware that the majority of my posts are biased. I hope I have not come across as insensitive towards bottle feeding mamas, or mothers who use supplemental nursing systems because I do not know when wording about the benefits of breastfeeding, statements about the differences between formula and breast milk, or statistics and studies offend them. I have close friends and family who have bottlefed pumped milk or formula. Even my one and only sister. Everyone has a different story. We are all in this together, regardless of how we feed our babies, and we all need support.

Do you bottle fed and read my blog? What sort of posts or phrases offend you? Keep me honest!  What are your go-to resources? Share ‘em!

Resources:

Mother to mother Support for bottle feeding mamas:

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A Must See: Bottled Up! The Film

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From Piece of My Heart Productions, “Bottled UP! is a documentary exposé about Breastfeeding in America. Our mission is to restore the Phenomenon of the Nursing Mother to the cultural landscape of America.”

Listen to Dr. Jay Gordon and mothers, even Minnie Driver and Alanis Morissette speak.

(If there are any viewing issues, watch online here at the film’s website.)

“This film shows how women can reclaim their birthright and restore the nursing mother archetype. More than a breastfeeding promotion film, this is a film by, for, and about women. It is about the knowledge that inherently resides in every woman, how to access that knowledge and how to trust what we already know. It is a film that will inspire women to say, “I can do that!” “I want to do that!”

How does this documentary trailer make you feel?

 

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Vintage Formula Ads

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This is my running collection of vintage formula ads and advice.

“Most young mothers wonder whether or not they should nurse their babies. You do not have to nurse your child. Scientific evidence today indicates that children who have never been nursed are just as healthy, sometimes more healthy, both physically and emotionally, as children who are nursed. If you are reluctant to nurse your child, if it makes you feel tense or uncomfortable do not attempt it.” -

Words from Dream Babies: Childcare Advice from John Locke to Gina Ford By Christina Hardymen, who got it from Your Child’s Mind and Body by Helen Flanders Dunbar, published 1949. According to Sally Edelstein, this standard anti-breastfeeding advice was handed out on pamphlets courtesy of Carnation Milk, given to her mother in the 1950s.

“A mother’s treasure” - Nestle, 1920s from thelabelframer.com

“When your doctor prescribes your baby formula, remember this fact. No doctor can recommend any better evaporated milk than White House Milk for infant feeding.” Vintage Ad A&P White House Evaporated Milk – from Sally Edelstein, Envisioning The American Dream.

Another White House Milk ad shared by bluwmongoose

1949 White House Milk ad with twins shared by Vintage Romance.

Nestle Vintage Formula Advertisment. shared by vitam.be

Do you have any that you want to share? Email them to me at paalasblog (at) gmail.com or share them on my wall on Facebook!

 

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Breastfeeding Sweet Links…Older Mothers, The Scandalous History Of Infant Formula, Nasty Nestlé, Professional portrait by Blue Silk Photography

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Happy Monday everyone!

How was your weekend? Where did you nurse? Our weekend was good, mostly, except for this nasty case of poison oak that just popped up today from a nature walk we did this weekend. I am pretty sure the little stick that my toddler picked up and waved around as I carried her was poison oak twig, but you can’t tell when the leaves are off.

Of course she was nursing on and off the entire walk so she covered my entire chest, neck, and chin with poison oak oil. If you’ve ever had poison oak on your chest while you were still breastfeeding, let me know how you got through it without nearing a break in your sanity. She EVEN got it on my nipple and I have to do everything I can not to scratch my skin off when my girls are nursing and rubbing their heavy, scratchy heads on my “ouchies” as I call my rash. (Also, the rash is not contagious. I looked it up. But I still wear a shirt and lift up from the bottom to minimize their contact.)

My brain still is having a hard time wrapping around the inability of some to separate sexual images of women from natural, beautiful mothering. Can you tell that I am still upset about my relative who can’t look at me while I’m nursing or talk to me on Facebook for fear of seeing a nursing photo?

I saw this cover today and thought, “Soooo this Dec 2012 cover of GQ with a naked Rihanna is OK for public consumption, for the male gaze as well as anyone checking out at the grocery store, but seeing a breastfeeding mother is not?”

I call BS.

This mother, Vida Montessori, can be both. Look at her breastfeeding at Pinones, Puerto Rico. She is gorgeous!

Anyway, I guess I will just have to keep being who I am and let any unsupportive people in my life fall away.

Have you seen this post about the history of formula and why so many mothers hate the formula companies and Nestle, what the Nestle Boycott is all about?

My blog isn’t about hating on mothers who formula feed. I do find facts on the history of formula and the risks of formula interesting. Why? Because as a mother of children who could have been formula fed if I was unable to breastfeed (because I wasn’t informed of donor milk with #1), I am shocked that the information about the risks and history of formula isn’t more readily available. When a mother is given a can of free formula at the hospital (like I was with my first birth), she isn’t given an informational packet with the risks, the history, the best formulas based on studies, etc. She is just given a can for “just in case” with no mention of donor milk being a real world alternative.

Formula companies need to be held accountable. There are too many recalls. Too many companies pump way more sugar in there than they need to (when you compare them to other formula brands on the shelf). Where is the regulation? Don’t our children deserve a better system, better formula, better access to donor milk?

This logo is the Boycott badge Nasty Nestlé from Baby Milk Action.

Speaking of Nestlé, did you hear that Nestlé bought a seat at the policy-making table of the World Health Organization (WHO)?

Sad news for mothers across the world.

What do you think about older mothers nursing? Seems natural right? I would like to give older moms high fives because nursing is exhausting work and I can’t imagine being double my age and still nursing. Well, some people think older mothers who breastfeed are just gross and somehow think boobs have an expiration date. They also think children should stop nursing when they reach some magical age or stage in their development. Not to mention, they think all mothers should cover up.

How long a mother chooses to nurse is between the child and the mother. Period.

I saw this article this week and thought it was worth a share.

A quote from the mother:

“We have a story and she falls asleep on my breast,” says Maha, whose toned, tanned, natural beauty belies her age.“It’s this beautiful, quiet, connected, meditative space where she goes off into dreamland. “It’s so lovely to have my milkies right here. They never go missing, they’re always ready, always warm and available and full of nutrients.” Maha didn’t set out to feed her daughter for four years, or to have a baby at 46, but she knows it all feels natural and very right.

Let me just leave you with this lovely professional breastfeeding portrait by Blue Silk Photography.

Good night!

<3 Paala

 

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Breastfeeding Sweet Links…Bloomberg, Formula Marketing and The Illusion of Choice

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Just a few breastfeeding links I’ve read this past week that were good enough to share.

Enjoy!

<3 Paala

Cristian Baitg / Photographer's Choice / Getty Images

Bloomberg’s Breast-Feeding Plan: Will Locking Up Formula Help New Moms? - TIME

“New York City is calling on hospitals to lock up infant formula like medication and lecture new mothers about the benefits of the breast. Is that going too far? Maybe not.”

This is decent coverage of New York City’s breastfeeding initiative. Where do you weigh in?

Maybe these will change your mind if you think formula should be given out like lollipops.

6 Things People Need to Stop Saying About Infant Formula Marketing - DailyMomtra

Infant formula manufacturers pay big bucks on marketing. A cost that is passed on to the consumer. No question about this. Why do they spend the big bucks? For one singular purpose — to get mothers to use more of THEIR brand of formula. The reason they continue this practice is because it works. What happens when their ads are full of deceit, encouraging mothers to quit breastfeeding to give them formula that makes them smarter and see better?

Related Reading: Strike Five: Why Mead Johnson Keeps Airing Misleading Baby-Formula Ads – CBS News

“New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg started an initiative called “Latch on New York” that is asking hospitals to take the formula samples off the bedside tables of new mothers and put them behind the nursing stations or in the drug cabinets so mothers have to ask for them. People are up in arms about this, crying that Mayor Mike is trying to prevent women from choosing and that he’s creating a “nanny state.”No.What he is doing is trying to even the playing field, so huge corporations that don’t know or care about your health, your child’s health, or any of the decision you make as a parent do not have the ability to pay to have access to your bedside table.”Amen, Moxie.

And, on a lighter note. Did you know you can take any bra to Nordstroms to have them change it to a nursing bra? AWESOME! Unless, you hate nursing bras like I do because I just go braless or wear camis or regular bras instead. (My post on bras here.) But it is still worth a share because I know lots of moms love them some nursing bras.

When Water Is Harmful For Babies

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I just came across a couple of interesting links today about water and when it is potentionally harmful for infants.

Take a look.

©iStockphoto.com/jtphilips

Extra Water Can Be Harmful For Babies – Baby Gooroo

“Water is the perfect thirst quencher on a hot day—unless you’re a baby under 12 months of age. Breast milk (or formula) provides all the water babies need, even those living in hot climates. Water also lacks the nutrients found in breast milk, and puts babies at greater risk for a serious condition called hyponatremia.”

“There is no safe amount of free water for infants,” according to board certified pediatrician and neonatologist, Dr. Angela McGovern, M.D. from The Washington Hospital Center, Washington D.C. “Too much water can not only dilute the salts in the body putting infants at risk for seizures, it can make babies feel full without providing them any nutrition. For best health and nutrition in the first year of life, the only fluid an infant needs is breast milk or properly prepared formula.”

Read more: http://babygooroo.com/2012/03/extra-water-can-be-harmful-for-babies/

And it can also be dangerous if your baby is drinking nitrate contaminated tap water.

My first thoughts were why would anyone feed their baby water under the age of 1 anyway? Well, it didn’t hit me until someone else pointed it out, but powdered formula requires water. Wait. What? Wow. How do we know that our tap water is safe to use for our little babies and ourselves?? What are the health effects of nitrates in drinking water?

Read Basic Information about Nitrate in Drinking Water – US Environmental Protection Agency

What are nitrate’s health effects?
Infants below six months who drink water containing nitrate in excess of the maximum contaminant level (MCL) could become seriously ill and, if untreated, may die. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blue baby syndrome.

How does nitrate get into my drinking water?
The major sources of nitrates in drinking water are runoff from fertilizer use; leaking from septic tanks, sewage; and erosion of natural deposits.

How will I know if nitrate is in my drinking water?
When routine monitoring indicates that nitrate levels are above the MCL, your water supplier must take steps to reduce the amount of nitrate so that it is below that level. Water suppliers must notify their customers as soon as practical, but no later than 24 hours after the system learns of the violation. Additional actions, such as providing alternative drinking water supplies, may be required to prevent serious risks to public health.

Public Notification is intended to ensure that consumers will always know if there is a problem with their drinking water. These notices immediately alert consumers if there is a serious problem with their drinking water that may pose a risk to public health. They also notify customers if their water does not meet drinking water standards, the water system fails to test its water, or if the system has been granted a variance (use of less costly technology) or an exemption (more time to comply with a new regulation).

Ok, ok.

But how often is this so-called routine monitoring? How long would people be consuming contaminated water until it was tests? How long does it take for the so-called immediate Public Notification? Because mailing a letter takes a couple of days and do they have our home and cell numbers??

My thoughts? Be careful when it comes to what you feed every member of your family, from your little ones to yourself. Food, formula, breast milk, water.

And install a reverse osmosis system in your home, stat!

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