I’ve seen several Right Wingers make comments on regards to the formula shortage along the line of “women should just breastfeed more.” Usually accompanied with some chastisement how mothers who use formula are lazy or don’t want to be inconvenienced by breastfeeding.
I invite anyone with that opinion to promptly go fuck themselves.
Our firstborn was a big baby, over 10 lbs. He was above the 99th percentile in length and weight.
My wife wore herself out breastfeeding but he was so big he was always hungry. We had to use formula to supplement.
It was emotionally and physically draining on both of us watching her do every right but still not be able to keep up with his demand.
So this opinion is just some bullshit that I have no desire to tolerate.
And as a matter of historical precedent, prior to the industrial revolution and the development of infant formula, infant mortality was at roughly 50%. Many of those cases was from malnourishment. Formula saved more children’s lives than vaccines.
“Just breastfeed more” used to mean that half of all children died before they were old enough to walk.
The formula shortage is a serious crisis.
If you’re going to use it to attack mothers who need formula… I’ve never hit a woman but I’ll pin her arms back and let a mother who is struggling to produce take a few good swings.
Yup. We had twins. My wife barely produced enough milk for one, let alone two.
👍🏻👍🏻
Perfect
Same with my son, who was just under 10 lbs.
In this new age of “social media” the “experts” have multiplied 100 fold. You are exactly right. One tiny bright spot in this mess- it doesnt just affect MAGA people, democrats are getting fubared too…
There are a myriad of reasons why a mother may need or want to supplement breastfeeding with the use of formula. Just as there is a myriad of reasons why a mother can not breastfeed their baby. But these loudmouthed, know-it-all experts always know better… without ever knowing all of the particulars. That’s what they do… substitute opinion for fact and attempt to force it down everyone’s throat.
Can’t get fertilizer for your crops? Just use cow manure! (Oh, BTW, we’ll be abolishing cows. Just poop in your field; it’ll be fine.) Gas too expensive? Buy a Tesla! Hm, pattern much?
On the other hand… breastfeeding more (not exclusively, just more) should in principle reduce the demand for canned formula. But I suspect there might not be all that much room for adjustment, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the “more breastfeeding” option is pretty well maxed out at this point.
The output of waste treatment plants, properly composted, will work just fine.
The fresh stuff is what causes food poisoning outbreaks, though.
Yeah. I’m guessing it would be a good thing if the waste treatment plants all geared up to produce Milorganite… though it would then need to be stored until the times of demand, transported to farms, and applied – and it’s much bulkier, for a given amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, than industrial fertilizer (plus, it doesn’t supply useful amounts of potassium).
Just noticed: Milorganite is for use on lawns, not vegetable gardens. There might be regulatory issues in using reprocessed sludge on crops.
My wife had trouble producing milk and both children did not take to breastfeeding at all. Both of my kids would have died due to malnutrition without formula.
All three of our kids were big babies and needed more food than my wife could produce. A bottle of formula at bedtime made sure everyone got a night’s rest. With #3, we gave up baby food as well and simply ground up whatever we were eating.
My daughter’s boys are all like that as well, big, hungry babies turining into big eating toddlers. Man I wish I had that metabolism.
Just proof that there are clueless idiots on both side of the political aisle. Everyone always have an opinion on what other people should do.
People, like that, that think they know everything, really irritates those of us that do. ;-))
Same here. Our first son was well over 10 lbs and just would not take to the tit (neither would our second son who was over 9 lbs at birth). It would not have mattered anyway as the wife would not have been able to keep up with him.
Since I’m not a father and haven’t been around infants, I didn’t know this. Thanks for adding to my education.
Yes, exactly.
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Our first was well over 9 lbs and a big eater — still is — and my wife couldn’t make enough to keep him satisfied.
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During our last, we all got the ‘Rona and the treatment medications dried up her supply. She went from easily producing ounces to struggling to produce drops within a week. She had pumped after nursing in the early weeks — to help build her supply — and we bagged and froze the extra, but that only lasted so long. If “Just breastfeed more” were the answer, our youngest would have starved (and probably been counted as a COVID death).
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On top of that, we’ve known friends whose babies had adverse reactions to breast milk — everything from general intolerance (e.g. tummy aches and colic) to full on allergies, up to anaphylaxis. “Just breastfeed more” is hard for the former, and a death sentence for the latter. And with formula available, both are unnecessary.
Absolutely there are situations in which a child can’t be breast fed.
BUT !!!!!!!
You realize how many women don’t breastfeed by choice?
The baby formula industry is a gold mine (because WIC and food stamps pay for it)
So what?
Liberty means not giving a rip how other people live their lives, so long as it doesn’t hurt you.
You know what’s annoying me? The Instapundit commenters who are declaring the new mothers and fathers today are utterly incompetent and will be incapable of dealing with shortages.
GTFAway. If you’re really that down on the rest of the country, you are not an advocate for liberty. The reality is the grandparents and great-grandparents will dust off those old books and recipes and help out. The recipes are already being shared online — and they’ll spread like mad and people will use them. This generation also would be confused with dial phones — so what? No one has installed a dial phone in the US for what, 35 years? One of my nieces could not understand what an ash tray was for — in her entire life there’s been near zero smoking in public.
My grandfather and a friend of his ran away from the first airplane they saw. Me, I’m barely capable of tying a necktie. None of that makes us idiots or incapable of learning — it’s just lack of exposure.
Get over yourselves, old farts (speaking as one).
Re recipes: meanwhile, according to last night’s TV news, the FDA is saying “don’t do that”, without offering any reason why not.
[Engage tinfoil!]
Ya know all those babies who were fed homemade formula from those old recipes?
Look how they turned out. Do you really want today’s babies to group up to be the sort of adults who win wars, settle down, take steady jobs in manufacturing, and have kids of their own? (If so, you must be a shill for the White Picket Fence Manufacturing Association, and probably a Two-Point-Sixer to boot.)
Argh. That “group up” should of course be “grow up” – seems my tinfoil wasn’t on tight enough, and the mind-control rays scrambled my writing.