I’m sitting here on my bed as my 3 week old baby girl nurses and my toddler winds down for bed. My son breastfed for almost 15 months, and my goal is to at least nurse my daughter for 12 months. I want to start this post by stating that in almost every situation, I prefer breast milk over formula. It’s not that I’m opposed to formula. Both of my children have had formula in the first few days of life (due to mild jaundice). But even in the NICU we’ll use banked breast milk over formula if a baby qualifies for it. So I feel very strongly about the benefits of breastfeeding (nutritionally, financially, etc.), and it’s important that each of you know that.
As a nurse, I know that many sick babies would not survive without formula. I also know that there are some situations where a mother is unable to breastfeed, and I have close friends who’ve had to make that decision (due to medications, breast surgery, etc.). Ultimately, it is a mother’s choice as to how she will feed her baby. I think if she has all of the necessary information to make that decision, her choice should be supported.
So what happens when a mother receives misinformation? For many moms who have made the choice to use formula, they believed that national name brands were superior to store brands. And to be quite honest, I believed the same. The only companies represented at the facility where I work are national name brands.
I recently learned (via MomSelect) that Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil LIPIL Infant Formula, engaged in false advertising by stating that store brand-infant formulas do not provide the same nutritional benefits as Enfamil. I remember all the buzz surrounding Enfamil LIPIL and how it was supposed to be as close to breast milk as a formula could get. The resulting verdict states that “store-brand infant formulas are nutritionally equivalent to, and confer the same developmental benefits as, the more expensive national brands like Enfamil.” In other words, many moms spent money unnecessarily (up to $600 a year) on formula they believed was better.
Advertising is a funny thing. Most people take advertising as absolute truth…never going deeper to do their own research. I think it’s really unfortunate that many moms spent almost double the amount of money on formula, when they could have been using it for something more important…like their children. With so much guilt placed on mothers who cannot or choose not to breastfeed, mothers want to provide what they think is the closest thing to breast milk. If I had not been able to nurse my son or my daughter, I probably would have purchased a national name brand formula for the very same reasons. Now we all know that this isn’t necessary.
Here is a little more information regarding the case:
- http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/Order_Laches.pdf
- http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/PBM_Complaint_MJ_III_LIPIL.pdf
What are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear them…
I did not receive compensation for this post. The information was provided by MomSelect and I felt it was important to share with you.
- Discover Luxury at Sonesta Irvine: Your Ideal Staycation - August 8, 2024
- CHOC Walk Returns to the Disneyland Resort – Special Events and Ways to Support - June 28, 2023
- Beastly Ball Returns to the Los Angeles Zoo - May 8, 2023
I’m so glad this is being made public. My daughter was allergic to milk/lactose and after 2 months of being on a lactose free diet I quit nursing and she went to the soy formula. I found out the nutrition information from an online community of moms and went and compared the nutritional guides of the store brand and name brands. They were almost identical and I was all about saving the money!
From then on the only time i used the name brand is if Kroger had a BOGO catalina and I had other coupons.
Great post! I breastfed my first son until he was nine months when he refused to nurse any longer. We were trying to ween, so that worked out perfect. I used the free sample of Enfamil I received at the hospital and then once those and their coupons were used up, I switch to the generic Target brand because all of the ingredients were exactly the same.
With my second child I nursed him for 11 months, but did supplement with formula for the ease of it while on the go. I used Nestle Good Start because a friend of mine was told by a pediatric allergist that that particular formula was great for children and somehow helped to minimize childhood allergies. Plus, my son had some digestive issues and the formula seemed to agree with him.
Now that I’m preggo with baby #3, I’m not sure what I will do. I think it’s one of those bridges I’ll cross when I come to it. Thank you for doing this post. I think it provides a great service to your readers.
marketing is all about getting people to spend more money on something than what the producer thinks is fair. Not that an item won’t be “worth it” to the consumer, just that the producer knows better. Thus marketing is also an exercise in stretching the truth, or in some cases lying outright. Baby formula is one of those things that has been lied about consistently through the years. It’s always been “the closest thing to breast milk that man can provide”. Unfortunately, the best we can produce might be no better than downright crappy without the statement actually being a lie.
In this case, false advertising, it’s good that it’s been exposed. I hate that.
Great article! So glad this is being exposed. I’m one of those mothers who physiologically just was NOT able to breastfeed. I spent days in tears b/c I thought I had failed as a mother. Now that both of my children are past their bottle days, I can look back and say that I was very thankful for formula. Not the price, though. It’s infuriating to know that companies will stretch the truth to get sales. I never used an off brand formula, b/c I believed their “lies.” I will definitely do my part to spread the word to other formula-feeding mothers.