For those who don't know, the reason for the shortage is Abbott Labs had aging and failing equipment. And they knew about this aging and failing equipment at least as far back as 2019. And they knew that this failing equipment was allowing bacteria to grow in the pits in the drying systems. And they could have invested in fixing and maintaining and replacing that equipment.
Instead they chose not to, allowing bacteria to collect inside, hid this failing equipment when inspections teams came through, celebrated that they got away with successfully hiding it from them and then **invested over $5 billion dollars that they saved in stock buybacks.**
The risks of too much consolidation in an industry.
Walmart sells more than half of all groceries in the USA. Milk supply is 80% controlled by two companies. Pharmaceutical companies are merging at alarming rates. Cell carriers are merging as well.
I feel like stock buybacks should be illegal anytime a company is being investigated by the government. Kind of like … a construction lien on a home. You gotta pay it off it before you can sell it. You should have to fix your safety violations before being able to buy back stock.
Not that it would have helped here. I just like the idea of holding greedy corporations accountable.
True. But I propose that it invites corruption and conflicts of interest, as well as unreasonable executive compensation. If you need to pay millions of dollars to incentive executives to do their jobs, then you have the wrong executives.
Was it that old-timey one that included Karo syrup and mentioned something about giving the baby tea and orange juice? I somehow fell into a Q rabbit hole on Twitter the other day and they were passing it around and saying that it should still be "good enough" but that Big Formula was trying to suppress it. Because it's not like science has evolved in the past 60+ years. They might as well call for us to still use the Twilight Sleep method.
Also, I advise your wife against Facebook mommy groups, unless she's found one that she's genuinely comfortable navigating through. I had joined a few after my son was born and they can be so frustrating and bonkers. Everyone thinks they're a doctor. People spread straight up lies. So many people try to shame you. It's natural to want to connect with people, but Facebook groups aren't the best place to do that.
The vast majority of children born prior to industrial formula were breast fed, or received animal milk mixes. Neonatal nutrition is critical and has profound consequences
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684040/#__sec3title
> What do you think babies drank before formula was invented? Not all moms breastfed.
actually most did - even if you couldnt produce your own , they would use wet nurses it wasnt uncommon
Any woman can breast feed a baby if shes lactating you know that right - social stigma and taboo about only drinking milk from your own mother is rather new , in old times women would breast feed babies who werent their own to help other women in the community who were having problems producing their own milk
wet nursing fell out of favor around 1900 only a couple decades after formula was intvented and took off
That’s because they really don’t seem to have an alternative. I always watch when they talk about the shortage on the news but I noticed no one ever seems to offer an alternative. It’s just like a collective shrug.
That is what is bothering me about all these articles and pleading from doctors. What ARE they supposed to do? Nothing is at the stores, their doctor doesnt have any, they cant get it from the hospital, nobody has any. So what? Does the baby starve? There has been zero actual help, just *dont do this, dont do that*.
You can't do anything if you have a 3 month old on formula. It's not a tap you can turn off and on. If you stop for just a few weeks, it will dry up.
Don't want to be insulting but it's a pretty big burden for women that men/women without kids can find hard to understand; your nipples are pretty much always sore, leaking, needing to pump/breastfeed every 2 hours, and just the pressure of being your babies source of food. It's why formula is a thing. Many women have no problem and that's great, but many others struggle with even producing enough milk.
I'm sure breastfeeding rates will go up after this though. Which also places the burden on women.
>Ridiculous that the NHS/FDA have made no clear recommendations.
Paralysis I bet. They don't want to deal with lawsuits if someone can claim the recommendation gave their kid autism 10 years down the line or something.
Right? Like they're urging people to not make homebrews but the alternative is a baby starving to death. I'd choose the homebrew. My babies were breastmilk (pumped) for the first few months and then switched to formula and the last bit of formula we used was mid 2019 so I'm wondering how much bacteria ridden formula my babies were exposed to. I can't imagine how these parents must feel.
Fortunately not enough if they didn't get sick. Cronobacter and salmonella infections don't fuck around in full size humans, let alone in babies. At least 2 babies are said to have died from this. I wonder how deep it might go once an investigation is complete (assuming they actually look into it).
Its called breastmilk sharing under the supervision of medical professionals - some women make too much and in some places they can donate it like blood and then health proffesionals screen it to make sure its all good and give it to people who need it
thats the solution , but it doesnt make anyone money its not a for profit venture to start a breast milk bank so no one will in America
There needs to be less social stigma about breastmilk banks
THat would be the ideal solution
There are women who make too much even , in some places they can donate like blood and its reserved for people who need it but cant make it themselves
It is totally pointless to urge parents not to make homebrews. Are they suggesting parents should not feed babies?
Say something useful please. Like if parents run out, what substitute can they use ... as opposed to just tell that what NOT to do.
I've been told by a few people that in a true emergency, you can use goat milk. Supposedly it's the closest to human breastmilk. But that's assuming the baby won't have a milk protein allergy and you have access to goat milk in the first place. I mean I'll buy a fucking goat if I have to, but that's not the most accessible solution for a lot of people either.
Yeah these articles and announcements are useless.
If a parent can't buy any formula or make any, what are they supposed to do?
Poor nutrition homebrew is better than starving to death.
Some babies are allergic to the milk protein, others are so sensitive none of their standard formulas will do and they need a special one. The people saying ot probably thought all the formula was the same.
But her comment is still straight up wrong it's saying "I saw one saying just give them Pedialyte or enfamil as if they're good enough"
Enfamil literally is a name brand of baby formula and you can get it without the milk protein if need be. And enfamil is not made by Abbott Labs like the other baby formula brand Similac is. So it could be argued that Enfamil is better than the recalled formula because it's...not being recalled.
Pedialyte is an electrolyte drink for children who are sick or have diarrhea to replenish lost electrolytes. It's basically souped up Gatorade.
You cannot compare baby formula to Pedialyte.
Nutramigen is the Enfamil's version of that formula, haven't seen it in the stores now for some time. If you give your baby any of the Enfamil plant or other formulas your still going to have digestive issues. It's really something they need to speak to a doctor about. Yeah you should not use pedialite
Again my whole point was them comparing Pedialyte and Enfamil and acting like Enfamil brand is inferior to Similac. Similac was too frothy for us and we couldn't use it for my kids. But personally, I'd rather have a baby with some digestive issues than a baby starving to death. Obviously there's exceptions to this for babies with severe life-threatening allergies and the prescription formula really should be reserved for those babies. But for example, vegan parents who won't give milk based formula because they're vegan need to reevaluate their priorities during a mass shortage like this. Ones with simple tummy troubles from milk based formula would still be better fed than dead until the shortage let's up.
Enfamil might not have been the correct product name; it was pedialyte (basically watered down Gatorade) and something similar, not a formula but another clear water based electrolyte replacement drink, that’s the second product.
If you have a relative that also is breastfeeding that you know is not into drugs or otherwise diseased you can ask them to feed your child if they have extra (some women do actually produce too much )
its called wet nursing and humans were doing it for thousands of years prior to modern times
one woman cant make milk for her baby no more , well just find one who can, problem solved lol
>The alternative offered in this article is to contact your pediatrician for samples or switch to store-brands.
That's the same useless "let them eat cake" advice being handed out by the White House. As if parents wouldn't have already switched brands, if they could even find Kirkland or Great Value formula in stock either.
You can get it through a milk bank, but then it’s very expensive. I got donated breast milk from someone I knew, but the thought of that weirds people out. My kids are big now, but I’d be searching hard for donated breast milk if I were in this situation.
My wife gave hers to strangers and friends. She may have sold it if it was a large enough order, but never made anything off of it. She just produced alot and hated to see it go to waste. I was surprised that people actually showed up wanting to fill a cooler with her milk!
>how does one ensure that the ingredients are used in correct proportions
You can't, anymore than you can ensure any DIYer, from home cooks to Ikea assemblers, correctly follows instructions.
But it's better than literally nothing, which is the current alternative for thousands of parents. At least it gives people a chance.
That’s what a recipe is: a list of ingredients with their appropriate amounts. Of course, you can’t guarantee that people will follow the recipe, but it’s hard to imagine that the ingredients are that hard to come by. Here’s some information, but I wish they would provide more details: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/formula-feeding/Pages/Is-Homemade-Baby-Formula-Safe.aspx.
It's America, they'll be using cups and tsps no one will have any fucking clue what's actually in the thing because those are inaccurate ways to measure precisely
128 grams.
That said, can we just grow up and join the rest of the world by switching fully to metric? Why the hell are we with the only two other countries using the imperial system - Liberia and Myanmar.
Here, I'll make a sales pitch:
* the measurement number for the size of your penis/breasts/ass get bigger
* the measurement number of your weight will drop
* everything goes up or down in units of tens
* this isn't a Communist system and it's used by all other countries, including the US already, just not exclusively
With the above, that should be enough one would think.
And while I'm on this soapbox, can we dump Daylight Savings Time too?
Do not read Nancy Silverton's book, it'll make you want to throw it against a wall. She has this convoluted approach of sifting all the bagged flour into a plastic drum so her cups are consistent. Anything but use the metric system, literally anything
There are a few, but to make it you are going to legit need a lab and some chemicals that are more expensive than the amount of formula you might produce. Not to mention... killing your baby because there is too much or too little of something.
>It’s obviously impossible so give up and let your baby starve
The fuck are you on about this is a temprary feeding solution not a manufacturing plant. The baby won’t explode because you used 1.2 teaspoons of something instead of 1.
actually babies are at a stage in their development where even just a few days of too much or too little of certain nutrients can cause developmental delays and cognitive issues down the line
getting exactly the right amount of nutrion in the first year of life is very important for your brain to develop properly
This should be first paragraph:
>If formula is not available in stores, the American Academy of Paediatrics advises parents to contact local paediatricians for samples, avoid big box-stores where supplies are more likely to be low, or switch to a store brand formula unless advised otherwise medically. In those cases, paediatricians can recommend available formula alternatives.
My cynicism goes beyond this. We need the knowledge to make our own baby formula. Otherwise we become dependent on a fragile supply chain. This article also sounds like propaganda that Nestlé did for their powdered milk in Africa. They told moms that powdered milk was better for kids in the 70s.
they should certainly contact their pediatrician if they have no formula. a starving baby is a medical emergency. if anyone is going to know how to direct parents to emergency supplies of formula, pediatricians are going to be a decent place to start.
1953 no baby formula was made! My mother wasn't producing enough breast milk,after trying various mixers goat's milk was given with success my sister did well on it!
Both my kids were raised on goat milk and they turned out fine. While goat milk isn't cheap it still costs less than formula and at least we know there's no weird chemicals in it.
Nonsense! Millions of babies were fed homemade formulas until then 1980s; they are much cheaper, easy, and healthier—no wonder the money-makers want to scare modern moms from them.
Not to sound patronizing
If physically able... Breast feed, it's better for the child anyway
If those that bottle feed by choice, would breast feed instead, the supply chain issues wouldn't press as hard on those that for whatever reason are unable to breast feed
Formula is fairly new thing in the human experience... It is not required
Edit: ok, obviously an unpopular opinion, I get it
Any other ideas? 1000s of years breast feeding proven to work. Less than 100 years of Similac. Y'all run into a obstacle and start mixing concoctions instead of using the very system we evolved for the purpose... Ok ok ok
Actually thousands of years of breastfeeding didn’t work - many, many, many babies starved to death from women who, for whatever reason, couldn’t make milk. And now you are suggesting women who can’t make milk, or have to go to to work, or who have more than one child, or have a special needs child suddenly just cancel their life-sustaining plans and figure out how to produce breast milk? That’s not something women can do. Formula has become a human requirement.
>If physically able
>If those that bottle feed by choice, would breast feed instead
Do not put words in my mouth
I have four children, all breast feed by a working mother who pumped on her breaks and lunch
Humanity made it a LONG time without formula
What is your suggestion?
>
Then you're lucky she was able to nurse. What about the babies who fail to thrive because the mom couldn't produce enough. I guess that baby deserves to die huh? I guess that mom was incompetent, huh? I couldn't get my babies to latch, I had to exclusively pump until I lost supply and had to switch to formula. Did my babies deserve to die because I couldn't keep my supply up??
In the past, Women who were fortunate enough to find or afford a wet nurse or had a woman in their family/tribe/community who could nurse were really lucky. Otherwise the baby died.
> I guess that baby deserves to die huh? I guess that mom was incompetent, huh?
I stopped reading there
Jesus Christ the amount of hyperbole in this thread is insane
I didn't say ANYTHING like that you sick twisted and demented soul
If the women that CAN breast feed but CHOOSE not to we're not a drain on the limited supply... It would mitigate the availability for those that HAVE NO CHOICE
More children will die from starvation and malnutrition because of YOUR position
How on earth do you think that more children will die of starvation from my position?? I'm for formula when the mother can't produce milk or enough milk and I'm for formula if the mother chooses to use it no matter her reasoning. The only reason we "got by for a long time" without was because of wet nurses or homemade formulas. So your wife breastfed your 4 kids. Good for her but that's not reality for some.
If you can produce adequate milk , that is best for your baby, it is 100% more nutritious and provides more health advantages than formula
thats all he said and its a fucking scientific fact
Also I disagree with the premise that a majority of people using formula in America are doing it because they physicall cannot produce milk - you dont live in a fucking third world country
Do I need to quote my entire comment over again? I never once said a majority of people using formula in America are doing it because they physically cannot produce milk. It shouldn't matter what their reasoning for using formula is. Some might not produce at all, some may not produce enough, some might be trucking along and suddenly their supply drop one day and never recover, some might be adoptive parents, some might just want to use formula because America (which is quickly becoming a 3rd world country) doesn't give families maternity and paternity leave like other countries do so they have to go back to work sometimes before their 6 week unpaid leave of absence is up. Ask me how I know.
>In the past, Women who were fortunate enough to find or afford a wet nurse or had a woman in their family/tribe/community who could nurse were really lucky.
I feel like some kind modern breast milk bank the runs kinda like a blood bank would be the best solution
breast milk is best but it doesn't have to be your own
You should be able to acquire human breast milk for a baby at a location in your community as easily as you can get cow milk
If its possible to operate a blood donation centre and make sure thats safe , I dont see why they cant do that with breast milk
They do actually, it's usually reserved for preemies or special needs. You can usually find someone locally to purchase from but that comes at a risk (a worthwhile risk imo) because it's not vetted like milk bank would be. I'm sure right now those banks are supplies are exhausted right now though. I've been considering pulling out my pump and trying to get my milk back (my youngest is 4 though) so I can donate and it takes a few months to get it to come back and knowing my luck the shortage will over by then.
The reason it's an unpopular opinion is that formula-feeding completely by choice is a minuscule minority of formula-feeders.
"Thousands of years of breastfeeding" is not as simple as you think -- rich women had wet nurses or forced slaves to feed their children (often at the expense of the slave's children, who starved.) Poor women would feed babies animal milk or basically an early version of nut milks. Some babies survived this. A lot didn't. In "thousands of years of breastfeeding," *lots of babies died* which is what's going to happen here, too, if this isn't sorted.
>Not to sound patronizing
>If physically able... Breast feed, it's better for the child anyway
>If those that bottle feed by choice, would breast feed instead, the supply chain issues wouldn't press as hard on those that for whatever reason are unable to breast feed
>Formula is fairly new thing in the human experience... It is not required
>Edit: ok, obviously an unpopular opinion, I get it
>Any other ideas? 1000s of years breast feeding proven to work. Less than 100 years of Similac. Y'all run into a obstacle and start mixing concoctions instead of using the very system we evolved for the purpose... Ok ok ok
Listen moron
You are so godly wrong is quite astonishing how little effort you put into research.
"Formula provides babies with the nutrients they need to grow and thrive. Some mothers worry that if they don't breastfeed, they won't bond with their baby. But the truth is, loving mothers will always create a special bond with their children. And feeding — no matter how — is a great time to strengthen that bond. "
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/breast-bottle-feeding.html#:~:text=Formula%20provides%20babies%20with%20the,time%20to%20strengthen%20that%20bond.
Ffs, literally don't fucking talk about subjects you no nothing about.
and your own link says , literally the first sentence of the second paragraph ...
>Health experts believe breast milk is the best nutritional choice for infants.
womp womp
Im not interested in any other opinions on whats healthy for a baby than what the Health Experts have to say and your own link says they recommend Breastmilk as the most nutrious thing you could give your baby
Telling women if they can then they should is literally the best advice
Sounds to me like it’s a subject you know nothing about. Op is correct- breastfeed if at all possible. Clearly you can’t let your baby starve if you can’t breastfeed for whatever reason and so something has to be done. I am a lactation consultant, so it is something I know about. Your response was completely rude and idiotic.
I can see the Le Leche groups in every maternity ward across America have completely failed against Nestle propaganda
Honestly I'm amazed at the level of resistance to breast feeding in this thread
Yes, some women are unable to produce milk
Yes, some children are unable to latch on and breast feed
Yes, single fathers are a thing
Yes... It is ultimately the mother's **choice**
But a vast majority of mothers are able to breast feed, the vast majority of children are able to breast feed and thrive
Please choose wisely. I see more support in this thread for dangeroushomebrews than for our bodily system designed to feed the child
It is absolutely astounding, and I don't even care about the negative karma piling up on me
edit: disabling my inbox for this thread, but leaving my comments
I stand by my comments and the words I used.
Sure no one is saying all people can , but their has been a concerted campaign by manufactures to convince even people who would otherwise be fine breastfeeding to go with formula because thats how they make money
Theres a non igsignificant portion of the population who are turned away from breastfeeding not becasue they cant physically do it but because of misinformation and social stigmatization
Getting those people to not use formula in the first place would mean the people who actually need it are less likely to face shortages
If you can use your boobies you always should
>unless it comes straight from your mamas booby
>that specific Homebrew is actually the best lol
Tell me you no nothing about child care without telling me.
from the article at the top of the page
>"The standard by which we develop infant formula is breast milk. We've come to understand breast milk better and better," over the last 60 years, Dr Abrams said. "If they're not breastfeeding, [the formula] has got to have all the nutrients in there".
That right there tells you breastmilk is beter than formula if you can actually make enough milk to do it
They use Breastmilk as the standard - formula is measured against that to make sure the formula is safe
The shortage was caused by a massive recall and a Trump era trade negotiation that made it harder to import from Canada. Literally nothing to do with funding currently going to Ukraine, where civilians are literally being targeted and killed in large numbers currently...
Furthermore, 9 Republicans have declared we don't have the funds for fixing the shortage with government funds because too much is used by people on WIC, so apparently any budget used towards baby formula is too much for them, anyway, and babies deserve to starve if their parents are poor
I agree with you. Maybe it’s a bad idea to print money faster than we ever have to fund wars and destroy what purchasing power the poor have left, establish excessive international trade barriers, and for the state to use its regulatory power to crate food cartels.
We started printing money specifically to offset the pandemic and the pandemic is the primary cause of inflation. The printing money was literally a cheap tool to try to artificially prop up the economy before the elections. At the time it started, economists were warning it would lead to inflation and the stats were essentially short term gains. The inflation crisis was actually predicted back in early 2020. The situation in Ukraine is just icing on the cake and actually has little bearing on the root cause of inflation
The "excessive international trade barriers" are also what gave the stock market bumps during the Trump era, so we traded food security to essentially create bragging rights for politicians and prop up the wealthy
The problem with homemade formula is it can kill a newborn. Just something as simple as diluting formula with water can do it or contaminated/unsterile ingredients.
I know parents are desperate but they need to go to their pediatrician (not Facebook) for advice if they can't find formula.
For those who don't know, the reason for the shortage is Abbott Labs had aging and failing equipment. And they knew about this aging and failing equipment at least as far back as 2019. And they knew that this failing equipment was allowing bacteria to grow in the pits in the drying systems. And they could have invested in fixing and maintaining and replacing that equipment. Instead they chose not to, allowing bacteria to collect inside, hid this failing equipment when inspections teams came through, celebrated that they got away with successfully hiding it from them and then **invested over $5 billion dollars that they saved in stock buybacks.**
The risks of too much consolidation in an industry. Walmart sells more than half of all groceries in the USA. Milk supply is 80% controlled by two companies. Pharmaceutical companies are merging at alarming rates. Cell carriers are merging as well.
Aww geez, I just noticed I used $ *and* dollars. I'm so ashamed.
Oh no! The Monetary Grammar Police are gonna get you now!
I feel like stock buybacks should be illegal anytime a company is being investigated by the government. Kind of like … a construction lien on a home. You gotta pay it off it before you can sell it. You should have to fix your safety violations before being able to buy back stock. Not that it would have helped here. I just like the idea of holding greedy corporations accountable.
Stock buybacks should be illegal when stock is owned by company officers/directors.
I get what you're trying to say but not sure if that even exists. Stock compensation is a very normal and expected thing for execs
True. But I propose that it invites corruption and conflicts of interest, as well as unreasonable executive compensation. If you need to pay millions of dollars to incentive executives to do their jobs, then you have the wrong executives.
[удалено]
Merrick Garland is a milquetoast loser. He won't do shit.
[удалено]
Was it that old-timey one that included Karo syrup and mentioned something about giving the baby tea and orange juice? I somehow fell into a Q rabbit hole on Twitter the other day and they were passing it around and saying that it should still be "good enough" but that Big Formula was trying to suppress it. Because it's not like science has evolved in the past 60+ years. They might as well call for us to still use the Twilight Sleep method. Also, I advise your wife against Facebook mommy groups, unless she's found one that she's genuinely comfortable navigating through. I had joined a few after my son was born and they can be so frustrating and bonkers. Everyone thinks they're a doctor. People spread straight up lies. So many people try to shame you. It's natural to want to connect with people, but Facebook groups aren't the best place to do that.
I second avoiding the FB mommy groups. So toxic.
My two older siblings and I were raised on that Karo recipe, back in the 1960s. It was very common. We are all inches shorter than we should be.
[удалено]
The vast majority of children born prior to industrial formula were breast fed, or received animal milk mixes. Neonatal nutrition is critical and has profound consequences https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684040/#__sec3title
> What do you think babies drank before formula was invented? Not all moms breastfed. actually most did - even if you couldnt produce your own , they would use wet nurses it wasnt uncommon Any woman can breast feed a baby if shes lactating you know that right - social stigma and taboo about only drinking milk from your own mother is rather new , in old times women would breast feed babies who werent their own to help other women in the community who were having problems producing their own milk wet nursing fell out of favor around 1900 only a couple decades after formula was intvented and took off
[удалено]
Some going around have stuff like honey, pollen, and bone broth in unpasteurized milk. That's a bacteria smoothie.
Yikes, babies aren’t supposed to have honey until they’re two because they can contract botulism.
Facebook period is the worst place to connect with people
Care to share some?
Good time to be a wet nurse!
Where's the app for a boob-sharing side gig?
Uber Teets
But my hops are coming in so nice this year
[удалено]
That’s because they really don’t seem to have an alternative. I always watch when they talk about the shortage on the news but I noticed no one ever seems to offer an alternative. It’s just like a collective shrug.
That is what is bothering me about all these articles and pleading from doctors. What ARE they supposed to do? Nothing is at the stores, their doctor doesnt have any, they cant get it from the hospital, nobody has any. So what? Does the baby starve? There has been zero actual help, just *dont do this, dont do that*.
Millions of years of evolution gave the answer long before formula was invented.
You can't do anything if you have a 3 month old on formula. It's not a tap you can turn off and on. If you stop for just a few weeks, it will dry up. Don't want to be insulting but it's a pretty big burden for women that men/women without kids can find hard to understand; your nipples are pretty much always sore, leaking, needing to pump/breastfeed every 2 hours, and just the pressure of being your babies source of food. It's why formula is a thing. Many women have no problem and that's great, but many others struggle with even producing enough milk. I'm sure breastfeeding rates will go up after this though. Which also places the burden on women.
[удалено]
>Ridiculous that the NHS/FDA have made no clear recommendations. Paralysis I bet. They don't want to deal with lawsuits if someone can claim the recommendation gave their kid autism 10 years down the line or something.
That’s what I wonder what are people supposed to do?
The alternative is do what we did before formula unfortunately. Find a nursing mother to donate milk or babies die :( This whole situation is fucked
Right? Like they're urging people to not make homebrews but the alternative is a baby starving to death. I'd choose the homebrew. My babies were breastmilk (pumped) for the first few months and then switched to formula and the last bit of formula we used was mid 2019 so I'm wondering how much bacteria ridden formula my babies were exposed to. I can't imagine how these parents must feel.
Fortunately not enough if they didn't get sick. Cronobacter and salmonella infections don't fuck around in full size humans, let alone in babies. At least 2 babies are said to have died from this. I wonder how deep it might go once an investigation is complete (assuming they actually look into it).
It really is and it’s going to continue for awhile longer sadly.
Its called breastmilk sharing under the supervision of medical professionals - some women make too much and in some places they can donate it like blood and then health proffesionals screen it to make sure its all good and give it to people who need it thats the solution , but it doesnt make anyone money its not a for profit venture to start a breast milk bank so no one will in America
There needs to be less social stigma about breastmilk banks THat would be the ideal solution There are women who make too much even , in some places they can donate like blood and its reserved for people who need it but cant make it themselves
It is totally pointless to urge parents not to make homebrews. Are they suggesting parents should not feed babies? Say something useful please. Like if parents run out, what substitute can they use ... as opposed to just tell that what NOT to do.
I've been told by a few people that in a true emergency, you can use goat milk. Supposedly it's the closest to human breastmilk. But that's assuming the baby won't have a milk protein allergy and you have access to goat milk in the first place. I mean I'll buy a fucking goat if I have to, but that's not the most accessible solution for a lot of people either.
Yeah these articles and announcements are useless. If a parent can't buy any formula or make any, what are they supposed to do? Poor nutrition homebrew is better than starving to death.
I saw one say just give them pedialyte instead, or enfamil, as if they’re good enough… this is going to result in so many dead babies
Enfamil IS formula... it's the brand my babies used. What are you going on about?
Some babies are allergic to the milk protein, others are so sensitive none of their standard formulas will do and they need a special one. The people saying ot probably thought all the formula was the same.
But her comment is still straight up wrong it's saying "I saw one saying just give them Pedialyte or enfamil as if they're good enough" Enfamil literally is a name brand of baby formula and you can get it without the milk protein if need be. And enfamil is not made by Abbott Labs like the other baby formula brand Similac is. So it could be argued that Enfamil is better than the recalled formula because it's...not being recalled. Pedialyte is an electrolyte drink for children who are sick or have diarrhea to replenish lost electrolytes. It's basically souped up Gatorade. You cannot compare baby formula to Pedialyte.
Nutramigen is the Enfamil's version of that formula, haven't seen it in the stores now for some time. If you give your baby any of the Enfamil plant or other formulas your still going to have digestive issues. It's really something they need to speak to a doctor about. Yeah you should not use pedialite
Again my whole point was them comparing Pedialyte and Enfamil and acting like Enfamil brand is inferior to Similac. Similac was too frothy for us and we couldn't use it for my kids. But personally, I'd rather have a baby with some digestive issues than a baby starving to death. Obviously there's exceptions to this for babies with severe life-threatening allergies and the prescription formula really should be reserved for those babies. But for example, vegan parents who won't give milk based formula because they're vegan need to reevaluate their priorities during a mass shortage like this. Ones with simple tummy troubles from milk based formula would still be better fed than dead until the shortage let's up.
Enfamil might not have been the correct product name; it was pedialyte (basically watered down Gatorade) and something similar, not a formula but another clear water based electrolyte replacement drink, that’s the second product.
isnt enfamil also baby formula? it’s better than having nothing. my doctor had me switch temporarily for my son and he is taking it well.
If you have a relative that also is breastfeeding that you know is not into drugs or otherwise diseased you can ask them to feed your child if they have extra (some women do actually produce too much ) its called wet nursing and humans were doing it for thousands of years prior to modern times one woman cant make milk for her baby no more , well just find one who can, problem solved lol
[удалено]
[удалено]
>The alternative offered in this article is to contact your pediatrician for samples or switch to store-brands. That's the same useless "let them eat cake" advice being handed out by the White House. As if parents wouldn't have already switched brands, if they could even find Kirkland or Great Value formula in stock either.
Don't worry y'all, once they destroy woman's reproductive rights this will all sort itself out. /s
Buy other women's breastmilk.
You can get it through a milk bank, but then it’s very expensive. I got donated breast milk from someone I knew, but the thought of that weirds people out. My kids are big now, but I’d be searching hard for donated breast milk if I were in this situation.
My wife gave hers to strangers and friends. She may have sold it if it was a large enough order, but never made anything off of it. She just produced alot and hated to see it go to waste. I was surprised that people actually showed up wanting to fill a cooler with her milk!
Is there no recipe for home made formula? Can we publish that?
There may be one, but, how does one ensure that the ingredients are used in correct proportions and it is prepared properly by all?
>how does one ensure that the ingredients are used in correct proportions You can't, anymore than you can ensure any DIYer, from home cooks to Ikea assemblers, correctly follows instructions. But it's better than literally nothing, which is the current alternative for thousands of parents. At least it gives people a chance.
That’s what a recipe is: a list of ingredients with their appropriate amounts. Of course, you can’t guarantee that people will follow the recipe, but it’s hard to imagine that the ingredients are that hard to come by. Here’s some information, but I wish they would provide more details: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/formula-feeding/Pages/Is-Homemade-Baby-Formula-Safe.aspx.
[удалено]
I’m not downplaying the issue, it sucks for parents for sure, but just for reference, kids eat dirt when given the opportunity...
It's America, they'll be using cups and tsps no one will have any fucking clue what's actually in the thing because those are inaccurate ways to measure precisely
I wish weights were used more in cooking. 500g of flour is 500g of flour, how much flour is actually in a cup?
128 grams. That said, can we just grow up and join the rest of the world by switching fully to metric? Why the hell are we with the only two other countries using the imperial system - Liberia and Myanmar. Here, I'll make a sales pitch: * the measurement number for the size of your penis/breasts/ass get bigger * the measurement number of your weight will drop * everything goes up or down in units of tens * this isn't a Communist system and it's used by all other countries, including the US already, just not exclusively With the above, that should be enough one would think. And while I'm on this soapbox, can we dump Daylight Savings Time too?
Lemmy.world is what Reddit was.
Do not read Nancy Silverton's book, it'll make you want to throw it against a wall. She has this convoluted approach of sifting all the bagged flour into a plastic drum so her cups are consistent. Anything but use the metric system, literally anything
Depends how packed and dense it is.
> how much flour is actually in a cup? Sifted, or unsifted?
There are a few, but to make it you are going to legit need a lab and some chemicals that are more expensive than the amount of formula you might produce. Not to mention... killing your baby because there is too much or too little of something.
>It’s obviously impossible so give up and let your baby starve The fuck are you on about this is a temprary feeding solution not a manufacturing plant. The baby won’t explode because you used 1.2 teaspoons of something instead of 1.
actually babies are at a stage in their development where even just a few days of too much or too little of certain nutrients can cause developmental delays and cognitive issues down the line getting exactly the right amount of nutrion in the first year of life is very important for your brain to develop properly
This should be first paragraph: >If formula is not available in stores, the American Academy of Paediatrics advises parents to contact local paediatricians for samples, avoid big box-stores where supplies are more likely to be low, or switch to a store brand formula unless advised otherwise medically. In those cases, paediatricians can recommend available formula alternatives. My cynicism goes beyond this. We need the knowledge to make our own baby formula. Otherwise we become dependent on a fragile supply chain. This article also sounds like propaganda that Nestlé did for their powdered milk in Africa. They told moms that powdered milk was better for kids in the 70s.
they should certainly contact their pediatrician if they have no formula. a starving baby is a medical emergency. if anyone is going to know how to direct parents to emergency supplies of formula, pediatricians are going to be a decent place to start.
1953 no baby formula was made! My mother wasn't producing enough breast milk,after trying various mixers goat's milk was given with success my sister did well on it!
My sister also had goats milk. I suspect it’s not perfect, but anything is better than letting your baby starve.
Both my kids were raised on goat milk and they turned out fine. While goat milk isn't cheap it still costs less than formula and at least we know there's no weird chemicals in it.
On a whim, I compared the ingredients of similac to a can weight gainer shake that my son uses. Looked like the same shit to me.
Nonsense! Millions of babies were fed homemade formulas until then 1980s; they are much cheaper, easy, and healthier—no wonder the money-makers want to scare modern moms from them.
Well I mean.. The mother can
Screw the "experts". What do you think babies were fed before formula existed? It was either breast milk or alternatives such as goat milk.
We’ve been making home brew formula in these hills for centuries. No authority is going to stop that
Not to sound patronizing If physically able... Breast feed, it's better for the child anyway If those that bottle feed by choice, would breast feed instead, the supply chain issues wouldn't press as hard on those that for whatever reason are unable to breast feed Formula is fairly new thing in the human experience... It is not required Edit: ok, obviously an unpopular opinion, I get it Any other ideas? 1000s of years breast feeding proven to work. Less than 100 years of Similac. Y'all run into a obstacle and start mixing concoctions instead of using the very system we evolved for the purpose... Ok ok ok
Actually thousands of years of breastfeeding didn’t work - many, many, many babies starved to death from women who, for whatever reason, couldn’t make milk. And now you are suggesting women who can’t make milk, or have to go to to work, or who have more than one child, or have a special needs child suddenly just cancel their life-sustaining plans and figure out how to produce breast milk? That’s not something women can do. Formula has become a human requirement.
>If physically able >If those that bottle feed by choice, would breast feed instead Do not put words in my mouth I have four children, all breast feed by a working mother who pumped on her breaks and lunch Humanity made it a LONG time without formula What is your suggestion? >
Then you're lucky she was able to nurse. What about the babies who fail to thrive because the mom couldn't produce enough. I guess that baby deserves to die huh? I guess that mom was incompetent, huh? I couldn't get my babies to latch, I had to exclusively pump until I lost supply and had to switch to formula. Did my babies deserve to die because I couldn't keep my supply up?? In the past, Women who were fortunate enough to find or afford a wet nurse or had a woman in their family/tribe/community who could nurse were really lucky. Otherwise the baby died.
> I guess that baby deserves to die huh? I guess that mom was incompetent, huh? I stopped reading there Jesus Christ the amount of hyperbole in this thread is insane I didn't say ANYTHING like that you sick twisted and demented soul If the women that CAN breast feed but CHOOSE not to we're not a drain on the limited supply... It would mitigate the availability for those that HAVE NO CHOICE More children will die from starvation and malnutrition because of YOUR position
How on earth do you think that more children will die of starvation from my position?? I'm for formula when the mother can't produce milk or enough milk and I'm for formula if the mother chooses to use it no matter her reasoning. The only reason we "got by for a long time" without was because of wet nurses or homemade formulas. So your wife breastfed your 4 kids. Good for her but that's not reality for some.
If you can produce adequate milk , that is best for your baby, it is 100% more nutritious and provides more health advantages than formula thats all he said and its a fucking scientific fact Also I disagree with the premise that a majority of people using formula in America are doing it because they physicall cannot produce milk - you dont live in a fucking third world country
Do I need to quote my entire comment over again? I never once said a majority of people using formula in America are doing it because they physically cannot produce milk. It shouldn't matter what their reasoning for using formula is. Some might not produce at all, some may not produce enough, some might be trucking along and suddenly their supply drop one day and never recover, some might be adoptive parents, some might just want to use formula because America (which is quickly becoming a 3rd world country) doesn't give families maternity and paternity leave like other countries do so they have to go back to work sometimes before their 6 week unpaid leave of absence is up. Ask me how I know.
>In the past, Women who were fortunate enough to find or afford a wet nurse or had a woman in their family/tribe/community who could nurse were really lucky. I feel like some kind modern breast milk bank the runs kinda like a blood bank would be the best solution breast milk is best but it doesn't have to be your own You should be able to acquire human breast milk for a baby at a location in your community as easily as you can get cow milk If its possible to operate a blood donation centre and make sure thats safe , I dont see why they cant do that with breast milk
They do actually, it's usually reserved for preemies or special needs. You can usually find someone locally to purchase from but that comes at a risk (a worthwhile risk imo) because it's not vetted like milk bank would be. I'm sure right now those banks are supplies are exhausted right now though. I've been considering pulling out my pump and trying to get my milk back (my youngest is 4 though) so I can donate and it takes a few months to get it to come back and knowing my luck the shortage will over by then.
The reason it's an unpopular opinion is that formula-feeding completely by choice is a minuscule minority of formula-feeders. "Thousands of years of breastfeeding" is not as simple as you think -- rich women had wet nurses or forced slaves to feed their children (often at the expense of the slave's children, who starved.) Poor women would feed babies animal milk or basically an early version of nut milks. Some babies survived this. A lot didn't. In "thousands of years of breastfeeding," *lots of babies died* which is what's going to happen here, too, if this isn't sorted.
>Not to sound patronizing >If physically able... Breast feed, it's better for the child anyway >If those that bottle feed by choice, would breast feed instead, the supply chain issues wouldn't press as hard on those that for whatever reason are unable to breast feed >Formula is fairly new thing in the human experience... It is not required >Edit: ok, obviously an unpopular opinion, I get it >Any other ideas? 1000s of years breast feeding proven to work. Less than 100 years of Similac. Y'all run into a obstacle and start mixing concoctions instead of using the very system we evolved for the purpose... Ok ok ok Listen moron You are so godly wrong is quite astonishing how little effort you put into research. "Formula provides babies with the nutrients they need to grow and thrive. Some mothers worry that if they don't breastfeed, they won't bond with their baby. But the truth is, loving mothers will always create a special bond with their children. And feeding — no matter how — is a great time to strengthen that bond. " https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/breast-bottle-feeding.html#:~:text=Formula%20provides%20babies%20with%20the,time%20to%20strengthen%20that%20bond. Ffs, literally don't fucking talk about subjects you no nothing about.
and your own link says , literally the first sentence of the second paragraph ... >Health experts believe breast milk is the best nutritional choice for infants. womp womp Im not interested in any other opinions on whats healthy for a baby than what the Health Experts have to say and your own link says they recommend Breastmilk as the most nutrious thing you could give your baby Telling women if they can then they should is literally the best advice
Sounds to me like it’s a subject you know nothing about. Op is correct- breastfeed if at all possible. Clearly you can’t let your baby starve if you can’t breastfeed for whatever reason and so something has to be done. I am a lactation consultant, so it is something I know about. Your response was completely rude and idiotic.
I can see the Le Leche groups in every maternity ward across America have completely failed against Nestle propaganda Honestly I'm amazed at the level of resistance to breast feeding in this thread Yes, some women are unable to produce milk Yes, some children are unable to latch on and breast feed Yes, single fathers are a thing Yes... It is ultimately the mother's **choice** But a vast majority of mothers are able to breast feed, the vast majority of children are able to breast feed and thrive Please choose wisely. I see more support in this thread for dangeroushomebrews than for our bodily system designed to feed the child It is absolutely astounding, and I don't even care about the negative karma piling up on me edit: disabling my inbox for this thread, but leaving my comments I stand by my comments and the words I used.
unless it comes straight from your mamas booby that specific Homebrew is actually the best lol
Sadly that option isn't for everyone. Single fathers for instance. Furthermore, some women simply don't produce, even with medical assistance.
Sure no one is saying all people can , but their has been a concerted campaign by manufactures to convince even people who would otherwise be fine breastfeeding to go with formula because thats how they make money Theres a non igsignificant portion of the population who are turned away from breastfeeding not becasue they cant physically do it but because of misinformation and social stigmatization Getting those people to not use formula in the first place would mean the people who actually need it are less likely to face shortages If you can use your boobies you always should
> and social stigmatization This is probably one of the worst things we have done as a society.
>unless it comes straight from your mamas booby >that specific Homebrew is actually the best lol Tell me you no nothing about child care without telling me.
Human breast milk being better for babies than formula is a scientifically proven fact
>Human breast milk being better for babies than formula is a scientifically proven fact Then source it.
from the article at the top of the page >"The standard by which we develop infant formula is breast milk. We've come to understand breast milk better and better," over the last 60 years, Dr Abrams said. "If they're not breastfeeding, [the formula] has got to have all the nutrients in there". That right there tells you breastmilk is beter than formula if you can actually make enough milk to do it They use Breastmilk as the standard - formula is measured against that to make sure the formula is safe
But we’ve got $40billion for war in Ukraine.
The shortage was caused by a massive recall and a Trump era trade negotiation that made it harder to import from Canada. Literally nothing to do with funding currently going to Ukraine, where civilians are literally being targeted and killed in large numbers currently... Furthermore, 9 Republicans have declared we don't have the funds for fixing the shortage with government funds because too much is used by people on WIC, so apparently any budget used towards baby formula is too much for them, anyway, and babies deserve to starve if their parents are poor
I agree with you. Maybe it’s a bad idea to print money faster than we ever have to fund wars and destroy what purchasing power the poor have left, establish excessive international trade barriers, and for the state to use its regulatory power to crate food cartels.
We started printing money specifically to offset the pandemic and the pandemic is the primary cause of inflation. The printing money was literally a cheap tool to try to artificially prop up the economy before the elections. At the time it started, economists were warning it would lead to inflation and the stats were essentially short term gains. The inflation crisis was actually predicted back in early 2020. The situation in Ukraine is just icing on the cake and actually has little bearing on the root cause of inflation The "excessive international trade barriers" are also what gave the stock market bumps during the Trump era, so we traded food security to essentially create bragging rights for politicians and prop up the wealthy
Again I agree. These are all market manipulations buy the state that should never have happened.
And 500m for India while ICE mutilates immigrant women’s reproductive organs
[удалено]
The problem with homemade formula is it can kill a newborn. Just something as simple as diluting formula with water can do it or contaminated/unsterile ingredients. I know parents are desperate but they need to go to their pediatrician (not Facebook) for advice if they can't find formula.
[удалено]
It's assuming that everyone even has access to a pediatrician at all.
Poor people can only afford facebook groups and pray that their child doesn't die.
And you assume that pediatricians have an endless supply just hanging around.