That cute little bag, with bottles, ice packs and advice. It seemed so innocuous with the pretty print, and the smiley nurse handing it to me. The ready to serve formula, and even disposable nipples. Just in case you want it later.
When I was tired, confused, and barely a new mom, the hub tried to help. Oh, look, we have those bottles, the nurse must think it's okay, because she gave them to us. Let me just give the baby a bottle and give you a break, hon.
It always made things worse. Just one bottle makes baby fussy. Then comes the new spitup which doesn't wash out, and smells gross. The screaming, because she still wanted me. It always meant at least an hour of H... everytime he tried to give me a break with one of the GD bottles. Finally, he'd give up, and bring the baby back, I'd nurse and she'd calm down once that crap wore off. Without the bottles, he may have thought about other real alternatives, like giving the baby a bath, or just walking around the house showing her her new world.
I am angry that it could even happen. Oh, and the breastfeeding instructions from the formula company are downright fraud. Even worse that the What to expect hooha.
We have to stop this blatant comercialism. How can we even allow gifts intended for breastfeeding moms from such a questionable source? The free bottles leaked, the free cold pack wasn't good enough to cool down the milk, the a$$vice was intended to get you on formula. Very effective marketing, but not good for babies.
The 'gradual' advice which just arrived with more free formula took 8 days to replace all daytime feeds with formula. I wonder what's in their DHA supplement for nursing moms?
