So what if this advertising campaign ran in Ireland ?


I was reading the post below from phd in parenting and found myself thinking ...what if the food safety authority here in Ireland  ran an ad like this ? What if they told parents that the claims that a certain formula will make your baby laugh all day are baloney? That the addition of DHA to infant formula is absolutely useless and the origin of the additives is fairly yuch?  That the additive in infant formula  to settle babies who are colicky/reflux  is potato starch ...
Why is it all glossed over and made look pretty ? Because thats what sells ..
And then i got to thinking , well is breastfeeding presented in a glossy ,angelic ,  never a problem and if there is its your own fault for not doing it right.   If you cant do it perfectly, there's something wrong with you as a woman ? Yes, sometimes it is and that doesn't help anyone .
I often say that if you are looking for someone to support you in the early days of breastfeeding , a mum who has had some teething (pardon the pun) problems might be  a better  choice than one who never had an issue. Learning a new skill generally isn't very pretty , so mums in white nightdresses with perfect babies ( no spots or blemishes!) would make me think that its a little unreal, only for the perfect beautiful people .... Most new mums are anxious , nervous , going feed to feed, one day at a time , don't  understand that just because the latch doesn't go right first, second or third time - doesn't mean that both of you wont be breastfeeding easily in a couple of weeks .
Everything thats worth it , takes time.
http://www.phdinparenting.com/2011/03/04/do-advertisers-just-think-parents-are-this-stupid-or-are-they

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Reading your comments and hearing myself quoted in the Indo really makes that ring true Nicola. We all know that it's not easy in the early days and wesk and that the effort put in is worht it in the end if it is what you want. There is no simple way around the issue and there is an often under rated and under mentioned causer of problems and that is birthing practices. Liinda Smith's book really points up the various things that cna happen when the birth process is highly orchestrated and managed ..... I could go on and on but I won't!! Good to get us thinking though. Thank you :)

Annie @ PhD in Parenting said...

Thanks for the link to my blog. I love the picture you chose for your post. Such a great message.

Anonymous said...

Hi Nicola, I have just come across your blog and I'm looking forward to reading more. I'm breast-feeding my 17month old in Dublin. Also have a blog, go to La Leche meetings. I've learned so much about breastfeeding in the last year and a half it has been life-changing. Perhaps we'll meet someday as you're in Dublin too. I just read about you and your 5 kids on friends of breastfeeding. Well done to you!!!

Nicola O'Byrne said...

Thanks !