Source
r/breastfeeding•
andrearb

Formula specifically for supplementing (and general formula company creepiness)

So I am due at the end of September and because big brother is always watching I am getting lots of (unsolicited) new baby mail including a box of samples from Enfamil. I have got one my last two pregnancies but this one contained something new: "Enfamil for supplementing" specifically for breastfeeding moms "who choose to introduce formula." Now, I have no issues with formula or supplementing or whatever. I supplemented with my first. But this just seems, I don't know, devious?

Thoughts?

Posted Aug 27, 2015, 9:26 PM UTC

1121
Wdc331•

According to my pediatrician, this is total BS marketing crap to try and get people to use at least some formula. I tend to agree because when I compared the ingredients once to regular formula (out of curiosity), they didn't seem any different.

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callunablue•

Suspect this is true. Formula companies don't sell any kind of special 'supplementing' formula here (UK), although they put a lot of effort into selling 'follow-on milk', designed specifically for 6 month olds upwards - introduced after it became illegal to advertise formula for babies under 6 months.

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Wdc331•

Wow, so sketchy. Here the "toddler formula" is marketed the same way.

1
andrearbOP•

I was wondering about that, because when I supplemented, I just used regular old formula mixed with pumped milk (I was pumping at work and could not keep up).

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bonjourtabby•

We were given some of Similac's "supplementing" formula by our pediatrician when my son was close to being jaundiced and needed to fill his belly and poop ASAP as a newborn. It was the pre-made liquid kind that comes in little bottles.

I also got all the (totally unsolicited) samples from the companies and we did give some regular Similac at one point, and I felt like the supplementing version tasted waaaay better. The regular stuff tasted so nasty to me, but the supplementing kind tasted sweeter and more like regular milk.

5
CharistineE•

This was my experience too. It took 5 days for my milk to come in and I couldn't get colostrum from the pump so supplement it was! He's ebf now though.

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bonjourtabby•

Yep, same here. We had to give him maybe 6 of those little bottles the first week of his life. Ironically it constipated him and he needed a suppository to poop out the rest of his meconium. In retrospect I kind of question whether our pediatrician was right for pushing it so hard...

He had a couple bottles of regular formula on a couple of nights I was too exhausted and needed to rest the boobs. Those first few weeks were rough!

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andrearbOP•

Interesting about the taste. Breastmilk has a sweetness to it, too, while regular formula doesn't. What I usually do with samples and keep them until we are good a breastfeeding and then donate.

1
bonjourtabby•

Yeah, I've described my own milk as like the milk at the bottom of a bowl of frosted flakes. I'd say the supplementing formula was similar in taste.

I've been slowly giving away the sample cans to some local moms, now that we're 8 months in and it doesn't seem like I'll need them! I'm glad to be able to help some folks out with that. I do wonder how those companies got my address or knew I was pregnant, though!

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andrearbOP•

Now I want Frosted Flakes.

1
InlinedSnakePlane•

It is just marketing, it's the same thing.

That being said, some women do need to supplement - and buying the can that says 'for supplementing' might help keep the sanctimommies at bay...

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andrearbOP•

I had never heard about it. I don't really care if people choose to formula or breastfeed or both, but I wonder if it costs the same?

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InlinedSnakePlane•

yeah, same cost.

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sotepetsenu•

I signed up for free samples from nestle and similac so that I'd have an emergency just in case supply of formula if breastfeeding runs into issues. I haven't noticed anything unsolicited yet - but I'm in Canada, so I'm not in a lucrative market :P Creepy thinking that they asked for my baby's due date so maybe I'll get creeper mail in a year?

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andrearbOP•

With my first, I had a Babies R Us registry, so I was less surprised. The creepiest thing I ever got, though, was a American Girl baby doll catalog in time for Christmas when my daughter was one. I have never bought anything ever from American Girl! I also get targeted mail from Babies R Us, Gerber, Similac, and Carters.

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bonjourtabby•

They must be selling/sharing addresses across companies or something. Someone suggested the companies got my info from Motherhood Maternity, but I swear when I shopped there I only told them my due date, not my address. Really makes me wonder if they somehow got it from my credit card company??

I was getting samples before I made any registry, so it must have been that store, but it's so weird...

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andrearbOP•

Yeah I don't remember giving them my address, yet I get mail from them too. I mean there are worse things than getting a Carter's coupon, but the Gerber life insurance junk mail annoys the heck out of me!

1
SwanInThePond•

Devious is the right word. I too have gotten a ton of unsolicited enfamil in the mail. My son turned one last week and I got a "birthday" package from them with their "enfagrow" formula for toddlers ages 1-3. First of all, it creeps me out that they know my son's birthday and second of all, this toddler stuff is such marketing BS! They don't need formula past one! The second ingredient is "corn syrup solids". How is that better than just introducing whole cow's milk? Yuck!

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ckillgannon•

I'm pretty sure they get their information from registries and Motherhood Maternity.

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SwanInThePond•

I figured they got it from my registry at babies r us. Still creeps me out though.

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andrearbOP•

I got that one with my daughter, too!

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