We’re in the midst of a, or should I say the annual, milk powder scandal in China.
Unscrupulous baby milk manifacturers are lacing the product with so much poison, children are dropping dead or developing kidney stone. What a perfect metaphor for our times! Here you have a great product which has been working fine for tens of thousands of years: Mother’s milk. It not only nourishes the child, but enhances its immune system.
Greedy manufacturers get in on the act and through advertising make mothers believe that breast milk isn’t good enough, no, they must buy a milk product made from cow’s milk ( only suitable for calves) if they want to have a chance to see their baby grow strong and healthy like Americans.
This product, in order to make a little bit of a profit for the manufacturers, then proceeds to kill the children.
It’s beautiful isn’t it? Apart from the fact that dairy products have never been a part of the Chinese diet until the last ten years or so when MILK suddenly started to be advertised as health drink number one with the inevitable result; instant obesity – the entire north of China is now a desert because of over-grazing by cattle.
Yes, the western way is certainly the best way.
Â
True. But the ‘breast is best’ issue is now completely politically laden and mothers tread really carefully around that one.
I breast fed 2 children and it took up 26 months of my time. during that time, I enhanced their immunity and drastically reduced my chances of breast cancer (selfish as I am – that’s why I did it).
They’re lean and healthy (breast fed kids are 20% leaner than bottlefed babies).
But breastfeeding isn’t the easy ‘natural’ thing anymore. I struggled in the beginning and I think so do many mothers. Luckily I had very good support at the Mathilda here – many mothers don’t.
You bring up a very valid point, Cecilie.
I have always wondered, since my infancy, that isn’t cow’s milk supposed to be for her children (calf or calves)?
So what’s this obsession of milking a cow and actually, technically, stealing from her?
And the award goes to Indians for believing that cow is a mother, a goddess even, because she gives milk.
Yep, she does. But not for those mfckers!
Anyway, my mother never breast-fed me. Perhaps, that’s why I am odd? And I don’t remember feeding off the cows either. Man! Ma ha han!
Ciao!
Ah Nudolf, you’re back. At last! Yes this drinking liquid animal fat fad is a strange thing.
I think it’s immoral that 45% of the world’s grain production goes into cattle feed, just so people can stuff themselves with totally unnecessary AND harmful dairy produce and meat.
A mad world. Would chuckle if it wasn’t so tragic. The good thing that’s coming out of this is that cattle keeping is on the decline in China.
Ah-Sin, you can’t say sarcastiacally the Western method is best as if you are blaming the West for all the problems regarding the milk scam. There are woman out there who just cannot breast feed even if they really wanted to. Imagine if if you have triplets, then in theory your breast would be so big because they would have to accumulate enough milk for three kids.
Also, the milk powder that is contaminated is mainland produced CHINESE baby milk. There is no need for the Chinese in the Peoples Republic of China to adopt Western ways, they did after all invent the compass, the kite, paper, ships, not to mention gunpowder. But the problem was they kept details of all the inventions to themselves and that is why they never took of the ground.
Don’t sarcastically say the Western method is best when the West too has enable the development of all the Chinese inventions and more. Besides, look at how obsessed HK Chinese people are about learning English!
You are a product of the West and I have no doubt too that you mother fed you “Western” baby milk from Western baby powder. But then you might tell me I am wrong and that you were breastfed.
Er … ?
Yes. Breastfed. Therefore never sick. Did I say west is best? I meant breast is best!
Yeah, well it might be the ‘best’ but in some countries it is just not a viable thing for many women to do. I mean, clean aur is best too, but look what we get here.
Again: …..???????
JimSee, why is breastfeeding a Western concept? All women have breasts and hard as it may be to believe, that’s what they are for. You are likely too young to remember any of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott
but it outlines the basic issues and various problem of formula feeding. It is greed and unscrupulous marketing that causes the reliance on formula – free hospital samples result in the cessation of natural lactation which means dependancy on formula. It is very rarely the case that a mother naturally cannot breastfeed. By the way, regarding your slightly disturbing comment on the increased requirement of breast milk for triplets and the resulting giant breasts, the milk is produced as required; look at cows – they provide milk for the world yet their udders don’t drag 10 feet behind them. Sheesh.
Morag, I think you shoukd re-read what I wrote, you seem to have completely the wrong end of the ‘teat’.
Ther is no way a woman who gives birth to triplets or more will be able to ‘produce’ enough milk IN ONE MILKING SESSION for all the children. She will have to milk herself with a breast pump not unlike the way cows have their milk sucked out of them but usimg mechanical sucking devices rather than by hand, as it was once done int e days of Edward Jenner who as you are probably old enough to remember discovered the samllpix vaccine. Yes one cow can produce a certain amount of milk at each milking session, just like a woman can, but that amount (per session0 is enough usually for two infants (one on each breast). In the case of the cows, who as you say “provide the milk for the world”, one cow does not do this, but multiple cows do.
I think you should read inot things before getting all worked up
In addition, some women cannot (for medical or physiological reasons) produce milk or express it, so they HAVE to resport to dried powder formula. I never mention anything about breast feeding NOT being only a Western concept.
As Ah-Sin said, “breast is bes”
“All the breast to you Morag”
Okay, this wasn’t really about whether all women can breastfeed or not, but about the fact that milk powder manufacturers through callous advertising aim to make all women think breastfeeding isn’t good enough.
I have many friends with twins however who have successfully fed their twins up to and beyond the 6 months that are recommended. Triplets are rather an extreme example to prove what point exactly? Without IVF they do not occur naturally that frequently anyway.