In tough economic times, families are cutting back everywhere. One practice that could be deadly is cutting back on formula. Some parents are actually watering down formula in order to make it stretch further. Not only is this unwise, holding back needed nutrition for you baby, but it could be fatal.
The Todayshow.com is reporting on a story about one mom who almost lost her five-month-old son because she watered down his formula. She was shopping with him at a store when he curled up and stopped breathing. The culprit was water intoxication. The baby was rushed to the hospital and put on a ventilator. According to the story, a doctor at the hospital said that the baby would have been dead in another hour. The mother said that she was trying stretch the 10 cans of formula a month to 15 by using extra water. The baby was also found to be malnourished and will be monitored for the next two years to see if his growth will be affected.
Now this story disturbs me very deeply. I don’t know all of the circumstances. Maybe she was a young mother with little experience and no support. As I understand it, she was on the WIC program which supplied her with the 10 cans a month. She was expected to purchase the additional five cans on her own and may not have been able to afford it. This is hard to hear as I have heard of some families who get more formula than they need from this program and then turn around and sell it.
But, I just don’t understand the logic of watering down formula. Even if you are unaware of the danger of water intoxication (and I don’t expect many people are), where is the logic in withholding food and nutrition from your baby? Is there anything else this mother could have done to make sure her baby was fed.
Some options include hospitals and food banks who can provide extra formula as needed. Churches may help as well.
Breastfeeding may be an option. In most cases, breastmilk does not decrease or run out and remains rich in nutrients even if the mother is not able to eat well. Nature has built it for the survival of the baby, and the milk will actually change in formula according to the baby’s needs, her age and even time of the year.
Could the mother have cut back on other expenses, such as her own food, clothing, transportation, entertainment? Does she have anything that could have been sold to pay for formula? As I said, I am not familiar with this family, so the straights could have been really dire. I am fortunate enough to never have had to be in a situation where I had to deny my children food or make a hard choice as to who gets to eat and who doesn’t.
The mother said she never knew that water could be harmful but now she has learned her lesson. This implies that there was a lesson to be learned. In other words, she might have had the option not to make this choice.
Am I being too harsh here? What do you think?
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
Safety Alert! Traces of Melamine in U.S. Formula
More Than One Million Cribs Recalled
Infant Product Recall: Gas Relief Drops
Fans May Reduce the Risk of Sudden Infant Death
Are you subscribed to the Families.com Baby Blog? With the click of a button, you can receive an email notification anytime a new blog is posted in the Families.com Baby Blog!
Just look to the right of this blog and find the subscription center (it looks just like this picture, although you’ll have to find the “real” one just above the category listing ). Click on “Subscribe via Email”. You’ll be instantly subscribed and the email address that you registered at Families.com with will receive an instant notification whenever we post a new Baby Blog! Don’t miss a thing – subscribe now!