Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
This isn't exactly my bailiwick--I used a product called Zoomilk and an eyedropper with the kittens, and that's as close as I've been to personal experience--but not a mother I know hasn't been made to feel that failure to breast feed for a full year is tantamount to child abuse. Well, never mind that:
Breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months is not necessarily best for a baby's health, British researchers said Friday, calling into question advice given to new mothers.
The team led by a paediatrician from University College London said babies fed only breast milk could suffer iron deficiency and may be more prone to allergies.
Next they'll tell us that they've examined things a little more carefully, and it seems kids grow up just fine on a diet of Twinkies and Coca-Cola. Doesn't actually seem to do a body any harm. Would you be surprised to read that at this point?
I don't eat anything I'd probably have been fond of if I'd kept it as a pet, and I don't eat too much before working out because it makes me want to barf. All the rest--who knows, really. I've just seen too many of these cherished food orthodoxies overturned.
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Jun '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
Until I saw the study, I could not say.
In my mind, it's crazy to take conclusions about breast feeding & nutrition from third world countries and apply them to the West. Nutritionally compromised moms will not supply the best quality breast milk to their babies. And the sanitary conditions, both for food prep, hygiene, and environment would certainly be factors in mother & child health.
Western moms eating a diet of Twinkies won't produce the best quality breast milk either. And I still see plenty of pressure put on young moms to introduce solid foods very early, as if a baby gnawing on a biscuit proves some type of early developmental milestone has been achieved. It's nutty.
Has it been established when a mom's immunities no longer protect their nursing babies? I'd be interested in that.
May '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
It sounds like the question is between exclusively breast feeding v. adding something like rice cereal or baby food along with breast feeding within the first six months. I think breast feeding is still preferred in most cases over formula. Rice cereal is a source of iron, but doctors suggest iron supplements too. If my memory is reliable, I introduced rice cereal (+ water) when my kids were 4/5 months, which is standard in the US. But in developing countries, I guess water quality is an issue, so exclusive breast feeding might be best.
I breast fed my kids for one year each, but I'd add formula if I had another. Now, they eat just about anything you put in front of them with no food allergies.
This stuck out to me, since there is a school of thought that delaying introduction to certain foods might prevent food allergies:
"On the issue of allergies, the British study said researchers in Sweden found that the incidence of early onset coeliac disease increased after a recommendation to delay introduction of gluten until age six months, "and it fell to previous levels after the recommendation reverted to four months"."
Nov '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
It is truly amazing how a woman's choice of feeding can become everyone's business. Non-nursing moms are made to feel almost criminal if they decide not to breastfeed and like failures if they cannot breastfeed successfully. I hope this report gives all those moms some reassurance.
Aug '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
Uh, well, soy-based formula is known for causing allergies, too.
Whatcha gonna do?
May '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
From whence does the " team led by a paediatrician from University College London" get it's funding? Any chance it's a company that produces baby formula? Just askin'
Four of my five children were breast fed (illness prevented the 5th). They seemed to have turned out OK.
May '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
I'm staying out of this.
May '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
As the father of four (2 wives) I have formed strong opinions. Breast milk after birth gives all kinds of advantages if the mother can do it. Starving the kid because milk is slow to come is idiotic. Assuming milk is produced in reasonable quantities, when you stop is a contract between mother and child......obviously breast milk is not the only food recieved. Wife 1 breast fed for 2 1/2 years (each kid, 3 kids) and both mother and child enjoyed. Wife 2 for 6 months. All kids healthy & normal - actually high end of the "charts."
Nothing in this should give guilt & nothing should deny nutrients to the child. Other than these, whatever you want. Every mother & child are different and should find their own balance.
Oct '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
What this study probably shows is what most already know. Hysterics about the need to breast feed exclusively are poisonous and counter-productive. My neighbor's daughter works with infants born from drug afflicted mothers, should they too breast feed? Some would say yes.
Jun '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
I breast fed my kids for a full year, and introduced solids & occasional formula at six months. When I asked the doc about sterilizing bottles and rubber nipples he said, "Do you sterilize your breasts?" When I asked him about the benefits of organic baby food he said, "Do you eat organic food?" Ha ha!
His laid-back attitude and the "permission" he gave moms to be realistic and not obsess over every decision helped the families in his care build confidence and enjoy parenthood.
May '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
May '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
not a mother I know hasn't been made to feel that failure to breast feed for a full year is tantamount to child abuse.
This statement jumped right out at me, Claire, because it's such a recent development and the issue has already become so emotionally charged. When I had my first child in the mid-90's I came from a typical American family where we'd all grown up formula-fed.
I made my decision to breastfeed on my own after studying every baby book I could find. The OB nurses marked me down as a breastfeeding mom and left me alone to have at it, and I literally followed the instructions in a book as I attempted to get my baby to latch on. After a while a nurse peeked into the room and offered these encouraging words, "That's OK, honey, if you don't have enough milk at first we'll give the baby some sugar water until your milk comes in." I kid you not.
There were no "family bathrooms" or nursing lounges in public places so I became a great fan of department store dressing rooms because they were much cleaner than public restrooms, and it was often difficult to find a private corner somewhere to nurse under a cape.
(continued)
Edited on Feb 13, 2011 at 4:39amMay '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
(continued)
At that point the conventional medical wisdom was that after 6 months there was no nutritional value to breast milk. When my child was 10 months old I got a sinus infection, and my internist wrote a prescription for three weeks of antibiotics and told me to wean my child since mother's milk wasn't of any benefit to my infant at 10 months anyhow.
Heck, that's nothing. A local board-certified ob-gyn at the time was instructing mothers of preemies to pump their early milk and throw it away because it was " useless" for their babies anyhow. The level of ignorance in the mid-90's about the benefits of breastfeeding, even among respected physicians, was disturbing.
La Leche League was considered pretty radical at that time, but I met many supportive women at state and national conventions so I applied to become a leader so I could open a chapter in my area.
(continued)
Edited on Feb 13, 2011 at 4:40amMay '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
(continued)
I spoke Spanish so the state level person was enthused about my application, but she said I'd have to jump through extra hoops to become a leader because of my questionable "bonding" in the first six months with my child. See, I'd expressed my own milk a few days a week and allowed another person to feed it to my baby. The LLL official believed I had compromised the bonding between mother and child so I might not be a good enough role model to be a LLL leader.
The chasm between the conventional medical community's knowledge of good breastfeeding practices and the leading breastfeeding advocacy organization's recommendations was enormous in the mid-nineties, and communication between the two entities was very poor.
LLL had greatly eased their requirements by the late 90's and I was told I could become a leader easily, but by then I had a second child and less desire to pioneer a new chapter. Others took on that challenge, and a chapter is thriving in our area now. With my second child I had more access to designated nursing areas and much more acceptance of my choice to breastfeed.
One more "continued" and I'm done!
Edited on Feb 13, 2011 at 4:54amMay '10
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
Feminists used to decry breastfeeding as an antiquated, patriarchal practice meant to keep women shackled to their babies and limited in their potential to "be all that they can be". The idea that women are made to feel overwhelmingly guilty if they don't breastfeed for a full year is relatively new.
This issue is starting to be discussed at the national level (halleluia!) and as non-judgemental, supportive websites pop up I hope that we can get past the never-ending attempts to diminish the importance of optimal nutrition for tiny babies, which means feeding them species-specific milk when they're tiny if at all possible.
On a physiological level, when we judge women's parenting ability by their ability and/or willingness to breastfeed, it's very stressful to the woman being judged. Stressed out women find it difficult to let down milk in sufficient quantities to feed their babies, and a vicious cycle begins. So this is not just a "let's be nicer to mommies" issue. It's crucial to give women positive support for however long they want to breastfeed, and to expose the funding sources of questionable studies reported in the popular press.
Edited on Jan 16, 2011 at 5:59amMar '11
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
@Diane "Feminists used to decry breastfeeding as an antiquated, patriarchal practice meant to keep women shackled to their babies and limited in their potential to "be all that they can be". The idea that women are made to feel overwhelmingly guilty if they don't breastfeed for a full year is relatively new."
I agree. I think the guilt about breastfeeding started, or strengthened, when those same feminists, who often left childcare to others, began to feel guilty about how little time they gave to their children. They started doing things that they saw as sacrifices to prove that they were good mothers. I've known many a mother to state or behave in a way that suggests that they are a good mother because they didn't have an epidural and nursed for something beyond, say, 4 months. The attitude smacks of "sure I don't pick Junior up from school or see him much during the week, but I'm a good mom because I nursed him for 7 months." The flip side, turns out, is that if a modern mom can't do the basics, then she is a failure.
Mar '11
Re: Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
A 200 word limit?!
The sacrifices chosen by these moms, however, are a bit self serving. They are short lived for starters, and relatively easy. What is no epidural, breastfeeding, or good organic food to the long, intense, stressful, and high stimulus life of a housewife? I've heard so many versions of 'I could never be around my kids that often' usually from moms who are very concerned about their child's diet and usually breastfed. They don't want to do the full 50's mom, so they focus intently on their kid's diet. Back to the flip side, this guilt salve leaves moms who had c-sections, couldn't breastfeed, and/or don't do good organic food to worry that they are bad moms.
Diane is spot on, all this stress is not condusive to breastfeeding, the value of which is getting lost in all this mess. Do you know if LLL has relaxed standards now? I'm in London but wanted to consult when I returned (3 years, 4 kids, including twins). I'm more the pratical type, like you. All that bonding/formula is poison nonsense doesn't help first time nursers either.