meaning of "exclusively BF"

[glimmer]

Does this just refer to the nature of the food (breastmilk) or also the way of feeding? If somebody is exclusively feeding her child with EBM, what would you call it? Thanks!

[fluffyanimal]

I personally would call it exclusive BF, as I think of it as referring to the food rather than the way it is delivered. But I'm no expert!

[meemar]

I would say baby is only being given bm, despite method of delivery.

[cmotdibbler]

Exclusively bf means that the baby ingests nothing but breastmilk and necessary medicine - no water, juice, formula, baby rice etc. It doesn't refer to how the milk gets there.

[chickytwotimes]

Yeah, i'd say it's exclusively the milk rather than the mode of delivery!

[PortAndLemon]

It would probably depend on context -- you can say "exclusively BF" referring to what's going into the baby, or referring to how it gets there (for example, that would cover things like foremilk/hindmilk, not knowing how much the baby gets at a feed, etc.). People I "know" online who exclusively feed with EBM tend to say "exclusively pumping" rather than "exclusively breastfeeding" for the avoidance of confusion, but I don't see much wrong with using either term if the context isn't important.

[StealthPolarBear]

I thought you were going to ask what I've always wondered - does it mean at present, or ever?

[glimmer]

Thank you for all the responses!

[lizzytee]

SPB, it depends how you define it and why. Statistical analysis (like the department of health infant feeding survey) often defines it very narrowly, ie exclusive bf means only bm and even one bottle of formula, ever, means that the baby is not exclusively bf. I think this is to make the conclusions as accurate as possible, as there needs to be as little margin for error as possible. I think it also helps studies into the benefits of exclusive bf if it's defined in this way. So it makes perfect sense in the context of a scientific study or statistical survey.

However for those of us in RL I am not sure it is a wholly positive way to define it.

I agree that it doesn't refer to how the baby gets the milk, I too thought there was something slightly "inferior" because dd had EBM by bottle - really no idea why.

[terramum]

lizzytee - I think the reason that getting bm from 'source' is optimal is to with things like the way a baby will pass on bugs to the mother so she can make antibodies with her fully matured immune system to pass back to the baby. I think as well the actual action of bfing is very good for developing the face/jaw muscles for eating & talking etc....