'bf babies more intelligent' thread II

[bubbleymummy]

Ok, the original thread actually said that bf babies were more intelligent not because of bm but because their mum's were more intelligent...thread was killed by obsessive spamming from one idiot MNer and I would have been happy to let it die except that I clicked on a link on another thread and then came across this article which says that bf for even 4 weeks can have "?significant? effect on a child?s development in primary and secondary school".

Thought it might be an interesting way to reopen the debate given that many posters were saying there was lack of evidence for any intellectual benefits of bf.

does anyone know of any research using breastfed for four years babies/children - seeing as the brain is developing for longer than a year or whatever?

MillyR does the mother need lots of long chain fatty acids to ensure her milk has them?

Yes, although being fed donated milk isn't usually a longterm thing though. I suppose it would really depend what you were actually stuffing. The antibodies clearly make sense in relation to the health aspect. I wonder how much missing out on early collostrum would have an impact even if they go on to be fed donated milk?

Ruby - I think the main problem would be trying to find a big enough study group - particularly in the UK!

Stuffing = studying! :)

MillyR - which foods contain long chain fatty acids?
(can't they just add then to formula milk)

oh yeah good point

Rb, if I remember correctly, there was variation between short, medium and long chain fatty acids depending on the mothers diet. That particular study was of women in two different locations and both groups had access to a limited range of foods (but different from each other). A concern in the UK might be the presence of trans fats in breast milk and the diet of babies in general.

tulip they kind of do - the long chain fatty acids in formula are made from fermented algae and fungus i think. i know that martek make are the USA distributor but i am not sure about the Uk. There has been some controversy over the fatty acids in formula though although that may have been resolved...

TG, I thought they had added various fatty acids to formula milk now. Is that not the case?

Certain fatty acids are in marine sources and seeds. The women in the composition study were getting them from seed oil; I believe they had no access to marine foods.

Well that's another reason why I think the "breast is best" is a crock of shit. You only need to read the bf-lactavists on the post-natal threads to see their kids get sick - breastmilk does not prevent childhood diseases, failures of driving test or prevent your PFB from getting their heart broken during Fresher's week.

If it was so fucking good we'd all drink it and you'd be able to buy it from Tesco in 4 litre cartons farmed from women elsewhere in the world.

Yes, I thought that's what the fish oil in formula was for - omega 3?

Lovely AP :) no one is saying that bm guarantees anything.

just remembered I have a box of formula, (Nestle BEBA HA Start PRE), in the cellar. I had a look, long chain fatty acids are listed and the box claims it's important for brain development and vision.
Maybe if the research is repeated in a few years, there will be no difference anymore, due to the improvements in formula?

can i say i fed dd for 13m and ds for (counts up from 24 on fingers)(non breast fed mummy) 30 (eek) months?

thanks op it is really interesting and i promise to at least have a go at reading the article. (it would be interesting to know what effect breastfeeding haas on the intelligence of the mother because i swear my brain haas turned to pink fluff)

Well fgs, stop acting like you're raising an uber-race. You're not. You're just another middle-class mum with too much time on your hands who quite frankly needs to get a hobby.

Your child is not better than mine because you ram your tit in its face.

I was just about to say that tulipgrower - are there any older studies that have a bigger difference in outcome because formula didn't contain fish oil?

I doubt it tulip. I don't think it will ever be possible to replicate bm and no one really knows exactly what it is that affects cognitive development anyway.

someone on a comments board - a physicist - was saying that breastfeeding is better for the brain because of the amount of pressure in the mouth and on the head in general as a boob is bigger that a teat... i'll try and find it...

No one is acting like they AP - I think you're just a bit over sensitive.

Their reasoning is faulty of course. They still insist on assigning a chemical cause to it.

"The reason breast feeding is better than bottle feeding is the diameter and pressure of the breast is much greater than the diameter and pressure of a bottle.

When suckling, the baby has maybe a 4 inch diameter breast it is suckling on. That has specific physical effects on the baby a physics man could tell these medical people about.

The pressure of the 4 inch breast on the baby's face compared to the non existent pressure of a 1/2 inch bottle nipple on the babies mouth also figures into the physical and mental changes taking place. A physics man can also explain what is going on here to the medical people."

No idea if it is true but interesting!

from here scroll down - name is Happeh

I've never heard that before ruby!

Btp - have you even read the paper I linked to before you dismiss it as 'woo' ?