Benefits of breastfeeding 'wear off' by 5

[greygal]

Had 6 week check for DS today with my GP. He asked all the 'normal' questions, including how I was finding breastfeeding.

I've been really lucky and had no pain, soreness etc and DS is gaining wait incredibly well so I explained that despite my longest sleep in 6 weeks being 4 hours in one go, I felt that it was going really well and felt positive about continuing.

He then launched into a rant about there being far too much pressure on mothers to breastfeed and that by the age of 5, any benefits to a baby of being breast-fed had worn off!

AIBU to wonder why the bloody hell we're all bothering (especially people who have cracked, bloody nipples/ blocked milk ducts/ mastitis etc)?

Is it true that there is no difference between a breast fed and formula fed child by 5 years of age?

@Ohb0llocks thanks! We had 6 hours in one go last night and then a 15 minute feed and another 4 hours! I feel like a totally normal, functioning human being!

Are women who adopted included in that 2%? Because unless they source milk from a milk bank , no matter how much they want to,formula it is.

I do remember a mw visit when she asked me if I planned to bf and i said that if I'm able to ,yes i do. She very incredulously asked "Why wouldn't you be able to?". Well 2% or not, there are reasons why some women can't. Dismissing that even before baby is born isn't helpful.

@RebelRogue conversely I had the opposite - a MW telling me I wouldn't be able to breastfeed due to my nipple shape and pretty much said it wasn't even worth me trying.

I enjoyed having her take a vaccination clinic when DD was 2 years old and reminding her of it

Having her IN not having her TAKE

@JacquesHammer it's ridiculous isn't it?

@RebelRogue agreed. Strategies should be in place for the professionals to be led by the mother; so if she wants to bf then she gets support, if she doesn't there's no pressure.

I got to speak to the bf counsellor when I had DD, she said they were massively overstretched and that most of their time was spent encouraging reluctant bf-ers rather than supporting people who wanted to.

It would be interesting to see if that had any bearing on bf-ing rates and how many mothers who wanted to bf couldn't.

I think sometimes ff parents feel defensive because of the breast is best message. BF mums have all the research and professionals to back them up and it can feel like a failure if it doesn't work out as you'd hoped.

I only BF for around 5 weeks and we used some formula in that time as well. I was devastated the first time i gave DS formula, though my logical mind knew that it was safe. Physically i had no problems other than pain, but personally i found it overwhelming. For me, i was a better mum when i stopped bf. Thankfully, nobody told me that i was selfish or not putting my baby first, though i certainly judged myself harshly in the beginning. But i also felt that being a good mum was about more than milk.

Op, even if you believe my claims were baseless, you had no right to jump on me and say I put my children to risk of SIDS And all sorts of other nasties. I think that's why other posters are saying you aren't quite as nice as you seem.
For the record both my children are as healthy as breastfed children. That is actually fact. They are extremely healthy and intelligent children. They don't have half the white matter of their brain missing as one poster has said. They did catch the usual coughs and colds as all children do (including bf ones). Yes bf babies also catch diseases. But there were lots of variables in that too as they also went to nurseries, playgroups etc. I just think it's unfair to rattle out lots of what I consider to be untruths and scaremongering tales to encourage people to breastfeed. If people want to do it, great, if people don't, great too. But don't make out we are risking our kids to SIDS if we don't.

And yes, I also believe being a good mum is much much more than milk too. We all find our own way when bringing up our children, but I do hate it when some mums try to make out they are doing it the best way and everyone else is just awful.

The bigger problem is that women in the UK are so unsupported in the early weeks of BF that so many feel depressed and suicidal.

Women should not have to choose between BF and their mental health. Other societies manage this better clearly. Formula isn’t the answer, it’s a plaster on a gaping wound.

Tabby, I don't think I've 'rattled out' any mistruths. A breast fed baby is less likely to die of SIDS: that's total fact, not opinion. I'm sure there's only a tiny amount of difference, no where near the risks to babies of parents smoking/ drinking/ unsafe sleeping etc, but there is one.

As far as your claims that your children were as healthy as breastfed babies, how do you know? I'm not saying they aren't but I'm not sure how you'd prove that.

indeed yucky, annoying, potentially pain-inducing and claustrophobic

Oh grow up ffs. The only one of them that can be possibly true is pain-inducing for some women. There is nothing yucky, annoying or claustrophobic about bf. Do you realise that women who are lactating are actually allowed to leave the house and feed their babies in places other than their own home?
Do you actually realise that women lactate for a reason and therefore it can only be seen as yucky by ignorant, uneducated people or those who have been brainwashed into believing that breasts main or only purpose is to please people in a sexual way.

And I can’t imagine why anyone would think feeding their baby is annoying regardless of what method they use.
Are you actually a 12 year old?

not saying they aren't but I'm not sure how you'd prove that.

Because even though it counts as anecdata , if you have a kid that has no allergies, no respiratory problems,never had an ear infection , only gets the odd cold and sniffles (while half the class are off with various things) and only caught things like chicken pox,and even then very mild you can safely assume you have a healthy child, and then make the extrapolation that they are as healthy as a bf child(going by an average standard).

On individual level it's not hard to make such a statement and for it to be true.

Rebelrogue..thankyou, I couldn't have put it better myself. Also...my sister's kids who were all bf, were always ill, had excema, asthma, etc etc. Mine didn't.

And greygal....I don't think a bf baby is less likely to die of SIDS, sorry. Surely if that was absolute fact, they wouldn't even sell formula.

And greygal....I don't think a bf baby is less likely to die of SIDS, sorry. Surely if that was absolute fact, they wouldn't even sell formula

You're getting confused. The data is there to support the assertion that breastfed babies are less likely to die of SIDS. That doesn't mean that formula causes SIDS or indeed increases the risk.

@TabbyMumz I think this is pretty clear: www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/breastfeeding/

@TabbyMumz actually it doesn't quite work that way.
It's more like... risk of SIDS is x. That risk increases or decreases with certain factors. While breast milk is a factor in decreasing the risk,formula milk has no bearing on it. The risk stays the same x average if no other factors are present.

@RebelRogue which is exactly what I was saying. A breastfed baby is less likely to die is tiny. However tiny that margin is, it still exists, however much Tabby clearly doesn't want it to.

*of SIDS

But I don't even know why this point is being fixated on! The risk of SIDS generally is minuscule and certainly wouldn't be the whole basis for someone deciding to breastfeed - not me anyway!

Breastfeeding mothers tend to be middle class, better educated, less likely to smoke and more likely to practice safe sleeping. That's why less breastfed babies die of SIDS. Breastmilk doesn't contain magical, non-death enzymes. No more than a bottle of Aptamil does anyway.

@lookingforthecorkscrew if that were true, why does combination feeding reduce the risk of SIDS too? EBF has the lowest risk but mixes feeding is still lower than formula...

@lookingforthecorkscrew unless you think an otherwise 'middle-class' mother suddenly becomes a bit more working class by supplementing with a bottle of formula a day?