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?

She’s not being smug, Custard, stop pissing on her chips!

What a strange thing to say! I’ve never some across a GP/HV/Nurse who didn’t praise the shit out of breastfeeding. Whenever I’ve been at the docs for myself or DS I’m always bombarded with ‘oh your doing a fantastic job, your giving him the best start etc’.

I agree that even if they were to wear off by age 5 then it’s totally worth it, I chose to BF because it was the natural choice for me, not to mention it’s free, (mostly) hassle free with no prep needed and provides a great way of giving comfort to baby at anytime.

Hi OP, have a look on the unicef baby friendly website. Theres is all the evidence and research to show the benefits of breastfeeding for both women and babies as well as it being a massive wideworld public health issue. Maybe the gp had some personal experience of breastfeeding, so a bit defensive?

Who cares if it does? The reason I b/fed was primarily because I felt it offered the best protection for my newborn, less stomach infections etc, not because I think she’ll be some kind of superior being for the rest of her life. That’s not to be sniffed at. Who wants to increase risk of those nasties if you can help it? It’s also good for you too, people always forget that. You can cite any studies you like to suit an agenda but ultimately it’s almost impossible to show long term effects either way.

Even if this is true, I'm pretty pleased to have reduced my DC risk of infection and cancer in their most vulnerable 5 years...

It's not like we can tell who was breastfed as a baby and who wasn't.

Far too many other environmental factors mixed in. BF is part of a far bigger picture.

I know astonishingly bright and healthy people who were bottle fed from the word go. Equally that of BF people.

Also I know the opposite of both BF and bottle fed.

So I don't think it clear cut.

However I do think there must be some physical benefit in the form of antibodies from the breastmilk, also maybe the skin to skin contact for all we know aids emotional bonding (or something) but equally it could be beneficial to have eye contact which is sometimes easier with bottle feeding a baby... we can't really know what leads to what. It's too intertwined.

Op ignore him. You are doing a brilliant job!
Four hours is great for such a young baby it must be good stuff.😄

I breastfed. Forthe What do you think those same GP/HV/Nurses say to mothers who formula feed their babies? Do you honestly think they criticise them? I don't. I expect - and HOPE - that they were also told that they were doing a wonderful job.

I honestly got fed up with breastfeeding being so lauded, I just wanted to feed my babies and get on with it.

I don't like the name-calling of GPs as 'twats' by people who know LESS than they do. I understand the defensiveness because some posters have their hackles up on this but that's all it is - defensiveness - and there's no need. Do what you want/need to do to feed your children. That's it, isn't it?

I agree with @TheFish though, that sometimes it might be a good thing for a HCP to just say to someone who is struggling, (not the op), that it’s ok to stop. It’s such a sensitive subject, for new mums especially and there is a lot of pressure to keep at it, when it may not always be the best thing.

Bottles of formula are a bit of a faff imo though. I’d actually rather pump. Then at least you always have a bottle in the fridge for night feeds. Could do without the middle-of-the-night pumping session though!

There are no measurable benefits of breastfeeding at the age of 5. The GP is right. For healthy term babies, breastfeeding provides - at population level - a marginal level of protection against colds and tummy bugs in the first 12 months. There is some suggestion that EBF for six months may increase risk of allergies. The clearest benefits of BF are for premature infants where there is a clear protective effect against a very serious disease called NEC which is a risk of prematurity. Otherwise the benefits of BF are real but marginal. There is certainly no possible way to show a benefit at age 5. So the GP is entirely correct.

If you have a healthy, full term baby and you want to breastfeed and you and your baby can do so successfully, then great and you will get the small benefits around colds and tummy bugs. But to put BF on some kind of pedestal is completely unsupported by the evidence and pointless. We have seen massive variations in rates of breastfeeding over the past century, swings way down and steep climbs back up again. Despite this, infant mortality has tumbled and continues to tumble. Thankfully infant health is improving relentlessly and seems to be completely unrelated to BF rates.

BF works well for you - marvellous, that's great, go for it. But it's not a decision that will have a meaningful long-term effect on your child's health one way or the other.

Ds was very similar weight to yours (he's going to be a big boy!) and I'm still feeding him at 7 months, and fully intend to carry on as long as he wants. He's been no more difficult or demanding to feed than dd was, and she's a tiny wee thing. The only difference is he's so heavy I have to sit to feed him, whereas I often walked around feeding dd (even at 18 months!)

What naichick said ^^

Breast is best for so many reasons.

I know not everyone can do it and I feel for those who want to but can't, but the evidence is there to say there are many positive reasons to breastfeed benefiting both mother and baby.

OP you asked for evidence on long term benefits of bf. The NHS website gives a list of benefits, which include long term benefits. It doesn't cite the research, but they would be allowed to state it on the NHS website if it wasn't backed up by research:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/benefits-breastfeeding/

Also
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16137101:
"There is increasing evidence that breastfeeding has long term beneficial effects on the infant. The most important are improved cognitive development, reduced incidence of immune related diseases (e.g. Type-1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease), and childhood cancers. A reduced risk of breast cancer in the mother is another important benefit".

Some great bedtime reading @naichick - thanks 

@Bowerbird5 thanks  and long may it last! I'd pay very good money for 6 hours in a row!

A really thought provoking post @sycamore54321 - thank you.

I think it's a refreshing change from the 'liquid gold' bullshit tbh

@NeedMoreSleepOrSugar it's a bit strange having such a chunk, isn't it? DS is also measuring off the chart for height! No idea where he gets it from as I'm 5ft 2 and DH is 5.10. Maybe he'll slow down!

The recommendations are to exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months of the child's life - nothing is better in terms of health benefits for mother & baby.

In terms of intelligence / cognitive differences I'm not sure. There seems to be insufficient evidence on this.

The evidence for the health benefits though is extremely strong and acknowledged world wide.

I wasn't really motivated by health benefits. To me it was just the easiest, cheapest and most natural thing and I, like you, found it easy. In comparison the idea of making up bottles felt like an effort. Might have been different if it was a struggle though.

My child is refusing to give up breastfeeding despite being 3.5 years old. So may well still be directly benefiting from it at 5 years old shock

Same with my 3 year old user She's determined to continue breastfeeding!

Thanks @AntiHop! Finding all of this very interesting reading.

Sycamore, that is of course in populations where ff is safe. On a global population level breastfeeding is exceptionally important for infant health and preventing infant mortality. It shouldn’t be taken off the agenda.

Oh and everything that @TheFishInThePot said. A great post.

I agree that you never hear people who bottle feed talking about the faff of bottle feeding. It's a weird false dichotomy - "BF is the most natural thing in the world" and "I'm too lazy to faff around with bottles" followed when anyone mentions BF difficulty "but of course it's hard, it's relentless and you need to overcome XYZ challenges by endless feeding and sleep deprivation etc".

The important thing everywhere is that babies are fed. Worldwide comparisons and global policies are meaningless in a country where we have the privilege to access to safe, clean water and healthy nutritious formula. As long as babies are fed, all the rest is just detail - EBF, EFF, combination fed, pumped milk, whatever. All will lead to healthy growing babies.

I read something recently that the next phase of research will be to try and understand the benefits of the stem cells found in breast milk. Any positive results from this is less likely to be poopooed by mil's and male gp's. Apparently some of these cells linger in the tissues of the child for decades. Nobody really knows what these cells are contributing to the health of the adult offspring but I bet its amazing! But yes it is a hard slog in those first months.

@Rumplefacedskin sorry cross post. Yes the situation globally may vary greatly. But it doesn't apply to what the OP's GP has said.

And I think in those cases, working to secure and support safe clean drinking water is much more sustainable and effective than a disproportionate focus on breastfeeding.

@greygal are you me? Your measurements are scarily close to dh and mine too! Definitely strange to have such a chunk, especially after dd being such a tiny little thing. DS is in a larger nappy size at 7 months than dd was when she was toilet trained at 2yr old!