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?

My twins had a very tough start, long hospital stay, couldn’t latch - I ended up pumping (although had to supplement) and every doctor I saw kept telling me what a waste of my time and energy it was. I kept it up for 7 months but looking back I should have stopped much sooner - I still feel like a failure despite the insane amount of effort I put in (12 pumps a day for 7 fucking months, all the extra washing and sterilising, never having time to hold them, having permanently ruined my back and still being in daily pain 10 months on) but if it’s going well then bfing is a fuck load easier than sorting out bottles and frankly I’d kill for four hours straight sleep even now!

If it works for you, great, if at any point it stops working for you, that's fine too!

My ds was 6lbs 8 and by 6 weeks he had gone up to 11lbs. I did stop breastfeeding at 12 weeks because I was so exhausted, he was constantly feeding. Formula feeding didn't make any difference to his sleep, he was still hungry and had a ridiculous amount of feeds.
Health-wise he has mild asthma and has only had one sickness bug in his entire life, even with being at nursery. He's fairly intelligent. When he got the diagnosis for asthma I did beat myself up thinking if I'd just breastfed him a bit longer...I think that's what health professionals want to avoid, the guilt you feel if they do get ill.

@Backinette - I have guilt that I combination fed my ds. He got viral meningitis when he was a month old. I believe if I'd EBF then the maybe the antibodies would have helped ds fight the virus (common cold) and it maybe wouldn't have developed into meningitis. I'll obviously never know. I still breastfeed my ds (now 2).

Is the research on the effects of breastfeeding decreasing childhood cancer wildly available ? (I probably should just google). I know it's anecdotal - but it riles me on a personal level.
I exclusively breastfed my child for 13 months, and they had childhood cancer aged 2.

I mixed fed my second from 9months (practical reasons with eldest in Hospital) and they have ASD. I don't know how I'd feel about breast feeding if I had a 3rd....

Anyway ! I think you're doing well OP do what suits you and your child. It's hard for me to be objective these days.

OP my son was 8lbs 2 at birth & is now 24lbs at almost a year, he didn’t do those hourly feeds that GP spoke of.
He’s a twat ignore him you’re doing great.

If you really want, make a complaint so he stops belittling breastfeeding.

sycamore54321 the researcher in the video in the link explains better than I can...actually our grandparents health behaviours and life experiences do have an influential effect on our DNA..not just breastfeeding...I don't know what it is about that that seems so far fetched....I think the multibillion pound industry that is infant formula has done an amazing job of convincing us of their trustworthiness....but people find it so hard to believe the benefits of what is the biological norm..?

I'm not watching an hour-long video. If there isn't any clearer evidence than that, I feel safe in disregarding the idea that there is any chance my infant feeding decisions will have a lifelong impact on the health and wellbeing of my great grandchildren. (How would it work if I breastfed but the other great grandmothers didn't? Would the grandchildren get half or quarter the benefit or none at all? How would you distinguish this nebulous benefit from any benefit of breastfeeding in the interim generations? Surely you can see this is far fetched nonsensical thinking?)

Why do people feel the need to exaggerate BF beyond all belief? It's a perfectly fine way of feeding a baby. It's not a magic potion from a fairy godmother, delivered by unicorns under the light of a blue moon.

I definitely believe breast is best. However that being said my MIL was bottlefed over 86 years ago and just died last year after a healthy long life.

Don't worry about the doctor OP, you can't win with this type of thing. If you can't breastfeed or don't want to (me, btw) you are told off by doctors and nurses for basically feeding your kid poisen as they see it. On the other hand, if you are bf, medical professionals laugh at you saying how pointless it is.

Not sure what reaction the mix feeders get, but I'm guessing they are told it's the worst of both worlds or something!

Do what you think is best.

World Health Organization:

"Children and adolescents who were breastfed as babies are less likely to be overweight or obese. Additionally, they perform better on intelligence tests and have higher school attendance. Breastfeeding is associated with higher income in adult life. Improving child development and reducing health costs results in economic gains for individual families as well as at the national level.(1)"

"Longer durations of breastfeeding also contribute to the health and well-being of mothers: it reduces the risk of ovarian and breast cancer and helps space pregnancies"

www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs342/en/

I think the benefits of breastfeeding have been vastly overstated to try and encourage it.

Someone is going to have to explain this to me.

If the benefits are really so negligible, why do health organizations around the world waste so much time, effort and money on encouraging it, when formula manufacturers would happily give these organizations scads of money to support or even just not endorse BF vs FF one way or another?

I don’t know a single doctor or nurse or midwife who wants to spend time encouraging one particular health strategy when there are many other equally good alternatives. Nobody is spending money convincing people that swimming is better than walking as a health benefit, or running is better than swimming. Why would medical organizations universally endorse BF unless it actually was significantly better?

The reduction in breast cancer if breastfeeding for over a year is just as much attributed to lack of menstruation and a possible healthier lifestyle of a BF Mother (no smoking, no or minimal alcohol, better nutrition) as it is to a direct effect on breast tissue reducing breast cancer risk.

I admit I'm a bitter bastard though seeing as my friends cancer has spread (started in breast, had mastectomy) at the age of 40 (diagnosed at 39) and she has never smoked, drank minimal alcohol through her life, no family history of breast cancer, vegetarian and breast fed for 4 years in total.

@GummyGoddess

That is totally disgraceful!

I do worry about the lack of competence, and/or adherence to NHS policies that I’ve encountered amongst mainly midwives and health visitors over the last few years.

I’m heavily pregnant, and have some main symptoms of DVT. From my understanding, many pregnant women get varicose veins and/or DVT, and the vast majority of pregnant women are in danger of developing either. It is therefore not rare. Why then, if that is the case, did the midwife at my last appointment not have a clue as to whether I have the condition or not?! She didn’t seem to know what symptoms/signs to be looking for, and didn’t even check my legs properly. She didn’t even touch my leg, just briefly looked and told me that she’s concerned that I have it, but didn’t refer me for any tests! She then told me that as I have varicose veins, I should be wearing compression stockings, and asked why I wasn’t. I said that these had never been prescribed to me, despite having had these veins in my previous pregnancy and before. She said that this was terrible, and that I need to phone my Doctor and tell him to prescribe me some. I was dismayed that she didn’t write a prescription for me.

Sycamore, I wish I was intelligent enough to explain it well :). The thing is many of the first generation effects of breastfeeding cant be explained as simply as that..it reduces ypur childs risk of ear infections...mine has them constantly 🙈 its not that of you give breast milk you definitely get the specific benefit...but you do definitely give your baby lots of bioactive ingredients which have potential benefits...including switching up and down potential risk factors and health benefits in the DNA like a dimmer switch...epigenetics is still a relatively new for of science so hopefully there will be better more statistically quotable benefits in years to come...although breastmilk research is unfortunately pretty underfunded thanks to the powerful voices of nestle and danone and co.

It's very tricky because any questions that go on like this if anyone says some breast feeding benefits it seems to turn into a breast versus bottle war...and of course any mum should be able to choose how they feed their baby without feeling pressured and judged or carrying guilt..but also this culture we have which makes mums feel this horrible way is maybe why the GP felt the need to be dismissive of the benefits of breastfeeding...which wasn't helpful to a mother who is feeding that way...and isnt true....for example the reduction in obesity and diabetes...those are clearly life long benefits...although that doesnt mean they apply to 100% of breastfed children as I'm sure someone will point out they are obese and diabetic and were breastfed.

I think ant health professional should be supporting parents with evidence based information about baby feeding so mums can make their own choices...and then once thar choice has been made, thet should be supportive of that mum...a mum who has been exclusively formula feeding does not need to be reeled off a lost of breastmilk benefits...its not helpful to her...a mum whose decided to breastfeed shouldnt be told its pretty much pointless like this GP seems to have done...not least because it isn't true..

It's sad that it has to turn into a war or people feel a need to justify their decision either way...I hope one day that culture changes and makes feeding decisions a bit easier on all families.

I actually have a PhD that used a lot of epigenetics type systems so if anyone would like to point me towards actual research papers outlining the benefits I’d be interested.

Not videos, or links to sites like mercola or any other woo. Actual peer reviewed research only.

The WHO is just that - a world health organisation.

The benefits of bf in a country where there’s a lot of malnutrition and no clean water are clear. The benefits in the uk or any other western society are surprisingly difficult to tease out.

Feed however you want. Breast is great, mixed is great, formula is great. The chief determinor of whether your kids will be happy balanced and successful individuals is them growing up in a stable and loving home environment with a minimal of emotional turmoil. All the breastfeeding, bans on sugar and screen time and organic quinoa in the world can’t make up for a childhood environment full of strife.

I’m convinced that people are focussing in all this stuff (breast v bottle, ridiculous ‘methods’ of parenting) because it gives them a false sense of control and superiority. In reality parenting is a long, hard slog with no shortcuts or easy fixes. Bf or don’t, whatever works.

I think a lot of the benefits of breastfeeding are due to the fact a breastfeeding mother is more likely to make other healthier choices for her child in addition to breastfeeding.
I think formula fed babies can be just as healthy.
I still think breastfeeding should be seen as the most normal way to feed your child though.

Maybe he was mistakenly trying to give you a break? Also it's easy to forget that GPs are also just people, with their own biases, and he may have a oartner, sister etc who struggled to feed and is really defensive about it.The stats are pretty clear on fewer gastro issues etc, and if the benefits last as long as 5 years that's pretty good for me!

My kids were very healthy, I saved a ton of money, spent no time faffing about in the night and on long plane and train trips with bottles, lost my baby weight fast and after the initial pain loved the closeness .due DC4 soon and looking forward to doing it again.

However my best friend couldn't feed her first and didn't want to to go through trying with her second, and yes, you could never look at our kids now and see which were ff or bf, she has a great bond with them and they are healthy.
If you're doing well and happy that's great! Congratulations! And maybe what he really meant to say that if your mental or physical health means you're better off using bottles, you'll both end up just fine too.

It’s abhorrent to tell a woman who wants to BF that she should just give

Oops!

It’s abhorrent to tell a woman who wants to BF that she should just give formula. Would the same GP criticize a mother who makes homemade food for her baby and tell her just to buy Ella’s pouches? A child will develop and grow from a diet of either but surely we should commend the extra effort, not turn our noses at it.

@flippityfloppity I couldn't agree more.

I did breastfeed my dc for 4 months but really really struggled and would have been grateful to have a doctor to support other options. I think it's madness to suggest reporting him! He's probably seen women drive themselves to the point of depression trying to make breastfeeding work.

GPs can't bloody win can they! They'd be slated if they pushed it down peoples throats and they are still condemned when they don't!

Backanette I love your posts! I could have done with reading them when I had my first child I was wracked with guilt and feeling inferior for not being able to breastfeed. I wish I could look back and tell myself how little it matters in the grand scheme of life. I wish someone like yourself with a scientific background and actual qualifications would write a book telling us it’s all going to be okay and to calm the fuck down !

If 45% of women exclusively breastfed until at least 4 months it would save the NHS an estimated £42 million a year. www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30327780

it’s all going to be okay and to calm the fuck down

Well that’s my subtitle sorted... :)

I was a guilt ridden mess for my first. Now pregnant with the second and the list of ‘well I’m fucked if I’m doing that again’ grows daily.

There are many ways to parent. I’m in an fb group which is generally pretty supportive (expats) but is regularly punctuated by howls of horror at people who dare to give three year olds bread/a bit of birthday cake/any exposure to TV blah blah,

And I think none of that shit matters.
they can watch cartoons, just don’t dump them in front of the telly 24/7.
They can have a bit of birthday cake, just feed them as healthy as you can manage and run them round a lot
It doesn’t matter if they’re breast fed or bottle fed, the benefits are minute on an individual level although they become apparent at population levels.
Bf is great and convenient and we did it for ages. My kid is no more or less healthy than his peers. He has the odd bit of choc, we watch the telly. Shock horror he gets birthday cake.

What’s important is years and years of love, safety and stability in an emotionally safe and stable environment

And that is tough. That’s the hard bit. So people displace onto ridiculous shit and snipe at each other for feeding a bit of mushed up carrot (it must be blw!) or a bottle (poison!) or a pushchair (you must use a sling!) or tv (rots their minds!)

It’s all bollocks. Bf is great but on an individual level is western populations the benefits are very small. Bf should be supported more efficiently but It’s certainly not worth risking your mental health over.

I think the benefits of breastfeeding are not that obvious in a country like uk where we have access to clean water, education, health care etc.