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?

Mother's that aren't knackered and miserable for a start. More of a routine perhaps too?

Honestly, can you tell a ff baby from a breastfed one from just looking at it? Do they look any healthier? No, they don't. FF babies are just as healthy.

No, I've never noticed a difference in appearance between FF or BF babies, but I do know that my two BF babies (now age 5) have been significantly healthier than other young children I know who were FF. Neither have ever needed antibiotics, have no allergies, no hospital admissions. Purely anecdotal, I know.

And I wasn't knackered, miserable or lacking a routine, I enjoyed breastfeeding.

Mother's that aren't knackered and miserable for a start. More of a routine perhaps too?

I bfd ds and I have to agree. every bottle fed baby I know has slept better. Every single one. Anecdotal yes, but ds woke constantly to bf, at least hourly for 18m. I will never, ever exclusively bf again - the tiredness and exhaustion and just being the only one who could feed... awful. I literally didn’t get out of the house by myself for ten months. It contributed to my severe pnd and frankly, it nearly killed me.

I hear men saying ‘women should breastfeed’ and I just think well that’s ok for you to say, it absolves you of getting up at night and ties the woman absolutely to the domestic sphere.

Dh was more than happy to get up at night but as I was the only feeder it wasn’t as much use as it could have been.

So yes, I agree with tabby - there are benefits to ff.

@Backenette - I think a lot of your points have been really great over the past couple of days but remember that you're coming from your own perspective too: the day after giving birth, I was walking round Tesco with DS doing the weekly shop: we've been going to baby sensory, singing and massage since he was a week old and generally only have one day a week where we don't do anything.

Sure, some days I'm really tired but most of the time, after a shower, I feel perfectly fine. If I'm really done in, I nap in the afternoon when DS does. So I don't think your experience is necessarily typical.

For what it's worth, my husband would never have dreamed of suggesting I feed one way or the other: that was always going to be my decision entirely.

@TabbyMumz it actually states on the NHS website though that breastfed babies are 'protected from infections and diseases.' It also states: 'formula milk doesn't provide the same protection from illness.'

I'd be surprised if they are allowed to lie about these benefits. I've taken it on face value at least.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/benefits-breastfeeding/

I still think my earlier point stands that there’s this obsession with trying to prove breastfeeding isn’t better than formula.

Most recent arguments have been, if the mother’s diet is bad - so’s the breast milk. But that’s not true.

And breastfeeding mum’s pass on stress through breast milk and all that cortisol is so damaging.

The facts are simple. There will never be an exact replica of breast milk. It is natural. Normal. And perfect for your baby.

There are a small percentage of women who physically cannot breastfeed. Thank god for formula.

For everyone else who can, there are struggles with personal situations, returning to work, relationship problems, physical and mental health, and a complete lack of support.

The guilt that may come with not breastfeeding, somehow leads to this need to find research to prove that breastfeeding ain’t all that.

UK rates are the worst in the entire world.

It is such a hard thing to do, and requires so much support. And it’s bloody isolating as hardly anyone does it. And older generations ff so no family help.

No mother should ever feel guilty for any decision on feeding, but if anyone feels shit right now...I think it’s the breastfeeders.

No one wants to see it, there’s no where to feed in public, people think feeding a toddler is ‘yuk’, stupid names like breastapo, and then plenty of threads on how benefits of bf are overrated etc

No one would start a thread saying ‘formula isn’t that great actually’ there’d be a massive uproar.

I bf my kids, because that was best. For me and them.

You might ff, because that was best for you. Let’s stop the which is better, and try and work out why 0.5% are bf by one year.

Less judgement and more support might see increased bf rates.

I’m not saying it’s typical - most people have babies who sleep, and most people have familial support. Most people probably manage to leave the house alone before ten months (god I hope so anyway...)

Bf works great for a lot of people and that’s fabulous- if it’s easy, if it’s working for you then that’s brilliant. I guess that’s the ideal. It’s convenient for sure.

My bugbear is where women aren’t happy, wouldn’t mind doing something else but are stopped by social pressure or guilt. That can work both ways - I’ve known women who wanted to bf but were put under pressure to bottle feed. And I’ve known a lot of women on their knees with exhaustion who want to give a bottle alongside and are judged mercilessly for it. So they carry on and have a breakdown. That benefits no one.

That’s when I start having issues - when the not terribly solid science gets misused to push people’s agendas (both ff and bf) at the cost of individual choice.

As I said I bfd to 18m before and I will bf again. But I will also give a bottle.,

The study linked to only refers to cognitive benefits

After five years the benefits to me will still be there though in terms of reduction of risk of breast cancer.
And if between 0 and 5 chances of various illnesses (gastric, ear infections) are reduced not to mention reduced risk of SIDS then that is still worthwhile.
I’d understand the GP if you’d been sitting sobbing about how hard it was, but how strange to put you off when you hadn’t complained - he had an agenda of his own to push.

Even when the 5 year old is still breastfeeding...?

@Backenette I really agree with you there. I can see my GP being an absolute lifeline for someone really struggling and needing it to be 'okay' to supplement with, or switch to, formula.

The benefits don't wear off. That's silly. Of course they don't.

I think the point he is making is that by the age of 5 there are so many other variables that it doesn't really matter, which it doesn't.

We are lucky to live in a developed country with easy access to clean water and free access to healthcare and education. That is why it doesn't matter, because formula fed babies don't die of malnutrition or disease, and everyone is entitled to learn to read and write. (Their success at this being largely related to parental support and involvement.)

It is really up to you if you breastfeed. I did because I found it convenient. I don't think I would have been swayed by the health arguments - they were just a bonus.

YY Backenette is spot on!

@newyearsameme80 - I've spoken to a friend of mine today who also saw him and had the same 'lecture' when she had her DD. The difference being that when he said it to her, she felt that she could open up about how incredibly hard she was finding it and how she was literally on her knees with exhaustion.

We think it must be his way of encouraging patients to feel comfortable sharing how things are really going.

My midwife told me the same when I had my dd. At age 5 there is no benefits left of being bf basically.

I still think my earlier point stands that there’s this obsession with trying to prove breastfeeding isn’t better than formula.

Completely agree! Formula is good but there is no way processed cows milk with added vitamins and minerals is the same as fresh milk from a mother with antibodies and exposure to foods that she consumes which develops the babies taste for flavors.

Up to 5 years is an amazing benefit! I have a 2 month old, her older sister and myself both caught bronchitis needing antibiotics. The baby didn’t even get a sniffle. I was terrified she’d get ill and my GP said best thing to do to protect her is keep BF. Also the flu is going around and she’s too young to be vaccinated, her only protection is through me.

Sorry - formula is a great invention for babies who can’t get breast milk but it’s not as good and there’s no science that says otherwise. That’s different than saying person X will have better life outcomes from person Y solely because of how they were fed as an infant. But who is claiming that?

I still think my earlier point stands that there’s this obsession with trying to prove breastfeeding isn’t better than formula.

I would suggest that what you are seeing is people responding to the ludicrously exaggerated magical-unicorn-juice claims made for breastmilk. Like the one I've commented on a few times about how me breastfeeding will make my great grandchildren in some way better. Or the desperately exaggerated claims for breastfeeding that leaves some poor posters above blaming their infant method for their child suffering cancer or meningitis. Or the person who went on about stem cells in milk, without a shred of evidence that stem cells in milk are beneficial to anyone or that ingesting stem cells does anything at all and they aren't simply destroyed and exreted in the digestion process. I remember another thread on here with a health centre poster claiming that extended breastfeeding resulted in toddlers who were "glossier of hair".

So when people try to move the debate back to a non-fantasy, evidence-based world, it is not an obsession with proving formula is better than breastmilk. It is a question of wanting to see rational discussion instead of scaremongering fairy stories.

I would suggest that what you are seeing is people responding to the ludicrously exaggerated magical-unicorn-juice claims made for breastmilk.

Actually it’s just human milk.

Formula is modified milk of another animal.

Yet people argue the latter is as good as the former 🙄

None of you would pay full price for a latte made with powdered milk at Costa but apparently for infants processed powder is the same as fresh.

No one would start a thread saying ‘formula isn’t that great actually’ there’d be a massive uproar.

Totally agree with this. Also totally agree with eeanne that nobody would pay for powdered milk in their latte because it’s inferior to fresh milk.

I am currently ebf. 2 of my children have been mixed fed. I honestly don’t know why I mixed fed because making bottles is a huge faff and I have never found bf difficult. I think the main reason I switched to mixed feeding was because I was young and felt stressed about bf in public and felt pressure to offer a bottle. I was older and more confident by the time dc3 came along so dc3 and dc4 were ebf. Both have cmpa so breastmilk really is better for them.

And my oldest has cmpa too big we didn’t know about his allergies at the time he just had constant rashes and infections and spent 5% of his first 8 years in and out of hospital because I was feeding him dairy and didn’t know about cmpa. He had recurrent chest infections and asthma attacks, chronic eczema and recurrent ear infections. If I had known about cmpa and had been exclusively breastfeeding I could have just cut dairy from my diet and weaned onto a dairy freee diet. I wouldn’t have needed any special formula from the gp (which I wouldn’t have got because everyone kept telling me that i shouldn’t cut anything from his diet). It was only at the age of 8 that somebody finally told me he could have allergies and it took another 2 years for his gut to fully heal and his immune system to grow stronger. Fortunately things are done better now and I have been offered prescription formula for both my young children but I chose to go dairy free and breastfeed instead because it’s better for them.

Backennette your earlier points are great beacause you’re a scientist who understands about research. Yet you’ve just dropped a massive bit of anecdotal evidence ‘every ff baby I know has slept better’ which you accept as anecdotal but given that you’ve spent the last few posts dismissing certain research based on this and that its a little hypocritical. Surely that’s not different to me saying ‘every bf baby I know has been ill a lot less in the first few years of life’ which is true actually but you should know that doesn’t make it fact. I understand that the sleep thing is in fact a myth. No studies have reliably shown that ff babies sleep better, just as know studies reliably show the benefits of b/m yet people still tout it about all the time. Isn’t it correct that the sleep wake cycle of newborns could have a protective factor? The sleep thing is one of the biggest reasons I know for people giving up b/f or not even starting in the first place so it upsets me when people tell other mums that formula is some kind of magic sleep solution. I know so many mums who have wanted to continue but felt pressure from others telling them that if they just switched they’d get sleep.

Tabbymumz why would you assume that b/f mums are knackered and miserable? After the first 2 weeks I adored breastfeeding(I did have big problems at the start but we were lucky in the end). Two weeks of stress was easily enough of a pay off for the reward. It was so much easier and the rush of love I felt every time was like the worlds best drug. I’m expecting again and this time I’m so excited and positive about b/feeding again yet 1st time I was only worried, nervous and dreading the pain. Why? Because b/feeding is constantly undermined in this country by comments like that.

Yes that’s why I said anecdotal ;) just personal experience and not actual data :)

SOME bf mums are knackered and miserable. And don’t want to switch to bottles or even one bottle occasionally to get some desperately needed rest because of the judgement they face. I’ve seen women in this fb group I’m on make ridiculous statements like ‘one bottle is enough to trigger a gluten allergy’ (utter bollocks.)

Bf can be brilliant. Some days I found it brilliant. Sometimes it isn’t and then formula is just fine.

If breastfeeding is working well for you then the benefits are definitely worth it. The government here in Finland is trying to encourage mums to breastfeed for even longer now because of the benefits yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/health_authorities_want_finnish_mothers_to_breast-feed_longer/10027752

This is the national health institute's blog on breastfeeding blogi.thl.fi/the-benefits-of-breastfeeding-are-tremendous/

Some moms regardless of feeding method are knackered and miserable.

I know this is a slight tangent but there’s also a culture in the UK of having infants sleep in their own rooms as early as possible and intense routines/sleep training. Those things in many ways make BF harder. So of course a mum who has to get out of bed, pad to the nursery, nurse in a chair, get baby back into cot, then get back to sleep herself, is going to be tired.

I’m on baby 2 and she’s in a side sleeper cot. Night feeds (1-2 a night despite reports BF babies are up constantly) take 10 min. Slide baby over, feed, wind, slide back. I wish I’d done it with my first. No way getting up to warm a bottle would lead to more sleep for me.