Benefits of bfing over ffing?

[you]

Okay I'm writing this on the back of reading the bfing thread in aibu but putting it here as I'd really like it to not turn into a gunfight if at all possible please :)

With regards to the risks of formula feeding an otherwise healthy term infant in this country, and presuming all other environmental and social factors are the same, what are the risks, really? I've rad the leaflets and been on a UNICEF course and am totally pro breastfeedibg, however I can't help but think a lot of the benefits are emotional rather than physical especially as the child gets older.

I've read a lot of research but a lot if it does show extra factors to be involved such as making up bottles indifferent.

So, IF a mother makes up the bottles correctly thus vastly reducing her chances of gastroenteritis, feeds baby in arms rather than with a bottle propped up against a cot side which seemed contribute to most babies ending up with ear infections, feeds on demand as would a bf mother etc what is a baby in this country really likely to end up with, risks wise? I believe the allergy link is pretty poor evidence wise so all were really left with is 3 points worth of iq and of course the not insignificant lack of antibodies, so more coughs/ colds pressumably but anything long term?

I really am interested so please let's not turn this into a debate as they all go the same way are boring :)

And sorry for any silly typos am on my iPod and the spell check is dire.

Shrug as much as you like but this is not a 'fact'.

I know a lot of people feel passionate about this book but when you look up Gabrielle Palmer's credentials she is a 'nutritionist' and breastfeeding campaigner.

A 'Nutritionist' is not a legally protected term and one has no need of any science qualifications to call themselves one. You or I could be one today if we felt like it!

A dietetician on the other hand has to go through years of formal study and training to be registered as one -- like a doctor or a lawyer which are all legally protected terms.

I know that she has done loads of work to promote breastfeeding which is very commendable but does she have any sort of medical or science background? And just because something is written in a book doesn't mean it can't be challenged right?
From what little I have read about her, she has a very strong agenda --- which is entirely her prerogative. But we as women are allowed to look at both sides of the coin right?

Leonie.......

Are you needing a big fat medal for having breastfed? Not feeling validated as a mother?

It is women like you, with your narrow -minded attitude - that make so many women feel like utter crap when breastfeeding doesn't work out for them.

Here is another common expression you may not be familiar with: chill out.

Leonie - I really can't let your comment on vaccination go, even if it is off topic. If your FFing friend has such sickly children as a result of FF then are you really suggesting that she not vaccinate them and allow them to die of measles, whooping cough or meningitis C? Any credibility you had in my eyes is gone.

And no one has suggested at any point that formula is superior.

Leonie --

You are completely incapable of intelligent debate.....you MUST have been formula fed.

I think you are missing the point of herd immunity and I very much hope that my DD is not exposed to unimmunised children like yours. But yes - a different thread.

Don't bother, as I say, you have no credibilty left in my eyes.

I mean that there is no point continuing to have a discussion with you as I have written you off as a crank.

But I was trying to say it in a more polite way .

Just keep believing Leonie.

'You cannot justify how feeding a baby powdered dessicated cow's milk with added enterobacter sakazakii and fish eyes and whatever else industrially derived ingredients they put in it, is in ANY WAY superior to feeding a baby the milk its own mother makes for it (or milk of a human mother, regardless whose'

Leoni-

Your mother must have gone through a horrible ordeal during her pregnancy with you. Imagine if she had read the type of crap you write when she was having to feed you formula?

And I say it is crap because you are basing all of your opinions on one book and seem incapable of grasping the idea that nothing in life is as black and white as you present it.

Here is a little anecdote for you (seeing as you like these so much). My husband was exclusively formula fed, I was exclusively breastfed. My husband is healthier, definitely smarter and gets sick far less often than I do -- annoyingly so! No one would ever be able to tell the difference between how we were fed as babies.

Breastfeeding is wonderful -- I loved doing it. But there is so much more to being a parent and it is only one of the many, many things a mother can do to raise a happy healthy child.

And if a mother can't or doesn't want to breastfeed but her children are loved and nurtured and stimulated, I truly do not believe (in my very unscientific opinion)that they will be any worse off.