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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

I hardly dare to post this... but it said in the paper today that breastfed babies...

182 replies

emkana · 01/11/2006 19:45

are more likely to grow into happy adults.

It made me feel happy because I have a very poorly ds who has lots of health problems and I thought to myself "At least he is breastfeeding and I so hope it will help him in some way as he grows up."

And that's the spirit that this is intended in, so please don't jump on me!

OP posts:
Original poster
emkana · 01/11/2006 22:41

Yes thank you!

Btw thanks for all the nice/supportive comments!

OP posts:
kamikayzed · 01/11/2006 22:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

saintBernard · 01/11/2006 22:45

this is definatley right. my three children are very unhappy compared to breastfed children. i think its the lack of bonding and the obvious class/education distinction which leads me to be a poorer quality parent all round.

RobertCatesby · 01/11/2006 22:46

the hillsssssssssssss are alive with the sound of muuuuuuuuuuuuuusic
with songs they have sung for a thousand yearssssss
the hills fill my heart with the sound of music
my heart wants to sing every song it hears

Original poster
emkana · 01/11/2006 22:46
OP posts:
sandcastles · 01/11/2006 22:48

"Sandcastles - you obviously do everything lovely for your kids"

gonfleur, I appreciate you acknowledging this. However you still go on to say

"Some mums don't - would be interested to know how many of these mums bf?"

Not all childhood/teen/adult behaviour can be put down to the choice of feeding vessel? Surely?

Greengirlforever · 01/11/2006 22:50

Well I read it very quickly and am interpreting it VERY loosely - I reckon that for every month you bf your little one s/he gets one year of mental health. So if you ran out of steam at 6 months you've got six years or if, like me with DS1 you lasted 14 months you only have to start worrying - oops - in my case next month !

I am terrible for skimming all this stuff too quickly but seriously, ladies, I think we all know that so long as the other emotional stuff is in place it doesn't matter diddley (for said infant's mental wellbeing) if the wee one has the bottle or the breast. We all KNOW this, deep down, right??

sandcastles · 01/11/2006 22:50

emkana, I understnd you not wanting to get into major discussion. I normally don;t post (but do read) the b/f f/f threads. However that particular post just jumped out at me and I felt the need to comment.

Good Luck with everything.

MKG · 01/11/2006 22:53

Personally I don't think it has anything to do with bfing. I was breastfed, but I don't know for how long. I don't know if I was cuddled a lot or not. I do know that I get depressed for months at a time. I also know that my mom and her 4 brothers and sisters are all on ADs, they were all bfed. Maybe my mom's families' breastmilk makes us all depressed, Maybe our family is the opposite of the study and breastfeeding made us sadder adults. Or maybe my mom and her siblings had a crappy upbringing (which they did) which resulted in my getting the residule effects.

It's the great nature v. nurture debate. We'll never know the truth.

Greengirlforever · 01/11/2006 22:54

And in all seriousness - well done Emkana and keep it up. I found it much more difficult with DS2 (he's going to have problems by the age of six ) but am psyching myself up to do it again for AT LEAST the 6 months for LO due next April... Hard work!

littlepiggie · 01/11/2006 22:56

I thought it was more about the breastmilk itself rather then how it got into the baby.

RobertCatesby · 01/11/2006 22:56

MKG your earlier post is excellent, I agree wholeheartedly.

tamum · 01/11/2006 23:01

"Without seeing the research first-hand and exploring the methodology or the variables they attempt to isolate though I wouldn't give it particular credibility whatever it was arguing"

Well no, nor would I, but you seem willing to criticse the methodology and findings without having read it, so I guess it cuts both ways. I certainly agree about the genetic influences though, that has been demonstrated repeatedly and I can't imagine anyone can be in any serious doubt about that.

gonfleur · 01/11/2006 23:11

Sandcastles - for me it's not really the choice of vessel but the whole way of being with bf - if that makes sense. Things like co-sleeping, baby carrying (as baby can suck whilst being carried), all the closeness that bf demands.

I see so many LO's in carseats (when not in the car iyswim), with dummies, in bouncy seats, playpens... just think they could be in their mums arms being carried & bf on demand.

Just wonder what happens to all the children that are detached from their parents.

littlepiggie · 01/11/2006 23:19

I gave my niece a bottle this afternoon, i felt that there was something missing, somthing that only bf could give, (not meaning that i want to bf my brothers baby) she was looking around the room and didnt do the eye roll thing. When bf ds he is looking/playing with my face, and on his first mouthfull of milk he has a look that on the few timeshe has had a bottle he does not have.

sandcastles · 01/11/2006 23:28

I do understand what you are saying, but ff children are carried too. My dd spent her life being carried by me. The only time she was in her car seat was when we were in the car, and when she had fallen asleep on the journey. (thus leaving her in the seat, in the lounge as I had a no waking the baby policy) She had most of her daytime naps on me, (I was lucky that dh did alot in the early days to enable me to just rest and play with dd) slept in our bed. Yes she had a dummy, (don't see the relevance there, yes, actually I can. But I don't think it canged a whole lot in our case) she hated her bouncer as it meant she wasn't on my lap or in my arms. If she was lying on the floor, I was right there with her, playing watching etc. In fact I hated the fact that as she was so small she was too small for the sling we had bought, as I fully intended to cart her everywhere, on me!

I see that you are making a general assumtpion, and your post is not a direct hit at me. Maybe I am not the norm, as my lack of being able to b/f made me over compensate on the time/qulaity of that time I spent with her. Therefore being able to say that she and I bonded, overly well. I now have the problem of getting her comfortable with her grandparents. But I put that down to the fact that she has just gone through a 10,000 mile move and is still getting to know them.

hub2dee · 01/11/2006 23:31

tamum - I take your point, but I'm operating from an expectation that the press release about this research gives a reasonable indication as to the variables which this study isolated and identified as possibly impacting mental health. From what I read they explored socioeconomic status, 'family functioning' (whatever that is LOL), and 'happiness'. It would have made a lot more sense to firstly isolate whatever we know about the genetic causes of mental illness you refer to, for example, before we even try and hypothesise a bunch of other variables which might be worth studying IYSWIM.

My pricklyness is more about the way research in general can be pushed and pulled to achieve certain goals more than what this research is actually concerned with.

sandcastles · 01/11/2006 23:35

littlepiggie, I use to sing and chat to dd and had constant eye contact with her when we were feeding.

Funnily enough I used to feed my god daughter (now 6)(bottled expressed breast milk) and used to sign/chat with her and we always had eye to eye contact too. Her mum however, used to text/read mags/watch tv while b/f her daughter, therefore no eye contact.

It's about attitude too, b/f doesn't make you have eye to eye contact, YOU choose to do it.

gonfleur · 01/11/2006 23:37

Sandcastles - gosh not a hit at you at all - full respect to you. Best wishes for settling in after your move xxx

AitchTwoOh · 01/11/2006 23:41

littlepiggie, of course your experience of giving a bottle to your neice is different to bfing your own child. it's not really a fair comparison, is it? (how old are they both, by the way, cos babies' ability to sit still and co-operate with feeding can vary with age and personality?)
i think sandcastles makes a good point about the desire to have closeness being all-important. as i said before, if bfing is a variable in mental health, it is only one of hundreds so there is lots that concerned ffers can do to help, i'm sure.

AitchTwoOh · 01/11/2006 23:42

(also little piggie, i am having great difficultyy posting your delicious pic on the blog... somethign about a corel licence? i've got a new laptop and it's not letting me open some pics up, which is a PITA. so i haven't forgotten, just in case you were wondering }

LucyJu · 01/11/2006 23:49

The concept of relative risk...

"People who wre breastfed as babies are less likely to have mental problems in later life". Does this mean....?

A) All people who were bottle-fed as babies will have mental health problems in later life?

B) No-one who was bf as a baby will go on to have mental health issues in later life?

C) "People who wre breastfed as babies are less likely to have mental problems in later life"?

D) The methodology was obviously flawed?

E) Fantastic! Another excuse for bfing mothers to assert their superiority/have a go at formula feeding mothers?

In any case, the research merely suggested a correlation between bf and mental health, rather than asserting a causal link. It stated quite clearly which variables were considered. What is wrong with that?

Sorry to hijack your thread Emkana.

littlepiggie · 01/11/2006 23:49

ds is 27 weeks, el is 32 weeks, i think maybe its a personal thing, but i gave ds a bottle a couple of times before i was happy bf when out and i felt the same about it then, so would ask other people to do it (no shorage), but like i say i think maybe its a personal thing, not wanting to cause offence to anybody.

AitchTwoOh · 01/11/2006 23:52

oh i personally agree with you that it's not as close, how can it be, really? but it's as detached as you make it, and if it's your only option then you really do make the time to cuddle up and do deep meaningfuls into their eyes, i promise.

littlepiggie · 01/11/2006 23:52

*least of all offence to Aitch, Queen of blw who without my baby would be eating mushy feed instead of the chicken veg and potatos he had for his tea