Fewer than 1% of mums exclusively breastfeed for six months nationwide

[hunkermunker]

Are the massively outspoken minority(!) on here making any difference to the MN population? Have we hit (or exceeded) 1% on here?

MPO, formula itself isn't sterile "Powdered infant formulas are not sterile and may be contaminated with Enterobacter sakazakii, bacteria that may lead to neonatal meningitis, sepsis and necrotizing entercolitis in infants with weak or compromised immune systems." from Wikipedia.

No, oink, apparently making up formula is only part of the story - there is a protective effect of bf beyond that. It could be antibodies in breastmilk or it could be a more intact gut lining.

lazy in making formula - what a crock of shit. try walking a mile in someone elses shoes. oh perfect people.

I just wonder whether the rise in allergies may be linked to better diagnosis. And how does it compare to those generations of people born in the seventies, who were hardly breastfed and weaned very early?

I know a mother who has never read the instructions

Ripax, why the bile?

Glad to see mn is the same as ever

why the generalisations. i know why. it's rhetorical.

Hunker - I was tearing my hair out over a similar thread not so long ago.

Right, extract from 2.5.1 (p41):
"Finally, a composite measure of exclusivity was derived by using the three intermediate
measures to determine at what age exclusivity was lost by the introduction of formula
milk, or other liquids, or solids. In deriving this measure careful attention was given to
how the ?boundary points? were defined. For example, if a mother reported that they first
introduced formula at six weeks, should they be counted as being exclusive or not
exclusive at six weeks? It was decided that in such a situation the baby would be
counted as being exclusively breastfed up to six weeks, but not at the six week point
itself. This same principle was applied for all different ages."

ie a baby who had solids introduced AT 6 months would NOT be counted as being exclusively breastfed AT 6 months, which is what the 1% figure applies to. So that figure is not surprising IMO.

I'm in no way saying that the figures aren't poor btw, but it does sound like some areas are improving.

Ripax?

don't bite hunker, it's a troll.

if her behaviour on other threads is to go by that is.

ripax, if you want to pick a fight, go ahead, but some of us would rather talk about breastfeeding and health issues, so don't be too surprised at being ignored.

Yes, things are improving in some areas, according to the study. So that's good. But still, only 2% of mothers were delaying weaning until 6 months.

Damn, a troll. Ripax, sorry, even if I wanted to, I'd not fit into your shoes. Trolls have MUCH bigger feet than me

Hmmm, I think what I'd rather see is age of introducing solids being measured exactly (ie a "continous variable").

Once you start categorising, you might misclassify the info as Twinkle points out.

A graph would be useful for example. You could see at what points the graph dips - this would show you the common times to introduce solids.

A graph dipping sharply at 4 months would be different from a graph which started wandering downwards at 5 and a half months.

Actually though, even if she is a troll I do take Ripax's point in a way. The new guidelines are a complete nightmare if you're trying to demand feed and I myself did end up making some in advance with really hot water and storing in the fridge .

But what really really shocked me on the other thread I mentioned is that so many women were completely unconcerned about the need for hot water and were just making up formula with water at room temperature and then heating it up! A recipe for gastroenteritis if you ask me.

I seem to be unable to spell today. Bah.

Continuous.

ripax ~ not saying i'm perfect ~ freely confess to ignoring the steriliser after 6 months. BUT if pushing 50% aren't following the instructions for making up formula, what reason do they have for not doing it??

Hunker/ Wellie, yeah, I know there's a bit more to it than that, I'm just expressing one of the things that intrigues me about the whole breast is best thing ~ is it the bf, or is it other things. Back to the ol' survey again: bf more common among higher social classes/ educated people. who generally are healthier and lead healthier lifestyles. so is it genetic, environmental or the bf. This isn't social commentary, this is a genuine interest I have.

I'm not going to beat people up for not bfing, but it IS the best thing for your baby (and you) and I think its very sad that its not even on the radar for so many people.

i'm not a troll becuase i have a different view.

formula feeding is lazy. that is what was said.

but don't pick up on that. don't examine that. it fits your criteria.

If I hadn't been on mumsnet I wouldn't have waited until 6 months I don't think. No one I know in rl did and I had a lot of pressure to introduce solids earlier (why they cared I do not know. ) Even the HV, when she came to talk to me about weaning at 8 weeks, rather undermined the 6 month official advice by saying "but most mothers find their babies need more than milk before then"...

"formula feeding is lazy" - no that's not what was said. It was suggested that some people don't follow the latest guidelines for making up formula because it's too much trouble. Not the same thing at all.

No, I said people were being lazy in MAKING the formula, not that formula feeding itself was lazy.

i didn't formula feed cos it was too much like hard work doing it properly

Ripax, I didn't pick up on it, because it wasn't what was said.

I do have to continue to defend Ripax here (yes yes, despite what I said earlier).

It's not that it's too much trouble, it's that for a very young baby it's impossible to predict when they're going to need feeding and a screaming hungry baby will not wait while you make up and cool down a really hot bottle. The guidelines can seem very daunting in those circumstances. Having said that, now I'm much more experienced with the old formula I do find that cooling it down is just as quick, if not quicker, than warming up a ready made bottle from the fridge. But then so many mums give their tiny babies cold milk, which I think is sad.

Like I said, my take on the guidelines is that it is the heat that is important and that it's probably OK to store it in the fridge for a while as long as you're very careful. I would never, ever have made a bottle up with room temperature water.

So again there are shades of grey. I didn't always follow the guidelines, but I would say that I took as much care as I reasonably could in the circumstances.

And what are my criteria?