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?

LE, I'm not sure you're quite right there, since I know breastfed babies have natural immunity to chicken pox passed on as well, for one thing.

Er, lazyemma, you say...."Breast milk and colostrum contain lots and lots of antibodies but these work only in the baby's digestive system to prevent gastrointestinal infection (which is why breastfed babies are much less likely to suffer from vomiting and diarrhea) and aren't absorbed into the bloodstream except in very tiny amounts. "

The immunological properties of breastmilk are far, far more than the antibodies, and while you are correct that the antibodies appear to work mainly on the gastrointestinal system, and do indeed ensure the baby has a physiological protection against gastrointestinal conditions, I don't know why you would dismiss that as being unimportant. Vomiting and diarrhoea are no fun!

I don't understand your point.

Useful paper about the immunological effects of breastmilk (which as I say go some way beyond antibodies, important as they are, despite what emma thinks! ) for anyone who wants to know more:

here

I exclusively breastfed ys for 6 month, he then was weaned onto solids and continoued bf until 13 m and then he just went of it and never was bothered with bottles neither.
MS, I almost exclusively bf'ed till 6 month...which means he had 2 bottles of formula offered to him, not drunk much from it....at the time I had no idea about the virgin gut. He was weaned off at almsot 10 month, due to a bad biting habit.
ES was only exclusively bf'ed till around 4 month when I switched to Formula.

Bang on, Fio Fri 18-May-07 21:22:11.

Extending maternity leave may help those who can afford to live off SMP £110 or so/week, but I don't know anyone who can do that who isn't also able to be a SAHM.

I was certainly in no position to stay home any longer than when I was paid the 90%, so that meant stopping bf at 4 months.

It really is a luxury to stay home an entire 6 months for a lot of low-income working women.

"while you are correct that the antibodies appear to work mainly on the gastrointestinal system, and do indeed ensure the baby has a physiological protection against gastrointestinal conditions, I don't know why you would dismiss that as being unimportant."

tiktok - perhaps you could direct me to the part of my post where I said I thought protection against gastrointestinal conditions is unimportant. Thank you kindly.

My point is that casbie appears to think formula fed babies have no immunological protection at all. I responded that they do - they have protection that is given to them via the placenta whilst they are in utero. Nowhere in my post did I argue that this protection is in any way equivalent to the double protection ( of both circulating antibodies, and antibodies that work in the gastrointestinal tract) that breastfed babies receive.

I responded in that way because you rather rudely challenged casbie to go and find out more about the human body, lazyemma, and then presented your description of antibodies....whereas casbie talked about 'immunising elements', and it was only you who focussed on antibodies.

I take it you couldn't find that bit, then?

Perhaps in future you could confine yourself to responding to points people actually make in their posts, rather than some ill-founded assumption you've inferred based on your own preconceptions.

Why so chippy, LE?

Call it reading between the lines, emma

Casbie mentioned 'immunising elements'; you told her to study the human body and talked only about 'antibodies'.

No need to speak in a high-handed way to me or anyone else