do benefits of bf substantially diminish after 6 months?

[homerton]

After a v.difficult start have managed to exclusively bf for nearly 6 months but now with weaning approaching am wondering if it is still as important to continue? My hv said that each day after 6 months bf becomes less effective as immunity building etc She suggesting that weaning onto food was a good time to wean onto formula. The 2 could go hand in hand. Not sure what to do? Is it worth continuing?

Are you finding breastfeeding OK now? If so, I really wouldn't bother weaning onto formula. It's such a faff and it's not as good for your LO. I wish I could have continued breastfeeding until DS was one (although there is the teeth issue ). I'd stick with it if you can and wean straight to cow's milk in a cup when you're ready.

Change your HV, if you can, homerton. What she has told you is utterly stupid and undermining. You had a difficult start with breastfeeding, and you have achieved something worthwhile - it's very unprofessional and unkind of her to talk this sort of ill-informed rubbish to you.

It is, of course, true that babies' immunity matures as time goes on, but that doesn't mean that breastmilk is 'inactive' in protecting against infection, and it doesn't mean that breastmilk ceases to be nutritious.

It certainly doesn't mean that formula is 'as good as' breastmilk after 6 mths, either. Why would breastmilk cease to be the food/drink of choice for baby humans, just because they are six months old?

There is a lot on mumsnet, including links, that you can read which will help you understand the importance of continuing to breastfeed from a health point of view. You can search archives. In addition, if you and your baby enjoy this part of life, why on earth would you stop?

Is it working for you? Do you find it convenient? Does your dc enjoy it? If so then why not carry on for now and see how you go?

I always had at the back of my mind that I'd like to bf for 6 months. Didn't really think about after that. I had lots of problems and so in the early days was just trying for 6 weeks, then 12 weeks, then 16 weeks, then it all went right and when 6 months came along I was damned if I was switching to bottles when I was finally reaping the benefits! Ds of course had been reaping the benefits all along.

Because I had to express a lot in the first 8 weeks or so I knew that bottles = faff for me so it wasn't really that tempting. What I also found was that ds dropped feeds fairly quickly and also got very efficient so I spend really very little time bf now.

The benefits of bf do not substantially diminish. They are certainly equal to formula. A common misconception is that bf is lacking in certain vitamins but as after 6 months breastmilk is complemented by other foods this isn't really too much of an issue.

The vitamins/minerals most often quoted as being lacking in bm are iron and vitamin D. There is iron in breast milk and it is more easily absorbed than the greater quantity found in formula. Although iron stores do start to diminish from 6 months they don't just switch off. Vitamin D isn't an issue in this country unless you have very dark skin and stay indoors all the time.

I'm sure I've done some major x-posting typing all this.

bf is fine now but i will be returning to work when bubba is 10 months old so will need her to take formula at least once or twice a day. i don't express and have bad memories of it from the early days so do not want to start again with it. should i start trying her with a bottle. I really do not know? I can't see similar problem on topic board so apologise if this is old ground.

My DS was only on two feeds a day by the time he was 10 months. One in the morning and one in the evening. He's 11 months now and we've cut it down to one. He has quite a lot of dairy products during the day as well. By 10 months I, personally, wouldn't be too worried. Certainly not enough to be bothering with formula. HTH!

I have just stopped BF my DD and she is 20 months, she just had a little feed in the morning and one in the evening, any other drinks inc milk can be given in a trainer cup, I would have thought for a 10 mth old, it's difficult to get them off bottles once you start and it's such a faff.

Hi. I breastfed till 6 months and didn't wean till then either. I found it quite hard-going and also that expressing milk took ages. I wanted to carry on as long as I could, as I enjoyed the bonding between me and dd and also because of the health benefits, but I found it quite restricting as I was never comfortable about feeding in public.

When dd started eating solids, the number of milk feeds went down but I decided to give her the odd bottle of formula when it was inconvenient to breastfeed her. After a while, I realised I was only bfing first thing in the morning, last thing at night or to comfort her when she was upset. This then dropped to only the last feed of the day and then finally, when she was 17 months, we stopped altogether.

I wish I could have breastfed exclusively until she was three or whatever, there are health benefits, but I felt the above was an acceptable compromise for me and dd. You don't have to completely give up unless you want to.

If you are going back to work at 10 months, it would be wise to get your baby used to drinking from either a bottle or a cup with a spout in advance. My cousin had problems with her dd refusing to drink anything unless she was bf. This went on for about a week with her dd at nursery starving herself during the day, and dehydrated, and then wanting to bf all night, exhausting, before she would take a bottle.

I agree that, if you do decide to stop bf, or stop bf exclusively, it might be possible to miss out the bottle stage altogether and go straight to a cup. I didn't do this and my dd is now 2.4 and still has a bottle at night. I will have to wean her off this one of these days but she seems to find it comforting so I haven't the heart yet.

Still BF here at 15 months...

oops, posted too early (a bit pissed).

But thhat is not to say you should!

6 months is geat, well done. But you should stop when you and the DC decide, not your HV.

I bf'd dd until 23m, and am still bfing ds2 at 9m. With all 3 of my children establishing bfing was a real struggle (ds1 was mix-fed) so I can completely sympathise with you! Well done for getting it going, and keeping it going .

There are proven health benefits to you and to the baby by continuing bfing, but the main issue is whether you would like to continue. Ignore the HV - she is being ignorant. Unfortunately this ignorant attitude to bfing among health professionals is quite widespread, though there are some brilliant ones around.

Bfing actually gets easier once the LO is on solids, as you don't necessarily need to replace an occasional missed feed.

Even if, when you go back to work, you find that you are only feeding to LO at bedtime, you will still be giving and receiving the benefits of bfing, as well as having that lovely cuddle and connection at the end of the day.

When dd was 8m and I was considering giving up bfing, she got ill with gastroenteritis and the only thing she could keep down was breastmilk. I was so happy not to have given up, as bm is the best thing you could give to a sick baby. Had she been on formula I would have had to dilute and limit it, whereas I could put her to the boob whenever she wanted. So much better for her.

HTH.

My BF DS wouldn't take a bottle so if he had gone to nursery at 10 months I would have fed him morning and bedtime and just made sure he had plenty of dairy during the day.

It won't be that long after starting nursery that he will be able to move to cows milk

It always seems a nightmare but just kind of works out in the end so don't worry. As somemone has already said feeding becomes sooo much easier anyway, less often and each feed will last just a few minutes.
There were plenty of times I thought I don't want to do this anymore but the last few months have been so easy I'm really glad I didn't give up. My DS is now 12 months and we're still going strong

can i add that i'm furious with your hv. i'm starting to believe hv's are mostly doing more harm than good.

in our toddler group last year there was a bout of chicken pox going round which is HUGELY contagious. every single toddler caught it except for a two year old an eighteen month old and a 6 month old, and they were the only ones who were breastfeeding.

I am bf dd2 still at 2.5 yrs

there are massive benefits

one of them is that you can actually sit down for 10 minutes when they are doing your nut in by getting a nork out and putting the telly on

WEll benefits are not exclusively health IMO
Convenience
cost
hassle

also brilliant for comforting teething babies.

And surely it has to be better for your baby than ff. At any age

Iron is the main issue.

You don't ever need to give formula eve if you are going back to work.I went back to work at 7 mths and after coming to the nursery once a day to give a lunchtime feed,she was then able to go all day with just water. I continued to breastfeed for 30 mths while working full time and she never had formula.It was a doddle.

Shame on your HV for offering crap advice.

Formula will never ever come anyway near to breastmilk.It is a heavily processed product filled with all sorts of strange things.(Read the label.)

This versus mother's made to measure lovely fresh milk.

What a choice! it's a no brainer.

And well done to you Homerton.
You've done brilliantly to get through a difficult time despite it being obvious that yuo are surrounded by health 'professionals' who don't seem to know their arse from their elbow.

What is wrong with them???

From the wonderful Kelly Mom site....

Anemia is uncommon in breastfed babies for several reasons

Healthy, full-term babies have enough iron stores in their bodies to last for at least the first six months. The current research indicates that a baby's iron stores should last between six and twelve months, depending upon the baby.

The iron in breastmilk is better absorbed than that from other sources. The vitamin C and high lactose levels in breastmilk aid in iron absorption.

Iron Source Percentage of Iron Absorbed
breastmilk ~50 - 70%
iron-fortified cow milk formula ~3 - 12%
iron-fortified soy formula less than 1% - 7%
iron-fortified cereals 4 - 10%
cow's milk ~10%
Note: The amount of iron absorbed from any food depends greatly upon the milk source of iron (eg, human vs cow), type of iron compound in the food, the body's need for iron, and the other foods eaten at the same meal.

Breastfed babies don't lose iron through their bowels; cow's milk can irritate the intestinal lining (resulting in a tiny amount of bleeding and the loss of iron).
The original iron stores of a full-term healthy baby, combined
with the better-absorbed iron in breastmilk, are usually enough
to keep baby's hemoglobin levels within the normal range
well into the second six months.

thanks for all the great advice. Wish that i had found this site earlier as I desperately needed support in the early days. Will try a cup now so that she gets used to water. Funny thing is that i saw my hv today (and she is well meaning and nice)but when I told her about getting other advice she said, "well ...for a baby on the bottom 25 %ile I'm not sure listening to bf mafia on chatrooms is worth the risk....there could be serious consequences to what you are doing." As inexperienced as I am even I thought that was funny! Her argument being that if dd is not used to a bottle now may never take it and will suffer at 10 months. She thought that I was taking a risk by playing it by ear. dd has never veered from her growth line btw.

Breastfeeding mafia on chatrooms?

She may be nice but she is also very silly.

Good to hear you recognise her limitations, homerton!

at your hv.

Bf mafia indeed.

What is never explained is what do the advocates of breastfeeding gain by promoting breastfeeding?

What a stupid, stupid woman

Serious fucking consequences to breastfeeding your child?

What would those be then?

Christ, when are the professional body which governs these people going to get their act together?

i think i must have the only half decent hv about - she never comments on anything unless i ask her opinion which is v rare!!

You keep at it if it is right for you and your baby! Mum knows best!

Sorry to intrude but interested to read Moondogs post - I am returning to work when dd will be 6 and a half months - do you reckon it would be possible for her to only be bf when at home (leave for work at 7am and home about 7pm). I may be able to express at lunchtime but would really rather not.

My ds1 never had a bottle for anything and despite his missing out he remained on the 96th centile.

Am at your HV, deeply unprofessional comments

Shall we put a horses head in her bed

Hmm, not sure that it's worth the risk listening to a health professional that obviously doesn't understand statistics . Seriously, these people should have their charts taken away from them until they can prove that they realise why not all babies should be on the 50th centile or above.