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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Were you formula fed as a baby?

500 replies

Janni · 01/04/2008 21:55

Do you believe you would be healthier or more intelligent had you been breastfed?

Do you believe you were disadvantaged in any other way by being formula fed?

I was not breastfed.

I breastfed my own children for 20 months.

I realise though that I do not feel in any way disadvantaged for not having been breastfed myself.

I just wondered how others felt.

OP posts:
tiktok · 04/04/2008 18:34

Becaroo, you don't have to accept that women's breastmilk varies if you don't want to, but you are ignoring a wealth of research and good evidence that says the opposite. Nature ensures the next generation get fed....illness and incapacitation in the mother can have devastating effects on her, but the baby is unaffected. I can give you refs if you are interested.

It's also not true that all medication passes into the milk - some does, some doesn't, and of the medication that does, it may not affect the baby.

I would bet a very large amount of money that Dr Shepherd knows more about ME than me, but that I know more about bf than him It simply does not make physiological sense for enterovirals to pass into the breastmilk.

tiktok · 04/04/2008 18:37

pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/119/5/941?e is a paper that shows how babies who are not breastfed are at a higher risk from enteroviruses.

TheBlonde · 04/04/2008 18:46

My mother tried to bf but due to lack of support and info switched after a week or so to ff
I have 2 DC, both were exclusively bf 24 weeks

I do think I would have most likely been slightly healthier and have higher IQ if I had been bf

becaroo · 04/04/2008 18:54

Perhaps we should agree to disagree tiktok???

I felt very hypocritical as a non breastfeeding mother but must admit that I was shocked when I heard that quote from katie price aka jordan re: bf.

Its what breasts are for isnt it?? I certainly dont find bf disgusting (I think its rather beautiful) but my ds/I just couldnt do it.

mumof2pixies · 04/04/2008 19:52

I was ff as my mum was told she didnt have enough milk for me, and therefore when my brother was born she didnt have a go at bf, she just went straight to formula. When I was growing up I was always given the impression that I was bf, and it wasnt until my ds was born that my mum mentioned that I was infact ff. I think she must have felt guilty about it, and I do believe that she has convinced herself that what they told her was true, that she didnt have enough milk....despite the fact that to truely not have any milk for your baby in the first few days of its life is very rare. I think its such a shame that we both missed out on that experience. Funnily enough though my mum wasnt breastfed either, as my Nanna was told she couldn't as she had inverted nipples! My mums health is absolutely shocking though, nothing serious like cancer or any debilitating diseases, but her general health is appalling, and shes over weight. Whereas my Nanna who was bf is fighting fit at 77! My health isnt brilliant, but again nothing serious. I am intelligent, but find it difficult to concentrate and can be quite demotivated. I feel that my health, iq and general relationship with my mother would have been higher as a result of bf!

VoluptuaGoodshag · 04/04/2008 20:08

FF from the start. My mum also smoked throughout her entire pregnancy. I imagine she had a drink too and in those days she drank whisky and lemonade. I may have been slightly on the light side at 6lbs 2oz but I'd say I have above average intelligence, am and always have been fit and healthy and now I'm pushing 40 I'm still a size 8-10 so perhaps I was just destined to be slim built.

I have never smoked and bf both my kids. DD has developed an allergy to cats and can suffer from bad chest infections. DS has had a persistent snotty nose for about two years, has also had eczema in the past.

Ho hum!

CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 04/04/2008 20:19

I think that says it all VG.

You can read all the info on the pros of BF and cons of FF but sometimes it has no effect on your life.

All we can do as mums is our best.I dont think that actually means you HAVE to bf to do your best.Motherhood is so much more than feeding.

Lets just hope that whatever we choose our little ones are healthy and happy

BEAUTlFUL · 04/04/2008 20:24

Those of you (us) whose mums smoked when pregnant with you, do you smoke now?

BEAUTlFUL · 04/04/2008 20:26

That's not a judgey question, I just wondered if there was a connection. Mum smoked when pregnant with me and I smoke, but not with my brother and he doesn't smoke.

Monkeytrousers · 04/04/2008 20:52

No

Stopped two years before having DS

Had a few sneaky ones last year in times of stress but knocked it on the head completely now

bluenosesaint · 04/04/2008 21:27

Beautiful - my mum smoked with me. Looooads. I don't smoke. I did but quit when pg with my PFB. I haven't smoked since.

I was ff from birth too. I tried bfing my first two dd's which unfortunately didn't work out. I'm still happily breastfeeding my dd3 almost 9 months on, with no intentions to stop anytime soon.

So, in my case there's no connection

Sabire · 04/04/2008 21:30

"You can read all the info on the pros of BF and cons of FF but sometimes it has no effect on your life"

Or is it that you are unable to PERCEIVE what difference it might have made because you have nothing to compare it to?

I KNOW for a fact that babies who are exposed to prenatal smoking are damaged by it. The science tells us this. I KNOW that people who were fed on junk food as children were damaged by it. The fact that most of them grow into robust adults doesn't change the fact that prenatal smoking and bad food are damaging to health. The fact that many people are free from obvious disease doesn't change that.

Wanted to add - this thread might have been more helpful if people had said whether they'd been exclusively breastfed or not, and for how long, plus when their mothers introduced solids.

Not that most people remember these things accurately years (actually even months) down the line. I suspect there are very, very few people in this country who haven't had some exposure to formula, unmodified cows milk or antibiotics in the first 4 to 6 months of life. All the comments about excema, asthma and respitory illness need to be seen in this context..... if you're interested in the link between how you were fed/how you fed your babies, and your/their health, you really need to know whether you had formula or only breastmilk - and yes, even the odd bottle here and there might have made a difference to yours/your child's chances of excema and asthma.

StarlightMcKenzie · 04/04/2008 21:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Monkeytrousers · 04/04/2008 21:40

When I was at school one of my friends older sisters was pregnant - we used to go round to her flat at lunch time - and she smoked like a mad woman on the advice on the people around her - she'd been (correctly) told that it might make the baby smaller, but where I came from this was seen as a good thing.

CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 04/04/2008 21:54

Sabire

Put it this way.I dont see FF adults having any worse/better health problems than bf adults.A woman could bf her baby and the child could still the have asthma and so on later on and a ff baby/adult would be ok and the reverse.

The point I am attempting to make is that dont beat yourself up if you cant bf. Your baby will be ok either way

Why is smoking in pg always mentioned along side ff?

I have never smoked and take a dim view of people that do as its one thing that does affect my health as well as a babies.

Original poster
Janni · 04/04/2008 22:15

We really are a resilient bunch - fags, guinness, whisky, formula, Findus ...and we survived!

OP posts:
CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 04/04/2008 22:23

When I was a child and I mean little,my gran used to buy me a bottle of sherry as a tonic if I was poorly!!

Monkeytrousers · 04/04/2008 22:25

wha..a whole bottle?

See you on the aa threads!

Monkeytrousers · 04/04/2008 22:25

anyone can best the meths?

Sabire · 04/04/2008 22:56

"I dont see FF adults having any worse/better health problems than bf adults.A woman could bf her baby and the child could still the have asthma and so on later on and a ff baby/adult would be ok and the reverse."

Yes - it looks that way until you look at the medical evidence. The medical evidence seems to show that bf has long term benefits - including lower blood pressure and cholesterol in adulthood, lower rates of crohns disease etc etc. It helps to understand how it all works if you remember all the other factors that impact on our health - such as genetics, environmental factors etc - which disguise the iffect of breastfeeding. You can't tell by comparing the health of individuals you know - a bf adult can be less healthy than a ff adult - but the bf adult will still be healthier than he or she would have been had they not been breastfed.

Aitch · 04/04/2008 23:43

i don't think it does look that way, tbh. seems like there are a lot of ff women saying they have health problems on here, or maybe that's just my perception?

KelaS · 05/04/2008 04:41

I was bf, as was my sister, and we have no health problems (although I am obese, but that is coz I eat too much ). DH was ff, unlike his 2 brothers who were both bf - they have/had no allergies etc, he has hayfever and various other allergies.

ScienceTeacher · 05/04/2008 07:11

I was FF, against my father's wishes.

I had to get my medical records when I was moving to the US, so that I could prove what vaccinations I had.

It was very interesting - loads of ear infections when I was a baby and toddler. I can't remember them, but there really were a lot. I suspect lots of us here will have the same experience (but can't remember).

I also have a mild food intolerance, which may be due to being fed them as breastmilk substitute.

BabiesEverywhere · 05/04/2008 08:53

"I dont see FF adults having any worse/better health problems than bf adults.A woman could bf her baby and the child could still the have asthma and so on later on and a ff baby/adult would be ok and the reverse."

I thought that the meaning of risks etc meant, that a BF baby has the best health outcome possible for THAT baby and the SAME baby if FF would be more likely to suffer health problems. As you can't go back and refeed the same baby, all we can do is looks at the risk levels.

i.e. I had many ear infections in my first year of life. Had I been breastfed I am likely to have had less ear infections. Maybe I might of still had ear infections, as there is often more than one reason to get sick but my personal risk of getting ear infections was increased by being fed FF.

CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 05/04/2008 19:38

I still think life is a lottery and being bf does not guarantee you a winning ticket.

But I dont expect any bf mum to agree with me