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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Can breastfeeding really cure all?

257 replies

shuffle · 13/09/2008 22:24

I am confused by some of the claims made about the benefits of breastfeeding. (Especially the link made to curing cancer on recent program) A friend of mine exclusively breastfed until 6 months and her daughter has all sorts of awful allergies and excema, I also breastfed and my baby caught the same bugs as everyone else. Yes its best for mother and baby, yes its wonderful but I think that some of the advice and information given about the supposed benefits can be exaggerated.

OP posts:
womblingalong · 14/09/2008 11:30

And I hope you find your manners soon LaVieEn Rose!

StormInanEcup · 14/09/2008 11:30

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princessglitter · 14/09/2008 11:56

Yes, there is a difference between a biological norm and a cultural one. Just because ff is our cultural norm, doesn't mean that breastfeeding is not our bodies' default position.

Also the poster who mentioned BB and X factor viewers in connection with IQ - I have an Oxford degree and watch both of these, does that mean I have a low IQ?

Breastfeeding has no benefits. Formula feeding carries well-documented risks.

Original poster
shuffle · 14/09/2008 12:12

Cheers for the responses. I know that I felt pressured by hv and other community support groups to bf with all sorts of poor information such as ff is the same as feeding your baby chips and sweets and that baby would be 97% more likely to become unwell if ff. Folk are so fanatical and its really offputting. I loved bf because i lost loads of weight. shock horror!

OP posts:
MrsJamin · 14/09/2008 12:16

Ahem "Breastfeeding has no benefits.", princessglitter? Not sure you meant to say that?

charchargabor · 14/09/2008 12:22

Wow LaVie you are really rude. I have a brain thank you very much. Let me rephrase - If what foods you give matter, then why doesn't which milk you give matter?

princessglitter · 14/09/2008 12:23

Yes I did mean to say that. Breastfeeding is normal - therefore it does not have benefits - it is what we are meant to do. Saying breastfeeding has benefits implys it is some kind of ideal, rather than the biological norm. On the other hand, formula feeding carries risks. It is a reversal of the way we normally hear these issues being discussed.

You wouldn't say not smoking has benefits, would you?

tiggerlovestobounce · 14/09/2008 12:25

storminanecup at the idea of just deciding not to belive in gravity. I think I will adopt your approach and decide that calories are all just exaggerated media hype

Seriously though, I think that if you are sceptical of what you read in the mass-media about breastfeeding then go back to the original research papers and read them yourself, and make up your own mind.

Bumperlicious · 14/09/2008 12:26

No she did mean to say that. Saying bfing has benefits is like saying breathing has benefits (ok tenuous example, but you get my drift) things that are biologically normal shouldn't be described as beneficial, they just exist to get humans to the greatest potential. Bfing has not benefits, formula has costs.

In response to the OP the "benefits" of breastfeeding aren't going to be exactly the same for every person, just in general. You don't know how bad your friend's DD's problems might be if she wasn't bfed, they might be even worse. And the IQ thing is only in certain people, so certain people with certain genetic markers gain IQ points from being bfed that they might not have had, all things being equal, if they weren't bfing. Lavie, you would think that a dr would understands this sort of thing, no?

StormInanEcup · 14/09/2008 12:27

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StormInanEcup · 14/09/2008 12:32

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Bumperlicious · 14/09/2008 12:32

As for the whole milk doesn't matter, it's the foods you give after 6 months...well the first 6 months is a baby's life are some of the most important in terms of development. They grow and develop faster than at any other time in their life, and whether they do that powered by milk that has being specially designs for that purpose, or with milk designed to grow a baby cow is obviously going to have an effect.

Now that doesn't mean that you can't mitigate these effects later in life through good nutrition, medical care and upbringing, but saying it doesn't matter it wrong. It matters to a lot of people, bfing of not, for many reasons.

And for all those people who come on these threads and say "you can't have these discussions, you'll upset those who didn't bf, there there dears, it doesn't really matter you know" sure that is equally insulting to these mothers who feel an enormous sense of guilt for not bfing, for whatever reasons, and invalidates their feelings more than a conversation on the benefits of bfing.

LaVieEnRose · 14/09/2008 12:39

Oh and it's LVER not MVER. Were you formula fed?! [wink}

I'll leave this now, it's such a non-issue.

charchargabor · 14/09/2008 12:42

For such a non-issue lver, you seem to have had a bit of a strop about it.

princessglitter · 14/09/2008 12:42

I think we need to be absolutely honest with mothers and not patronise them by sugar-coating the facts. I ff my dd1 from 4 months old and whilst it is difficult to accept that this did carry risks, I am glad I know this and have made an informed decision with dd2.

If a mother in full possession of all of the facts makes the decision not to breastfeed, then that is a valid decision and hers to make.

What is a problem, is when parents like me first time around, make a decision based on lack of knowledge and support.

So we must not avoid talking about the risks of formula feeding, because it is a sensitive issue. It is important that the facts are out there.

I think when we say that breastfeeding has benefits, we are then taking formula as the default position, the norm and breastfeeding as the ideal when few live up to.

LaVieEnRose · 14/09/2008 12:44

Ah yes, any other position than BF is best is having a strop. Of course

charchargabor · 14/09/2008 12:48

No, telling people to grow a brain and go and find their missing iq points is having a strop. Maybe if you tried putting your opinion across without insulting people you might actually be listened to.

charitygirl · 14/09/2008 12:48

LVER - regarding your obsession with the '7 IQ points'...do you understand the concept of averages over a population?

If you did, perhaps you would understand the value of 'research'.

charchargabor · 14/09/2008 12:49

And I'm not anti-FF btw, just anti-misninformation and rudeness.

princessglitter · 14/09/2008 12:50

except breastfeeding is not best. Whenever I hear that phrase it is always followed by a 'but'....

LaVieEnRose · 14/09/2008 12:51

No I'm thick and obese, you see I was FF.

Ok really am going now but thanks, I haven't laughed this much in a while!

StormInanEcup · 14/09/2008 12:56

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MarlaSinger · 14/09/2008 12:56

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charchargabor · 14/09/2008 13:07

ooooh yes a sash, how exciting! Red silk ok for you?

harpsichordcarrier · 14/09/2008 13:13

actually, the milk we give our babies is not a "non-issue" in any sense.
it is important for the woman.
it is important for the baby.
it is important for public health reasons and for the health of the population as a whole.
actually, lavie has it the wrong way round: the nutrition given in the first six months is more important and has more direct effect on health that the the following six months or six years.
there are about 14,000 pieces of published research demonstrating the benefits of bf or the risks of artificial feeding. maybe you would like to read one or two before making such sweeping (and wrong) statements