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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:
StormInanEcup · 14/09/2008 13:17

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charchargabor · 14/09/2008 13:19

Yes, maybe burgundy would be a bit better. More subtle, and it would definitely go with more of my clothes! Would the peace-silk be organic Fair Trade?

sfxmum · 14/09/2008 13:21

but her husband is a doctor and he says so so there

yes I now it is childish

how can it not matter how/what the baby is fed?
it is quite sad it is not the cultural norm

StormInanEcup · 14/09/2008 13:23

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MarlaSinger · 14/09/2008 13:25

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MrsJamin · 14/09/2008 14:19

I would definitely not want to see a doctor that didn't believe in research! Goodness me. I don't think LVER understands what research is - how tested and tried information is that comes out of research projects before they are accepted by the academic community as 'true' - I was an academic researcher so know how rigorous results from research have to be before they are shown as proven.

sarah293 · 14/09/2008 14:25

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TinkerBellesMum · 14/09/2008 22:09

LOL at tiggerlovestobounce liking the idea of not believing in gravity!

I was thinking about this bonding thing (can't remember who said it, sorry) I guess it's like saying that you have the same bond with a partner you haven't had sex with as someone who is having sex with their partner. It's more than just time, cuddles etc. The body releases important hormones that help with the bond, that happens during sex, birth and breastfeeding.

A doctor who doesn't believe in research, shouldn't they still be curing the humours?

Liz79 · 14/09/2008 22:29

LVER mentioned "Other factors such as food, where you live, family medical history etc. has much more impact on a person's life"

I'm doing a masters degree, for a recent essay on breastfeeding and public health, I found a piece of research which stated something along the lines of a bf baby being raised in the most socially deprived circumstances can expect to enjoy better health than the ff baby in privileged circumstances. Thats in general, your average bf/ff babies in those situations. The factors LVER mentions are important but they are outweighed by the importance of BF.

Me thinks this is a sensitive area for LVER.

tiktok · 14/09/2008 22:35

"I still believe that the milk you choose to give your baby makes no difference in the long run"....how extraordinary. And it 'doesn't matter which milk'. So, um, any milk at all? Ordinary (non-formula) cows milk? Sheep's milk?

I am interested to see how far LV would take her 'belief'.

LaVieEnRose · 14/09/2008 22:40

not really, I BF ds because I believe it is better than ff. However, not significantly better otherwise ff babies would be ill all of the time, stupid and any other ailment you care to mention.

They aren't and no amount of research will convince me that FF is that much worse than BF. I think it's just scaremongering. Hence why I don't think it's such a big issue

Oh, and DH isn't a medical doctor, you all just decided to assume he was And we both trust research that actually matters not the waste of money that is the "lets see how stupid and ill ff babies are"

Pointless.

LaVieEnRose · 14/09/2008 22:45

you are just being obtuse now Tiktok, I meant any kind of formula milk.

[sigh]

TinkerBellesMum · 14/09/2008 22:49

Ah, any kind of formula milk. Well yes, they're all pretty much of a muchness, I'll agree with you there.

moondog · 14/09/2008 22:49

LaVie,a word of warning: you will never get the better of Tiktok. Try and you will only end up looking foolish. On the other hand, it is quite good fun watching you digging yourself a large hole.

Atta girl!

tiktok · 14/09/2008 23:04

LV - infant feeding is acknowledged as a public health issue, and the research you disparage also includes calculations that show the considerable financial impact of formula feeding on the health service.

I don't understand why the only 'significant' difference you would accept would be evidence that ff babies are 'ill all the time'. FF babies are sicker, and sick more often, than breastfed babies - this will clearly not apply to every baby, and emerges in the large research studies which are so unconvincing to you.

Why would we not want research to look into infant health and to see what might improve it?

tiktok · 14/09/2008 23:06

You meant any kind of formula - thank you for clarifying. With views as strange as yours (that no research would ever convince you blah blah blah....) I did not want to assume you meant formula.

hotmama · 14/09/2008 23:20

I know that dd2 at 6 months didn't get chickenpox when dd1 got it. Dd2 was still exclusively bf.

tiggerlovestobounce · 14/09/2008 23:49

LVER - When you say that you dont thing there is a significant difference between BF and FF, are you saying that you dont think there is any statistically significant difference, or are you using the word significant in some other way?

Research looking into infant feeding is not "lets see how stupid and ill ff babies are". Its about looking at the best way to feed babies, and also the elements of the feeding that make the difference.
Even with optimal support, advice and milk donation there will be a small number of babies who will be formula fed. Better knowledge of the composition and function of breastmilk could help reduce the disadvntage for these babies.

And when research into BM/FF first started, I imagine it was done because there was genuine uncertainty about the best way to feed a baby, not as some way of insulting FF babies.

TinkerBellesMum · 15/09/2008 00:06

I've nursed through two bouts of chickenpox and Tink was the only one who didn't get it - all my brothers children did, none breastfed and then all the childminders children and mindees, none currently breastfed.

My brothers children tend to be a lot sicker than my daughter, despite her being a 31 weeker and having bad asthma that responds to every minor virus going- 12 hours of a sticky eye and she had a week long asthma attack. But then my brother is constantly up and down the hospital with different ailments and conditions with his kids, anyone of them has spent more time in hospital than Tink even when you take into consideration NNU and asthma attacks.

TinkerBellesMum · 15/09/2008 00:10

To carry on from tiggerlovestobounce, I was told by a HV who attended our local picnic about a study carried out by SMA into the best milk for premature babies. They had hoped to prove they could make a milk better for preterms than BM. They arranged a ten year study and were rather embarrassed at the results. Of course they tried to add some spin to it so they didn't come out so eggy, but the results proved they couldn't improve on BM.

Don't know if TikTok knows anything about it or has a link in her possession?

foxytocin · 15/09/2008 00:19

Whether BM is a cure all, i don't know. I do know that my DD has been in full time nursery from 5 months and at 3.5yrs old has still never had a bout of vomiting or diarrheoa. I cannot say the same for other babies who have chewed on the same toys she's chewed on though.

Likewise, only 2 months ago she had her first course of antibiotics for a minor ear infection. Pretty good I think for a child who is still bf and still in full time nursery with lots of snotty nosed kids like herself.

Oh, she does have eczema! So does her dad and grand dad. Her dad was fully FF and spent time in hospital with staff looking for the best way to treat his eczema. I hate to think what it may have been like if she wasn't bf.

FinalFurlong · 15/09/2008 00:22

LVER doesnt seem to think research holds any water... prehaps this thread has struck a nerve with her?? As i dont see how anyone could ever dispute the basic facts that BF is (significantly) superior to FF..
My DD is exclusivly BF and has never been sick, not so much as a cold. Whislt most of the FF babes i know have had some sort of problems ..

maybe LVER works for SMA??

sarah293 · 15/09/2008 08:35

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TinkerBellesMum · 15/09/2008 09:37

riven, you can't overlay "normal rules" on your situation or use them to beat yourself with. I said in my due date club the other day that AP is a state of mind not something you can answer a quiz about and I think it's true of a lot of things. If you had the chance I'm sure you would have done a lot of things differently, but your situation meant you couldn't so you did the best you could in the place you were in. You can't think that your daughter has missed out on things because you did it "wrong". Breastfeeding doesn't prevent epilepsy, it's been around a lot longer than formula.

chipmonkey · 15/09/2008 09:57

riven, please don't think like that! I have never heard that formula cures anything. If it's any help, I know someone who was ff and has epilepsy so definitely not a magic potion either!