Can breastfeeding really cure all?

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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.

poohbah - LVER has already said that her DH isn't a doctor of medicine.

Yes that's exactly right Poohbah

I don't choose to ignore the evidence, as I have already said, I believe that BF is better for the baby than FF. That is just common sense tbh.

I just disagree with the claims that some FF babies are more at risk of obesity and lower intelligence. I just don't see it! And I'm being serious now. If there was such a difference between bf and ff babies it would be on the news and FF would be practically banned surely?

but please feel free to be rude to me now, you all seem rather good at it!

Oh and DH has a Phd and is therefore a doctor. Nothing to do with bloody medicine!

It would seem my pmt has abated somewhat

If BF is better than FF as you say, then FF is worse than BF. And that means that FF babies will be worse off in some way.

xx

"it would be on the news and FF would be practically banned surely?"

Absolutely. The government would never allow dangerous but profitable substances to be sold, would they? Not nicotine, alcohol, aspartame - no, not a one

LVER are you serious about formula being banned

what about:
commercial pressures
women who can't bf
the appalling consequences for women and babies.
if you are really interested and no just trolling then I will happily link you to some interesting and pertinent studies.
are you? interested?
these results are in the news, they are publicised.
they aren't a secret of any kind

ok I'm confused now, I thought it was better! Isn't that what everyone argues about all the time on here?

All I'm disputing is that FF does not lead to obesity etc, other factors do. If you see an obese teenager you wouldn't immediately think, ooh I bet you were ff as a baby! Or would you? I would probably think try eating some veg and exercising!

Nooooo! I ff my ds now so why would I want it banned? You are all misunderstanding me!

This is my comeuppance isn't it?

I am not interested in any studies but thankyou. As I posted before it is a non-issue for me. Otherwise I wouldn't have given up bf and switched to formula would I?

Oh, apologies I didn't read the post that explained that your husband wasn't a medical doctor.

You said, "wind them up and watch them go,pmsl." I think that is rude. If you are rude, expect rudeness back or preferably avoid being rude in the first place.

I have worked in area of high deprivation, with historically high rates of bottlefeeding and in these areas there is a high incidence of diabetes and obesity.

By being ignorant of the true facts about the effects of formula feeding especially for those people living in deprived areas you perpetuate the myth that bottle feeding is okay, and that is wrong, there is a huge amount of research which is valid and reliable and takes into account social circumstances.

[exasperated]

xx

TheNinkynork, formula isn't a dangerous substance!

Cue lots of posters with many links to try and prove me wrong. sigh.

Obvious question I know but, if it's such a 'non-issue' for you, why the constant posting?

I tend not to bother wasting my time on threads that I consider to be irrelevant to my life.

herbietea - the point that many have tried to make on this thread is that your children may have been much iller had you not bf, and maybe your neice and nephews would have been olympic athletes if they had been bf.

xx

OK, final post on this subject. Honest!

I don't agree that it is a myth that ff is ok. I believe it is perfectly safe and has done my son no harm, me no harm (although you might disagree!), my dh, my friends, most of my family. i could go on.

And if ds did end up obese in later life or with diabetes, I would certainly not regret ff him. I would attribute the condition to any number of things but not to what he was fed in his first 6 months of life.

I am not ignorant, i just choose not to believe any old research that you can find on the internet. I spoke to my gp about switching to ff before i did it and obviously he said that continuing to bf would be better but that ff would not be detrimental to my ds. I am obviously going to listen to what he says than to some random posters on a forum.

I disagree with you but that does not make me wrong.

Oh and ignorance is not bliss - ok maybe we shouldn't shove it down the throats of mothers who through whatever circumstances have ff, but not at the expense of ensuring that future mums have accurate information on which to make that decision.

xx

If it is such a non-issue for you why do you insist on coming back to this thread to argue your case?

Just to wind us up apparently . That doesn't really seem to be in the spirit of mnet does it?

Herbietea - Also your children may be building their immunity now and be healthier in later life but your nephews may get diabetes or become obese and be less healthy in later life.

I think that is why is so difficult for people to undertsand the research because it seems remote and distant to them.

I'll repeat what I said earlier LVER, if bf is better, then ff is worse, yeah? Simple logic!

xx

Ok my DD was FF and is not obese (in fact is substantially thinner than most of her BF friends) has had no more than the normal minimum colds and coughs and no tummy upsets etc which is bloody lucky because I still feel terrible about ruining her life by not being able to BF.

No matter how much you spout the 'the advice isn't out there so it is reasonable not to cope', it can still make people feel bloody awful reading threads like this.

I am completely in favour of BF and will certainly try but could do without more guilt trips than I already lay on myself.

But people have been talking about peer reviewed studies/articles...seeing that your dh has a phd, you may know what that means...of course you shouldn't believe any ole article posted online...a lot of it is rubbish...but peer reviewed stuff....well,surely that is the kind of research you should be trusting in or at least considering....

Firstly, thelittlelestbadger, you haven't riuned your daughter's life by FF. I hope you don't think that and certainly no-one here is suggesting that.

Secondly, yes, your daughter may be thin, many people who were FF may be thin but the research is across a population and probably relevant to people with a pre-disposition to obesity. 50 people could come on here and say the same thing abut their child, but it doesn't mean that there aren't 50 other people out there for who the research holds true.

Finally are you saying that because you couldn't BF, which is very sad, and you obviously feel bad about it, that we shouldn't ever discuss bfing? I mean I don't have any money to buy nice clothes and go on holiday but I don't think that other people shouldn't be allowed to discuss their new purchases or holidays on here.

oh because it's such fun.

and now i've posted again

LVER - What making yourself look stupid? making Littlestbadger sad? That's great fun isn't it?

oh lets not pretend anyone is taking this thread seriously please!

ok hiding thread now.