BF has no benefits to baby after 3 months....er...

[LuluLulabelle]

This is what my mums nutritionist friend has told her. There is no additional benefit to the baby after it is 3 months old so you might as well switch to formula.

I don't agree with this and I don't think formula is the easier option (at least not for us).

However, my mum has no reason to question her friends comment. I think the reason she has told me this is that she has been trying to encourage me to switch to formula for DD.

She has the best of intentions, I have been finding looking after 9 week old DD difficult lately so have come back to my mums in a bit of a state a week ago for some help (DH and I live miles away from our families and I struggled when he went back to work). She thinks BF is taking its toll and that I would get more rest if she could give DD formula in the night or if I could just decide to go out for the day and leave DD with her. I compromised and expressed so that I could get an early night but DD cried while her milk was being heated and it just struck me as pointless. I couldn't sleep and my milk was already at the right temperature so I just got up and fed her. I don't want her crying for 10 mins while someone warms her bottle.

Mum thinks this is the answer and insists I won't get better doing it all on my own. I think she told me what the nutritionist said so I wouldn't feel guilty switching to FF.

So the reason I am posting is to ask for links to articles about the negatives of formula. Does anyone have any please?

Apologies to anyone who is FF, I am not looking to make anyone feel bad about their choices - I just want to inform my mum (and possibly her nutrionist friend!).

How about this article?

Not about the negatives of formula feeding, more about the benefits of ongoing bfing

Thw World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding for 6 months exclusively as a minimum and then on till 2 years as having benefits.
Will see if I can find a link for that if it helps

p.s. I am looking for the negatives of formula because she believes the benefits of BF will soon "stop". I have an info sheet from LLL about benefits upto 2 years which I will dig out for her to read too.

Oh thanks for the speedy responses! Jojay, I will check out that link. Thanks both of you!

unicef Nearest I could find

and this article debates the subject

I know this isn't quite an answer to your question, but IME one of the benefits of bf to you, ie the convenience, really comes into play after 3 months, as the child becomes better at getting the milk out so it is quicker, and you become so used to it you can do it without thinking. I always found that it took more out of me in the beginning but I scarcely noticed it later on, so you are probably quite right that formula isn't the easier option for you.
Good luck convincing your mum!

It's not just nutritional either; health benefits for Mum, plus IME asds4 has aged it has goteasier and its a fun time we both enjoy; sometimes the big plusses of that seem to get lost in the science. DS4 loves nothing more than squirting himself with my milk and collAapses in hystercal peals of laughter: unbeatable LOL.

Risks of Formula Feeding For Infants and Children:
The effects of formula feeding on infants and children continue to be studied, and several significant risks have been identified. There is an increased risk of:

Mortality ? this applies in Western countries as well as developing countries. For example, according to Lucas and Cole (1990), if all the preterm babies in British neonatal units were fed breast milk rather than formula, 100 deaths a year from necrotising enterocolotis would be prevented.
Asthma and allergy
Acute respiratory disease
Childhood cancers
Nutrient deficiencies: e.g., fatty acids, essential for brain development, and amino acids, essential for central nervous system development, as well as calcium and iron, are not in the correct proportions and/or as easily absorbed from formula as breastmilk.
Infection from contaminated formula
Diabetes
Chronic diseases
Cardiovascular disease
Gastrointestinal infections
Otitis media ? inflammation of the middle ear
Urinary infections
Sudden infant death syndrome
Necrotising enterocolotis ? an infection or inflammation that causes destruction of the bowel or part of the bowel.
as well as

Reduced cognitive development
Disadvantages of Formula Feeding For the Mother:

If a mother feeds her baby formula rather than breastfeeding, this has an effect on her health too. There is an increased risk of:

Breast cancer ? the risk of breast cancer is decreased by 4 % for each year of breastfeeding, according to D Hollander in Breast cancer Risk is Reduced By 4 % for Each Year of Breastfeeding [International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 28, 2002].
Being overweight
Ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer
Osteoporosis
Reduced natural child spacing, putting more pressure on the woman?s body and causing general stress, particularly in developing countries where resources are scarce
Rheumatoid arthritis
Stress and anxiety
Diabetes

From here

My link's obviously the same as the superior typer QueenFee. Was too busy bfing a 22 month old...

It certainly does have benefits after 3 months.

I am sure your mum means well. I found the best way to combat this sort of advice is to offer suggestions of how the well-meaning person can help, without it compromising bf. So taking the baby off you between feeds if that is what you want, doing the difficult resettling bit, winding, making sure you have help with other things - if she lives far away could your mum afford to pay a cleaner to come to yours once a week? If you are staying with her I hope you are being looked after

Um links, well off the top of my head:

Department of Health recommend exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, and bf should continue to at least 12 months with appropriate solid food

The WHO recommend exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and advise that breastmilk should be given for 2 years

NCT leaflet outlining the benefits of bf from the first feed to 2 years (scroll down)

NHS bf website

Surely the fact that it's easier (by your own admission) for you to get up and feed her is a benefit?

Hi Lululuabelle, re getting rest my DB does all the other stuff, like nappy changing entertaining DD and settling her if I need rest and just brings her to me for BF as she demands. May be your mum could do something like this to help you. BF has so many benifits try to keep going it gets easier

Jojay that article is great, I'm definately going to use the info from it.

Queenfee, thanks for the debate link - its on my reading list!

Kathyis6incheshigh - you're right, I find it easier and to be honest bottle feeding would be like starting again. I wouldn't have a clue how much to give her & would probably only start to worry if she drank less one day than another!

Plus I can feed her and do things with my free hand - I think I'd lose that FF!

I don't find it difficult at all to bf my baby at night. What I do find very tiring is burping the baby, changing his nappy, or simply comforting him because he is crying. Your mother can help you with all of these things.

I BFed both of mine (dd until she was 2.5yrs) so I am not against Bfeeding but I do think your Mum has a point. I do think Bfeeding can be draining for an already tired Mum and I don't think we should underestimate it. I am PG again and will Bfeed again but having two other kids to look after may mean I try and mix feed (never managed it before so unlikly to succeed this time). There are so many emotions attached to Bfeeding and I know I felt really guilty giving up hence the 2.5 years and then only because I got really ill.

Would a little drop of formula be that bad???

As an aside my DD will not touch milk in since I quit Bfeeding. Dry cereal in the morning etc. Do you think this is connected to prolonged Bfeeding. Having had the amber nectar is she reluctant to touch the Cow's stuff. Luckilly she will eat cheese but her calcium levels must be low.

With respect, I don't think this is a b/fing v formula debate.

Your mother is concerned about you and the fact that you're exhausted; she is being a mother -- yours!

I think that in addition to finding information about the benefits of breastfeeding, you should also work out methods where she can help.

What can she do that would be useful?

dro, if she doesn't want to give formula she doesn't want to give it. Also you should be aware that mixed feeding is very likely to lead to full time FF which I don't think the OP wants (although if she did that would be ok)

I wouldn't worry about your DD getting calcium from milk - there are lots of sources of calcium - green veg, oily fish, dried apricots, some nuts. And of course other dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt

Some ideas of ways your mum could support you here

My experience of trying mixed feeding is that the breast was always more attractive especially to DD. DS was more agreeable but generally preferred to Bfeed.

I have such mixed feelings about Bfeeding. I can see all the health benefits and convenience factors but it can be sooo draining. In the end I guess you find what works for you and your baby. Probably depends on the demands of your child too.

Why is it though that a BF person can't easily be told from a FF person?

My DH was suprised to find out recently that both he and his younger sister had been FF (he always thought they had all been BF like his older sister), but his MIL told me she couldn't manage BF him beyond a few weeks with an 18mth DD around and with FF at least his dad could pitch in with feeding.

DH is super intelligent, a high achiever, strapping, perfectly healthy, no allergies etc etc. As is his younger sister, come to mention it. Whereas his older sister has had more than her fair share of illness and is more practical than academic.

I personally believe breast is best but also that FF for a fairly healthy baby born of fairly healthy parents with good diets etc, then it won't affect them too adversely.

isn't she just trying to say that FF doesn't seem to make that much of a difference in the end?

Not that I really believe that but what suits some will not suit others. What causes illness in some will not cause it in others.

I am disturbed that a "nutritionist" has told your mum this - and would be interested to know what sort of "nutritionist" she is and where she qualified, as it is certainly not something that students of nutritional therapy that I know would have been taught.