formula feeding versus insufficient breastfeeding

[cory]

You know how we are always told that breast has a number of health benefits compared to formula (and btw I put no faith in the professor who is reportedly trying to claim that it doesn't).

I fully accept that this is probably true.

But how about if a child is malnourished on breastmilk over a period? Would that still be preferable to bottle feeding? Or could not enough breast milk cause health problems too?

The reason I ask is that when my dd's teeth came through there was damage to the enamel which the dentist says would be due to early malnutrition. The only possible time I can think of is when she was malnourished during her failure to breastfeed in the early months. (I was very reluctant to try formula, so there is no doubt she did end up malnourished).

Is there any risk that this could have caused any other longterm health effects? She has always had poor health, there is a lot of enamel damage, lots of respiratory problems, very low resistance to infection, but has eaten well and a good varied diet ever since she has started on solids. Or is it just one of those things?

What evidence does he have that your dd's tooth damage is caused by malnutrition?

I know children who have enamel problems on their teeth and they were certainly never malnourished.

Also I think the teeth are formed when you are still pregnant; before bfing.

and was malnutrition ever diagnosed by a paediatrician?

I don't know; he could be wrong. There has been enamel damage both on her baby teeth and even more so on her adult teeth. She was not fed orange juice in her bottle or anything weird like that and not given sweets as a baby and we were always very careful with teeth hygience. It's not caries as such, just really really brittle enamel. Adult teeth are not formed in pregnancy, are they?

I would obviously be relieved to be told it was just one of those things.

My son's teeth came through with enamel already damaged. I was told this was prob linked to antibiotic use when he was a newborn.

belgo Fri 08-Jan-10 17:21:31
"and was malnutrition ever diagnosed by a paediatrician?"

she was admitted to hospital; in the pictures I have she looks like a little skeleton; tbh I can't understand how I can have let that go that long; it was the midwives insisting that I take her to clinic and a paed booking us straight into the hospital ward that finally shook me; I was so convinced that because I spent all those hours breastfeeding and kept having my latch checked out, nothing could be wrong

antiobiotics could be a reason, tiktok- she had those too

and that would certainly make me feel better- because I couldn't not have given her those iyswim

I think what worries me is she has so many of the problems that we are usually told to associate with formula: respiratory problems, low resistance to illness etc etc- and though I know she was breastfed, I also know she wasn't getting enough

cory I have no idea if the bfing problems are the cause of any of the problems she has now, but it seems to me you were doing the best you could for your dd.

It could be the case that she could have these problems and more if she was formula fed from birth but that is something you will never know for certain.

It could be that she was always a sickly baby no matter what milk you fed her.

Please stop blaming yourself.

I know, I'm just being silly. It was just that I read yet another one of those lists of problems associated with formula feeding and I thought 'that's dd, she's got every single one of those'.

And this is the one thing I know I did wrong, everything else I've done to the best of my ability, but on this one occasion I was so cock sure and so pleased with my insights (come from reading oh, at least a couple of books) and no doubt feeling superior to the poor benighted British (hailing as I do from one of the world's leading breastfeeding nations), that I refused to listen to people who had seen thousands of babies and knew far more than me. A HV- and a British one at that: what could she possibly know about babies?

I have done other things wrong with dd (and caused permanent damage) because neither I nor the professionals knew any better at the time and I can live with that- we all did the best we could. But at this time I could have done right if I had only listened. So yes, if this had also caused damage that would haunt me at quite a different level.

DD2 has damaged enamel on her milk teeth and they chip easily. I think this is due to antibiotics I had when pregnant. The dentist never suggested malnutrition as a possible cause.

I agree with Belgo - stop blaming yourself, there are lots of possible explanations.

My sister's child was breastfed and her adult teeth had very little enamel. The dentist said it was because she had pneumonia when she was very young. So I'm another vote saying that it may not be malnutrition at all.

sometimes it just happens - my mother has very weak teeth and she was bf for 6 months i believe. as others have said, it really truly could be anything - even hereditary. you did what you thought was best, and that's all we really can do. go easy on yourself!

It's not the teeth I'm worried about so much, that's just a small part- though thanks for all the reassurance; it's more the respiratory problems, low resistance to illness etc, the kind of thing we're always told our dcs will be more prone to if we don't breastfeed. Which got me thinking, what if we don't breastfeed enough? Dd is the least healthy child I know tbh.

cory, you'll never know.

The issue of growth versus nutrition is a judgement - I take it your dd's issue was with growth rather than the quality of her nutrition....ie quantity?

In neonatology, pre-term HCPs used to think the aim should be to fatten the premmies up, get them laying down the beef, growing fast, so they'd be as close as poss to the size they would have been in utero. Breastmik for prems just did not do this (as well as being difficult to measure). So bf was not really considered a good thing, at least not as the main source of calories.

Now, the leading researchers doubt that. Fast growth may not be a good thing. Being slender, even skinny, is not as bad as was once thought in infancy, as long as overall health is monitored.

But there are no clear-cut conclusions. No one could look at your dd and say for sure one way or the other, and nor can you. Breastfeeding certainly had benefits for her, and reflected a relationship you wanted and passed on antibodies and so on blah bah blah....really, really long-term under-nutrition is not a good thing, but my understanding is that this is usually thought of as being over many months, and into toddlerhood. That's just my reading of the literature - not a practical or clinical assessment.

Living with the uncertainty and 'what ifs' is something that comes, sadly, with any parenting of a poorly or otherwise challenged child.

Yes, you're right, tiktok, nothing wrong with either the quality of my milk or the supply for that matter; she just wasn't strong enough to suck.

Thanks for your thoughtful and informative post, that really helps.

I know I'm probably being silly and over-reacting, from time to time having a sickly child wears me down.

Cory - its all statistics across a population, which mean diddly squat when it comes to one individual child. My DD1 is anaphylactic allergic to dairy and eggs, has eczema and has been hospitalised with asthma attacks twice, nearly died once - and she's only two years old. Guess what? She was EBF for 1 year, with absolutely no problems with my milk supply (in fact zoomed up from about 9th centile to about 75th if I recall).

I know that it doesn't stop you wondering if its your 'fault' somehow - that's just beign a mum - and there's always some reason you can find (e.g. I wonder if its because I was too 'stressed' in DD1's pregnancy, whereas I was chilled with DD2 and she's strong as an ox).

But there is so much more to beat yourself up about on a daily basis (e.g. the awful way I shouted at DD1 this morning after going snowbound crazy ). Please don't stress about the stuff that is not only out of your control but also so unlikely to be your fault