Breast NOT Best

[NotAPollyanna]

Oh god here we go [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1241051/Breast-milk-NOT-better-baby-formula-scientists-cl aim.html here]

My MIL is going to throw this in my face and crow that she was right after all. Because of course the Daily Mail should always be believed. The fights I had with my inlaws to bf my own child and now my sil is formula feeding from day one and this article, god help me if I have another child. I will be given even more grief.

Please arm me with some defence to this stupid article.

oops did link wrong: here

you cannot manufacture immunity that changes depending on what you and your child come into contact with

simples

or just tell thm to fuck off

this is quite an old article if that's any comfort - there were some threads about it at the time, one is here with some of the arguments www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/888813-quot-Formula-as-good-as-breastmilk-quot

It also refers back to what the study ACTUALLY said, which was, needless to say, quite different to the Mail's take.

Basically a mis-spun, poorly-reported study.

The answer is to calmly to say that you respect their parenting decisions and hope they respect yours. Its not any of your in law's business.

If they tell you that formula is just as good, smile sweetly and say that you are glad the feeding method that they have chosen for their baby is working well.

Don't get into an arguement with them. Life is too short.

There was a huge thread about this research when it was firt reported a week or two ago - that thread had loads of info as to why it was bollocks.

I will try to find it for you

here

Just laugh and say 'you read this in the Daily Mail, of course it's bollocks'.

I wouldn't worry. According to the DM breastfed babies are only healthier than formula fed babies because they benefit from healthier conditions in the womb. So, obviously, it's all the mother's fault for having a faulty womb. Also, either having a sub-optimal womb somehow affects people who make the choice to formula feed, or there are no people who actually choose formula without trying (and failing) to breastfeed first. Neither option seems all that likely.

I wonder what the paper they've sensationalised the abstract for (having not understood it in the first place) actually argues.

OP: if your MIL waves this in your face, you could mention your SIL's (apparently) inferior womb.

Simply say you are following governement and world health authority guidelines about what is the best thing to do for your child.

Ask her if she would like you to get her lots of literature to read about it

tell her to tell that to all the other breast fed mammals, leave humans last on the list

You lot are fab, knew I would get all the ammom I needed from you. I would never comment on my sil's choices to her (and some of what she does horrifies me) so cannot fathom how they feel they can to me.

Supporting evidence coming right up!

How do your in-laws feel about the Torygraph? Their article on this same story was good, saying that the theory had been immediately dismissed by British experts and including this fantastically damning quote:

Prof Charlotte Wright, spokesman for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: "This is irresponsible and overblown. This is a new and largely untested theory that does not seem to be supported by any good epidemiological evidence."
She said Prof Carlsen had presumed that women who do not breastfeed don't do so because they cannot, not because they choose not to. The vast majority of women are able to breastfeed their babies, she said, and those who have difficulty are often successful after help from specialists.
She added: "It is very puzzling that there is no mention of prevention of infection and there is a significant reduction on the risk of infection with breastfeeding."
"Women should remember that we were not designed to be bottle fed, formula is an artificial alternative."

If you're after something more scientific, you could try this detailed critique of the science from NetDoctor.

By the way, the story that the DM picked up on was concocted by the PR dept at the Professor's university - his actual published study does not mention the conclusions on BF that were so widely reported.