Exclusive BF for 6 months may be harmful

[Longtalljosie]

Oh bloody hell

The problem is it's only one study but will be seized on even if later it's put into context.

The other problem is the way it implies that breastfeeding is in some way a problem.

The third problem is the possibility they might turn out to be right, because I loved BLW and want to do it again...

I can hear certain members of my wider family from here...

retweet it for me, will you? i need followers on that site, literally only got on there yesterday? tia

just read it, very good...i'll be a new 'reader'...did BLW dd,at 5 months and 3 weeks (she grabbed a bit of broccoli off my plate and started munching) and will be starting all over again with DS in a couple of months tome

cheers, still fiddling with it as yet but it'll get there i hope. jemjabella from here has been a great help. (by which i mean has done everything. )

time not tome obv

Did jemjabella used to be somebody else?

thanks clumsy.

don't think so, she's very cool and kind, though, so immediately noticeable iykwim?

don't think so, she's very cool and kind, though, so immediately noticeable iykwim? i thought she was someone else as well, but she said not.

sorry for hijack.

Oops - yes, sorry.

unwind are you still following this thread? i've just seen your post, we're in the same situation - low birthweight babies, exclusively breastfed for 6 months in the belief i was doing the best thing. i'm very worried too. my baby's development has slowed down, he has a terrible appetite, can be grumpy, is always sleepy and is very pale. this all started when he was about 4 months.

i take him to baby clinic all the time because of his weight and every time i mention these things i get fobbed off with various things, but never once have they thought to check his iron status. i'm going to ask for him to be tested for anemia on monday.

if you read this i would love to talk to you about your experience.

my health visitor was absolutely adamant that i stick to bf exclusively for 26 weeks, it was such a struggle. i feel desperately sad and sick to my stomach about all of this.

fruity - anaemia is very, very, rare in babies in the UK. It can happen if there is an underlying condition like sickle cell, but you'd certainly know by now if your baby had this. Some very pre term babies may be born without sufficient iron stores ('cos much of it is passed on in the last weeks of pregnancy) but this is normally tested for - and again you would know if your baby was pre term :)

You've done the right thing in sharing your concerns about your baby's health and development; what would help you be reassured about this?

If there is any suggestion your baby is low in iron, this would be dealt with by appropriate solids now (I'm assuming he has solids) - being anaemic at 5 mths (which as I say is very rare) is not a permanent condition.

Hope you get help soon.

You have dome nothing wrong. If you can, read the original article that has caused the uproar. This is far more accurate than reading the press.

Just to add - it's when anaemia in infancy/toddlerhood (very rare in the UK, just to repeat) is serious and untreated for a long time that it has these serious effects.

Hi
Many thanks for sharing my article! :) It's had a staggering number of hits and hopefully it's helped a few mums be a little less confused.
Cheers
AA

"It's really not worth getting het up about."

If weaning earlier than six months has been proven to cause problems with the guts of some babies and then some scientists trot out some unproven and therefore inadequate statements about babies possibly having ill health because they're not being weaned early enough, then I think that is something to be concerned about. If not, "het up about", actually.

Of course the guidelines will change because our knowledge changes. Not because the WHO or the DoH feels like changing the guidelines.

You talk as if the digestive system of a four month old isn't that different to a six month old. Apparently it is. Between five and seven months, a baby's intestinal lining goes through a developmental growth spurt called closure, meaning the intestinal lining becomes more selective about what to let through. Introducing solids before this time can create problems with allergies.

armadillo it is a GREAT article.

no worries AA i post it everywhere

thanks tiktok :)

he was full term but he was IUGR, very tiny, because i had pre-eclampsia and at nearly 9 months now he's only just over 15lb. it's a worry to read that he probably didn't lay down much iron before he was born.

what you've said is very reassuring but i'm going to ask for a heel prick test for anaemia just in case.

he is having iron rich (not sure exactly how rich) meals now (scrambled egg yolk, chicken etc), though he only ever has a few spoonfuls at a time, he isn't much of an eater. and he won't drink formula unfortunately (never thought i'd hear myself say that...)

i'll try to stay positive, though :)

Tiktok

I know that there is a lot of respectable literature out there suggesting that there may be a link between breastfeeding and IQ. There is also lots of respectable literature out there saying that there is no link. People can make their own minds up.

The problem with the suggested link between IQ and breastfeeding is that it does go against common sense because:

Why are third world countries (where there is significantly more breastfeeding) not chock a block full of geniuses?

How on earth did four members of my family get into Oxbridge when the "poor things" were fed on formula? How do I know so many really clever bods who were, in fact, fed on formula?

We all know that breastfeeding (in the UK) is more common among the educated and middle-class - how on earth can this not affect the data of these studies?

No doubt - people will post replies to these questions and it is good to debate them. However, it really is not the point. The point is that there are enough proven without doubt health benefits of breastfeeding to make these claims unnecessary and they just play into the hand of the "breast is best" bullies.

I am a breastfeeding mum and I very much enjoy my personal feeding choice but I am passionately against the dogma and bullying out there of women who make other perfectly safe and legitimate feeding choices. I have said all that I want to say.

Today in the Guardian there was an excellent article who sums things up so much better than I can.

I have enjoyed debating with you lovely mummies!! x

Fantastic article which explains (to the uninitiated) what the "Breastfeeding Mafia" is

Here is the article:

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/16/breastfeeding-sting-cleaners

Just brilliant!!!

Sorry here is the link to this brilliant article:

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/16/breastfeeding-sting-cleaners

Hope it works this time!

I BF DD exclusively for 8 months, SHe just wasn't interested in solids, no matter how much I tried. She was the fattest bonniest baby on the block
I was really glad I was exclusively breastfeeding her for so long because she got a nasty virus at around 10 months and couldn't take solids for 3 days, but I kept breastfeeding her and she didn't lose weight.

"Why are third world countries (where there is significantly more breastfeeding) not chock a block full of geniuses?"

umm.. because most of them don'T have access to education? Because when their mums wean them they've only got dirty water to drink and die of dysentry?