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...

Thanks, Winky.

That's what I thought.

What a load of crap.

Academics are paid to produce research. They can't replicate what has already been done, so they have to do something else. So every few years a paper comes out that contradicts what went before. C'est la vie. [cynic]

I was encouraged to eat liver for the first pregnancy but told to totally avoid it for the second.
After a while you learn to ignore 'advice'.

I think take all advice with a pinch of salt - after all it changes with each generation and I've had three children over the last 7 years - advice has changed several times just in that time. Mainly for me it was to AVOID PEANUTS LIKE THE PLAGUE TO SAVE YOUR CHILD FROM FATAL ALLERGIES in pregnancy until I had my third and then it became EAT PEANUTS, CRAM IN MORE PEANUTS, FOR GODS SAKE DON'T STOP EATING PEANUTS TO SAVE YOUR UNBORN CHILD FROM FATAL ALLERGIES. My mum was advised to have a fag while feeding me to help her relax. Times change, advice moves on, some of it will be contradictory, some will reconfirm what you thought in the first place. The main thing is not to be too worried. I think BLW is great - not if restricted to after 6 months because mine were desperate to try what I was eating earlier than that - it felt wrong to deprive them of a little taste of this and that or a chew of carrot, boiled spud or bit of porridge. All are without allergies (despite me and DH having them) and have very adventurous appetites but I put that down to luck as much as anything else.

Maybe not yet but empirically it's obvious that it will be discredited at some point.

Ok, have seen the headline in the Times now. Is much more tame and shows that the article is about weaning a bit earlier - even says "between 4-6 months is ideal", not anything about breast may not be best...etc.

Calmed down a bit.

HOWEVER, the articles with titles like "breast is not always best"... and similar should be changed or deleted.

"take all advice with a pinch of salt"

ROFL. Pun intended?

The media isn't keen for women to wean early. The media is keen to sell newspapers.

StarExpat, do have a look at the link about 10 posts up thread re: iron absorbtion from breastmilk.

Really, you have nothing to worry about.

I'm confused about what this article is trying to say. I took it to mean that IF your baby is breastfed it MAY BE BENEFICIAL to introduce solid foods before six months, possibly as early as four months.

But it goes on to say that, as well as iron deficiency, they could be more at risk of allergies. I can understand why a FF baby would still be getting iron from their milk, but they wouldn't be getting peanuts/seafood/gluten would they?

So why is it just about weaning BF babies onto solids earlier and not FF babies?

And as an aside, where does it leave 'Food is for fun until they are one'? Should parents whose babies are slow to get into solids at all start worrying now?

winnybella - thanks. What if the mother is still anaemic post birth.... for several months? Will the baby still get all the iron he needs from the mother? Only asking as this was the case for me and I assumed (from kellymom, I think?) that ds would just take all of the iron he needed, even if it didn't leave me with enough? or something like that? But if I was already low would that have impacted the amount that went into the breastmilk?

Quenelle- "But it goes on to say that, as well as iron deficiency, they could be more at risk of allergies. I can understand why a FF baby would still be getting iron from their milk, but they wouldn't be getting peanuts/seafood/gluten would they?

So why is it just about weaning BF babies onto solids earlier and not FF babies?"

very good point.


it's aimed at breastfeeding women/babies.

It's an opinion according to some top MW and has been paid for by formula manufacturers. In other words it's rubbish! ignore! (IMO of course!)

Haven't got time to read the whole thread thus far (will come back later), but having read the article that this is based on it's fair to say IMHO that the headlines are oversimplifying and sensationalising the article (by reporting only the parts that make for headlines - what a surprise).

At the end the article is calling for; [the Department of Health to] commission an objective, independent review of the evidence that has accumulated since WHO commissioned Kramer and Kakuma?s review a decade ago"

(Fewtrell et al, BMJ 2010;341:c5955)

i know this is going to put the cat amongst the pigeons but i thought there was NO iron in breast milk. (i just checked on wikkipedia and breastfeedingmom.com and it doesn't mention it). I thought breast milk contained a protein to bind any iron to stop bacteria using it that might infect the babies gut (as an anti-infective measure). I thought that was why babies have 6 months iron supplies - to get them through the period of breastfeeding/early weaning until they can start to eat with some proficiency.

There isn't any iron in cow's milk either.

For what it is worth, I don't think this harms babies, but explains why weaning should be at about 6 months (which again i can't believe that every baby in the whole wide world - from europe to rural africa -is ready at exactly 6 months). i think there's a window, it starts when babies start looking at your dinner as if to say 'and where is mine?'

both my dd's weaned themselves onto solids.

the younger one started to mooch food off my plate at 24 or 25 weeks much to my surprise. because ...

the older one weaned herself onto solids at 13 months / 56 weeks! when she also mooched food off my plate for the first time. No one could let her eat solids before that for love or money.

Breastfed them exclusively till then.
with the older one, I expressed milk from she was 20 weeks while I was back at work full time.

Neither of them looked wanting for iron irregardless of when they started to eat.

StarExpat- it only says that babies whose mothers were anaemic during pregnancy might have lower levels of iron, but even then it's not serious. I would think that babies suck all the nutritients with the breastmilk- he would have had enough but it might have contributed/made your anaemia worse iyswim.

These researches haven't conducted any new studies nor have they discredited ones like those referenced in kellymom- papers made a much bigger deal out of it than it is as far as I can tell.

civil, mine were all eating mushed up beef casserole and mashed fishfingers by 6 months, besides baby rice is usually fortified with vitamins etc.

I weaned two of mine at 14 weeks as they were both so hungry and over 12 lbs, I managed to keep one going to 16 weeks. However they didn't have formula or cows milk' til 12 months and I kept jars to a minimum.

I was lucky enough to have mature, sensible, flexible health visitors, who never made me feel guilty.

I have been made to feel like a child abuser after reading some threads about weaning on mumsnet so it is good to have some balance.

Yes, very good point Quenelle.

civil - I think your post summarises it very well.

Why do the media hate BFing so much?

I have thought about this quite a lot over the past few years and come to the conclusion that a 'successful' newspaper article that either entertains or makes its readers feel better about themselves. Not necessarily one that is factually accurate.

I failed to BF my first and felt so very sad and angry about it. I would have to change seats in the doctor's surgery to avoid seeing the Breast is Best posters and I had to go to the toilets and cry after getting a superior look from a BFing mother in the Debenhams cafe (as I cack-handledly struggled to open & pour DS's carton of formula). During this time I remember reading an anti BFing article in a newspaper and recall that, although I disagreed with it, it did make me feel a little bit better about myself - like I hadn't done so badly by my son after all.

I believe the press would be more positive about BFing if
a) more mothers did it, and..
b) BFing mothers/experts eased up on the 'formula is poison'/'you lazy cow' type guilt trip that create the guilt and feed the media backlash.

PS. 18 months after having DS I had DD who is currently almost 9 months old and very happily BFed. So I have no axe to grind about either method of feeding.

:( Yes, was anaemic during pregnancy as well. Very, very low results each time irregardless of taking iron supplements.

Well, he does look healthy.

Quenelle's post makes is obvious that they don't think bf babies get enough iron. This discredits bf. This will encourage more new mothers to FF.

'It's an opinion according to some top MW and has been paid for by formula manufacturers. In other words it's rubbish! ignore! (IMO of course!)'

This is simply not true. The research group is funded by universities and the Medical Research Council. See here

I am appalled by some of the coverage of this story in the media, but the actual study and its key message - weaning before 6 months may be good for some babies - are sound, IMO. I don't think it's a conspiracy by formula/baby food makers, particuarly as the main researcher has said that weaning foods should be fresh.

Star- "Theoretically, babies born to mothers who were anemic during pregnancy could have lower iron stores, however medical studies do not show this to be a problem. Babies born to mothers who are anemic during pregnancy are no more likely to be iron deficient than those born to mothers who are not anemic during pregnancy."

I'm sure he's okay .

Thanks! :)

Newspapers are in the business of delivering readers to advertisers. Articles about contentious subjects do this.

What next? You can't win can you? I thought feeding babies protein like meat too early could harm their digestive systems.