Mothers who have both FF and BF children

[Jollymollyx]

I would love to know from mother’s who have done both, bf one child and ff another child on if they saw any differences in the child in the long run. Short term i’m aware of antibodies making the baby ill for less time etc (I bf my dd). But any long term differences for example when they are 3+ but academically, actively, physically etc

They are different but I could not say if that was due to them being FF or BF. It could be gender, parental experience, place in the family or any number of things. You are a better researcher than most if you can correct for all the other statistical noise due to other factors to compare differences and attribute them to solely FF or BF.

FF DS1 now 8, BF DS2 and 3 now 5 and 3 both until months old. Cant see any difference really. DS1 had a comforter teddy and a dummy whilst the other 2 never had anything of the sort. I think because I was their comforter . DS1 is very bright according to teachers and has a brilliant memory but younger two are too young to compare. DS1's speexh developed at a faster rate that the younger biuys but I think that's an eldesf child thing. DS1 is a lot more scatterbrained and clumsy than the little ones, has a referral into OT due to fine motor skills being slightly delayed. DS 2 seems to be much better here,, DS 1 will go to him to open food packaging ect.

*both until 18 months old

My BF baby has so far been my sickest! She had every cold going from birth to 4, chickenpox hit her hardest (hospital & pneumonia), high fevers with every illness, awful reflux (medicated until 2 years), failure to thrive for the first 3 months. She’s 6 now & seems to be as hardy as her big sister.
School wise, they’re pretty similar. Physically my 6 year old is much more capable. They’re both average height & weight, both ok eaters.

At 23 and 21 there's no obvious differences. Neither have allergies or intolerances. Neither particularly different intelligence wise. Close relationships with both... hearsay obviously but I don't think, long term, it made a difference but impossible to say without having clones of both who were fed the opposite way and everything else done the same.

The 1 difference I can see is one struggles to keep weight on, the other works to keep it off. However they have parents the same (I struggle to keep it off ). The one who holds weight was bf the one who doesn't was ff.

Niece 1 was FF, Niece 2 was BF. Just over a year apart. DN2 has had health and behavioral problems her whole life, but was a very fast learner as a child, hitting all milestones early. DN1 has behavioral issues too, but seems more able to control it if she wants. Both are incredibly smart, topping most subjects - they are in high school now.

So, just inherently different kids I'd say! Nothing to do with feeding.

My bf child is taller, more coordinated, more empathic and possibly academically slightly more able. Also had fewer illnesses as a baby/toddler.

But she is the younger of the two and not teenage yet so things could still change. I was a more relaxed parent second time around too - there are so many variables.

Posted too soon. DD2 (BF) has speech dyspraxia. DD1 (mix fed from 3 weeks) has high functioning asd. None of the differences between them seem to be in any way how they were fed in their early years. Both love reading, are very good swimmers & mix well with their peers.

FF DS is now 12. His jaw was partially dislocated by the forceps and it wasn't picked up for 3 weeks. Eventually the continual screaming during feeds and my nipples being mawed to a bloody pulp meant I switched to formula. Had to syringe feed him until his jaw was popped back in 🤢.

EBF DD is now 10. She latched on 20 mins after birth and didn't come off for 14 months 🤣

DS had severe food allergy that he grew out of by 7. Has allergy to insect bites. Now very healthy and sturdy.

DD is healthy as anything, though also has insect bite allergy.

Bf/expressed for eldest (but only for ~6 weeks so might not be enough experience for your question). That child has eczema, potential autism, adhd and dispraxia so struggles quite a lot at school.

The youngest was ff from birth apart from one breast feed. That child has no allergies or sen and gets on well at school so far (only in y1 so plenty of time for it to change yet!) but was quite a sickly baby who caught every chest infection going.

They are now both and strong and is a healthy weight and are rarely ill. Looking at them, you wouldn't be able to tell who was bf and who was ff.

Me! I BF my DS exclusively for a year. DD was FF from two weeks old.

So far, DD - the FF child - is the more academically gifted, and the healthiest, of the two. She's never been ill aside from a bout of chickenpox, and is very physically active.

DS, meanwhile, has eczema and has also had far more in the way of childhood illnesses, including scarlet fever. He also suffers from far more infections than DD does, and has had several ENT issues.

Based on my decidedly unscientific sample size of two, BF didn't have any benefits...!

BF child has allergies, is always picking up every bug known to man, is very fussy with food and FF child is never ill, is much healthier and eats anything.

Both bf for 12m+. Exclusively till weaning at 6m.
Dc1 seems brighter.
At 4 and 6 Both seem adhd and possibly asd.
It's possible it has made dc1 more intelligent. (But possibly not a good thing as so argumentative! Constantly trying to outsmart everyone.
Neither have any empathy and argue like cat and dog.
Dc1 had a period of bad health starting nursery around 3yo.
I think genetics are probably most important and considering what dc will be like most important would be what you/dp/GP and uncles/aunts are like.
If you have asthma/hayfever/allergies it is even more likely dc will have these.

Bf only gives vitamins etc we are eating/have in the body whereas FF would be stable/constant.
Food now isn't apparently as nutritious has too much xyz.
Dc2 is likely to get more ill. Taking them to groups with the eldest. Plus catching from eldest and older one could be at nursery too.

Only one bf was Ds4 who was bf until 3. No difference in illnesses really , possibly gets sick a little more than ds3

He’s very bright but then so is ds2. He’s the only one who has asd but obviously that’s nothing to do with how he was fed

My boys are like chalk and cheese but who knows if that's down to how they were fed 🤷‍♀️ the ff one is soooo laid back and the bf one is a bit more highly strung. My ff son suffers more with illnesses but that is more to do with a health condition he was born with and my bf son is very rarely poorly.

Oh and ff son will eat anything and everything I put in front of him but bf son is the fussiest child I have met when it comes to food! All of these traits could be put down to me and my partner though!

OP, try a google search for the words "sibling pair" and breastfeeding. This will lead you to some studies.

There seems to be not much difference to be honest. Most of the benefits of breastfeeding are short-term, like lower SIDS rate. It also lowers the risk of one or two types of cancer in mothers and is better for the environment. Not much evidence for long-term effects in sibling pair studies at least.

Something to note - younger siblings get ill more frequently at younger ages if older siblings are bringing home germs from nursery/school.

So saying that your FF DC1 was healthy but BF DC2 - they're not equal situations.

I would say my bf one was more ‘advanced’ developmentally as a baby and toddler. But I think that had more to do with my older one (who was mostly ff) being born early and having some health issues in the first month. This is also why we didn’t bf as long as I’d wanted. My bf one ‘cooked’ for about 3 weeks longer, was bigger and just more robust from the start. I think that had a lot to do with it. He’s not old enough for school yet. But my ff one is very bright, reading at least a year above her class, always been very healthy except for that first month. It’s not affected her negatively in any way.

That said, having done both, I found bf was easier and less stressful than washing bottles and making bottles at 3am and remembering to bring so much stuff with me everywhere.

I bf my first born for only three months then she had formula. My second daughter was bf for al or longer. At 26 and 22 I'd say there's been no discernible difference between them. My big baby was the one who ended up with mild asthma and quite bad eczema but who knows why.
They're both healthy overall so my message to new mums is try not to worry about our decision whatever you decide to do because in years to come you'll realise that it wasn't such a huge deal after all.

I was the only breastfed child and the only difference in adulthood is that I’m the one that gets fat easily! The others eat like lions and still stay slim.

My two kids, my bf one was a lot more ill as a baby, my ff one talked earlier and was a very bright baby/toddler (may be an eldest child thing though as someone said above)

DC1, combi-fed for 3 months then bottle fed. DC2 breast-fed for 18 mo the. Both now school-aged. No obvious differences but DC2 has probably had slightly fewer viruses and has definitely had fewer stomach bugs. No evidence this was to do with feeding of course.

The only other difference is that DC2 has always been a worse sleeper and I don't know if that's because I co-slept to help with the breastfeeding. She still comes into my bed at age 6.

Dd1 bottle fed after 2 weeks (she was tongue tied but nobody noticed). She’s taller, slimmer and healthier than Dd 2.
Dd2 was bf until 18 months, She has always had more cough/colds than Dd1 and has more minor allergies too.