Do bf babies get sick more?

[Iutr]

NO DEBATES PLEASE genuine question!

I was talking in my friendship group earlier this week then to my sisters, between these groups theres 12 kids (I’m pregnant with first due February)

it started when my friend asked how I’d feed him and I said I wanted to try breastfeeding

a few of my friends chimed in that their BF babies got sick easier compared to their formula fed child/children. 2 of my friends have only ever BF so can’t really make the argument

my 2 sisters have done a mixture too and they said the same?!! That they get sick easier and more bugs

i don’t want to think this is true but did you notice a difference if you fed your kids different ways?!!

Bf babies are healthier as they are getting a boost in antibodies from mum.

My baby was FF from 10 weeks and she had much less sicknesses than our baby group (7 babies who were all breastfed!) for the first 12 months. now that’s my experience, I can’t speak statistically.

I would say BF babies get sick less than formula fed because they have antibodies from the milk. They also tend to recover from illnesses quicker too

3 children. 1 ebf. 1 mixed. 1 within 3 weeks mainly bottle. There is no difference. Also surrounded by bf and ff children. Mixed child is actually the same as breastfed cousin. Eczema.

That's interesting because a nurse told me a few days ago that my baby probably had an allergic reaction because bf babies are more sensitive to allergies due to being used to the "good stuff".

My bf baby. I can remeber going to the gp as he wasn't well. I do remember seeing him physically relax when he knew he was Bf.. so certainly my gp didnt think so

I have both FF and bf children.

The first one was FF and very very rarely got transmissible illnesses, still very rarely gets sick, is in late teens and has never had antibiotics. Has actually had the usual childhood illnesses like hand foot and mouth, and chicken pox, but wasn’t more than a bit grouchy, or a couple of spots.

The second one was in all the usual kids germ spots from birth, being literally licked by germy children. BF. Very very rarely got transmissible illnesses. Did get one sick bug once, and got chicken pox to the tune of three spots. Never had antibiotics. Still rarely gets sick, colds, flu or covid have never been a problem. Third BF and very similar, second and subsequent exposed to far more germs, far less sterilising, far more environmental factors at play, and still don’t get sick. All went to playgroups and nurseries or childminders and school, still never got sick. With 3DC I have only ever had the pick up from nursery or school call once and it was because of a cut to the head.

It is my personal experience that bf babies got sick more frequently than formula fed babies - apart from my own!

No. My son is 9 months and only been poorly 3 times. One time only serious. He recovered pretty quick as gave him extra boobie

DT’s were on formula from day one. No illnesses in their first year which I thought was amazing as they started full time nursery from six months. Healthy toddlers and onwards. Only one hospital stay for DS when he broke his leg.

Been breastfeeding for almost 2 years now. DS is sick every few weeks…I sometimes wonder why I bothered when we don’t see any benefit to his immune system!

No, that's it in my experience with 3 fully bf babies

That's interesting because a nurse told me a few days ago that my baby probably had an allergic reaction because bf babies are more sensitive to allergies due to being used to the "good stuff".

The nurse was wrong and needs to crack a book.

First, FF, rarely gets ill and when she does she shrugs it off within a day or so.

Second, BF for 2.5y, more bugs and much more severely. Has a serious health condition, and I'm currently cuddling her while she has a temp of over 40.

Almost certainly coincidence. It certainly doesn't seem from friends experience that bf babies are healthier, and the studies ugly show very marginal benefits in a couple of areas (tummy bugs and ear infections)

Still breastfeeding my 22 month DD and she has never been sick, whereas the majority of my friend's FF babies have had at least one trip to A&E with some kind of bug. But this is just me. Purely anecdotal. However, the science does back it up at a population level

My anecdata is my DS was FF after a few days, got baby and toddler colds, coughs etc but nothing over the top, one course of antibiotics ever and he's now 6.

Two nieces, same age but on each side of the family, one FF and one BF to over 12 months. The BF one is ill CONSTANTLY, especially with ear infections. Both go to nursery.

I'm not sure BUT my breastfed baby def benefits from boob when she's unwell whereas bottle fed DD would just not eat if she was sick. Breastfeeding is about more than just feeding

Breastfeeding doesn't guarantee your baby won't get unwell, just like formula feeding doesn't guarantee they will be unwell, but the population level breastfeeding is better at preventing illness.

Anecdotally you'll hear lots of things. Partly because people share their experiences to help, and partly because some people don't understand how population level statistics work so end up saying silly things like "the stats are rubbish because my DC..."

A few people have mentioned this already but don’t underestimate the power of bf in comforting a poorly baby.

Twice I struggled, once when she had a cold and couldn’t breathe properly to feed but a bottle would have been the same, the other was when I had noro and she seemed to think I smelled funny and wasn’t keen and I couldn’t eat and was feeling rank - but I went back to kangaroo care and got topless in bed and her in a just a nappy and she got back on it with no drama.

Jabs, colds, stumbles, disappointments, bad dreams, all can be eased if not cured with a quick feed that’s always the right temperature, immediately ready at hand, sterile and comforting.

On an individual level there's no discernable difference.

At a population level it's the opposite - ff babies as a cohort are more likely to have ear infections, allergies, overweight, SIDS and certain cancers. Necrotising colitis is unheard of in exclusively breastfed babies...

However there is no way of separating out the risk factors and intersectionality of all that (for example, those in the lowest income brackets are least likely to breastfeed so is there another behaviour/risk in that group that is in fact the cause of higher SIDS rates?)

Basically, make your feeding choices based on your own personal assessment of the evidence / risks / costs / lifestyle factors / experience.

Almost 18 month old BF baby - he's been ill once in his life

I thinkyour friends' babies have been the exceptions

More likely down to social contacts and general health than food.

I bf ds until 18 months. Now 14, he has had two illnesses. He got swine flu when he was two and was poorly for 10 days. And he had bad D&V when he was eight, went 10 days just on water, and lost a quarter of his body weight. Scared me rigid.

Other than that, he's not been ill at all. No covid. No colds. He had 3 chickenpox spots on his scalp when he was 9 months old but wasn't ill with it.

They shouldn’t do as that’s a main reason why people chose to BF so the baby can get your antibodies from illnesses you’ve already had, FF babies don’t have these.

However, BF doesn’t make your baby immune to all illnesses and some babies tend to pick bugs up easier than others.

If you are weighing up the pros and cons of BF vs FF then getting poorly less often will definitely be a reason to BF but there are many other things you need to think about too and it doesn’t matter if BF isn’t for you.

Hmmm I'm really not sure, myself and my friends both have 4 kids, hers were all exclusively breastfed and mine were all bottle fed, hers were always much sicker kids than mine, picking up every sickness bug, cough, cold going where I can count on one hand how many times my 4 kids have had sickness bugs ( late teens now)

Can't say it was down to Brest feeding maybe they would of been the same had they been bottle fed

In my experience yes.