An interesting benefit of breast feeding...

[little_O]

Doing some reading while bfing dd and found this...

Breast-Fed Babies—Smarter, Healthier
“Queensland researchers who studied almost 4000 Brisbane children found that, on the whole, those who were breastfed had higher IQs,” states The Daily Telegraph of Sydney, Australia. Professor Jake Najman of the University of Queensland said: “The longer the mother breastfed, the higher the intelligence of the child. It’s not just a small advantage that the breastfed children have, it’s about eight IQ points, which is quite a substantial advantage. It’s the difference between being an average child and being a reasonably bright child.” Another possible advantage of breast-feeding is that it may be a factor in reducing by up to 30*percent a child’s risk of becoming obese, says a report in Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph. According to lactation consultant Joy Heads, “there are very few waste products in breastmilk, which is almost perfectly utilised. You can have a big, chubby breast-fed baby and there is no problem with that at all. But a fat, bottle-fed baby has a higher chance of being obese later in life.”

[meow]

These are just the norms that our children are supposed to achieve. It's the introduction of modern toxins and processed foods that is causing increased obesity and reducing intelligence.

[trishalishous]

These are just the norms that our children are supposed to achieve. It's the introduction of modern toxins and processed foods that is causing increased obesity and reducing intelligence.

agreed.
Why dont we say "not smoking cigarettes decreases your risk of cancer"

[Amaunet]

These are just the norms that our children are supposed to achieve. It's the introduction of modern toxins and processed foods that is causing increased obesity and reducing intelligence.

I agree, breastfeeding is the biological norm, it's just not "politically correct" to say ff shows reduced IQ or increased risk of obesity.

[PumpkinZulu]

These are just the norms that our children are supposed to achieve. It's the introduction of modern toxins and processed foods that is causing increased obesity and reducing intelligence.

Exactly. Formula lowers the biological standard. It does certainly increase the risks for things such as obesity as well. But, as always, lifestyle, diet, genetics, will all also play a large part of a child's life. It's not a given your child will be fat because they had formula, just like its not a given a BF baby will be skinnier. It just increases the likelihood of it happening.

[Maruschke]

Exactly. Formula lowers the biological standard. It does certainly increase the risks for things such as obesity as well. But, as always, lifestyle, diet, genetics, will all also play a large part of a child's life. It's not a given your child will be fat because they had formula, just like its not a given a BF baby will be skinnier. It just increases the likelihood of it happening.

Yep

Don't you have having to navigate politically correct language? Ticks me off!

[ss_storm]

*shrugs* DD was FF for the most part..she's not quite 3 and can already recognise, spell and nearly write her name, can write most letters, does the funniest drawings that aren't just scribbles, can spell cat, dog, mum, dad, Mason (our dog) and spot, count to 20 by herself and 100 with a little bit of help, knows all her colours, shapes etc and speaks so clearly that most people don't even realise she's not even 3 yet. So does that mean she would be a super genius if I had BF her, or is this just her 'normal' intelligence, not affected by formula.. How can you even measure that? Every child's intelligence is different, and you can't breast feed them, figure out how smart they are then go back and FF and see if they are any less smart..

[meow]

*shrugs* DD was FF for the most part..she's not quite 3 and can already recognise, spell and nearly write her name, can write most letters, does the funniest drawings that aren't just scribbles, can spell cat, dog, mum, dad, Mason (our dog) and spot, count to 20 by herself and 100 with a little bit of help, knows all her colours, shapes etc and speaks so clearly that most people don't even realise she's not even 3 yet. So does that mean she would be a super genius if I had BF her, or is this just her 'normal' intelligence, not affected by formula.. How can you even measure that? Every child's intelligence is different, and you can't breast feed them, figure out how smart they are then go back and FF and see if they are any less smart..

No, but a distinct IQ difference over a large population certainly points to a likely correlation. Another theory is that generally more intelligent, affluent mothers breastfeed so that may cause the correlation.

My son was breastfed and has severe learning difficulties I didn't think these studies were about *me*, just the statistical population.

[Maruschke]

No, but a distinct IQ difference over a large population certainly points to a likely correlation. Another theory is that generally more intelligent, affluent mothers breastfeed so that may cause the correlation.

My son was breastfed and has severe learning difficulties I didn't think these studies were about *me*, just the statistical population.

This particular study had already taken maternal education, maternal IQ and social status into account, and the trend for higher IQ in BF babies remained. I wonder whether there is something positive in BM that increases IQ, or something negative in AM that reduces it? I'm curious .

[meow]

There a zillion things formula is lacking, but the lack of the same fats found in breastmilk would be just one factor that would affect brain development.

[boomba]

I don't the op was saying ff babies were not smart she was merely pointing out a study and the benefits of breastfeeding.

Its amazing the amount of things breast milk is good for! The lady who founded the breast milk bank in the go,d coast is battling cAncer and is drinking breast milk daily and the decrease of her cancer is amazing!
Breast milk is full of great stuff :-)

[HotI]

The act of breastfeeding may also have an impact - the frequent skin to skin contact, having to suck the milk, wait for let down, difference in flow rates during the feed.

[PumpkinZulu]

From why I know about BF, breastfeeding does not increase anything, not does it reduce the risk of anything, as it's the absolute biological norm and base from which to build or otherwise. For example, BF does not reduce the precedence of SIDS, FF can increase the risk. I wonder whether that conclusion is again drawn from (GENERALLY) that more educated women BF? Eh, I dropped out of school in year 10, worked in fast food and theatre and have no qualifications, I'm technically the epitome of uneducated on paper, and I BF. It's just broad and statistical, not personal.

[PumpkinZulu]

Little O, I believe it's a faster suck, as opposed to the normal feeding suck which is more drawn out.

We've been supplementing with bottles of either donated EBM or cows milk for about 1.5 months now. We too dip the bottle, as well as using newborn teats, and change sides. We do it skin to skin most of the time too, even if I just pull down my top a bit and have DD nuzzle my chest.

[onthefly]

I think the impact of breastfeeding on cognitive development is multi-faceted - it includes some of the ingredients in breastmilk as well as the act of breastfeeding itself (hormonal/physical intimacy, sucking, etc). Babies who are not breastfed will miss out on some or all of these factors.

[meow]

I think the impact of breastfeeding on cognitive development is multi-faceted - it includes some of the ingredients in breastmilk as well as the act of breastfeeding itself (hormonal/physical intimacy, sucking, etc). Babies who are not breastfed will miss out on some or all of these factors.

I agree. I was pondering this... I suppose you could study children based upon breastfeeding, expressed breastmilk bottle feeding and formula bottle feeding and then
see what the outcomes are. That could be interesting.

[Maruschke]

I think the impact of breastfeeding on cognitive development is multi-faceted - it includes some of the ingredients in breastmilk as well as the act of breastfeeding itself (hormonal/physical intimacy, sucking, etc). Babies who are not breastfed will miss out on some or all of these factors.

Yeah that. And perhaps also that the mother is more likely to not be working full time if she is full time BF? That has to have an impact that is difficult to quantify.

[onthefly]

I just read Breastfeeding Matters - it's a good read if anyone's interested in reading more about what's in breast milk and why it's important. It's something we're still learning more about, day by day. All the amazing findings about what's in breast milk and how the different factors interact with each other, as well as the other aspects of feeding which are so integral to human development really highlight the gap between breastfeeding and artificial feeding. I hope that in time - though not too much time - it can revitilise our motivation as a society to really do our best by babies and mothers when it comes to infant nutrition.

Ultimately there are millions of variables invovled in raising human beings. We can only control some and do our best accordingly.