Reply With QuoteThese 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.
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An interesting benefit of breast feeding...
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.”
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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.
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I agree, breastfeeding is the biological norm, it's just not "politically correct" to say ff shows reduced IQ or increased risk of obesity.
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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.
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*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..
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Yep
Don't you have having to navigate politically correct language? Ticks me off!
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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 difficultiesI didn't think these studies were about *me*, just the statistical population.
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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 curiousNo, 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.
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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.
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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.
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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 :-)
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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.
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Yep. Change in taste, change in sides of feeding... breastfeeding keeps little minds busy and gets the neural pathways developing early.
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Yup the changing sides is so important! And looking into babies eyes too! Also breastfeeding lessens your chance of getting breast cancer :-)
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That's funny you should say that because I was just about to post another snippet from another article which touches on that!:
Breast feeding benefits
“There is simply no better food for newborns” than breast milk, writes neurosurgeon Dr.*Sanjay Gupta in Time magazine. “Breast-fed babies have lower rates of hospital admission, ear infection, diarrhea, rashes, allergies and other medical problems than bottle-fed tots.” Breast-feeding is also reported to protect against respiratory illnesses. A Danish study concluded that “adults who as babies were breast-fed for seven to nine months had higher IQs than those who were breast-fed for two weeks or less.” The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a child be nursed for six months and, if possible, for a year or more. “It turns out babies aren’t the only ones who benefit from breast-feeding,” says U.S.News & World Report. A study of 150,000 women in 30 countries revealed that “every year a woman breast-feeds she cuts her lifetime risk of developing breast cancer by 4.3*percent.” Yet, “only half of American mothers breast-feed, for an average of two to three months.”
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Some of these can be incorporated into bottlefeeding - giving baby skin to skin & eye contact, changing sides, having a consistent carer, pacing feeeds. They are things i have thought about if i was unable to breastfeed for any reason.
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When we had to supplement my son's feeds for a short time, we used to drop the bottle down a few times so that the flow would stop then we tilt it up again when he did the "let down" suck. I didn't hear about the importance of changing sides till later, but then we were only doing 1 or 2 60ml bottles a day anyway so I guess it didn't matter too much. But there is lots that can be done to help a bottle fed baby.
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How can you tell what the "let down" suck is?
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