Breast feeding, pros and cons

neverdespairgirl

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Neverdespairgirl - don't feel you have to answer but when your said in your earlier post that you smoked through the first 6 weeks of pregnancy I assumed that you didn't know you were expecting at that point?!
Had to ask as it surprised me and obviously you just don't seem like the smoking in pregnancy type of mum to me!:D

Until I was 6 weeks pregnant - we weren't intending at all to have a baby, so I found out, dealt with the "bloody hell!" aspect, and then gave up over the next 2 weeks.

Pink_Princess_1

I have 2 children - I did not b/f my DD1 who is now 14 because I did not want to:eek: I lived at my parents and couldnt contemplate b/feeding in front of father/brother etc my daughter is a very healthy, clever girl with whom I have a fantastic bond. I am b/feeding my 2nd daughter because this time round my circumstances are different, and I felt in a postion to at least try... 19weeks on we are combining FF and BF and feel that the bond with both my DD's is equal. I am quite shocked at some of the aggressive and hurtful comments made on this post

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

AnnieM wrote: »

:rotfl: The day I do something because Jordan tells me to, is the day I put a gun to my head and pull the trigger!

I have something to add to the comments re allergies. One of my family members breastfed both her little ones, and they both have allergies to all sorts of things, as well as excema and asthma. Their mum is an excellent mother, who was (and is) very careful with food choices for her kids. I have to say I do think that kids who have allergies will have allergies whether breastfed or not.

That said, I think breastmilk is very good for building up the imune system. I agree with Jimmy - there should be more provision for women to donate milk, so that babies who might otherwise be FF can receive breastmilk.

There are so many young girls who admire and want to be just like Jordan, though. They are the girls who will have babies in the future, and the ones it is everyone's responsibility to educate.

As for allergies - it is medically proven that breastfed babies are less likely to have allergies. That doesn't mean none of them will, but it does mean that if you formula feed a child, you are increasing the risk of allergy. We can fling around all the anecdotal evidence we like - my dad smokes 40 a day and has no health problems from it, for example - it doesn't negate medical fact. Just because smoking doesn't make some people ill doesn't change the fact that it carries serious medical implications, and formula is in the same vein there.

harryharp

Sorry if this has already been mentioned (couldn't read through the whole thread!) but there is a BRILLIANT book called 'Breast is Best' (http://www.panmacmillan.com/titles/displayPage.asp?PageTitle=Individual%20Title&BookID=379892) which I found invaluable when breast-feeding both of mine 12 and 15 years ago!

I think it's really a book for mothers who have already decided they want to breastfeed, and is a kind of manual. I found the style of writing and the advice given in it immensely reassuring at the time.

Former_MSE_Archna

Hi all,

Just a little reminder of the forum rules:

BE NICE TO OTHER MONEYSAVERS

Remember, MoneySaving should be fun. Everyone using these boards is here for the same reason, to save money. The site’s motto is “Please be nice to other MoneySavers”. It should go without saying, but please remember that when using this forum.

This seems to be a valuable discussion so it would be a shame to close it. Don't use the anonymity of the internet to forget people have feelings! Many thanks.

AnnieM_3

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart wrote: »

As for allergies - it is medically proven that breastfed babies are less likely to have allergies. That doesn't mean none of them will, but it does mean that if you formula feed a child, you are increasing the risk of allergy. We can fling around all the anecdotal evidence we like - my dad smokes 40 a day and has no health problems from it, for example - it doesn't negate medical fact. Just because smoking doesn't make some people ill doesn't change the fact that it carries serious medical implications, and formula is in the same vein there.

Sorry to get into semantics on this, but it is more that by not bf-ing, you are not decreasing the risk of allergies - I have yet to see any evidence that ff actively increases the risk of allergies. I really don't see that ff is in the same vein as smoking. I think we need to stop demonising ff, and recognise it for what it is - an alternative, there as an option.

gingerkirsty

AnnieM wrote: »

Sorry to get into semantics on this, but it is more that by not bf-ing, you are not decreasing the risk of allergies - I have yet to see any evidence that ff actively increases the risk of allergies. I really don't see that ff is in the same vein as smoking. I think we need to stop demonising ff, and recognise it for what it is - an alternative, there as an option.

If you consider breastfeeding as the biological norm then brestfeeding doesn't decrease the risk, formula feeding increases it.

I don't think formula should be demonised, it does indeed save lives, but the fact is that many of us make our feeding choices based on inaccurate or misleading information and advertising. We deserve the right to make an informed choice and that will not happen until we can speak clearly and freely.

It sometimes gets heated (I certainly sometimes let my heart talk before my head) but it is an emotive subject.

galvanizersbaby

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart wrote: »

There are so many young girls who admire and want to be just like Jordan, though. They are the girls who will have babies in the future, and the ones it is everyone's responsibility to educate.

I'm not convinced there are lots of young girls who admire and want to be like Jordan.
I'm of the opinion her fan base is predominantly male!

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

AnnieM wrote: »

Sorry to get into semantics on this, but it is more that by not bf-ing, you are not decreasing the risk of allergies - I have yet to see any evidence that ff actively increases the risk of allergies. I really don't see that ff is in the same vein as smoking. I think we need to stop demonising ff, and recognise it for what it is - an alternative, there as an option.

It does increase the risk, though. Here are a few links to explain:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/allergy/pdf/infabio-content.pdf - the science of how FFing may increase the incidence of allergy is explained in this report. No results unfortunately, because it looks very interesting, especially re. probiotic formula.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/106/5/S2/1285?ck=nck - as this study points out, there aren't many studies in this area because there are ethical issues, but the Finland study shows that breastfed babies had a lower incidence of allergy.

I don't think discussing medical research about formula is "demonising" it - it's important information for anybody planning to use it. For example, one of the above articles suggests that probiotic formula is preferable - useful, no? The other article refers to it as "complementary feeding" - which isn't an aggressive term at all.

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart wrote: »

There are so many young girls who admire and want to be just like Jordan, though. They are the girls who will have babies in the future, and the ones it is everyone's responsibility to educate.

I'm not convinced there are lots of young girls who admire and want to be like Jordan.
I'm of the opinion her fan base is predominantly male!

Google "young girls want to be like Jordan." It's disturbing. And she graces page after page of OK! magazine every time she sprogs, usually posing with a bottle of SMA. SMA adverts sit among those pages. It's happened with her last two children, so it must have been working...