Breast or bottle feeding?

JC9297

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

In terms of children, babies who were breastfed in later life appear to have an IQ advantage of about 6 points, compared with formula fed babies.

"Those who were breast-fed scored on average three points above the population mean of 100 on the IQ test, whereas those who were not breast-fed scored about three points below the population mean," Moffitt says. In other words, breast-feeding led to a gain of a few IQ points, whereas those using baby formula in lieu of mom's milk led to a slight dip.

There is no proof that it's the breastmilk that makes a diference, the parents intellect has much more of a bearing. It's no secret that well educated women are more likely to breastfeed.

neverdespairgirl

The same article states:

The scientists ruled out other factors, including birth weight and the mother's social class and IQ, finding that they had no impact.

milliebear00001

Rather than start by criticising the methodology of that study, I'd be more likely to ask 'and?'

What possible difference to a life can 6 points on a (dodgy) IQ test make anyway?!

(and did anyone question the methodology of the IQ test?!)

neverdespairgirl

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Rather than start by criticising the methodology of that study, I'd be more likely to ask 'and?'

What possible difference to a life can 6 points on a (dodgy) IQ test make anyway?!

(and did anyone question the methodology of the IQ test?!)

Not a great deal, I agree. There are other, more significant, advantages to breastfeeding.

donteatthat

I think it's great if you can support your OH in trying to breast feed initially OP. It is certainly good if you can start to try to breastfeed, as you can always switch to bottles (ebm or formula) down the line once a supply is established, but you don't get a good chance to go back the other way.
I would get a bottle and some cartons of formula in just in case .
For those talking about expressing and bottlefeeding EBM I can say that it can be done, but is seriously harder work than just doing the breastfeeding. I expressed for 6 weeks whilst my baby was in SCBU (premature) and then moved to breastfeeding when he was able to do sucking feeds. I wasn't able to get a good supply doing the expressing, it seems to be better for some than others. But when he was ready I then breastfed him until he was 4 months old, and found it very hard work getting my supply up to match his requirements at first. Despite trying to exclusively breastfeed, his demands were quite high and maybe it was the initial expressing mucked up the supply and demand working properly he would be constantly hungry so on occasions I did have to give him a bottle of formula and it didn't do him any harm or cause any nipple confusion.

rachbc

I was a strident b of my son - he fed well and gained weight perfectly til he was 11 months before I started geting latch problems and he self weaned. Never considered bottles. DD also fed really well, painful for a week or so like you expect - however I had many more doubts this time round - mainly cos OH was keener to try a bottle as he thought she would sleep more, he never explicitly told me to stop but I could tell he would rather I did. However I stuck by it and she fed til 15 months before weaning no problems. I understand why he wanted me to try bottles and that he felt totally powerless to help in any other way - so my advise to a dad would be to get lots of info both ways and really ask your partner what support she wants and what she wants to do - for some women it will be to step in and say 'its ok to try a bottle, it doesn't matter' but or me it would have been to say 'i know its hard but you are doing great, keep going, what help do you need'

Mrs_Arcanum

BF both mine for 20 months. DD who was 5 weeks early tripled her birth weight in 8 weeks (even though she was bottle fed the first 24 hours, DH actually fed her before I did).

Other benefits of BF.
Helps your womb return to normal faster.
Best way to lose all the pregnancy weight.
Gives you guaranteed one to one time with baby (many families all want to share care of the baby and can overwhelm a new mum).
In my case the baby blues were over in a day or so. Whether this was down to he BF of not I couldn't say but it definitely gets you over the new first baby nerves faster.

Also better for obesity prevention in children/adults.

Convenient (all you need to go out in a change of clothing and nappies).

cat_saving_expert

Im' still bfing my 18 month old and would recommend breastfeeding to anyone.
The early days are hard work and I couldn't have done it without my husbands help and support, sometimes breastfed babies want so nurse so often (growth spurts - as breast milk works on supply and demand sometimes they have to feed a lot to encourage your body to make more milk) - OP this is probably why your OHs sisters breastfed baby seems to always be crying for milk, also breastmilk is easily digested so breastfed babies need to feed more regularly than a bottle fed baby. Once its all established though its no problem.
As for as fathers bonding, there are lots of jobs for dads to do that help bonding, my husband was the master of burping our son and also spent many hours walking around cuddling him to music while I got some rest, feeding the baby isn't the only way to bond.
And its free!
Hope this is helpful

laracroft2707

basscadette wrote: »

My best friend has a baby a couple of months old and she is breast feeding - she is knackered and a slave to her baby for the reasons you mention. I also think that until it gets established your baby goes undernourished. A family member had a premature baby and they've had to go onto formula to build him up as he was losing too much weight being breast fed.

Interested on people's opinions too.

Babies don't go undernourished, colostrum is the most nutritional food on earth. I am not an expert on premature babies but I do know that donated milk is extremely important to prem babies for this reason and would always be preferred over formula milk.

basscadette wrote: »

Interesting responses - overwhelmingly the response is 'you should at least try'. My big problem is, sorry if this is TMI, but nipples. I'm extremely sensitive and even a top brushing on them when getting dressed can have me cringing for five minutes. I cannot look at a nipple piercing, it completely freaks me out and the stories of cracked, bleeding and sore nipples have, I'm afraid, made up my mind. It is something that will be deeply unpleasant for me and I've been dreading having to make the decision since I found out I was expecting. I want to enjoy my new baby rather than be completely freaked out - having a baby in the first place is a big enough event for me and I think we'll be much more relaxed and enjoy the event much more. I will try and express the colostrom but that will be it for me and my baby.

Don't worry, I was exactly like this, really nipple sensitive pre-baby, but I gave it a go and I am still breastfeeding 2 and a half years later.

donteatthat

laracroft2707 wrote: »

Babies don't go undernourished, colostrum is the most nutritional food on earth. I am not an expert on premature babies but I do know that donated milk is extremely important to prem babies for this reason and would always be preferred over formula milk.QUOTE]

Before they are on breast milk or formula, or if they have to be nil by mouth they have TPN which is nutritionally balanced so I'm not sure that is totally correct....

Breast milk is important and preferred for prem babies but my understanding is that it is more due to the fact there is a higher incidence of necrotising enterocolitis if they are formula fed which can be very serious or even kill them. Their GI system is very delicate and copes better digesting bm than formula. However as prem babies are fed an amount of milk per day based on their weight, they sometimes do not get enough calories to gain weight after they have expended what they need on their basic functions - ie) breathing and heart beating so they sometimes do need fortifiers added ie) formula and might also be on formula if their Mum is struggling with the expressing.

I think I would have preferred my preemie to be on formula than someone elses breast milk though, I know in the past breast milk was donated and used but wasn't sure that it still was?