MRI Study: Breastfeeding boosts babies' brain growth

sbevmc09

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130606141048.htm  

 

"The research found that by age 2, babies who had been breastfed exclusively for at least three months had enhanced development in key parts of the brain compared to children who were fed formula exclusively or who were fed a combination of formula and breastmilk. The extra growth was most pronounced in parts of the brain associated with language, emotional function, and cognition, the research showed."

82Sonia

DH sent me this last week. Said he was proud of me for BFing exclusively insert smiley

hansonam446

Cue the mom guilt about not being able to breast feed all over again.

emja0214

hansonam446:

Cue the mom guilt about not being able to breast feed all over again.

Ditto, I have had to do a combo because I have a low supply and cannot sustain DD. Try not to feel guilty, our babies will be just fine. It is not our fault that EBF was just not in the cards. Our babies are still happy and healthy.

DCKate

I beat myself up pretty badly for a month after DD was born because I physically could not produce enough milk to keep her thriving. She's hitting all of her milestones early and appears to be just fine on formula. I'm really happy for those of you who are able to breastfeed. Please don't make me feel badly for not being able to do it.

brachysira

All I could think was maybe this will balance out letting her watch TV to stop her crying.  So if you don't feel guilty about one thing, it's something else.

ta78

My kids are screwed.

82Sonia

I don't think this was meant to make FF moms feel bad. Breastmilk is an amazing food, I think that's universally known. I EBF but I didn't have breastmilk after 6 weeks myself and I'm a normal, daresay intelligent, person.

Wild_flower25

brachysira:

All I could think was maybe this will balance out letting her watch TV to stop her crying.  So if you don't feel guilty about one thing, it's something else.

 

LMAO!  this exactly

sbevmc09

Yes, my kids are exclusively formula fed.  I'm not able to breastfeed. They both got partial BM as long as I could get them to latch which was only a couple of weeks each.  

FF mamas:  PLEASE don't let things like this make you feel guilty.  I know it's hard to read things like this.  I KNOW.  Trust me.  I would love more than anything to be able to breastfeed my babies.  

At the same time, we need to be supportive of BFing mamas.  It benefits everyone to know more about breastfeeding, why it's beneficial, normalize it, etc.  Just because we're sharing good info about breastfeeding doesn't mean that people on the other side of the equation need to feel bad about their situation.  I totally get that it's an emotionally charged issue all around, but it's an important issue.  That's my motivation for sharing things like this.

 

Allison546

Thank you for sharing, OP!

Bride-hilda

Please do not worry! My nephew was formula fed and he's an effing genius. I exaggerate.

I'm a HUGE breastfeeding fan, but formula is NOT the devil!!!