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June 2015 Moms
MrsWiggleWaggle
member
Sunday Reading Club! "Calm down about breastfeeding!"
MrsWiggleWaggle
member
So I proposed this on Thursday. I hope some more of you ladies had a chance to read the article. The idea is to make our brains less smooshy and get something on the board that is not labor/diarrhea/gripe related. Sort of like an abbreviated book club. Article is linked below.
After reading the article I came up with these two questions. Post answers and ideas below, the goal is to get a discussion going. So feel free to add any other thoughts you want!
1. If you knew your baby would receive NO health benefits (immunity obesity IQ....) whatsoever from breastfeeding over formula, would you still do it?
2. Do you find the research as its presented here compelling? Are you buying the authors argument that benefits of breastfeeding are overblown? Will it affect your choice with your own LO?
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/everybody-calm-down-about-breastfeeding/?mod=e2this&utm_source=This+nightly&utm_campaign=af631edf8a-8pm_5_21_20155_21_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4b29b52ce6-af631edf8a-243707321
After reading the article I came up with these two questions. Post answers and ideas below, the goal is to get a discussion going. So feel free to add any other thoughts you want!
1. If you knew your baby would receive NO health benefits (immunity obesity IQ....) whatsoever from breastfeeding over formula, would you still do it?
2. Do you find the research as its presented here compelling? Are you buying the authors argument that benefits of breastfeeding are overblown? Will it affect your choice with your own LO?
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/everybody-calm-down-about-breastfeeding/?mod=e2this&utm_source=This+nightly&utm_campaign=af631edf8a-8pm_5_21_20155_21_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4b29b52ce6-af631edf8a-243707321
Re: Sunday Reading Club! "Calm down about breastfeeding!"
When I'm not an overgrown 2 yr old on no sleep I'm going to read this article
2. The problem is there is conflicting research. Are there benefits? Absolutely. Is it the difference between raising an Einstein or a mouth-breather? No. I think the immunity benefits are worth it for a kid in a daycare center like mine. We avoided strep, RSV, pink eye, bronchitis and pneumonia, all of which someone in his room had. He's ran a total of 3 fevers and he's 2.5. I'm doing it again, even though it was a total pain in the ass.
2)From reading the studies about breastfeeding, I'd already come to the conclusion that there are health benefits, but in the developed world with access to a clean source of water (And for non premature babies) those benefits are pretty small. I'm hoping to breastfeed but if it doesn't work out I will happily formula feed. If you want to breast feed then great, but I think it's terrible when mothers are shamed for formula feeding.
2) I agree with @aliciaspinnet. She said it very well. I'm sure there are benefits. But using formula is not something people should be shamed over. Look at us - we were all born in the formula rules years and we have all turned out to be intelligent women. If I end up needing to use formula, then whatever. I'll make the choice and go forward and feel no guilt. And maybe even sleep better if the rumors are true that it makes babies feel fuller longer so they sleep longer at night (I wouldn't do it with that being my only reason why... But I gotta admit, it would be a benefit I would accept gladly)
2. @aliciaspinnet never thought about why it would be so important to BF in places where there is no clean water before. Honestly I really am convinced that the benefits are truly minimal. I'm doing it for bonding but I won't hesitate to switch if I need to. I'm pretty sure things like rates of obesity have more to do with the fact that the type of mom who DOES BF is also the type with access to education and food that prevents obesity. Also in the article it points out that no matter your income moms with higher iq breastfeed. And that is a genetic factor. Mostly the article has made me anti Lexie league nazis
2. Like @Sammy K said yes there are benefits to bf but I don't think that formula feeding is going to harm the child to the point of long term issues. I know plenty of happy healthy formula fed adults (my dad included!) who lead very successful lives. The benefits are worth bf for me but there are always extremists out there who won't listen to any other opinion but their own.
1. I'm mostly going to attempt to do it for convenience. I'll do it when I'm at home before returning to work pretty much exclusively, and will wean down to maybe two feedings when I return to work at 7 months. I refuse to pump while at work. I cannot see the benefits outweighing the PITA that would be. Cost is also an issue, not because we're pinching pennies necessarily, but just because it bothers me to give all of that money to huge corporations like Gerber or Nestle for something that will (hopefully) be unnecessary. I think women get duped into formula feeding way too easily and it just pisses me off. All these stories of not having enough milk and having to supplement while still in the hospital . . . come on guys, do a little reading about how this works before jumping in!
Well that went off on a bit of a tangent!
2. There are so many problems with designing a research study that would help with definitively answering this question. There is no way to do a double blind study. You could do it conceivably with bottle-fed breast milk and formula, but it would be pretty complicated (and would make me sad for all the formula ladies who were pumping for no reason), and you'd expect to loose some of the benefits anyway (bonding, etc.). In long studies like this you can't be sure people are doing what they tell you they are doing, so results can be less clear. There are so many confounding factors as pointed out in the article, it's just hard to sort out the actual effects. So yes, I believe that there really isn't good evidence that it makes much of a difference. No, it won't affect my choice either way.
1. I would do it for cost and bonding. My husband works third shift, so at night it is a time-saver for me to breastfeed then get out of bed and warm a bottle on my own. Since I will be a SAHM for a little while, I need to save all the money I can.
2. I believe there are many benefits to breastfeeding. It's just too perfect and formula companies do everything they can to duplicate it. So obviously, it's good stuff. However, the argument about mom's education level, etc was compelling.
I was not breastfed and I feel like I'm an intelligent woman. If my mom did breastfeed me, would I have a couple more IQ points? Who knows?
The link most people like to give to childhood obesity and formula feeding is not valid. My BIL was breastfed and he is an obese child who wears a size 10 at 5 years old. DH (his brother), who was not breastfed,was in slims at his age. I think it comes down to when their mom had time to care about what they're eating. With DH, she was at home and could monitor his snacking. Now she owns her own business and BIL is at a babysitters. When she gets home, she is too tired to run around in the yard and promote exercise. Resulting in a chubby little kid.
1. I would still want to breastfeed. For me, it was never primarily about any cited health benefits. One, we're on a budget and if I can provide adequate nutrition for baby for free instead of paying a significant amount for formula, that's a win for me. Two, I'm excited about the convenience of not buying/washing bottles or storing milk and being able to feed her immediately anywhere (don't need a place to warm up a bottle if out and about, don't need to get up and walk to kitchen to prepare bottle in the middle of the night). Three, I just love the idea of sitting and rocking baby while feeding her from my body... it seems like it'd be an incredible experience and one I desire to have.
2. But, I'm mentally prepared for the possibility that it might not work, and I don't want to feel guilt if there's a need to switch to formula. I do think the author's arguments are compelling and I believe the health benefits are probably often overblown. I know lots of healthy, thriving formula-fed babies. And there are other benefits: being able to share feeding responsibilities, and the formula babies I know slept through the night fairly early, because there was never any question of getting their belly full. Knowing that will help ease the transition if we do need to switch to formula (situations I could imagine that happening: if she can't get adequate supply from me, or if it's so horrifically painful that I end up feeling resentful whenever she needs to eat).
1. I would breast feed because it is part of our job and it is 100% natural. If I was missing a nipple or something...then I would have to do other option. I'm leery about formula - WHAT IS IN IT...etc. I would use grassfed goat milk or cow milk over formula from chemcial companies. Spending $60 a week is just ridiculous. My opinion.
2. Health benefits is sort of overrated to these days in America's research...everyone is different and there are GENETICS you cannot ignore that. My health benefit is to love, bond, grow and feed my newborn.
Conditions for the studies I like to go with the lab type people. Which is of course my own person perference. I will try to find her other article about alcohol during pregnancy to link here which is why I was taking the article with a grain of salt. But truthfully I'm all about saving money so bf for me if it's possible.
1)Regardless of health benefits, breastfeed is definitely more cost efficient and there's something appealing about doing things the "natural way", ya know the way mother nature intended. I have every intention of giving breastfeeding my best effort, especially while on a 16 week maternity leave. Since i'll be home, i really have no excuse not to try my hardest with it. If/when i go back to work it might be a different story. With that said, i know how hard it can be and really have no qualms about switching to formula if need be or if it becomes too difficult to pump/feed.
2) I truly think so much of the research is BS because there are SO many other factors in place. The only way to truly test this would be in a lab/vacuum situation where no other factors could contribute. DH + I were both formula fed in the early/mid 80s when that was the thing to do. We're both non-obese, have high IQs, college degrees, and earn nearly 6 figures each in our respective careers. Is this cause we were formula fed? Or because we both grew up in middle class families? Or because we both went to private school? Or (as this article suggests) because we're white? I just don't buy into the school of thought that suggests your success/health in life can be dictated by how you're fed in the first 12 months of your life. Are there benefits of breastfeeding? I'm sure but i dont think they're as dramatic as some of these sources suggest.
In those cases you describe, I'm sure cow/goat milk was better than starvation, and I'm sure that some (but probably not all) of those babies did fine, but it's still far from an ideal substitute.