breastfed babies result in better behaved children?

[Cloberella]

Im not sure why bfing moms think they are superior and their children are superior.... Back to my comment about people being bfing snobs... Claiming your kid is going to be smarter then someone elses because you bf, or better behaved etc, is just ridiculous.

Why are you allowed to generalise about breastfeeding mothers? I bet if I had said something similar about formula feeders you'd have jumped down my throat!

And I don't think many people on this thread are claiming their children will be smarter because they're breastfed- it was a STUDY carried out. No-one on here has suddenly decided all bf babies are smarter!

 

[moomin_troll]

i no some people who are breastfed and are as thick a shit, she cant even spell with she puts a e on the end! so if anyone is relying on bfing making their child smarter id think again if i was you.

 

[ttc_lolly]

I disagree to your bolded and underlined part about being smarter

Mainly because I have seen breastfed babies that are behind milestones rather than formula fed babies. I do believe that breastmilk has antibodies that formula doesn't have, and while it wasn't the route for me I have nothing against breastfeeding. In fact, I love seeing all the "I have breastfed for x amount of months" Makes me happy.

But to say that its fact that breasfed babies are smarter is something I personally don't understand. Unless I'm just in the area where its the exception, not the rule? I dunno.

I think what Kalah meant is if the same child that is BF may not have been as smart/well behaved if it were FF. She isn't comparing two seperate children

 

[Tiff]

Why are you allowed to generalise about breastfeeding mothers? I bet if I had said something similar about formula feeders you'd have jumped down my throat!

And I don't think many people on this thread are claiming their children will be smarter because they're breastfed- it was a STUDY carried out. No-one on here has suddenly decided all bf babies are smarter!

Kahla did. Jus' sayin'. She said it was fact.

Lolly - I wasn't saying seperate children either. Just that it can't be fact that BF children are smarter because there is no way to go back and test the same child as FF. I agree that there are theories, but I disagree with her comment on it being fact. Just my opinion though!

 

[Kalah]

I guess I still don't get it. The comment about the Dolorean made me giggle, but its entirely true! Unless you can go back in time, FF your baby and then test the differences there's no way to prove it. Therefore it cannot be fact. There can be studies, assumptions and theories, but not fact.

Just my 2.5 cents.

It has to do with compounds found in breast milk and scientists know that those compounds support myelination. These compounds are not found in formula and cannon be synthesized. You are right though it cannot be absolutely proven, and I don't want to sound like I'm being superior or anything by saying it, I just want to make more people aware of the facts because it seems to be one of those things a lot of people still see as a myth

 

[Cloberella]

Why are you allowed to generalise about breastfeeding mothers? I bet if I had said something similar about formula feeders you'd have jumped down my throat!

And I don't think many people on this thread are claiming their children will be smarter because they're breastfed- it was a STUDY carried out. No-one on here has suddenly decided all bf babies are smarter!

Kahla did. Jus' sayin'. She said it was fact.

OK I did cross post with a few people there; it's not true though, they will probably be a bit smarter than they would have been had they not been breastfed, like another poster said.

It's not about one baby being smarter than the other.

If that makes sense

 

[ttc_lolly]

I dont have anything against bfing, considering I did it for 6 months! But I agree... its completely uncalled for for people to claim bf babies are smarter/healthier blah blah blah... it just gets a little old, and a little ridiculous! Im not sure why bfing moms think they are superior and their children are superior.... Back to my comment about people being bfing snobs... Claiming your kid is going to be smarter then someone elses because you bf, or better behaved etc, is just ridiculous.

You do realise no one here has said that? it's a study that's been done & we are all debating it... so there's no need for you to be name calling or making others feel awkward

 

[summer rain]

I looked at the original study and what they were actually asking parents about re: behaviour problems and it was things like not sleeping well, clinginess, throwing tantrums etc; NOT robbing grannies or forming gangs (the way it has been reported in some of the media is very misleading). I actually think this is very interesting research and actually helpful because very often it is claimed babies are more likely to be extremely clingy on BF and not sleep well, sleep through etc. All this research is really doing is rebutting that assumption and saying such problems (nothing to do with intelligence nor is the study claiming this will lead to asbos as adults) are statistically more likely in FF.

 

[Lightworker]

OT but on the issue of fatty acids and IQ, if it is established as the cause of the higher IQ, it could be true. Where I come from there's a tribe whose diet consists predominantly of fish and they are stereotyped (and perhaps rightly) as being intelligent. I think there are studies that link fish and its fatty acids with higher IQ so the same could be for breastmilk I would have thought.

 

[indy and lara]

What is it with threads that involve BF that seem to make people think that it is okay to throw around criticisms, sly digs, not so sly digs and names? Time after time after time. Do people not get bored with it?

Ultimately, we all do what we want as parents. I know my husband and I do. BUT, while there are some areas we like to do from intuition there are other areas that we both like to read about and make informed decisions about. Studies and research help generate the information that we can then use as parents help us make decisions- or we can ignore it. It is your choice as the parent. I for one am glad that studies and research continue to be produced. Some interest me, others don't.

I Bf for 14 months and was happy and confident in my decision. I did it because I thought it was the best thing I could do for my daughter and most importantly, it worked out for us.

I find the survey really interesting.

I get that response quite often, and I'd be happy to explain it to you
I learned about this in a psychology course while learning about the brain. Breast milk helps myelination occur more efficiently. Myelination is basically when a myelin sheath is formed around the axon of neurons throughout the brain. This myelin sheath insulates the axon and makes information travel faster and also keeps the connection from breaking so the information makes it to where it's going. This whole process results in higher intelligence.
Myelination does still occur if you formula feed though, just not as efficiently. That's why I always make sure to include that the intelligence boost is only relative to each child. A breast fed baby can have a low IQ, but it will be higher than it would have been if that child had not been breast fed but still had every other factor of their life exactly the same.

My understanding of the value of BF is confirmed by this^^^.. In my line of work we talk a lot about 'value added' to children through early intervention. That is how I think about BF too. I don't think it will make Emma more intelligent than someone else's child but I do think it will make her more intelligent than she would have been without it. It is her 'value added'. It adds to her potential/ ability/ behaviour whatever you want to call it. I don't think it can transform you into a genius but it does have an impact.

It is always worth remembering that just because someone makes a different choice to you it does not mean that they are looking down at you and judging you. They may be thinking, 'I wouldn't do that' but is that not okay? Do we not do that in all aspects of life? Who really cares? I use baby reins. If you were to read the thread in here about this you would think that I was treating Emma like a trained circus animal. Is it the right thing for us? Yip. Do I really care that others disapprove? No. I am happy to explain why we use them and explain my reasoning but beyond that my decisions are not swayed by other peoples' opinions or stereotypes. There is not always the need to be defensive just because someone disagrees with what you do.

 

[Cloberella]

On a side note, I wanted to add in case anyone reading this didn't already know: Children under 2 need a diet higher in fat than older children because of this myelination. In case anyone was wondering why that was

I didn't know that, but it's very interesting, thank you

 

[sophxx]

Well inwas breast feed and so was my bro we both have very bad dislexica and we both have really really bad excezma and allergies I was the only one who ff out of my antinatal group group and my lo is thinly one who gain weight correctly didnt have reflux doesn't have devolpmen problems and is hitting milestones advanced he doesn't have exzema the other ladies are taking pry in th readech linking greats feeding to asthma. Even though excezma runs in my family and oh he doesn't gave it so I really font believe this research you could only say your child is going to be clever breatsfeed if you took two of the same children with exact DNA and breast feed one and ff the other otherwise you can never really know

As for being happy with my descion my lo is happy and healthy hitting milestone and it worked for us I wouldn't breatsfeed Fred if we have another baby x

 

[moomin_troll]

Well inwas breast feed and so was my bro we both have very bad dislexica and we both have really really bad excezma and allergies I was the only one who ff out of my antinatal group group and my lo is thinly one who gain weight correctly didnt have reflux doesn't have devolpmen problems and is hitting milestones advanced he doesn't have exzema the other ladies are taking pry in th readech linking greats feeding to asthma. Even though excezma runs in my family and oh he doesn't gave it so I really font believe this research you could only say your child is going to be clever breatsfeed if you took two of the same children with exact DNA and breast feed one and ff the other otherwise you can never really know

As for being happy with my descion my lo is happy and healthy hitting milestone and it worked for us I wouldn't breatsfeed Fred if we have another baby x

i was also bf for 6 months and my immune system is crap! my oh was bf for 2 months and his was great.
zane was bf for 1 weeks and then ff and so far hes got a very good immune system.

its pot luck i think and has more to do with ur genes then how ur fed

 

[Sarahkka]

I think the research is very interesting and some of the findings are definitely food for thought. (sorry about the pun)
I also think that people need to stop taking surveys and statistics personally. It's information. That's all . You get to decide what to do with it. It's kind of like wading through all the parenting books out there - read through it, mull it over, decide it if works for you, apply it or not.

 

[Gen79]

Actually I think there are a few studies that do say statistically bf babies are a few IQ points higher than ff babies. Its not conclusive because some studies don't show that. But even if they all did I think that ff'ing mothers should just own their decision. I know some women who have such a hard time bf'ing that it negatively affects their relationship with the baby. TBH I think that a strained relationship with it's mother would negate any IQ points when it comes to a baby's future life and happiness. Every mother should be able to confidently weigh these pros and cons for themselves.

 

[venusrockstar]

I dunno about that... My son didn't sleep well while bf... as soon as he was switched to formula he slept through the night.

And the attitude you just showed by your post is exactly the kind of attitude that frustrates people.

I'm the one with the attitude when YOU were the one calling BF'ing moms snobs?

 

[LeeBee]

didn't get a chance to read through all the posts...

But I can see how there might be some sort of correlation between breastfeeding and behavior. But minimal at best. There is a lot of things you can take into consideration when trying to predict a childs future behaviorisms.... but I personally think the childs environment is the strongest predictor, and how a child was fed is... pretty insignificant.

 

[summer rain]

Well inwas breast feed and so was my bro we both have very bad dislexica and we both have really really bad excezma and allergies I was the only one who ff out of my antinatal group group and my lo is thinly one who gain weight correctly didnt have reflux doesn't have devolpmen problems and is hitting milestones advanced he doesn't have exzema the other ladies are taking pry in th readech linking greats feeding to asthma. Even though excezma runs in my family and oh he doesn't gave it so I really font believe this research you could only say your child is going to be clever breatsfeed if you took two of the same children with exact DNA and breast feed one and ff the other otherwise you can never really know

As for being happy with my descion my lo is happy and healthy hitting milestone and it worked for us I wouldn't breatsfeed Fred if we have another baby x

gaining weight 'correctly' or gaining weight according to the old charts; that they still have in many areas? The new charts are based on BF babies and are the optimum pattern of growth for ALL babies however despite them being meant to be in all red books in England and wales since 2009 and all in Scotland since 2010 many are still using the old UK90 charts; which were based on a mixture of BF and formula fed babies some of which were weaned at 3 months. Anyway gaining weight 'correctly' is not the only sign of thriving and general health; gains in height and head circumference are also important if not more important in many cases, yet in the UK these things are rarely measured. Some babies are all over the show on the charts yet this is just the optimum pattern of growth for them no matter how they are fed. One of my sons was FF from 3.5 months due to medical reasons/allergies and he did hit all his gross motor skill milestones extremely early (things like sitting up, crawling, walking etc); however he had an overall pattern of hitting milestones extremely early even when BF, speech wise and in terms of picking up small objects; being able to tolerate lumpy food, or drink from a cup/eat with a spoon he was behind my other boys. He does also have some of the behaivoural problems this study highlighted, but he was always very demanding/high needs even before being FF.

 

[sophxx]

I'm talking about not gaining weight to whee they are going to hospital as they have lost weight we have the correct charts here as they are all taking part on thestudy in London as is my lo. Thanks

My longs never been a demanding baby and def does bot have behavioural problems weather he was formula fed or breast fed he's the same child with the same DNA he wa born with he has a healthy diet and thrives in everything he does


gaining weight 'correctly' or gaining weight according to the old charts; that they still have in many areas? The new charts are based on BF babies and are the optimum pattern of growth for ALL babies however despite them being meant to be in all red books in England and wales since 2009 and all in Scotland since 2010 many are still using the old UK90 charts; which were based on a mixture of BF and formula fed babies some of which were weaned at 3 months. Anyway gaining weight 'correctly' is not the only sign of thriving and general health; gains in height and head circumference are also important if not more important in many cases, yet in the UK these things are rarely measured. Some babies are all over the show on the charts yet this is just the optimum pattern of growth for them no matter how they are fed. One of my sons was FF from 3.5 months due to medical reasons/allergies and he did hit all his gross motor skill milestones extremely early (things like sitting up, crawling, walking etc); however he had an overall pattern of hitting milestones extremely early even when BF, speech wise and in terms of picking up small objects; being able to tolerate lumpy food, or drink from a cup/eat with a spoon he was behind my other boys. He does also have some of the behaivoural problems this study highlighted, but he was always very demanding/high needs even before being FF.[/QUOTE]

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I was speaking about things like this today, my kids are now at school. Now they are older, what they were fed/how/when etc is irrelevant. I think when you are a first time mum with a baby, you read these things etc. I used to say things like "mine wont do this" "mine wont do that" haha, Things change.

If you have a young baby and no older children, wait until they are older and see how irrelevant what they were fed on as babys really is.

I know for a fact you could not go in an infant school and pick out those that were BF or FF.!