breastfed babies result in better behaved children?

[MrsVenn]

Yes, that's completely true.

 

[xemmax]

For anyone wanting to read about the Millenium Cohort Study (where the data was collected from) there's a lot of information here:

https://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/text.asp?section=000100020001

It appears these results are just the latest in what is an ongoing study which follows 19,000 children in the UK. There is information on the sample if anyone is worried that it is unfair.

 

[xxClaire_24xx]

Mrs Venn - yes I totally see your point. I strongly believe you can bottle feed and be very attached. I don't think that bottle-feeding automatically excludes the existence of the attachment, but depending on how its done it may have an impact.

yeah I have a gd friend who CANT wait til her baby can hold her own bottle the baby is 3 days old!!!! I love to give Ellie her bottle and me and Peter have actually argued (jokingly) about who gives her her last nighttime bottle lol x

 

[MissCurly]

thanks for that xemmax, when my lo decides she would like to un-cling herself from me i'll have a better look into links posted.

 

[littlestar85]

I've read articles in the past that more educated and mature parents tend to be more likely to try and persevere with breastfeeding, while less educated or teenage mums etc tend to opt more for formula. Before anyone blasts me I know this is NOT the case for everyone and that formula feed.g doesn't mean you fit into any particular social group.

Anyway, the social group that is most likely to choose bf is also the social group more likely to work on instilling discipline and education in their children, so maybe its the parenting situation rather than the affect of the milk? (again, not applying one rule to all - I know being a teenage mum doesn't automatically mean you'll be less disciplined with your child etc)

To me the big question is WHY? Is it to do with bonding? IMO BF is much more complex than providing nutrition. There are physiological and psychological processes that occur when BFing eg everytime I BF I feel giddy almost, I want to weep, shout with joy etc its weird. Does this help with creating a strong bond? There are studies which show BF LOs are more content and maybe this is a follow on. I would like to see a more thorough report though the article is very basic.

Also could it be due to maternal attachment as bottle-fed LOs can be fed by family members etc while BFing is down to the mom alone and as Emma said you spend AGES BFing. Studies on maternal attachment and maternal deprivation show that it is a HUGE factor on how children behave. So if this is the basis of their argument, then I can believe it it. I still want to see more! Lol

^^^ I mostly agree with this.

Although as I understood the article (from The Times website), the difference in behaviour *is* down to nutrition, as the fatty acids present in breastmilk stimulate the development of the part of the brain responsible for learning and concentration and so behaviour.

I think the ladies above have mentioned a lot of the things I was going to say. It's very hard to discuss something like this without ruffling feathers. I think that the article seems very basic and doesn't really put across a good image of the research or outcome so will be dismissed by most as it seems like empty theories backed up by small samples.

From my personal experience the BFd babies I know are on average moderately better behaved, calmer and more in tune with their mother's feelings than the FFd babies BUT obviously that is NOT representative of the population or any of the mothers on here so I'm not trying to taint FFing parenting at all or say that what I see around me is what goes on on a larger scale. It just resonates a bit with me.

Red Rose I've also read research that shows the effect of fatty acids in breast milk positively affecting the development of learning, concentration and behaviour so I think that's what I'd like to see more thorough research on.

 

[I_AM_LIVID]

Silly observation. To me, it's like saying 'spanked children behave better than children that are not'. Some believe it to be true, and some don’t. And it could be true in some cases, but also false in others. A lot of factors contribute to a child’s behaviour, and BFing and FFing could be but one factor in a long, long list.

ETA: My opinion is based on my own observation. All of my immediate family, including myself, have been breastfed. In fact, from my side of the family, I'm the only person that started FFing babies younger than a year old. And still, I have well behaved cousins and not so well behaved cousins. As for me, I kept my parents on their toes while my brother was the complete opposite.

 

[lozzy21]

I've read articles in the past that more educated and mature parents tend to be more likely to try and persevere with breastfeeding, while less educated or teenage mums etc tend to opt more for formula. Before anyone blasts me I know this is NOT the case for everyone and that formula feed.g doesn't mean you fit into any particular social group.

Anyway, the social group that is most likely to choose bf is also the social group more likely to work on instilling discipline and education in their children, so maybe its the parenting situation rather than the affect of the milk? (again, not applying one rule to all - I know being a teenage mum doesn't automatically mean you'll be less disciplined with your child etc)

To me the big question is WHY? Is it to do with bonding? IMO BF is much more complex than providing nutrition. There are physiological and psychological processes that occur when BFing eg everytime I BF I feel giddy almost, I want to weep, shout with joy etc its weird. Does this help with creating a strong bond? There are studies which show BF LOs are more content and maybe this is a follow on. I would like to see a more thorough report though the article is very basic.

Also could it be due to maternal attachment as bottle-fed LOs can be fed by family members etc while BFing is down to the mom alone and as Emma said you spend AGES BFing. Studies on maternal attachment and maternal deprivation show that it is a HUGE factor on how children behave. So if this is the basis of their argument, then I can believe it it. I still want to see more! Lol

^^^ I mostly agree with this.

Although as I understood the article (from The Times website), the difference in behaviour *is* down to nutrition, as the fatty acids present in breastmilk stimulate the development of the part of the brain responsible for learning and concentration and so behaviour.

I think the ladies above have mentioned a lot of the things I was going to say. It's very hard to discuss something like this without ruffling feathers. I think that the article seems very basic and doesn't really put across a good image of the research or outcome so will be dismissed by most as it seems like empty theories backed up by small samples.

From my personal experience the BFd babies I know are on average moderately better behaved, calmer and more in tune with their mother's feelings than the FFd babies BUT obviously that is NOT representative of the population or any of the mothers on here so I'm not trying to taint FFing parenting at all or say that what I see around me is what goes on on a larger scale. It just resonates a bit with me.

Red Rose I've also read research that shows the effect of fatty acids in breast milk positively affecting the development of learning, concentration and behaviour so I think that's what I'd like to see more thorough research on.

On another note a friends child who was exclusivly breast fed is one of the worst behaved 3 year olds i know because she doesnt belive in disaplin.

How well a child behaves is based on the child being tought right from wrong and have clean consistant boundrys.

 

[ttc_lolly]

well my baby's been BF and FF!!! what will become of her!?!?

 

[lozzy21]

well my baby's been BF and FF!!! what will become of her!?!?

She will just have an ASBO like Niamh

 

[RainbowDrop_x]

Great. So because I FF'd I'm going to end up with a hyper-active,lying,stealing anxiety ridden child who wont leave my side...Brilliant.

And here was me thinking it's how we parent as opposed to what we feed? How wrong was I

 

[Lightworker]

Interesting about the fatty acids - I would love to know more about that.

 

[ttc_lolly]

well my baby's been BF and FF!!! what will become of her!?!?

She will just have an ASBO like Niamh

haha oh noooo!! better ring jeremy kyle asap!!

 

[littlestar85]

Interesting about the fatty acids - I would love to know more about that.

Definitely. I do think it is mostly down to parenting style and the way the child is raised but if the research about fatty acids and enzymes is true I wouldn't doubt that it does play a part to a certain extent, even if it is 99% parenting technique and 1% nutrition.

 

[oliviarose]

I saw this and feel it us a load of nonsense.

My daughter was ff and she is a happy/polite/friendly 7 yr old. She has never been clingy at all and she is so well mannered.

I am bfing Harrison and he is too young to know how he is gonna be when he is older. If anything he is more clingy that Liv was.

I was bf and my brother ff and we behaved exactly the same when we were younger.

It is all down to how we parent, not down to how they are fed.

 

[xxClaire_24xx]

Great. So because I FF'd I'm going to end up with a hyper-active,lying,stealing anxiety ridden child who wont leave my side...Brilliant.

And here was me thinking it's how we parent as opposed to what we feed? How wrong was I

same here lol x

 

[xxClaire_24xx]

do the people writing up these reports not take peoples feelings into account????

 

[special_kala]

I dont understand why people get so offended by these studies. Its just a study, its all numbers and statistics.

Its not saying that if you FF your child will be a terror but if you BF they will be perfectly behaved.

Its just a study

 

[kelly29]

i really really hope this is true as maddie is a right boobaholic i didn't bf my others, for more than a week and there well naughty this is in fact a joke just in case anyone thought other wise x

 

[xxClaire_24xx]

i really really hope this is true as maddie is a right boobaholic i didn't bf my others, for more than a week and there well naughty this is in fact a joke just in case anyone thought other wise x

I thought that you were very serious there baby brain lol x

 

[NG09]

I think it's a load of rubbish tbh.

How your child behaves comes down to the parenting, not whether they have been bf or ff. They really are scraping the barrell to promote bf with this one.