Breast Fed babies test higher on IQ test
 

Study recently released shows breast fed children score higher on IQ test than children who were bottle fed.

I think breast feeding is best if a woman can do it. New pumps and freezing milk allow flexibility for woman that have to work or be away from baby for short periods of time. We need to make it even easier for women to breast feed and stop hassling them.

Here is the link to the article. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-w...udy-6C10787012

Even if you can only breastfeed for a short while it is good to try.

And if you can't for whatever reason, don't beat yourself up over it. I imagine there are millions and millions of great people alive who weren't breastfed.

I would take the article with a grain of salt. My son wasn't breast fed and blew the Army recruiter away when he took his ASVAB test for them. Same with my daughter who was known to go in and take a test cold and get an A on it.

Some woman can't nurse and there is such a stigma now a days on using a bottle to feed your baby. Nothing wrong with a woman if she can't, I was one of them, my milk was just too thin and at the time, I was young, I was under incredible stress, and an ulcer to boot.

I expect that it won't be long before our resident raw milk naysayers will be here talking about how the mothers that breast feed should be arrested for exposing their children to such a toxic substance.

As long as the women don't have manure smeared on their udders, I'd think it would be OK. :)

I can say this: all 3 of my kids are very very healthy.
Oldest child has never had an ear infection (23)
Middle had one, at 16, (now 21) cause he crammed a q-tip in his ear and packed down the junk.
Baby had 1 double ear infection at age 5. (now 19)

They just don't get colds, the flu, etc.
God definitely has looked out for them!

Interesting article! I am not surprised - breast fed both of my kids. They've both been really healthy, never had ear infections, etc. I guess I like to think they are smart cookies, although it might be because they take after their mom ;)
The first one, my son, weaned himself at fourteen months (I was crushed!!). I worked part time from home with my son so I didn't have to worry about pumping, it was so nice!!
My daughter I breast fed even though I had to go back to work 5 weeks after giving birth (I was pregnant the first week of my maternity leave... she was a stubborn girl). I was pumping like crazy between feedings two weeks after I had her so I could go back to work on time. It was horrible but totally worth it. Pumped at work three times per day for a year, despite nasty comments from one particular coworker, despite the building being remodeled and having no running water on several days, despite being forced to pump behind a shower curtain in the middle of the sales floor or in a toilet stall... I stuck it out and I am happy that I did.
My personal opinion is that breast is best. There is study after study that shows the benefits of breastfeeding - not just to babies, but moms, too. However I do understand that sometimes it's not possible for a woman to breastfeed, or maybe they have difficulty and a poor support system. What I don't understand is those that don't even want to try it. I had one friend who was completely grossed out by the idea. To me, there is nothing sweeter than a nursing baby :)
Dang it, now I've got baby fever. My kids are both asleep so I guess I'll have to go cuddle with the dog. :)

IF the good Lord had wanted babies to be breast fed He woulda given moms.......... oh wait, He did! :)

As long as the baby gets the colostrum it does not seem to matter if the mother can not breast feed after that. Not something anyone should feel guilty about. If you can great, if you can't then there are substitutes or even find a wet nurse.

To accept that children will be healthier and more intelligent based on breast milk is I think a jump. My sister and I were breast fed and had all the standard childhood illnesses. I am above average intelligence but my sister is genius level. My husband and all his siblings were bottle fed and have always been as healthy as a horse. And all of them are super intelligent.

The thing is that most women who "can't" breastfeed just didn't have the support they should have, or worse had uniformed medical providers giving them poor information.

My father was bottle fed because my grandmother was told that her milk was "spoiled" (from the sounds of it she had a high fat content in her milk)
I've heard doctors and nurses tell women that since they don't have milk just hours after the baby is born the baby has to have formula (never mind the healthy colostrum)
I've heard doctors and nurses tell moms that since their baby wasn't nursing long enough they needed formula and then proceed to force feed a baby a full 2oz of formula! (a newborns stomach holds a mere 0.16 ounces)

It is actually quite rare for a women's breasts to not make milk, most of those women have had some kind of major trauma or surgery to their breasts. It is common that through medications given at birth, stress, lack of support and insufficient diet, that a mother will have poor milk production. But just like you can fix these in a cow and raise her production you can do the same with humans, but it takes knowledge and time.

The health benefits to both mother and baby are countless, we still do not know the complete make up of breastmilk, which makes it impossible to replicate. With the easy access to breast pumps, storage, and even milk donors breastfeeding should be possible for the majority of developed countries. Lactation consultants are becoming more popular and there is so many resources online that can help any woman that is struggling, there really should be only a very small percentage of babies not receiving breast milk.

When I was struggling with breast feeding Paisley I simply refused to give in to the struggle. It remains the single most difficult thing I've ever done. So much so I waited longer than I should to have another because I didn't want to struggle again so soon-I needed a long recovery time !

A friend found an article online (sadly-that I've lost the link to) that talked about how BF babies are often some of the most headstrong and tenacious out there. While Paisley is never sick and never had any medical treatment - I'd say she's too young to know how intelligent she is - but she sure as heck is one head strong little monkey ! Her sister was a far easier baby but is just the same - very tenacious. Of course that could be something genetic; I wasn't breastfed (and have struggled with immune issues all my life) but my momma sure was never one to give in without a ton of effort or a fight !

Obviously it's good if you can do it and it would save tons on formula. Plus, it's much more convenient when you are going somewhere to not have to bring formula, bottles, etc..

But I really like what Melissa said and would like to reiterate:
Don't beat yourself up if you can't do it for WHATEVER reason.

The child that was breastfed the longest has the worst, worst allergies of them all.

So if you are beating yourself up over your child having allergies because you didn't breastfeed, stop:)

Amen - I had a lot of factors working against me but I was so determined that I just did not give up. My baby is 20 months and still nursing, has never had a drop of formula.

We had an emergency hospital transfer and a traumatic (to me) birth. Then the "lactation consultant" at the hospital immediately gave me a nipple shield and used sugar water to try to get my baby to latch.

At home the next night I couldn't get him to latch, and he screamed for hours. I thank the lord that I just plain didn't know there was a bottle of formula from the hospital bag. I called my mom the next morning and told her I couldn't do it - she told me that when I was 3 days old she called her best friend crying because she couldn't get me to nurse. And her friend helped her through it. My mom was able to nurse me for over a year exclusively. I knew then I wasn't alone, and it wasn't anything I was doing wrong, or anything wrong with my baby - it's just HARD the first few days!! I threw that formula in the trash when I found it and we never needed it. I know if I had known it was there, I would have given it to him, and it would have been a downward spiral.

It took us 3 weeks to get rid of the nipple shield. My baby was always under the 25th percentile. We were lucky to have a good doctor who was okay with my baby just being a small baby! At 4.5 weeks I had to have surgery to remove my gallbladder. I was lucky to get a hospital that when the Dr came to get me for surgery and I needed to pump right then (hubby was bringing the pump to me) they waited 20 minutes for me. They also gave me the lightest anesthesia so I could BF again sooner. They told me it was OK to BF on pain meds! You get the wrong doctor and you get told you have to stop BF just because of pain meds!

I got a job where they didn't care how many times a day I needed to pump for how long, as long as my work got done. They set up an office for me where I could put a mini fridge and gave me a laptop, and I was able to pump until 12 months when I decided to stop. I took herbs and ate oatmeal religiously to try to make more milk.

Our daycare never pressured us to feed more milk, they never said he acted hungry or wasn't sleeping. I never had anyone tell me not to BF in public or ask me to move to a bathroom.

I have heard from so many women who had the opposite experience - they had people working against them, not supporting them. I am one of the most strong willed stubborn people you will ever meet - but I think if these things hadn't all lined up the right way, we wouldn't have made it.

The point is - it's all the people around Mom that have to HELP, not HINDER. Our society needs to make it acceptable, encouraged, and supported. Stop offering to help by giving the baby a bottle - offer to help by doing the dishes and laundry. Stop asking to bond by giving a bottle - bond by giving a bath or just playing. Stop suggesting to moms that their baby is hungry, or would sleep better if they used formula or rice milk. Stop telling moms to go to the bathroom to nurse. Stop objectifying the boobies. Stop demonizing donor milk and combination feeding. If mom wants to breastfeed, the only thing you should say is "how can I help" - bring her a pillow, a glass of water, and a magazine so she can relax. If there are issues, find a REAL consultant, which means you will have to do some research to weed out the bad ones. Don't give up.

Saw this today & while I'm sure there are many benefits (they site Omega 3 etc. for brain development) I wonder if it may be about bonding & talking to your child also. I did not breast feed and my kids are fairly intelligent, never had an ear infection & don't have allergies, but I NEVER gave them a bottle without holding them & giving it to them. They never walked around with a bottle of anything even as a toddler. Studies & knowing the benefits are fine, but for whatever reason, some of us just do not breast feed.

I nursed my children for as long as I was producing (for some reason unbeknownst to my doctors, I ran dry at about six months with both of them and then switched them to goat's milk, much to their pediatrician's dismay). That said, it isn't right for everyone. No one ought to be stigmatized for the way they choose to feed their baby, but in parenting, I've found that no matter what you're doing, there is a school of folks who think you're doing it wrong. Ignore them and follow your instincts.

As far as the study goes, the reasoning behind it, whether it's the actual difference between breast milk and formula or the difference between breast and bottle is up in the air. Unless they figure out a way to make formula come from a breast, there's just no way to get a definitive answer.

I work at a hospital that actively encourages breastfeeding. We realize that everyone has their own opinion about nutrition and may or may not think they want to breastfeed. We tend to come from the perspective of anticipating that everyone will breastfeed unless notified otherwise. If someone can't breastfeed (rare if you really want to) or simply doesn't want to breastfeed, we do not pressure the mother, but we do give education to her about the benefits of breast milk, and let her make up her own mind without pressure. With this mindset, the vast majority of our mothers do choose the BF route. Even those who don't choose to BF can often be encouraged to pump and bottle feed their expressed breast milk.

Working in the NICU, we know that colostrum boosts natural passive immunity and is a benefit for the premature babies, whose immune systems are not developed enough to fight infection. We have found through several studies that babies who are fed an exclusive breast milk diet are at much lower risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis, an often devastating disease that can cause dead bowels and many times protracted morbidities or even death. For this reason, even if the mother is not producing breast milk for whatever reason, we have started feeding exclusively donor expressed breast milk (obtained through milk banks), which although extremely expensive, is worth it in the long run rather than exposing the baby to formula.

Times they are a'changin!

On the other hand, my husband was breastfed way back in the 60's and he ended up at MIT.
I don't think breast milk can ever be "too thin".

I was breast fed. Man those were the days.
I could read at a sixth grade level when I was in the first grade. Look out Sheldon Cooper.

We knew this 15 years ago, when I started having babies...
I remember it was on the AAP's website as one of the reasons to BF. (Along with things like formula doubles their risk of ear infections, triples the risk of RSV, septuples the risk of Hodgkins lymphoma, etc.)

Wait a sec...
I'm not going to denigrate someone for choosing to artificially feed their babies. Or, worse, not having the info and support she needs to BF (like KeepingItAtHome said, that IS the reason most women who "can't" BF, can't; because she simply didn't have the info and support she needed. The "too thin" comment is a perfect example).

But the above is silly! lol
That's like saying walking on two legs just isn't right right for everyone. ;)

Actually some women use what's called a Supplemental Nursing System - it can be used to feed formula, donor milk or pumped milk. The mom wears a little bag at her neck with the milk in it, and tapes a small tube to the breast. Baby then nurses and gets milk!

As close as you can get.

I think we also need to remember, we are talking about a biological norm.

Humans, like all other mammals, are designed/have evolved to feed their offspring their own milk. All mammals produce a milk unique to their own specie. Goat milk is different from cow milk which is different from mouse milk which is different from dolphin milk.

Deviation from that norm isn't some kind of guarantee of disaster, any more than following the norm will avert it. Statistics don't work that way. There are always exceptions.
But there is no question whatsoever that the human infant, as a specie, achieves the best results on the milk of its own kind.

I don't think the breast milk itself gave the kids the advantage on the IQ test. Instead, overall good parenting and creating an environment for the child to reach their potential. The breast milk is just an example of this good nurturing of a child. But I don't think it contains some magic ingredient that develops brain cells, in and of itself.

This puts me in mind of the story about the one legged guy in the backside kicking contest. :)

5 kids in my family Mum tried but had no success breastfeeding. 3 out of 5 all have IQ's over 145, 2 are in the genius range. Other two highly than average skills in some areas, total bomb in others due to learning disabilities, but not below average intelligence. 2 in the 98%+ for visual special abilities.

It is more the environment IMO rather than the actual act.Most parents who BF are more involved with their children in dsy to day aspects, whereasmany(not all) bottle feeders cannot be bothered o interact with their children while they feed(bottle proppers)

My brother was diagnosed as having a severe reading disability before they knew what dyslexia was and experimental work was done to see what could help him same with speech Mum insisted he get help from a very young age as it was apparent that he had an issue.Back then few toddlers got speech therapy but Mum was insistent til they gave in to shut her up!

Not according to the article the OP posted. Scientists are finding that the chemical makeup of breastmilk contributes to the brain development.

No.
Guys, the substance itself is completely different stuff!

http://www.nutritionmd.org/nutrition...ing_milks.html
The above is a simple chart that compares the composition of cow, goat and human milks.
(here's another with more species)
http://classes.ansci.illinois.edu/an...omp_table.html


Taking cow's milk and adding corn syrup and vegetable oil doesn't somehow change it into human milk...

Cow's milk has 3.5 times the amount of calcium that human milk does, twice the sodium, NO vitamin C (human has 12 mg per cup), 1/3 the polyunsaturated fat, 1/2 the monounsaturated, and three times the protein. The stuff that's too high doesn't somehow get removed when they add in corn syrup and vegetable oil...

LOL, a report like this came out 14 yrs ago when DS was a baby. DH looked over at me, nursing him, and said, "Great I don't have a chance", lol. DH was bottle fed...

But like anything....it come down to drive more than IQ. I have a crazy high IQ but I have never "done" anything with it. I know people with "average" IQ's that have done amazing things. I don't think there are too many people out there that will deny breastfeeding is in the best medical interest of the baby - if nothing else passing on some immunities from the mother's immune system.....but that doesn't mean every other can or has to do it. Each family MUST decided that for themselves. One of the big factors in my breastfeeding is I'm a tightwad at heart......the price of formula was too high when my body would produce food for free.

I was going to make a comment about how that explains my brilliance since I still breast feed but the Mrs just smacked me in the back of the head when she read it so just ignore this comment!

My wife is so hot.

Our children were fed pasteurized breast milk.

The milk of each species in unique to the development of optimal function of the species, however as I stated in my post, my mother could not breastfeed and yet it did not seem to prevent development of our brains. It has also been proven that the breast milk of mothers of preemies in different than those of full term babies but you don't see that thrown around often in NICU as much as it could be. Lots of specialty formulas in that area. A lot of success of BFing is due to having a huge support and not all lactation specialists are good. BTDT, same with OB/GYN's.

To show case how a study can be construed-I was trying after the birth of our 2 child to getDH to get the big V, a study came out saying how men who had the V had higher case of prostate cancer-DH refused base don the study. We ended up having another baby but th study was sent back to a different panel of scientists to draw their conclusion based on the information gathered..their result? Men who went to college had a higher case of prostate cancer..I got a tubal....

ANd I'm sure you had a hand in homogenizing it as well!

But you have no idea if they could or would have developed even further had you been breastfed.

It's important to just skim over statements about the study such as this:

beating a dead horse IMO if we had different parents would our brains have developed differently?If my experiences were different would I have ended up a different person? While I would not wish some of my experiences on anyone they have had a part in the person I am today. If I could do over would I? Don't know unless they showed me how it would have affected the person I am . Kind of a It's a Wonderful Life statement....

And this one:

And the one right before that one:

Not to beat yet another dead horse, but breastfeeding doesn't reduce or increase anything. Breastfeeding is the NORM. The baseline.

Deviation from the norm (ie, artificial feeding) increases the risks of ear infections, diarrhea, eczema (RSV, cancer, etc, etc). This is basic biology.

Oh wow, here we go again with mommy wars.

Back when I was reproducing in the early 70's it was all "have the baby by natural childbirth" and "you have to breastfeed." Nearly killed me trying to do the all natural route til my dr finally said no to what he termed "bottom sediment" if you get the drift. Tried to breast feed until one little one almost died of dehydration after birth and the dr put his foot down. We went with formula and as the baby aged worked into the dreaded scheduled feedings. She turned out very healthy and very smart. No drama.

Truth is, some folks can and want to have natural childbirth and to breastfeed. Some folks can't, some folks don't want to do so, and it doesn't make a one of them bad parents.

Let's not judge those who do it differently and heap the feeling of failure on mama's that don't breastfeed for whatever reason.

I read a little about this report. It involved only 1000 women and children.

No where did it mention the IQs of the parents. A lot of intelligence has to do with nature not nurture so if you are making assumptions the inheritance factor has to be considered. There are people who could breast feed until they are in their 20s and it would not increase their intelligence.