Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
[quote=vetegnc;765186]Okay, push me off my soap box if you wish here....
I understand if a woman is physically unable, tries (really tries) to and can't, or like me with my first...stops earlier than the recommended duration (12mos or more) of breastfeeding because it's killing your family. (or can't due to baby allergies)
I don't understand however, how a doctor, in good medical ethics and conscious, can look at a pregnant woman, and say that formula is just as good. I am stunned by even the number of health personnel (there's one at work right now) that are pregnant and believe it is a EQUAL alternative.
Breastmilk - made in the body, changes with age, always warm, always perfect balance. No need to add DHA, blah, blah, blah. No bottles to clean, none to warm up in the middle of the night. I admit though, a blocked duct really stinks!
Formula - scientically developed, ever changing to be AS GOOD as breastmilk, and MADE IN A FACTORY. (let's talk about food tainting/poisoning now!!)
The whole thing of takes too much "time" kills me....you just had a baby...
Doctors get paid by the formula companies to "push" their products....it's a disgrace. I tossed out my formula that the hospital gave me on my way out the door.
I exclusively breastfed all three of my kids (the first for 2 years, the middle for 1 year and the third one for 1.5 years)....not one single drop of formula for any of them.....but, I have to admit, I've been blessed with a plentiful milk supply.....my body just produces a lot of milk and i don't know why...I would actually "spray" like a faucet....it was hysterical!
I can understand the sore nipples, the latching on problems, the low milk supply, the hormonal imbalance coupled w/ sleep deprivation.....I applaud all the women who tried to bf and it didn't work....a good lactation consultant (not a doctor) would have been their best bet. What I can't understand is women who don't even want to try or prefer not to...
I put down BF and my child is rarely sick, but I must explain. My son got sick alot more than my daughter. There is a theory out there that testosterone allows (not sure this is the right word) kids to get sick more. Therefore boys get sick more than girls. Not sure if this is true, but it is in my case.
I breastfed my first daughter until she was 9 months old - and I was pregnant again so my dr. told me to stop. Cutting a long story short, I was unable to breastfeed my 2nd daughter.
Well, in our case, my breastfed daughter is ALWAYS getting sick... and when she gets sick it is often serious and quite debilitating.
My younger, bottle-fed daughter rarely gets sick, and when she does, she bounces back SO quickly - and often is running around acting normally even with a fever etc. some of this is personality, of course, but I have to say I have always been surprised at this - I would have expected the opposite.
I don't understand however, how a doctor, in good medical ethics and conscious, can look at a pregnant woman, and say that formula is just as good. I am stunned by even the number of health personnel (there's one at work right now) that are pregnant and believe it is a EQUAL alternative.
Doctors get paid by the formula companies to "push" their products....it's a disgrace. I tossed out my formula that the hospital gave me on my way out the door.
I have to take issue with this part. I am pretty certain the doctors are NOT paid by formula companies or by anyone to say this. Unless you work in the finance dept of a pediatrician, you can't disagree.
I had MAJOR issues with my 2nd and was at the docs office every couple of days for a weight check, and she NEVER said 'go ahead and quite'.
Formula companies give out all those samples to hospitals and dr. offices for FREE. Samples work, it's a great advertising scheme.
I breast fed my first son until just past 1 year of age. He weaned himself. He gets sick more often than my second son who was only breast fed for 3 months. My second son pretty much never gets sick. (Missed one day of school so far this year.)
My third son was mostly bottle fed (by the way I regret not breast feeding the other 2 very much and wish I could take it back!) and gets sick the most. So if breast feeding is better for your child why isn't my 1st and 2nd son switched in how often they get sick?
Ok how often a child gets sick has lots to do with many factors. Let's separate them out first.
During the first 6 months of life the baby is unable to make their own antibodies in the amounts necessary to fend off most infection. They are however born with enough antibodies from their moms (through the placenta) to get through at least for 4 months...sometimes longer. Breastfeeding boosts the child's immunity through antibodies received through the mother's milk. Not only does it give him extra while he isn't making his own, but also boosts the ones he makes while he's still breastfeeding. So in that sense breast feeding is definitely better for the child's health while being breastfed.
Now after the child is weaned the is no evidence of the health protection lasting beyond that time. However there is evidence that if the mother was careful with her diet while breast feeding that breast fed babies have fewer allergies to food. They are studying the effects of other allergens but I haven't seen anything concrete yet, but I don't doubt it will be in favor of breast feeding.
The other benefit of breastfeeding is that the child is generally able to digest the mother's milk with ease and therefore you have way less of a chance of colic, reflux, gas, constipation and cramping. This makes for a happier baby, in the sense that the baby isn't stomach miserable.
Breastfeeding does not create a stronger bond than bottle feeding, assuming the bottle feeding parent is interacting with the child while feeding them. It also doesn't make kids smarter, that's really already genetically imprinted in them. However studies that initially said breast fed babies have higher IQ's were really referring to the interaction that breast fed babies usually have with their mothers...if you are willing to put in the time and effort to breast feed you are probably also the mom who will make sure the kids learns well, because you are involved...and not to say that bottle feeders can't be involved with their kids, just the breast feeders had more of these parents among them at the time of the study.
Now back to the many factors that cause sickness in kids...depending on the age of the child...how many kids are in the class...what the other parents of the classmates do when their kids are sick (if they send them anyway your guy will be exposed way more than if they keep the sickies home). Does your child have allergies, if he does his reactions to illness will be more pronounced than a child with out them. As well as the stage of their immune development...just as some kids learn to walk later or talk later, some have late development of full immune function leaving them at increased risk of infection. If your child is on antibiotics more than 4 times a year you can have him tested by an immunologist to see if this is the case, knowledge is power.
I bottle fed, not because I didn't want to breastfeed but because both times I had babies I went into severe heart failure and the meds I needed to be on to live were transferred through breast milk and dangerous for the babies...but unless you truly can not breast feed I do not recommend bottle feeding of infants to my patients. I do however tell them not to stress it if they can't breast feed I don't think any mom should judge another mom unless they can walk in her shoes.
Formula companies give out all those samples to hospitals and dr. offices for FREE. Samples work, it's a great advertising scheme.
Yup this is correct...they not only give the samples to give to new mothers for free but they also supply the hospital with all the formula they need for any babies there so the moms will use it when they get home....BTW...so do diaper companies, pacifier companies and baby care product companies...hospitals don't pay for any of that stuff.
I have to take issue with this part. I am pretty certain the doctors are NOT paid by formula companies or by anyone to say this. Unless you work in the finance dept of a pediatrician, you can't disagree.
I had MAJOR issues with my 2nd and was at the docs office every couple of days for a weight check, and she NEVER said 'go ahead and quite'.
Formula companies give out all those samples to hospitals and dr. offices for FREE. Samples work, it's a great advertising scheme.
Doctors have been given incentives and rewards by formula companies, not cash. Formula is a multi-million dollar industry. Why would doctors who know that bf is superior to formula hand out free formula samples to a bf mom? It doesn't make sense. I think it's similar to how the pharmaceutical companies entice doctors to prescribe one certain medication over another.
I read a book (a long time ago) "Milk, Money and Madness" which was a real eye-opener.
Ok how often a child gets sick has lots to do with many factors. Let's separate them out first.
During the first 6 months of life the baby is unable to make their own antibodies in the amounts necessary to fend off most infection. They are however born with enough antibodies from their moms (through the placenta) to get through at least for 4 months...sometimes longer. Breastfeeding boosts the child's immunity through antibodies received through the mother's milk. Not only does it give him extra while he isn't making his own, but also boosts the ones he makes while he's still breastfeeding. So in that sense breast feeding is definitely better for the child's health while being breastfed.
Now after the child is weaned the is no evidence of the health protection lasting beyond that time. However there is evidence that if the mother was careful with her diet while breast feeding that breast fed babies have fewer allergies to food. They are studying the effects of other allergens but I haven't seen anything concrete yet, but I don't doubt it will be in favor of breast feeding.
The other benefit of breastfeeding is that the child is generally able to digest the mother's milk with ease and therefore you have way less of a chance of colic, reflux, gas, constipation and cramping. This makes for a happier baby, in the sense that the baby isn't stomach miserable.
Breastfeeding does not create a stronger bond than bottle feeding, assuming the bottle feeding parent is interacting with the child while feeding them. It also doesn't make kids smarter, that's really already genetically imprinted in them. However studies that initially said breast fed babies have higher IQ's were really referring to the interaction that breast fed babies usually have with their mothers...if you are willing to put in the time and effort to breast feed you are probably also the mom who will make sure the kids learns well, because you are involved...and not to say that bottle feeders can't be involved with their kids, just the breast feeders had more of these parents among them at the time of the study.
Now back to the many factors that cause sickness in kids...depending on the age of the child...how many kids are in the class...what the other parents of the classmates do when their kids are sick (if they send them anyway your guy will be exposed way more than if they keep the sickies home). Does your child have allergies, if he does his reactions to illness will be more pronounced than a child with out them. As well as the stage of their immune development...just as some kids learn to walk later or talk later, some have late development of full immune function leaving them at increased risk of infection. If your child is on antibiotics more than 4 times a year you can have him tested by an immunologist to see if this is the case, knowledge is power.
I bottle fed, not because I didn't want to breastfeed but because both times I had babies I went into severe heart failure and the meds I needed to be on to live were transferred through breast milk and dangerous for the babies...but unless you truly can not breast feed I do not recommend bottle feeding of infants to my patients. I do however tell them not to stress it if they can't breast feed I don't think any mom should judge another mom unless they can walk in her shoes.
Irishmom....are you an OB/GYN or a Ped? Just wondering since you mentioned "patients".
Irishmom....are you an OB/GYN or a Ped? Just wondering since you mentioned "patients".
Believe it or not I am an OB/GYN nurse and a lactation consultant...I know I didn't breast feed...but it is better...LOL
I will be a Nurse Practitioner OB/GYN next year after I finish my last two courses...I'm not sure if I will go on to midwife or not...the malpractice is crazy high. But we will see.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
