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Oh, and one more thing. There have been studies that show that children who were extended breastfed are MORE independent as adults. Being allowed to self-wean helps build their confidence.
I am NOT saying I am right, what I am saying is I did what worked for me and My family.
There is not right or wrong when it comes to humans and our complicated lives. Just like Homeschooling, Working Full or Part Time, Vaccinations, Vacations, and all the other crap that goes into families, we all make choices that work for US.
No one else has the right to stand in judgement of others. It doesn't matter if you are the appointed commisioner on breast feeding by the president himself, there are facts and then there are FACTORS that go into each of our lives. That colour the decisions we make on a daily basis on the health and well being of our lives.
What works for one person will not work for another.
Generalizations don't really work for me. Because our families and our lives are not all the same.
My last child is more independent and outgoing than any other i've ever seen. People are ASTOUNDED when they see this one just run up to strangers to hold hands and start talking to adults she doesnt know. And this was from age 12 months or so. Never had a shy moment. Never was clingy. Only had breastmilk (and pumped at that) for 6 months (if that long).
You make blanket statements but it doesnt work with children that way. There are always exceptions to every rule.
PS
Links Please to those studies on independence and weening? ADV as well, where are the links you said you would post? I would like to see the studies and where they were performed, under what conditions, etc... You can never know to much. But people can be to judgemental.
The following quote is just a sample of the information you will find in the link
Quote:
In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:
29% of energy requirements
43% of protein requirements
36% of calcium requirements
75% of vitamin A requirements
76% of folate requirements
94% of vitamin B12 requirements
60% of vitamin C requirements
-- Dewey 2001
I admit I did not do my research on Breastfeeding vs. Formula.
I had it in my mind exactly what I wanted to do when I had children and I did it. No one questioned me or said a negative word (at least not to my face).
Everyone makes a choice and they ultimately are the ones that need to live with that choice.
In my circle/network of friends I was the only one who decided to exclusively formula feed my children. If I had another I would do the same.
I do not feel my children are worse off for it either. Both are healthy--one ear infection in my first born--only time on antibiotics. None in my second born--never on antibiotics. They have had small colds here and their but nothing compared to both exclusive breastfeeding or jointly breastfeeding and formula feeding family and peer members children who are in and out of the ER or the Dr's office for respitory infections, pneumonia, and bronchitis. Also my children do not catch every bug that comes around. I feel that a lot of their immunity is inherited and both my husband and I are very healthy. I use medicine to help them sleep (not throughout the day) when they have cold symptoms--to me sleep is important in recovery and if they can not sleep due to a congestion or a cough then the symptoms will last longer and may develop into something worse.
My children are also just as smart as the next. Often are said to be very mature for their respected ages.
My children have a bond with both myself and my husband. We are interchageable as caregivers. Both provide the comfort needed when an injury occurs.
When I compare my children to their respective breastfed buddies I see no difference, with the exception of the immunity but I think so many factors are involved that it can not be explained by breastfeeding alone.
So to me it is a personal choice that no one should have to explain or be made to feel they need to validate it.
I am NOT saying I am right, what I am saying is I did what worked for me and My family.
There is not right or wrong when it comes to humans and our complicated lives. Just like Homeschooling, Working Full or Part Time, Vaccinations, Vacations, and all the other crap that goes into families, we all make choices that work for US.
No one else has the right to stand in judgement of others. It doesn't matter if you are the appointed commisioner on breast feeding by the president himself, there are facts and then there are FACTORS that go into each of our lives. That colour the decisions we make on a daily basis on the health and well being of our lives.
What works for one person will not work for another.
Generalizations don't really work for me. Because our families and our lives are not all the same.
My last child is more independent and outgoing than any other i've ever seen. People are ASTOUNDED when they see this one just run up to strangers to hold hands and start talking to adults she doesnt know. And this was from age 12 months or so. Never had a shy moment. Never was clingy. Only had breastmilk (and pumped at that) for 6 months (if that long).
You make blanket statements but it doesnt work with children that way. There are always exceptions to every rule.
PS
Links Please to those studies on independence and weening? ADV as well, where are the links you said you would post? I would like to see the studies and where they were performed, under what conditions, etc... You can never know to much. But people can be to judgemental.
I am confused about what I said that you took to be a "blanket statement"? You said that there wasn't any nutritional value to nursing after 1-2 years and I disagreed. I also said that I really don't care how you feed or fed your child, I was just offering my own personal opinion and experience, which is what was asked for.
Why are you bringing up all of the other things like homeschooling, being a SAHM, not vaxing, etc.? It feels a little personal for you to be dragging up issues that you may have had with me from other posts.
I did not claim to be the commissioner of breastfeeding, or whatever else you called me. I was only responding to your comments on how children who nurse for extended periods of time are too dependent on the mother. I never claimed that in EVERY case a bottle fed child is MORE dependent. Obviously that is not true.
It seems to me that you make blanket statements and generalizations too. Are those only okay if you aren't on the receiving end?
ADV as well, where are the links you said you would post? I would like to see the studies and where they were performed, under what conditions, etc... You can never know to much. But people can be to judgemental.
Yes, yes, I haven't forgotten. I haven't had much chance to be online today. Some days in science are a lot of hurry up and wait, like yesterday - run a PCR, wait 2 hours for it to come out, run a gel, wait an hour for it, etc. Lot's of down time. Today was not one of those days - I've been busy purifying B cells all day and haven't gotten around to finding many links for you. I will continue to work on it if you are still interested, just be a little patient!
For now, here is some starter material: LLLI | FAQ: Can breastfeeding prevent illnesses?
Through your breast milk, you give your baby immunities to illnesses to which you are immune and also those to which you have been exposed. Nursing also allows your baby to give germs to you so that your immune system can respond and can synthesize antibodies! This means that if your baby has come in contact with something which you have not, (s)he will pass these germs to you at the next nursing; during that feeding, your body will start to manufacture antibodies for that particular germ. By the time the next feeding arrives, your entire immune system will be working to provide immunities for you and your baby. If you are exposed to any bacteria or viruses, your body will be making antibodies against them and these will be in your milk.
It is this process that is missing when someone exclusively pumps. Sorry, this article wasn't sourced, so I don't have a primary source for it yet.
I have not found many primary sources that discuss the difference between direct nursing and expressed milk. I will keep working on it. Here is an older one in guinea pigs though! It's pretty old though, so the full-text isn't online, just the abstract.
Ali HM, Scott R, Toms GL. The effect of foster feeding and bottle feeding expressed breast-milk on the susceptibility of guinea-pig infants to influenza virus. Br J Exp Pathol. 1989 Apr;70(2):183-91.
Infant guinea-pigs born to mothers immunized against influenza virus by infection during pregnancy were reared from birth by non-immune foster mothers. As a control for the effects of fostering, a similar group were fostered to immune mothers. Fostering, regardless of the immune state of the foster-mother, increased the susceptibility of the infant to upper respiratory tract infection. Increased susceptibility was associated with ablation of the infants IgM and IgA antibody responses and reduced secretion of transplacentally acquired IgG antibody in nasal secretions. In the reciprocal experiment, infants of non-immune mothers fostered to immune mothers cleared virus more rapidly than their peers who were fed by their own mothers. This protective effect was associated with an enhanced nasal IgM and IgA antibody response. Infants of immune mothers separated from their mothers at birth and hand-reared on a cow's-milk-based formula feed suffered an increased susceptibility to the virus similar to that seen in fostered infants. Addition of a pool of expressed milk from a group of immune mothers, including their own, to the feed of hand-reared infants did not reduce their susceptibility. However, a further group of infants fed a non-cellular whey fraction of the same milk pool secreted significantly lower titres of virus. This increased protection was associated with elevated levels of IgG antibody secretion into nasal washes early in infection.
I'll continue to work on it in my down time for you. I haven't forgotten!
You misunderstood. My post most definitely was not directed at you. I didnt call YOU anything. I responded to your post but MY post had nothing to do with you. I replied to you asking you to post the links to the studies-that is the ONLY thing that applied directly to you.
The things i listed are other challenges we go through as parents. Like Potty Training( pee all over the house at 1 yr old? wait till they are 2 and show signs?) and when to send your kids to school (4, 5, 6 yrs old?), Vaccines( do the risks outweigh the benefits?), Breastfeeding, Working (does being away from the kids permanently damage them?) etc...
My thoughts on breastfeeding are that if I want my 2 yr old to sit at the dinner table like a big boy and use the bathroom like a big boy and not tatrum like a baby then i should not encourage breast feeding which is associated with being a baby. Maybe society has made us think after a certain age it is bad, but we all live IN THIS SOCIETY and are products of this society so I think we are all basically ok no matter what we decide.
I understand some children cannot give it up and some parents don't want them to give it up. But in MY household the boob gets turned off by age 2 max. And just like most of you, I run your house the way I see fit. Maybe if i had better luck breastfeeding and it wasn't so hard on me and the kids than i would feel differently. BUt it is what it is.
Some of the ideas people have on this board are kooky to me. I am an urban person from the largest state in the country. I am not folksy. I don't eat granola but i do eat tofu. I don't make blanket statements. I make statements that apply to me and my house. If you do or do not want to do something than that is up to you. I have no problem with what people do with their children unless it harms them.
I only get offended when some of you preach your ways as the best and only way to the rest of us. I think many of us know that the best way in general is not always the best way for each individual family. Tolerance is a lesson well learned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2girlsand2boys
I am confused about what I said that you took to be a "blanket statement"? You said that there wasn't any nutritional value to nursing after 1-2 years and I disagreed. I also said that I really don't care how you feed or fed your child, I was just offering my own personal opinion and experience, which is what was asked for.
Why are you bringing up all of the other things like homeschooling, being a SAHM, not vaxing, etc.? It feels a little personal for you to be dragging up issues that you may have had with me from other posts.
I did not claim to be the commissioner of breastfeeding, or whatever else you called me. I was only responding to your comments on how children who nurse for extended periods of time are too dependent on the mother. I never claimed that in EVERY case a bottle fed child is MORE dependent. Obviously that is not true.
It seems to me that you make blanket statements and generalizations too. Are those only okay if you aren't on the receiving end?
I've read the la leche league stuff. I wanted to see the studies. but thank you for those articles. Everyone has a story. Even you and I have one. I wanted some research facts.
thank you
I just thought I would mention that for the second day in a row, my daughter has not asked to nurse at all. 29 months and self-weaning. Not that I think it's all over quite yet, but soon I think... It really doesn't last forever!
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