Strollerderby

Sounds like the guys from "Freakenomics" should tackle whether it's the cause or just closely aligned.

I believe one similar study was debunked when someone realized that the study failed to take into account the IQ of the mother - oops.  If you believe breast milk will make your kid smarter and healthier (and you thinner), I have a bridge in China for you.  

I think that your argument that we have over corrected for a backlash against breastfeeding is a valid one. But I also believe that it is a necessary step to get the support that many women need to continue breastfeeding when it gets difficult or to even start when they fear that they may never be able to leave the house because so many people still treat breastfeeding as though it is some sort of sexual act. What about those women who have to go back to work right away and don't have a place to pump? These issues are very important to me. I have met several women who had to choose between buying food for themselves or purchasing formula because they couldn't breastfeed. Economically it makes more sense to breastfeed but unfortunately those women who need to most are unable to for lack of support. I do get tired of hearing from women who think that breastfeeding is the most important thing for a child. It is not but it is an important step and every woman should be given the chance  and support to make an honest decision about it. Not the most convenient one.

Maybe breastfed babies are smarter because mothers who choose to make the effort and actually breastfeed are smarter than those who don't and they pass on those brains to their babies.

Are breastfed babies holier-than-thou smartasses like their mothers who accost me on public forums like this?  Hitler was breastfed, look how great he turned out.

Goodness, we can't talk about the benefits of breastfeeding, it might make Cassie feel bad. Though that's not a hard thing to do.

If you read the LATimes story about this study, you'll find the following paragraph: Kramer said that more research was needed to determine whether the benefits were related to a component of breast milk or to the physical and social interaction between mother and child that is inherent in breast-feeding.

SOOO, you really haven't finished this study, have you?  Too soon to be praising a link between breastmilk and IQ maybe?  There's also no indication that this study was controlled for socioeconomical factors or parents' IQ, which likely had a greater effect on a child's IQ than breastmilk alone.  Details, people, details.

I love reading about this debate. People are nuts .. and so is this type of research.

I didn't breastfeed. Not even once. For many reasons, I didn't want to. My son is smart, beautiful and totally healthy.

It's unfortunate that people can't be more comfortable with the decisions they make when trying to be the best parents they can be.

Personally, I still haven't read any studies that convince me that breastfeeding is better. I have, however, read tons of research suggesting that having smart, involved and caring parents benefits children.

We should focus our energy on that.

Breastfeeding is best.  We ALL know that.  But being holier than thou because you were able to provide enough milk to sustain your baby doesn't make you "better" or smarter than women who can't breastfeed.  Or those who have to return to work and can't pump at work.  Why can't we all just get along.  

I was adopted and wasn't breastfed, my IQ is 130.  Good enough for me.

That baby pic is so cute.

I've been wondering about this. Ya see, my friend and I were the same age when we got pregnant with our boys. They are 10 days apart in age.We come from roughly the same background and weighed the same. She had a natural drug free birth, ate only organic during her pregnancy and breastfed for a year and a half while i had a wonderful epidural, ate whatever the heck i wanted, and only breastfed for about a month with my son. My son learned how to walk, talk, and do all that other baby stuff way earlier than her son. My son just turned 2 and is already learning to read whereas her son only knows how to say a few select words. I would say we have about the same IQ. Um, im NOT smart. By any means. I'm just not. So im not convinced at all that moms genes OR breastmilk have anything to do with it. Maybe dads genes?

I think this post said what I have been trying to say for years. I breastfed my daughter for 9 months- and it was hell. I don't regret doing it, it was my choice, but it definitely sucked, I also was working full-time (from the time she was 7 weeks old!) and never felt that my supply was enough (pumping in a hallway probably didn't help any either!) She cried, I cried - neither of us slept and we were both a hell of a whole lot happier when it was over!

I agree that BF needs to be supported and systems put into place so that all women who choose to, may do so. But women should never be made to feel badly because they choose not to breastfeed. It's a personal decision and people really need to learn to respect that.

One more note - just an example of the kind of nastiness this debate inspires - when I was in midwifery school (and the only mother in my class) - our director actually made a comment to the effect that breastfeeding should not only be encouraged, but should be enforced....with shotguns.

I think that breastfeeding probably is best. It's natural, it's not expensive, and it should be supported where possible. I agree though, that the whole "controversy" is completely out of control. Why can't each family do whatever works best for them, and let other families do the same? I was adopted, and I've never had a drop of breast milk in my life. I guess it's a miracle I've managed to live to adulthood. I breastfed my twins for 16 months, and I was happy to do it. That worked for us (I stay home with them), but I don't expect that it would work for everyone.

The things we think are what makes us good parents, have little if anything to do with the person our child will become. The "right" food, the "right" laundry soap, the "right" preschool. Those are the easy things. What about doing right even when we're weary beyond belief, showing our children by our example, and giving respect to their other parent, whatever our own relationship may be.

I don't think we should be shaming mothers who don't breastfeed, but when the subject comes up, I get the feeling that some women choose not to breastfeed before they've given it much of a chance because they (like society in general) have trouble with the idea of breasts as anything other than sexual objects. It creeps people out to think of a baby and a woman touching "sexually".

I feel like a lot more women could try (and stick with) breastfeeding if we, as a society, would just grow up and stop over-sexualizing women's breasts so that women can choose to breastfeed without giving everyone (themselves included) the heebie-jeebies.

I agree, bma.

I'm sure I'll get some haters for this but here goes.....

Ultimately, breast is best. If you can't or you won't, then you do the second best thing with formula, but the fact is breast milk is made for human consumption as first food. That is just the way it is.

Believe me, I feel for those mother's that truly try and want breastfeeding to work but it doesn't however, that is the justification of their formula use-- they have to. There isn't anything better than breastmilk so for those that didn't give it much of a shot b/c their hearts weren't in it or they just didn't want to for reasons stated in above comments, own it! But don't try to justify that formula is better than that which nature provides! There doesn't need to be any research on it, it's nature. period!

So what I've gotten from these comments is that breastfeeding women are holier-than-thou, Hitler making idiots. And formula feeders are the smart, caring, producers of only good children. I will put that away for later use when my wife has a kid.

Leave it to a DUDE to make a stupid comment like the one abovet!!!! I really hope he's tongue in cheek!

Citing Hilter as the example of a breastfed outcome is utterly ridiculous, so was Gandhi, the Dalai Lama!

It's not holier than thou, it's basic common sense! There is a lot more to how someone turns out than their first food source but to start, the fact is breast is best!

There was a study I read about on Babble a while back that looked at families in which some of the children were breastfed and some were formula fed, and found that while the breastfed kids still had some medical benefits (fewer allergies and infections, etc.) there were no IQ differences. This led the researchers to theorize that IQ has more to do with genetics as well as family habits (nutrition, TV watching, education, etc.).

The study discussed in this article is actually based on data arising from comparison with a control group versus one in which breastfeeding was actively encouraged - both groups were controlled for socioeconomic status and other factors, as much as is possible in human social research (it ain't the same as lab rats, people). So it does a pretty good job indicating that there, statistically, there is a benefit to breastfeeding itself.

Statistics don't have sway over individual children, of course. But responding to research like this by saying "I wasn't breastfed and I'm fine" is roughly the same as responding to research recommending lower sugar intake by saying "I drink a large mocha every day and don't have diabetes." There's no single, simple equation, but there are reliable facts that all mothers should have available to them when making feeding decisions. No thinking person is saying that mothers should be required by law to breastfeed, but the overwhelming evidence that "breast is best" means that, as a society, we should make choices that give women the information and support they need should they CHOOSE to breastfeed.

Very well said, Erin!

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