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Why? Do you think something's wrong with that?

notsureaboutpg 5y ago
sacrosancty 5y ago
If you believe the consensus of medical professionals, then yes there is. In my country, Infant formula comes with a government-mandated warning on the tin recommending you not to use it. Maternity wards won't give it to newborns unless there's a medical need, and if the mother can't produce enough milk, they work hard to ensure that she can. That's the "appeal to authority" reason. How wrong it is, and even how sure we are of that, I have no idea.
- bitshiftfaced 5y ago
  Studies have found correlations between breastfeeding and later outcomes. But those studies have a bias. For example, mothers who graduated college are more likely to breastfeed, and their children are more likely to go to college. The only way to factor out the biases completely is with a twin study: same mother, same environment. That's what they did with the "Twins Early Development Study." This study found no correlation between breastfeeding and IQ after the age of 2.
  - em-bee 5y ago
    did that study also look at health? my understanding is that the point of breastfeeding is a better immune system
    - bitshiftfaced 5y ago
      In the PROBIT trial, "13 percent of the children of mothers in the group that wasn’t encouraged to breastfeed had at least one diarrhea episode, versus only 9 percent of those whose mothers were encouraged. The rate of rashes and eczema was also lower in the group whose mothers were encouraged to breastfeed: 3 percent versus 6 percent." "In this particular study, we cannot reject the possibility that breastfeeding could matter in either direction—that it could decrease or increase respiratory infections. What we can say is that the data doesn’t support the claim of a reduction in respiratory infections as a result of breastfeeding." "These researchers have continued to follow the children in the trial through the age of seven. They find no evidence of any long-term health impacts: no change in allergies or asthma, cavities, height, blood pressure, weight, or indicators for being overweight or obese." Quotes from Crib sheet by Emily Oster. On the other hand, one compelling reason to breastfeed is for the mother, not the child. Breastfeeding lowers risk of breast cancer.
  - Auracle 5y ago
    There’s a good study out there that used parents that couldn’t breastfeed. Some used donated milk and the other group used formula. There was a correlation for IQ, though it was pretty small.
gsinclair 5y ago
To me, it would take a mountain of effort to force myself to believe that breastfeeding is not better than formula.
- j7ake 5y ago
  It does not take a lot of effort: just look at a class of children at any grade in any country. Can you accurately predict which ones in the class were breastfed versus formula fed given all information (excluding their feeding)? If you ask teachers the answer is you cannot.

If you believe the consensus of medical professionals, then yes there is. In my country, Infant formula comes with a government-mandated warning on the tin recommending you not to use it. Maternity wards won't give it to newborns unless there's a medical need, and if the mother can't produce enough milk, they work hard to ensure that she can. That's the "appeal to authority" reason. How wrong it is, and even how sure we are of that, I have no idea.

bitshiftfaced 5y ago
Studies have found correlations between breastfeeding and later outcomes. But those studies have a bias. For example, mothers who graduated college are more likely to breastfeed, and their children are more likely to go to college. The only way to factor out the biases completely is with a twin study: same mother, same environment. That's what they did with the "Twins Early Development Study." This study found no correlation between breastfeeding and IQ after the age of 2.
- em-bee 5y ago
  did that study also look at health? my understanding is that the point of breastfeeding is a better immune system
  - bitshiftfaced 5y ago
    In the PROBIT trial, "13 percent of the children of mothers in the group that wasn’t encouraged to breastfeed had at least one diarrhea episode, versus only 9 percent of those whose mothers were encouraged. The rate of rashes and eczema was also lower in the group whose mothers were encouraged to breastfeed: 3 percent versus 6 percent." "In this particular study, we cannot reject the possibility that breastfeeding could matter in either direction—that it could decrease or increase respiratory infections. What we can say is that the data doesn’t support the claim of a reduction in respiratory infections as a result of breastfeeding." "These researchers have continued to follow the children in the trial through the age of seven. They find no evidence of any long-term health impacts: no change in allergies or asthma, cavities, height, blood pressure, weight, or indicators for being overweight or obese." Quotes from Crib sheet by Emily Oster. On the other hand, one compelling reason to breastfeed is for the mother, not the child. Breastfeeding lowers risk of breast cancer.
- Auracle 5y ago
  There’s a good study out there that used parents that couldn’t breastfeed. Some used donated milk and the other group used formula. There was a correlation for IQ, though it was pretty small.

gsinclair 5y ago

To me, it would take a mountain of effort to force myself to believe that breastfeeding is not better than formula.

j7ake 5y ago
It does not take a lot of effort: just look at a class of children at any grade in any country. Can you accurately predict which ones in the class were breastfed versus formula fed given all information (excluding their feeding)? If you ask teachers the answer is you cannot.