[siobhang]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/s...836028,00.html

Breastfeeding lowers anxiety, says study

· Bottle-fed children cope worse with later trauma
· Research based on children born in 1970

Sarah Hall, health correspondent
Thursday August 3, 2006
The Guardian <http://www.guardian.co.uk>

Babies who are breastfed cope significantly better with stress in later life than those fed formula from a bottle, according to research published today. Scientists studied a group of 9,000 children to determine if those who were breastfed were more emotionally resilient if their parents divorced or
separated.

(click above link to see rest of article)

 

[nonconformnmom]

I downloaded the entire study to read more from the methodology and conclusions, and found this in the "Discussion" section:

Quote:

It may be that the close maternal contact associated with breast feeding indicates improved parental attachment. Mothers who develop a better bond with their offspring due to personal or family characteristics may be more likely to breast feed.

(The abstract for the published study is found here. The entire study can be downloaded here.)

 

[MoonJelly]

My DH forwarded this to me the other day and made some totally inappropriate joke about how we could now divorce and our DD would be okay. Yeah, he's a freak...

But anyway, I like where they are going with the link, but I thought it was odd to use divorce as the example.

 

[nonconformnmom]

MoonJelly wrote:

Quote:

But anyway, I like where they are going with the link, but I thought it was odd to use divorce as the example.

If you have time, read just the introduction to the study. They chose divorce, in part, because it is a surefire stressor that, in their scientific estimation, had the least number of confounding variables associated with it. It's complicated ... but they definitely thought it through. Sometimes the way research has to be designed, they have to take into account a lot of things that we, as armchair observers, wouldn't have considered.

 

[MoonJelly]

That's cool. I figured they had a reason. I guess it just made me sad for a little bit what with the talking about stressed children.

 

[Rikki Jean]

Did anyone read the last paragraph of the article? It says that babies who are exlusively bf until 9 mos are at a higher risk for allergies!!!

 

[wendy1221]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rikki Jean Did anyone read the last paragraph of the article? It says that babies who are exlusively bf until 9 mos are at a higher risk for allergies!!!

Wow! THat must have been a typo! I'm sure they meant to say LOWER!

 

[frontierpsych]

I also have wondered if the habit of bottle-propping has anything to do with this.

 

[goodcents]

Oh this is funny. It really is.

Because........

I.

Swore.

When.

I.

Opened.

This.

Thread.....

it was going to be about lowering the anxiety for the MOTHER....who cares about the freekin kids anxiety (just kidding of course). Seriously though, whenever I am feeling a little blue, or things were postpartum-y bleak...stick the kid on the boob and everything is lovey dovey.

 

[turtlewomyn]

Now I can blame my mother for my problems with not handling stress and anxiety because I was bottle fed! Seriously though, she bf'd my older brothers but not me, and everyone makes the comment that I am overly stressed out all the time.

 

[bri276]

what about babies fed breastmilk from a bottle? what about mothers who are AP but bottlefeed, and therefore respond immediately to child's hunger cues and always hold them when they eat?

I think it has more to do with parenting style than the actual liquid container, if that makes sense. Mothers who breastfeed, I would hypothesize, are much more likely not to do CIO, to respond to baby's needs, etc.

 

[elmh23]

This explains my husbands anxiety. That and the fact that his parents were always threatening divorce (and are still married!) Out of five kids, my hubby was the only one who wouldn't nurse and has anxiety.

Bri, I met breastmilk from a bottle or bottle nursing helps with anxiety. The one on one contection is very important for security in a baby.