I should've done this last night, now that I see that this ended up on front page for a while.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-10...
http://www.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/stories/audio/...
Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'
101–107 of 107 posts
Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'
#102Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'
#103Wrong title... Should say "giving formula reduces IQ"
Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Breastfeeding removes the father's ability to independently take care of an infant. Because feeding is a bonding experience, this creates a dynamic where the child looks at the mother as the last line in being comforted. This is a choice couples can make, but it is one that involves trade offs, which the medical community ignores. What about a breast pump? As long as some lactating female provides milk, the milk ca…
> What about a breast pump? As long as some lactating female provides milk, the milk can be frozen for months and is nearly as convenient as formula for a father. There have been few (if any?) studies that look closely at breastfeeding vs bottlefeeding pumped milk. Our society has jumped on the "pump and bottle" wagon because it's seen as a viable way to allow women to go back to work sooner while still "breastfeedin…
True, but I think there has been research into the immunity benefits of breast feeding at least for the first few months...
Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'
#105The 1-3 point IQ advantage is widely and consistently reported in the literature, and it's probably right as far as it goes. However, studies that additionally adjust for socioenvironmental factors (mothers who breastfeed are more likely to read to kids, have larger vocabularies, etc), show results around 1 IQ point: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1633786 . The "mothers should have the option" bit in the…
> Breastfeeding removes the father's ability to independently take care of an infant. Because feeding is a bonding experience, this creates a dynamic where the child looks at the mother as the last line in being comforted. This is a choice couples can make, but it is one that involves trade offs, which the medical community ignores. What about a breast pump? As long as some lactating female provides milk, the milk ca…
I was almost completely unable to feed my daughter, who was breastfed; my wife expressed and bottled, but my daughter wouldn't accept it. It was a pretty upsetting dynamic at the time; it kept me from being comfortable watching her for any significant length of time.
My understanding: not an uncommon predicament.
If there was a long term consequence, though, (she's 13 now), I haven't detected it.
Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'
#106While the article does acknowledge that the study only shows correlation and not causation, it doesn't suggest what seems to me the most intuitively obvious alternative hypothesis. We know that increased rates of mental stimuli and social interaction are beneficial to a growing brain. Perhaps breastfeeding correlates with parents that have more free time to interact with their child.
Researchers have considered your hypothesis. There have been many attempts to eliminate confounding variables in these studies (this doesn't mean that they were necessarily successful in doing so, but they did think about it). Often they attempt to control for differences in parenting styles, which should cover how much time they spend interacting with their child. Also until 6-10 months, babies can't hold their own…
Bottles can be held by disinterested third parties.
Boobs rarely can.