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| "Breast is Best." A catchphrase we've all heard. But what does it really mean? Isn't formula almost as good? Read the information and associated links below to find out. |
| The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months, adding other foods slowly beginning at 6 months, continuing to breastfeed for a minimum of one year, and breastfeeding for as long thereafter as is mutually desired. Their policy statement says that "human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding" and that "all substitute feeding options differ markedly from it." Click here to read the entire policy statement. |
| The morbidity and mortality rates for formula-fed infants are higher than those for breastfed infants. Am I being dramatic? Am I speaking only of formula fed to infants in 3rd-world countries? No. The fact is that the United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has estimated that for every 1000 children born in the US, four will die because they were not breastfed. Formula feeding is associated with increased deaths due to diarrhea, and is a risk factor for SIDS. Necrotizing enterocolitis is as much as twenty times more common in premies fed only formula than in premies who received any breastmilk. For more information, see this article by Marsha Walker, RN, IBCL, and this article, "Formula for Disaster," by Katie Allison Granju, author of Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child. |
| Why Breast-feed? |
| Formula feeding doesn't allow the infant's IQ to develop as fully as breastfeeding does. You have probably heard that breastfeeding increases IQ. However, because breastfeeding is the natural feeding method, and formula feeding is the artificial feeding method, in reality we should rephrase that statement: it isn't that breastfeeding increases IQ, but that formula feeding decreases it. Even the AAP statement mentioned above says, "The breastfed infant is the reference or normative model against which all alternative feeding methods must be measured with regard to growth, health, development, and all other short- and long-term outcomes." The AAFP statement linked above also states that "Studies of intelligence and development have also shown lower IQ and lower developmental scores among children who were not breastfed." Studies show that the longer a baby is breastfed, the larger the IQ difference will be, and that the difference could be as much as 7 to 10 points. Here are some sources for you to examine regarding breastfeeding and IQ: Breastfeeding and IQ: Brainfood for Your Baby by Rebecca Valentine Breastfeeding Builds Brighter Brains - from AskDrSears.com |
| The nutrition in formula is inferior to the nutrition in breastmilk. The American Academy of Pediatrics states, "Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding and is species-specific; all substitute feeding options differ markedly from it." The World Health Organization classifies formula as the fourth choice in infant feeding -- behind the baby nursing directly from his own mother, the baby receiving his own mother's milk via some other device (bottle, syringe, etc.), and the baby receiving the milk of another human mother. Comparison of Human Milk and Formula - from AskDrSears.com |
| Formula has been recalled in the past for various contaminants, and is likely to be recalled in the future. Between 1982 and 1994, formula was recalled for contamination with various bacteria, glass, peeling can lining, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, unfit appearance, curdling and discoloration, excessive amounts of vitamins, and being "unfit for human consumption." (Milk, Money, and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding; by Naomi Baumslag and Dia Michels, 1995) |
| Formula feeding your child increases the risk that your child will develop a serious disease later in life. Juvenile diabetes, breast cancer, Crohn's Disease, asthma, Juvenile Rheumetoid Arthritis, leukemia, Hodgkins Disease, osteroporosis, ulcerative colitis, and multiple sclerosis are just some of the conditions more likely to be seen in people who were formula-fed than in people who were breastfed. See both the AAFP statement linked above and the following link for more information: 101 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Child - ProMom.org |
| Formula-feeding increases the mother's risk of developing several serious conditions. Breast cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, and osteoporosis rates can all be reduced when the mother breastfeeds, rather than formula-feeds, her children. (See 101 Reasons link above.) |
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| The American Academy of Family Practioners makes even stronger recommendations for breastfeeding than the AAP. Their policy statement says that "Breastfeeding beyond the first year offers considerable benefits to both mother and child, and should continue as long as mutually desired," and that "Because breastfeeding is the physiologic norm, we will refer to the risks of not breastfeeding for infants, children, and mothers..." Click here to read the entire policy statement. |
| Last Updated February 2, 2003 |
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