Better Behavior for Breastfed Babies?

Here is another study done on breastfeeding that suggests that breastfed babies grow up to have better behavior. To be honest, I am highly skeptical of this study. Not of the results but at their conclusion. I wouldn’t be shocked if babies that are breastfed for extended periods of time are better behaved but I think the reason for this is probably less because of the breast milk that they consume and more because of their extended period of time in direct contact with their mothers.

It is difficult to breastfeed a baby for an extended period as a working mother. It happens but it requires a lot of time and commitment from the mom and cooperation from her body and her work. Unfortunately, those combined factors result in most working mothers having to switch to formula shortly after returning to work.

My point being is that most babies that are breastfed for long periods of time have mothers who stay home with them. They typically (though not always) receive more one-on-one care as compared to being in a childcare facility and they tend to form better attachments than their daycare counterparts. I’m no scientist but I would guess that this has a bigger bearing on behavior than on the breast milk. That and other factors that would be linked to the relationship of breastfeeding and not the milk itself. This is coming from a mom who breastfed her daughter for nearly 3 years so I’m not trying to advocate that it isn’t worth it. And who knows maybe there is some magic behavior bullet in the milk. If so, perhaps I should begin nursing my daughter again because let’s just say her behavior is not all peaches and roses lately. She is a very typical obnoxiously disobedient three year old. :) And yes, I’m joking. There will be no more nursing for Camden.

Here is the article and here is the source.

Breast-Fed Baby May Mean Better Behaved Child

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter by Serena Gordon
healthday Reporter – Wed Oct 29, 7:03 pm ET

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) — Add yet another potential benefit to breast-feeding: Fewer behavioral problems in young children.

Parents of youngsters who were breast-fed as infants were less likely to report that their child had a behavior problem or psychiatric illness during the first five years of life, a new study found.

And the likelihood of mental health issues decreased in proportion to the duration of breast-feeding, meaning that a child who had been breast-fed for a year was less likely to have behavior problems than a child who had been breast-fed for just two months.

“This is an early finding, but it suggests that breast-feeding during infancy could have an effect on behavior during childhood,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Katherine Hobbs Knutson, a resident in the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

She was to present the findings Wednesday at the American Public Health Association‘s annual meeting, in San Diego.

Previous research has shown that breast milk offers numerous benefits for babies and that breast-feeding can benefit both mother and infant. Babies who are breast-fed are less likely to suffer from ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia, wheezing, and bacterial and viral illnesses, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Research has also linked breast-feeding with a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and certain cancers, according to the AAP.

For mothers, breast-feeding helps the uterus quickly return to its pre-pregnancy shape and helps burn additional calories, which can help get rid of extra pregnancy weight, the AAP reports. Additionally, breast-feeding is believed to help nurture the mother-child bond.

The new study reviewed more than 100,000 interviews of parents and guardians of children between the ages of 10 months and 18 years who participated in the National Survey of Children’s Health. Parents were asked about breast-feeding and about their child’s behavior and mental health.

Examples of questions included: Are you currently concerned a lot, a little or not at all about how your child behaves? How he/she is learning pre-school or school skills? Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that your child has behavioral or conduct problems?

Parents of children who were breast-fed were 15 percent less likely to be concerned about their child’s behavior, compared to formula-fed infants. And the breast-fed children were 37 percent less likely to have a medically diagnosed behavioral or conduct problem, according to the study.

And, Knutson said, the effect of breast-feeding appeared to be cumulative, with those who were breast-fed for a longer duration even less likely to have behavior problems.

She also said the study found “a correlation between breast-feeding and cognitive development.”

“These findings are certainly intriguing,” said Dr. Debra Bogen, a pediatrician in the division of general academic pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The study adds to the “overwhelming evidence that women should, if they can, offer breast milk to their babies,” she added.

Both Bogen and Knutson said the nutritional composition of breast milk might have an effect on the way a baby’s brain develops, and that better nutrition could explain the behavioral differences. But both experts felt it was too soon to know for sure the exact cause of the potentially protective effect.

More information

For more on the benefits of breast-feeding, visit the National Women’s Health Information Center.

Read Full Post »

Study Reveals How Breastfeeding Transfers Immunity

A combined research team from BYU, Harvard and Stanford have conducted a study on how breastmilk transfers immunity from mother to baby. The study is set to appear in the November 1st issue of the Journal of Immunology. They have identified that a molecule by the name of CCR10 helps to direct antibody producing cells to the mothers mammary glands thus entering her milk and transferring to the baby.

The research gives amazing insight but once again I am flustered at the reasoning behind the study. Vaccines. I’m sure the formula industry will try to hop on this once they find a way to utilize it. All of these things aren’t inherently bad, I just find it frustrating that the information is not being used to convince more women to breastfeed or the importance of breastfeeding. Rather, the mentality is how can we reproduce the results?

I do have to say that the idea of vaccinating the mom to transfer the immunity to the baby is a fairly fascinating idea. I certainly wouldn’t volunteer to be the test case but it is interesting to think about.

Here is the article. Original source from HERE.

How Breastfeeding Transfers Immunity To Babies

ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2008) — A BYU-Harvard-Stanford research team has identified a molecule that is key to mothers’ ability to pass along immunity to intestinal infections to their babies through breast milk.

The study highlights an amazing change that takes place in a mother’s body when she begins producing breast milk. For years before her pregnancy, cells that produce antibodies against intestinal infections travel around her circulatory system as if it were a highway and regularly take an “off-ramp” to her intestine. There they stand ready to defend against infections such as cholera or rotavirus. But once she begins lactating, some of these same antibody-producing cells suddenly begin taking a different “off-ramp,” so to speak, that leads to the mammary glands. That way, when her baby nurses, the antibodies go straight to his intestine and offer protection while he builds up his own immunity.

This is why previous studies have shown that formula-fed infants have twice the incidence of diarrheal illness as breast-fed infants.

Until now, scientists did not know how the mother’s body signaled the antibody-producing cells to take the different off-ramp. The new study identifies the molecule that gives them the green light.

“Everybody hears that breastfeeding is good for the baby,” said Eric Wilson, the Brigham Young University microbiologist who is the lead author on the study. “But why is it good? One of the reasons is that mothers’ milk carries protective antibodies which shield the newborn from infection, and this study demonstrates the molecular mechanisms used by the mother’s body to get these antibody-producing cells where they need to be.”

Understanding the role of the molecule, called CCR10, also has implications for potential future efforts to help mothers better protect their infants.

“This tells us that this molecule is extremely important, so if we want to design a vaccine for the mother so she could effectively pass protective antibodies to the child, it would be absolutely essential to induce high levels of CCR10,” said Wilson.

Speaking broadly about the long-term applications of this research, BYU undergraduate Elizabeth Nielsen Low, a co-author on the paper, said, “If we know how these cells migrate, we’ll be able to hit the right targets to get them to go where we want them.”

Daniel Campbell is a researcher at the Benroya Research Institute in Seattle, a nonprofit organization that specializes in the immune system, and was not affiliated with this study.

“The molecular basis for this redistribution [of the mother’s cells] has not been well characterized, but Dr. Wilson’s work has begun to crack that code and define the molecules responsible for this cellular redistribution and passive immunity,” Campbell said. “It is important work that fundamentally enhances our understanding of how immunity is provided to the [baby] via the milk. Dr. Wilson’s study will certainly form the basis for many other studies aimed at uncovering how the immune system is organized, particularly at mucosal surfaces.”

To conduct their research, the team used so-called “knock-out mice” that had been genetically engineered to lack the CCR10 molecule. Whereas normal lactating mice had hundreds of thousands of antibody-producing cells in their mammary glands, the BYU team found that the knock-out mice had more than 70 times fewer such cells. Tests verified that the absence of CCR10 was responsible for the deficiency.

Surprisingly, the research also showed that CCR10 does not play the same crucial role in signaling antibody-producing cells to migrate to the intestine. Another molecule is their “traffic light.”

The findings will be published in the Nov. 1 issue of the Journal of Immunology.

The study was supported by Wilson’s grant from the National Institutes of Health, funding which continues for another 18 months and supports his and his students’ further investigation into the cells behind transfer of immunity in breast milk.

Wilson’s other students who are also co-authors on the paper are Yuetching Law, Kathryn Distelhorst and Erica D. Hill. The Harvard Medical School co-authors are Olivier Morteau, Craig Gerard, Bao Lu, Sorina Ghiran and Miriam Rits. The Stanford University School of Medicine co-authors are Raymond Kwan, Nicole H. Lazarus and Eugene C. Butcher.

Read Full Post »

Little Tidbits

This post is just a bunch of random tidbits. Updates about Garrett and the family, etc.

First of all, I can not believe Garrett is all ready 3 weeks old. The time flies. He is growing so quickly. I weighed him today and he is exactly 12 pounds. His face is changing and it is neat to see his personality bloom. He started smiling on Thursday, which is wonderful. He has the most precious smile. I haven’t been able to get it on camera yet. Cami got to see him smile for that first time with me so that was special. I can’t wait to hear him laugh. Who wants to bet it will be Camden that gets him to laugh first? He is a roly poly little little thing and can roll from his side to his tummy or from his side to his back. He hasn’t yet rolled from his tummy to his back again but he’s been close.

Garrett is a pretty easy going little guy. He usually only squawks when he needs to go to the bathroom. He took to Elimination Communication (EC) like a pro. He is pretty good about letting me know when he has to go and he pretty much refuses to poop in his diaper. The only time he gets good and mad and cries his little heart out is when he has to poop. His tummy still hurts him sometimes when he has to go but he is starting to get the hang of it and about half the time he is calm through them.

Camden is still adjusting great to being a big sister. Camden says her favorite thing about having a little brother is that she gets to help “pick out his diapers. That is my favorite part about being a big sister, helping you.” How sweet is that? She is also a cloth diaper fanatic like me. LOL. I was antisipating a lot of regression from Camden and maybe it is too soon and the regression will come later but so far so good. She only slept in our room for those few nights when she was sick and then one other night she came in, in the middle of the night and told me that she didn’t, “want to be lonely” so we let her hop up into the bed with all of us. She is going to bed good at night and will even let Mike put her to bed, which is nice. There is a bit too much movie watching but I’m not going to worry about it right now.

The move to Bellingham is a bit stressful. Yesterday it looked like we weren’t going to be able to move directly to Bellingham and would have to move to Moses Lake for 6-9 months first and that really stressed me out. The hormones are definitely there because I had a hard time rationally talking about it with Mike and instead became a blubbering mess. Luckily there is no housing available in Moses Lake right now. All of the apartments are full and have a six month waiting list. So if we do move to Bellingham in October, which was the original plan, there is a chance that Mike might not have work right away. It looks like no matter what we do the transition isn’t going to go as smoothly as we hoped. Cross your fingers for us.

Next Thursday our ward at Church is going to throw Garrett a baby shower which is so sweet. I will try to get some pictures of that.

I swear I originally had a lot more to say but my brain isn’t working anymore, so that is all for now. Here are some pics:

2 1/2 Weeks, holding his head up so high!

Two weeks old

The Family Bed

Sweet Little Baby Hand

Read Full Post »

Prickly Heat Rash?

Poor, poor Garrett. Every time I look at his little face and the back of his neck it makes me want to cry. He has this awful rash that has spread all over his face, ears and the front and back of his neck. It is worse on the back of his neck but I wasn’t able to get a picture of that because he was sleeping. These pictures were taken Friday. Today is Saturday (I started this post yesterday but never finished it) and today it is looking a lot better but many of the bumps are still there. The rash is definitely made worse with skin contact, such as his head resting on my forearm when nursing. So I try to keep a burp cloth between his skin and mine. I can’t believe what a warm blooded little guy I have. He stays so warm!

I’m really hoping that this is prickly heat rash because it should clear up in a few days if it is. Otherwise I am assuming that the rash is due to an allergy to me eating dairy and I’ll have to cut dairy out of my diet. His rash looks like all the other prickly heat rashes when I googled it though.

It is kind of weird that he got this rash because I don’t dress him in a lot of clothing, just a onesie. I’ve been keeping him in only a diaper now and have given him a few baths in lukewarm water, which is supposed to help. He does sweat a lot though and prickly heat is caused by blocked sweat glands. For awhile I had used some Eucerin cream on his rash because I read somewhere that it would help with the friction that makes the rash red and “angry” and it helped a lot at first but then made the rash worse because it clogged up his sweat glands even more.

Really hoping I don’t need to cut dairy. :)

Here is my poor sweet boy with his ugly, awful rash.

UPDATE

January 26th, 2013

Dear Readers,

I think it is important to update you and say a few things. First of all, my son is now 4 1/2 years old. My son had prickly heat rash. We live in a desert and it was 105 degrees the day he was born. I was putting too much clothes on him and keeping him swaddled with a blanket and had a hat on him. His immature skin had pores that got clogged easily and he had very sensitive skin. His rash resolved within hours by keeping him out of clothes and keeping him cool and taking him into lukewarm baths with me. To this day he still sweats a lot but doesn’t get rashes anymore from sweating.

Someone stole my image and used it as an image for measles. What an awful thing to do to parents. He never had measles and has never had any type of vaccine preventable illness. We don’t vaccinate, either.

He did have food allergies later on in life but we have been able to clear up many of them with an alternative allergy therapy called N.A.E.T.

Please keep in mind that your child could have a similar looking rash and be experiencing something COMPLETELY different. All though the rash looks like it, this wasn’t hives. I am very familiar with hives as I have kids that are prone to food allergies. This does look like some of the reactions they’ve had in regards to food.

In my son’s particular case this was heat rash. I wish you the best of luck in diagnosing your babies rash and getting to the root cause.

Read Full Post »

Help Protect Co-Sleeping – Co-Sleeping Survey

I got this in my email inbox today. We were/are a co-sleeping family and so matters like this are dear to our heart. If you have ever or are currently co-sleeping please take a minute to fill out this very quick survey and be counted. Co-sleeping is not neglect.

Go to SURVEY

Hello breastfeeding supporters and educators,

As you well know, the best food for a new child is
breast milk. You also know that not everyone believes
that fact. The formula companies have successfully
“separated” today’s woman from her breast, at least
mentally. The leaders of the La Leche League are
trying to undo this unfortunate shift of culture, and
we thank you for it.

As you may also know, many of these same “Big Corp”
interests are attacking the Family Bed saying it can’t
be done safely. They, for all intensive purposes, have
a firm grasp on America’s idea about the ONLY safe
place that a child should sleep, a safety approved
crib. Co-sleeping or bed-sharing can be an integral
part of most breastfeeding situations. It makes it
easier, which helps extend the duration. However,
there is a very real movement to officially label
co-sleeping as NEGLECT. This would be a major step
back for breastfeeding.

There are important bed-sharing guidelines that need
to be followed, and not omitted. Public health
departments and the general public are being bombarded
with news stories calling for the end of co-sleeping.
They say it’s dangerous and can’t be done safely. You
as a professional know different.

Help get the message out to save this beneficial
parenting choice. Please ask your successful
co-sleeping families to help prove something that Mr.
Big Corp would like to hide…that people can and are
co-sleeping/bed-sharing safely.

www.co-sleepingsurvey.com is a 30 second survey that
allows parents who have or are currently
co-sleeping/bed-sharing to count themselves as safe
parents. The website has been live for under a week
and over 1000 people have signed up. Most of them are
breastfeeding women. This number is desperately needed
to prove that co-sleeping and bed-sharing can be done
safely and the only thing that needs to be abolished
is the discrimination against this valuable practice.

Thanks,

Co-sleepingsurvey.com

Read Full Post »