why do breastfed babies still get sick all the time?

[Anonymous]

Hey, look back at those studies I posted, the ones that show no effect for all of those things. Also, used your vitamin d drops that are necessary for your breastfed baby yet today? If it's the perfect food - why are there chemicals in it and why do I have to give vitamin supplements. It's not - it's a great way to feed your kid, but it ain't perfect, it's not going to do much for your kid on anindividual level, so don't think that it's going to magically grant health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, look back at those studies I posted, the ones that show no effect for all of those things. Also, used your vitamin d drops that are necessary for your breastfed baby yet today? If it's the perfect food - why are there chemicals in it and why do I have to give vitamin supplements. It's not - it's a great way to feed your kid, but it ain't perfect, it's not going to do much for your kid on anindividual level, so don't think that it's going to magically grant health.

For the love of god, formula is made of cow milk's. Breast milk is human milk. You really think cow's milk is MORE chemical free? Or the water you mix it with is? This argument makes you sound really ignorant. Of course we all have toxins, BM has fewer than formula. It doesn't mean formula is bad or toxic, it just means it is silly to say "I don't BF because of the toxins." It's a non argument.

[Anonymous]

Which is the entire argument I was making- the research doesn't present an inconvenient truth, it's simply not conclusive, methodologically flawed, or both. Its at best something that has a negligible impact on health. If you want to do it, fine, but don't expect that it's going to do much in the long run. People that act like a federal breastfeeding law is such a big step miss that there are so many other things that would have a better impact on a baby's health, things like I posted. But it's cheaper to slap a poster up and do a website convincing women to breastfeed than to offer paid maternity leave. Just like it's cheaper for you to sit around mooing about the benefits of breastfeeding and how nursing moms need support than to actually do anything to make sure another mom gets a living wage and can actually feed her family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10 month old son has been breastfed from day one. He still catches every cold, virus that goes around? What's the deal here? What are the benefits of breast milk if it does not keep a baby from catching viruses and colds?

They get sick from being fed on the floor at the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Nope, was just saying it ain't perfect. Which is what I've been saying all along.

[Anonymous]

18:40 For the win!!!

[Anonymous]

My thirteen month old breastfed baby has only been sick once. He was born during flu season too.

[Anonymous]

Look, the OP is either a complete moron for thinking that breastfeeding is some sort of magical cure-all, or a troll trying (successfully) to start a BF vs FF flamewar. Breastmilk is perfectly designed for babies, but if you can't do it, you can't do it. Don't feel bad about it. Also don't go around spouting nonsensical crap about the "cost of breastfeeding" or the "breastfeeding industry" as justification to vilify BF.

And look into the Nestle breastfeeding scandal in developing nations, and how many babies died because they were given formula by a company trying to interfere with natural practices for $$$, nevermind a few dead colored kids in another country. If those babies had been breastfed, they would still be alive, sick or not from "getting sick all the time."

[Anonymous]

What about the fact that kids who are in daycare are more likely to get at least some formula and are, on the whole, breastfed less than kids of moms who stay at home? Maybe the most important factor here isn't what the kids are eating but how many germs they are exposed to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, the OP is either a complete moron for thinking that breastfeeding is some sort of magical cure-all, or a troll trying (successfully) to start a BF vs FF flamewar. Breastmilk is perfectly designed for babies, but if you can't do it, you can't do it. Don't feel bad about it. Also don't go around spouting nonsensical crap about the "cost of breastfeeding" or the "breastfeeding industry" as justification to vilify BF.

And look into the Nestle breastfeeding scandal in developing nations, and how many babies died because they were given formula by a company trying to interfere with natural practices for $$$, nevermind a few dead colored kids in another country. If those babies had been breastfed, they would still be alive, sick or not from "getting sick all the time."

you might want to describe these children with a word other than "colored". i am cringing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, the OP is either a complete moron for thinking that breastfeeding is some sort of magical cure-all, or a troll trying (successfully) to start a BF vs FF flamewar. Breastmilk is perfectly designed for babies, but if you can't do it, you can't do it. Don't feel bad about it. Also don't go around spouting nonsensical crap about the "cost of breastfeeding" or the "breastfeeding industry" as justification to vilify BF.

And look into the Nestle breastfeeding scandal in developing nations, and how many babies died because they were given formula by a company trying to interfere with natural practices for $$$, nevermind a few dead colored kids in another country. If those babies had been breastfed, they would still be alive, sick or not from "getting sick all the time."

you might want to describe these children with a word other than "colored". i am cringing.

Not the PP, but it's clear her use of the term is intentional, and is ironic - a nod to the perceptions of the folks who see those children as disposable because they're brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually do bf my kid - ive said it 100 times, i just dobt operate unde the illusion that its going to make a huge difference.

Also- comparatively speaking, the burden of my decision on what to feed my kid is minutely related to your health care costs. Do you drive PP? I'll bet you do, putting pollutants in the atmosphere, increasing the odds that your family is heavier, less healthy than those of us that don't. You are
probably costing me way more in healthcare by driving your
suv than I am costing you should I decide to wean my
child. Oh yeah, and the pollutant in your cars emissions contribute to asthma in kids, that's a consistent proven relationship.

FWIW I have a phd in epidemiology- public health is my job, and I think my reasoning is pretty solid. It's your poor understanding of research and risk that makes arguing pointless. In any event, you get your gold stars for mothering for the day and can feel justified to continue bleating about how much better you are at your leisure.

I'm not sure why I'm wading into this, but I can't resist because you've created an imaginary me that is the polar opposite of who I am. So I"ll take your questions seriously. Yes, my family has one car. It's a Prius. I rarely drive it because we live about 1/4 mile from metro. We drive to hike, bike, do the big grocery shopping, and visit friends and relatives we can't reach by train. When we do drive, we try to carpool and group errands to achieve the best gas mileage. My husband bikes to work. We compost, have an organic garden, and do not use any pollutants or pesticides in our home. I am a freecycler. I work from home. My family is not heavier, nor heavy at all, in fact. In short, we do what we can. I'm also a vegetarian, wow, reduces my risk of certain cancers. Can you claim the same? But there's NO POINT in having a pissing match. It's completely irrelevant. I don't solve every problem, I don't win every battle, and I don't do everything right or healthy. But just like it would be ridiculous to claim that smoking (if I smoked) wasn't less healthy than not abstaining, I think it is ridiculous to pretend there is NO benefit to breastfeeding when you've been hand fed dozens of reputable studies that show it is. As I said previously, you've made up your mind and closed it to new info. Frankly, I do NOT believe that you breastfed, by the way you're writing. Or if you did, you're one of those resentful moms who are nasty because they hated breastfeeding, and still resent having done it just to check a box. If it's not meaningful to you, fine. But please, stop spewing nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Did bother to read the whole thread, just want to pop in to say that my baby never got sick during the first year - not even a cold/fear/ear infection, etc. After I stopped breastfeeding (I also used formula) she got sick once I think. I has been almost one year since she had her last breastmilk. I think it was just luck and also exposition to germs, mildly sick kids, etc. I never worried about this kind of stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, look back at those studies I posted, the ones that show no effect for all of those things. Also, used your vitamin d drops that are necessary for your breastfed baby yet today? If it's the perfect food - why are there chemicals in it and why do I have to give vitamin supplements. It's not - it's a great way to feed your kid, but it ain't perfect, it's not going to do much for your kid on anindividual level, so don't think that it's going to magically grant health.

Are you the same person posting all this nonsense? You need an education. Vitamin D is supplemented in both formula fed and breastfed babies. It is present in formula as a supplement. AAP recommends that most BFing mothers supplement because we're not supposed to get vit d through breastmilk, really - we are supposed to get it FROM THE SUN. But since we're rightfully afraid of skin cancer, many use sunscreen to the extent that there is no vitamin d absorption, and of course, there's also the fact that many of us are a long way from home - darker skinned folks aren't going to get enough sunlight in northern latitudes to give them what they need. So babies need to be supplemented vitamin d, because of the sun, not because breastmilk is somehow deficient in it while formula is just naturally loaded up. LOL lady.

PS. If mom actually IS getting a decent amount of sunlight, her breastmilk will have vitamin d in it. Mine did. We were reasonably confident of this and chose not to supplement but instead had DS's levels checked at one year. He was fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did bother to read the whole thread, just want to pop in to say that my baby never got sick during the first year - not even a cold/fear/ear infection, etc. After I stopped breastfeeding (I also used formula) she got sick once I think. I has been almost one year since she had her last breastmilk. I think it was just luck and also exposition to germs, mildly sick kids, etc. I never worried about this kind of stuff.

*fever