Reply to Is Breastfeeding Worth It?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. I’m a schedule oriented person. It seems snowy breastfeed babies don’t through the night until much later than formula fed babies. The family and friends that breastfed has babies who could only fall asleep being nursed, never slept more than 2-3 hours at a time well past 1 year, never learned to self-soothe, etc. They were very clingy, high needs babies. Most were super cranky because they were never getting adequate sleep. The formula fed babies were great sleepers, on schedules, and always happy. I don’t want to breastfeed because I’m afraid that will lead my child to becoming clingy and never sleep. I’m not willing to co-sleep as my husband and I don’t think it’s safe at all. [/quote]

Research doesnt support that but Im glad you are able to use these wonderful terms to show that you just dont want a baby to interrupt your schedule and that breastfed babies are &quot;bad&quot; because of breastfeeding (breastfed= clingy, high needs, cranky but formula= great, happy, scheduled). Youre going into this with your own bias.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3927438/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17700096/
https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13006-020-00347-z
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00431-011-1659-3
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/bfm.2014.0153

Your compounding a lot of factors and reducing the outcome down to either breastfed or formula fed as if thats the ONLY variable in play when it comes to temperament, sleep needs, maternal sleep needs and therefore deprivation, genetics, etc. 
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One of those studies states:

&quot;There were no significant differences in time spent asleep between lactating and non lactating mothers, though lactating mothers had more time awake at night. Lactating mothers spent more time (8.5 h weekly) in childcaring activity (p = 0.007), and in employment (2.7 vs. 1.2 h, p &lt; 0.01), but there were no significant differences in free time. Those not breastfeeding spent more time in unpaid domestic work.

Exclusive breastfeeding was associated with reduced maternal sleep hours (average 7.08 h daily). Again, free time did not differ significantly between feeding groups. Exclusively breastfeeding mothers experienced reduced sleep hours, but maintained comparable leisure time to other mothers by allocating their time differently. Domestic work hours differed, interacting in complex ways with infant age and feeding practice.&quot;

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And your point is......? What? I said that breastfed vs formula is not the only variable. SAH vs WOH matters. Family support vs solo. Partner vs no partner involvement. Domestic duties, wealth, friendships, etc. Each study I posted showed a different result because each cohort is different but the resounding agreement is that there is not really a statistical difference between formula and breastfeeding moms- in the study above lactating moms may work more and perform more childcare but they perform less domestic duties. Childcare duties and domestic are both unpaid so to me (again) its a personal choice and decision for each family. All these anecdotal differences compound together and even out. The most clingy maladjusted baby I have ever met was a formula fed Taking Cara Babies sleep trained kid.  Your experience and others on this board may be different.[/quote]

No, you were specifically commenting on infant sleep.  And let me see the studies that look at maternal mental health and actually consider the mother as a person who does labor, and see how much breastfeeding actually costs. [/quote]

And the excerpt you responded with talked about maternal sleep which actually doesnt have a direct correlation/causation on infant sleep and vice versa. They are related but you cant say that bc a breastfeeding mother sleeps less total on average that her infant sleeps less. Infant sleep is not the only variable. Maternal mental health research also has no clear guidance on whether breastfeeding or formula feeding results in better outcomes due to differences in social and cultural factors and support and more importantly, PP leave, pay, and support care policies. Pregnancy itself can result in mood disorders regardless of breastfeeding status. There is no real control for pregnancy and postpartum mental health because if you only compare breastfeeding vs formula feeding you arent measuring pregnancy outcomes on mental health and anyone who has been pregnant that has not resulted in taking a child home has other factors besides pregnancy, even with cases of planned adoption.

Pregnancy and postpartum is one of the most difficult transition periods in life. This BS about breastfeeding or formula feeding is so inane when there are real concerns and issues, especially facing women in the US and most importantly, the poor, underinsured, and minority women. Can we get some attention on substantial leave policies, pelvic floor therapy coverage, support nurses who provide weekly visits to mom and baby in the first 3 months, funding and research into pregnancy and postpartum, etc.?

All of these posts end the same way
Breastfeeding is worth it if you decide to do it and it works for your family.
Formula feeding is worth it if you decide to do it and it works for your family.
If no one can tell who was breastfed vs formula fed at 9 years old then it seems to reason that there are no apparent differences at 9 months either. 
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