Has anyone been able to find any studies or articles explaining HOW breastmilk helps? Are they absorbing antibodies into the blood stream? Or are antibodies only coating their throat/digestive tract? If they're being absorbed, why aren't there studies (that I can find anyway) taking blood samples and quantifying the immune response? If it's only coating the throat, is that enough to protect against a respiratory infection? And wouldn't it make more sense to "take a shot" of breastmilk periodically throughout the day to maintain the coating, than to just have a morning smoothie?
It's annoying that all of the articles I've read just makes blanket statements about "offering protection" but don't delve into any specifics, so people start extending nursing or feeding it to their older kids. I was always under the impression that after 6 months, babies didn't really absorb much of the antibodies passed through mother's milk because of their maturing digestive system.