Brilliant Child? Must Have Been Breastfed

So, after all the hype, it looks like breast-feeding does provide advantages to babies. 

I probably sound bitter because, as I needed to have emergency surgery less than a week after my son was born, I was just never able to do it.  (He also had a problem latching on!)

According to newswise.com, a new study has found that "breastfeeding longer is associated with better receptive language at 3 years of age and verbal and nonverbal intelligence at age 7 years."

While the study showed evidence that "supports the relationship between breastfeeding and health benefits in infancy," it was less certain if it leads to better cognitive development, however.

Women who breastfed the longest in the study had 3-year-olds who scored higher on a picture vocabulary test, and at 7 years, scored higher on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, but the breast-feeding duration was not associated with other scores.

Babies that were breastfed for six months did the best.

So what does this mean?  Obviously, if you can breast-feed, it's best for your child.  But other studies are also showing that it's not the end of the world if you can't.  I can take totally no credit for it but my son got straight A's in honors math last year so it doesn't seem like formula has hurt him too much!



 

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