Feeding a baby solid foods too early in life may increase his risk of becoming obese before reaching preschool, according to a new study in Pediatrics.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that new mothers breast-feedtheir babies for at least six months and introduce solid foods between 4 and 6 months. This new study finds that among formula-fed babies, those who were given solid foods before age 4 months had a higher risk of becoming obese. More research may offer clarification, but in the meantime, it’s important to remember to breast-feed your infant as long as possible and to introduce solids later rather than sooner. For more information see the story posted by CNN HEATLH
Here’s a breakdown of what happens when you nurse your baby, a lovely time line from BREASTFEEDINGBASICS.COM
“By the time you have been nursing for a few months, you have overcome any early obstacles such as engorgement, sore nipples, and marathon cluster feedings. Nursing is so much easier than bottle-feeding at this stage – no bottles to wash or carry, no constipation, and poops and spit up that smell so much better than formula-fed babies. Also, your baby isn’t nursing as often as a newborn, and you can give him occasional bottles if you choose to, which helps free you up from total responsibility for all feedings.
If you nurse for 6 months, your baby will be much less likely to have problems with allergies, since at around that time, your baby’s intestinal tract begins to produce antibodies which coat his intestines and protect him from foreign proteins and allergens.
Mother’s milk will supply all the nutrients your baby needs for at least the first six months of life, and if you have a family history of allergies, it’s a good idea to wait until 6 months before introducing solid foods, as allergies are less likely to develop after this time.
Most mothers who exclusively breastfeed for six months will not have a period during that time, and rarely ovulate. If you are nursing with no supplements or solids, you have about a 98% rate of protection against pregnancy. This only applies if you are totally breastfeeding: no water, formula, pacifiers or scheduling feedings. Most mothers will use an additional method of birth control during this time.
Many of the studies of the protective effects of breastfeeding use the six- month mark as a cutoff. That means that researchers have found that nursing for at least six months has been shown to have protective effects against many illnesses, such as child hood cancers.
If you nurse for 9 months, you will be helping him through one of the most important developmental periods of his young life. Babies between 6 and 9 months go through so many changes – sitting up, teething, starting solids, crawling, pulling up, and more. Even though an older baby is eating solid foods, breastmilk is still the most important part of his diet, and continues to provide him with important immunities at a time when he is crawling around and putting EVERYTHING in his mouth, including yucky, germy stuff.
Lots of research points to the beneficial effects of breast milk on a baby’s intellectual development. Breastfed babies score an average of 8 points higher on IQ tests than formula-fed babies, and this seems to hold true even when things like parent’s educational and socio-economic backgrounds are factored in.
If you nurse for a year, your baby will receive health benefits that last a lifetime. Long-term nursing protects against ulcerative colitis, diabetes, asthma, Crohn’s disease, obesity, and high cholesterol in adulthood. Babies who are breastfed for a year or more are less likely to need speech therapy or braces later in life.
Thing about the cost savings if you nurse for a year! Formula can cost as much as $200.00 a month, depending on the type you use. The cost of bottles, nipples, and extra doctor’s visits also add up. You can easily save over $1,000 during the first year by nursing your baby.
If your baby nurses for more than a year (or until he outgrows the need), you will continue to provide him with the best form of nutrition. The fact that most babies can tolerate cow’s milk after one year doesn’t mean that they don’t continue to get benefits from nursing. The concentration of antibodies in human milk becomes more concentrated as the volume they consume goes down.
During the toddler stage, your baby will encounter many spills and bumps and bruises as he navigates his new world. Nursing provides a perfect way to comfort a toddler who had bumped his knee, or who is fighting sleep after a busy day. Children who are breastfed long-term tend to be more secure than babies who are weaned early, because they have had their needs met during the vulnerable period of infancy. Don’t worry that your baby will nurse forever – all babies wean eventually, no matter what you do. Children grow up way too quickly, and the time they spend nursing is so short in comparison to the 18 years that they spend at home. (see article on “Weaning” for more information).
Long-term nursing provides benefits for moms, too. Many of the benefits of breastfeeding are dose-related. This means that, for example, the longer you breastfeed over the course of your lifetime, the lower your risk of breast cancer and osteoporosis.
Whether you nurse your baby for days, weeks, months, or years, you will both benefit. Some mothers are hesitant to begin breastfeeding if they know they won’t nurse for long. It’s worth giving it a try. Even if it doesn’t work out, you can always stop nursing at any point. Many mothers start out with the intention of only nursing for a short time, and then find that they keep going much longer than they ever thought they would. Take it one day at a time, and remember than even one feeding at the breast provides important benefits to both you and your baby.”
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According to an article in Reuters, in a recent study, Pediatricians in the United States write more than 10 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions every year for conditions such as the flu and asthma, contributing to potentially dangerous drug resistance (Reuters).
Turns out “there is yet another reason to stay away from soft drinks, sweetened fruit juices, and sugar-loaded sports drinks: a new study has shown that there is a direct association between fructose and glucose intake and increases in blood pressure and that these sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with significant increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressures.” According to 
