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Extended bottle feeding linked to weight?
Today in the Journal of Pediatrics, scientists report that children who are regularly using a bottle at age two are more likely to be obese when they’re preparing for kindergarten.
The study used data on 6,750 U.S. babies born in 2001. They found that those who were still using a bottle at age two were 33 percent more likely to be obese at age five and a half — after adjusting for breast/formula, mom’s body weight, family income, TV time, birth weight and more.
Pediatricians generally recommend weaning from a bottle at 12 months, but according to this research, many parents don’t adhere to that advice.
Here’s the percentage of toddlers still be bottle fed at age two, and why some experts think they could be gaining more weight:
The kid and her bottle in better, milk-filled days
Most parents resign themselves to the fact that they will eventually square off with their kids about something of critical importance to one or both of them. While I’m no exception, I didn’t think it would happen before my daughter could speak in full or even partial sentences.
Starting at around a year old, my daughter started drinking water out of a sippy cup, but she still took immense pleasure in drinking milk from a bottle twice daily. However, at her 15-month well-child visit, the pediatrician announced it was time to wean her off the bottle, lest we risk her attending her prom while still sucking on the nipple.
First solids shouldn't come too soon.
No matter how emphatic your mother-in-law is on the topic, American pediatricians say you should really, really wait before introducing solids to infants. Even if she insists your baby will sleep better with a belly full of rice cereal, a new study from the Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard concludes that solids before 4 months of age increases your child’s risk for obesity.
That risk is even great if you start giving solids too soon to formula-fed babies. And you already know how doomed they are! (Kidding …) Continue reading »
flickr.com/jessica higgins
Can you imagine turning on your television to find a story on a health or news related program detailing the account of a mother who is still breastfeeding her eight year old daughter?
This was reality to families in the United Kingdom. Their mother was featured on a special and spoke about all the benefits her, and her daughters got from breastfeeding. The oldest of her children being eight years old and in school full time. Continue reading »
Breastfeeding Rates Drop Quickly
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says today that fewer than half of mothers breastfeed their babies as long as advised, and only 22 percent of moms are still breastfeeding at one year.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding until six months and breast milk plus solid food until one year. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding up to two years and beyond.
What I found interesting is that the study showed most moms (75 percent) start breastfeeding their newborn, but the numbers drop off quickly as the months go on. The study didn’t specify why so many moms switch, but I could venture a guess: it’s painful and way more difficult than most people (myself included) expect in the beginning; it’s time consuming and if you’re working, incredibly hard to keep up your milk supply with pumping; milk supplies vary and some moms simply don’t have enough.
But I think something else throws off moms who might otherwise want to keep nursing: baby’s weight.
The breastfed baby naturally gets a little trimmer after about three months, but some pediatricians use growth charts that are not representative of a breastfed baby’s growth patterns. At the three month check up, a lot of breastfed babies drop in the percentiles and it raises a red flag–she was 60th in weight but now she’s 30th! It feels like failing a test. Continue reading »
Everyone’s got an opinion on when to wean kids from the breast or the bottle. Some women do right after the lactation consultant leaves their recovery room. Others wait until they go back to work. There are those who hold out until introducing solids around six months, whereas many like the nice round number of 1 year.
Getting into toddler breastfeeding territory can get dicey, depending on surrounding attitudes, but this is also where the fun really begins. Various signals to wean include a full mouth of teeth, dexterity for unbuttoning tops, talking. “When she can ask for it is when it’s time to stop,” breastfeeding moms hear (and say) over and over again.
Mother of two, Sharon Nesbit-Davis, writes about how she knew it was time to stop breastfeeding her son. Public shame had a little to do with it, but not that kind that spurs lactivism at the shopping mall. Continue reading »
A new study has found that a simple reminder at a baby’s nine month pediatrician check up can help parents wean babies from the bottle by their first birthday.
The Canadian study, published in the most recent issue of Pediatrics, found that when pediatricians gave parents a short talk at their baby’s nine month check up, along with weaning instructions and a sippy cup, they were less likely to allow prolonged bottle use.
In fact, the study –which followed 201 families — found a 60 percent reduction of extended bottle feeding in families who were spoken to by their doctors.
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