Nerve Attack!

There's a new study out which, if you take it on the surface, says something that can really strike a nerve about your mothering skills, but if you dig deep and read further it says something else that's important.  The study,  published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, suggests off the top that mothers who breastfeed their children can expect smarter kids than those who are fed by formula.  Now this not only drives me crazy but hits me where it hurts.  I breastfed one child and tried to for the second. It didn't work out and so I fed him formula.  Is he any less smart than my first child?  I don't think so.  In fact, he's tracking exactly the same way she did.  But read a little further and the study goes onto say that it's actually unclear if the cognitive benefits are due to actual breast milk or rather that social and physical interactions between mother and child that come with breastfeeding.  That puts a different spin on things don't you think?  Undoubtedly, social interaction between parent and child seems to have an effect on cognitive stimulation.  But women women who choose not to, or can't breastfeed, can absolutely have that social interaction with their baby as well.  I don't believe that's inherent to breastfeeding.  I do believe that studies like this tend to get reported on without perspective.  It may make a better headline, but the key is to report the whole story.  As for my son?  Check back with me in 15 years and I'll let you know how he's doing!