A Must Read-The Case Against Breastfeeding

It's 3am.  Do you know where you are?  Do you know what your body is doing?  Are you in a sleep-deprived delirium?  If the answer is yes, it's probably because you're breastfeeding.  I remember watching the clock on my bedside table as I breastfed my first child.  It seemed like i was in a battle with the digital numbers, as, one by one the minutes moved forward.  Who would break first?  Would their red glare stare me down defying me to stop breastfeeding and go back to sleep?  Or would I win and keep my baby latched on?  And who or what was really winning?  I was a mess.  I was so tired I couldn't see straight.  It seemed I was up all night feeding her and, during the day, who can really sleep every time the baby sleeps, which is what the experts tell you to do?  There are pumps to wash, laundry to do, parenting books to read etc.  Oh, and yes, let's not forget, it's not like the baby doesn't eat during the day! 

But in the name of what's best for baby, we become slaves to the literature that beats us over the head with the same message; "You're a bad mom if you don't breastfeed.  Your child will have a lower IQ than he or she could have.  He will likely get diabetes, or be obese.  And don't forget that you'll be subjecting the child to numerous ear infections and other allergies.  She might even get leukemia."  It can send you right over the motherhood edge if you're to believe it.  And therein lies the catch.

I recently read a great article called The Case Against Breastfeeding in The Atlantic magazine.  The author (who breastfed all three of her children) delves into the birth of formula, how breastfeeding advocacy came to be, and interestingly, how studies claiming that not breastfeeding will harm your child, are inconclusive and inconsistent at best.  it's a must read. It covers a tremendous amount of ground, so i can't possibly tell you everything here but I really do encourage you to read it, whether you're breastfeeding or formula-feeding.  Some highlights include:

• If you read all the studies you'll find they are wildly inconsistent in their conclusions.
• It's impossible to get a truly randomized study because how can you tell one group of mothers to breastfeed and another not to?  (I've blogged about this before.  It's simply unethical to conduct such a study)
• The one study that is the most randomized one done, states the evidence of the benefits of breastfeeding are inconclusive.
• The mother's psychological health is as important as the baby's nutritional health (a concept I've blogged about several times before, and one written about articulately by Dr. Sydney Spiesel, a pediatrician on the clinical staff at Yale)

and, drum roll please, this is my favorite one:

• breastfeeding is only free if your time is worth nothing!

The author appeared on The Today Show today along with the network's doctor. 

The article is balanced and well-researched.  Do yourself a favor and check it out.  It's well worth it.