[log in to unmask] wrote:

>>These morbidity statistics are too old to be useful
>
>
> So you are saying babies have adapted to bottle feeding?

First of all I do not support formula feeding or what I call 'other
species milk' -- I breast fed my children literally for years. But the
stats you provided comparing the mobidity rates were from 1934 and
numberous conditions have changed dramatically since then -- including
formula. If I had my druthers babies would have constitutional right to
be breast fed for at least a year, but I do not believe that the formula
that's presently used in the US or Europe kills -- it's not the optimal
diet for an infant, but it's better than straight cow's milk  (or the
evaporated milk and corn syrup stuff they used to use in 1934).
>
> You have to keep in mind that SIDS has been linked to vaccinations, but
> given a very large study produced the results provided for the bottle fed
> babies vs. breast fed mortality rate, it cannot all be blamed on
> vaccinations. Here is recent research pointing out the exact same thing as
> that tired old data:
>
> * WHO study on infant mortality: The analysis shows that infants who are not
> breastfed have a 6-fold greater risk of dying from infectious diseases in
> the first 2 months of life than those who are breastfed.

You betcha -- breast milk confers immune factors that not only protect
against infections in infants, but later on too. In fact having been
breastfed lowers a woman's chance of later getting breast cancer by 23%.
That being said, the WHO statistics are from all over the world where
unfortunately the formula fed to children is not always mixed correctly,
is made with unsanititory water and equipment and where infections still
kill off infants at alarming rates -- even those who are breastfed.
>
> * Studies have shown that infants who were never breastfed may have two to
> three times the risk of dying of SIDS. Breastfeeding's protective effect has
> been confirmed by research in New Zealand (Mitchell 1991), England (Fleming
> 1994), and the United States (Hoffman 1988)

There have been mixed reports on this -- again there are confounding
factors. Breastfed infants are more likely to sleep with Mom -- and I
know that W. Sears for one believes that that close contact and the
sound of Mom's heart beat actually 'teaches' baby to breathe. BTW, the
latest word is that being placed on one's stomach to sleep may be the
most powerful contributor to SIDs.



> In the past two years I have at seen least two cases of babies who starved
> to death while breast feeding. Do you suggest that everyone go to bottle
> feeding when it has a *documented* increase in not only death of
> babies but disease in babies?
What went wrong -- how could this happen? Anyway, if the choice was
between starving the baby to death breastfeeding or formula, I would
obviously give the baby a bottle. Hands down death is a whole lot more
severe than the risk of infection. >

>
> And as far as being "paleo" breast milk is about as paleo as
> you can get for babies.

Can't argue with this -- breastfeeding is far superior!

Namaste, Lizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz