Breast is best, but watch out for the allergies

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

MOTHER'S milk is undeniably the most nutritious food for babies, but can they have too much of a good thing? While exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of a child's life is thought to help prevent allergies, it is not clear whether further breastfeeding is beneficial in this way.

Exclusive breastfeeding for nine months or more actually appeared to increase the chances of a baby developing allergic conditions such as eczema and food hypersensitivity. At age 5, 56 per cent of children with a family history of allergy who had been breastfed for nine months or more had allergic symptoms, compared with 20 per cent of those who had been breastfed for between two and six months.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125634.400-breast-is-best-but-watch-out-for-the-allergies.html

Please note that this is one study only but I think the preminary results are interesting and I would like to see further studies.

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

I BF my DD for about 10 months and she has some killer allergies..but so do I, so it is most likely hereditary. Was it related to BF.....who knows. I think any study can show what ever the person is looking for. But she did have food allergies and eczema.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Correlation does not equal causation. Could be these infants were already genetically hardwired to have food allergies, and as such, their late entry into solid foods was due to an inborn protective mechanism.

[2curlygirls]

This is interesting. I know several families with food allergies who delay introducing solids until 9 or so months. Which came first I wonder.....

[Jamesdotter]

I attended a lecture several years ago that touched on this subject. The speaker (who had a history of allergies and who had breast fed her children for a year or so each) posited that a mother with a history of allergies should, while she is breast feeding, avoid all foods that she was ever allergic to, even though she might be able to tolerate them currently. Interesting subject.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Correlation does not equal causation. Could be these infants were already genetically hardwired to have food allergies, and as such, their late entry into solid foods was due to an inborn protective mechanism.

took the very words out of my mouth.