would just like to reiterate that I have never said that anything else would kill you or necessarily cause any horrific problems... but i do think it gives you a better start and less likely to have health problems, and that comes as breast fed baby myself and having 3 breast fed children myself...

in my opinion there isn't enough support in the hospital, i was in for 9 days and had asked for a breastfeeding advisor the day after noah arrived as wanted to check whether i was doing the right thing and am still waiting to hear from them.... there was no advice n the hospital and thats why many people don't succeed. there is no support and lots who wish to then feel guilty about NOt being able to and subsequently won't try with future children because they don't think THEy can when in actual fact they just need to have the right assistance to succeed.

We work antenatally and postnatally so I can be referred to someone recently discharged and visit them at home and up port their wish to feed. Sometimes that can be in very challenging circumstances and many midwives and health visitors are not trained in b/feeding or haven't so can't really advise them.. thats where we come in,

As I said previously, I wanted to feed my twins myself, but was advised not to.

It is all about choice.

I see, thanks for that, I just wondered how it worked. Sounds good though.

I had visions of you bursting in to rooms in hospitals threatening folk if they didn't breastfeed.

I often wonder if today's children are more at risk from the over-sterilised World that is created for them than the chemicals in food.

Chris, I think you may have a point. As I mentioned earlier, my son and daughter in law are OTT about my grand daughter, and she is suffering at the minute with her second cold. She has just spent her first week at nursery (DIL is a theatre nurse, and had to go back). EVERYTHING at home is sterilized ten fold.

Absolutely.

Children, by design, are born with immune systems that are obsenely stronger than any adults. A literal army of immune cells ready to deal with, and remember, every single pathogen that child meets in it's first five years of life.

Remove the ability of the immune system to "learn" about the pathogens in the world, and you end up with asthma, allergies, auto immune disorders etc etc....

Very good point!

R.E Breast is Best.

AFAIK, this is from research into the passing of IgA and leukocytes (antibodies) into the babies system from the mothers breast milk. However, this is only present in the initial milk, called the colostrum. As long as the child gets this first milk after birth, there hasn't been shown (yet, anyway at least) to be any health benefits for breast feeding against formula.

That was what I thought too, re the colostrum in the first instance.