Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion breastfeeding and IQ

DS weaned himself at about 11 months. I was breast fed until about 15 months.

I am not going to judge other people's choices either. There are a ton of good reasons not to nurse and formulas have gotten pretty darn good. But I do wish that I had lived in a part of the world that actually supported mothers who wanted to breast feed and didn't treat it like it was pornographic. I know many people who quit or didn't try because they didn't want to be stuck at home for the first year of life and they didn't want to go into the bathroom to nurse if their kid got hungry at the mall. I know much of the country is not that way, but it was that way where I lived when DS was a baby and it took a real commitment to make breastfeeding work. And that did make me grouchy!

I hear that, acs!

DH was worried I would get arrested because I said from the start that I wouldn't breastfeed in the bathroom. I wouldn't eat my lunch in a toilet stall, and my baby wasn't going to either! And I would have made a very public stink if anyone had refused to let me breastfeed in public. VERY PUBLIC!

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't into flashing. People pretty much never even knew I was feeding my baby unless they made a point to stare right at my chest, looking around the baby's head, right at the moment when I was getting him latched on. After that, everything was utterly covered. But I would not isolate myself to nurse either.

That kind of attitude toward breastfeeding DOES make me judge!

Happily for me and our bail money ( ), no one was ever anything but supportive about my breastfeeding. Never so much as a peep about it.

Lucky for them...I was kind of looking forward to going all feminist avenger on somone! <evil smirk>

DD is almost 5 years old and she is still bfing! I AM ready to wean but not she....

Hopefully, next year with an improved (?) school situation she will be less stressed and wont need her 'pechuguitas'

DS was not the kind to let me nurse discreetly. He spurned the blanket covering him, pulled it off, unlatched and wailed! So we went blanketless which worked OK most of the time, but he still thought nursing was playtime and would unlatch pretty regularly to look up and me and coo and giggle, exposing me to anyone who happened to be looking. People looked at me aghast, but never called the police!

After reading about GT infants, it strikes me that this was my first indication of his intelligence, leaving me exposed in public! LOL!

LOL, acs!

I've heard that many people with GT kids have the blanket problem. We did, but I just got in the habit of wearing big shirts or cardigan sweaters that would cover the baby's whole head while he nursed. Ta-da! No flashing!

To a kid less into the milk than mine, this might not have worked either. But my kids were SERIOUSLY hungry! They had a brief distractable phase in that--what is it?--3-6mo. age range, when they realize the world exists. But they got over it fast and went back to the serious business of eating. No problem.

Good eaters and good sleepers. Thank goodness! I think it's why they both survived infancy, even with a mom like me!

LOL How's that for a carrier choice? I cannot believe that you were still leaking at 12 months. That must have been tough. I sure didn't miss that part.

I too didn't use a blanket while NIP. I thought it brought more attention. I never had a bad experience, but I must admit that I stopped nursing in public once the kids got older.

BTW Nice conversation topic? What's next? PMS? LOL Hey, do you think I could find a school where I could put DS5 for a few days when I get hit by PMS? It could work wonders for both of us

<smirk> I'm laughing!!! Where are the dads now, huh? :p

I was one, big, milk-leaky person for a good 4.5 or 5 years, all total. I actually started leaking a little before DS7 was even born--not a lot, but enough that I had to wear breast pads with thin shirts or I'd get a little dot of wet there--and I was still a little drippy SIX MONTHS AFTER WEANING #2! Not a lot. No more leaking at night. But in the shower, I'd still dribble a little. The house smelled like sour milk all the time. Hated it!

I probably belonged in "Ripley's Believe it or Not" or something.

Now you understand my "Moo!" comment! Ugh!

I nursed DD for 3 yrs. 1 month. DS for 3 yrs. 4 mos. It was pretty much continuous nursing because I was already 6 mos. pregnant with DS when I weaned DD.

I don't think I would have held out so long except that the allergist told me to nurse them until they turned three. I wanted to do everything possible to help them outgrow their food allergies. They each outgrew some food allergies by 3 but not all. Don't know if the nursing had anything to do with it or not, but I tried to follow the doctor's advice.

DD used to ask to "noosh" and DS would demand "nuh-nuh" followed by "other side nuh-nuh"

I'm a retired La Leche League leader. I believe there are many benefits to breastfeeding, but any difference in IQ is relatively small (original claims were 6-10 points, more recently it has been downgraded to a slightly more conservative number) and may be due to the intelligence of the parents more than the milk itself. In the US, smarter parents are more likely to choose to breastfeed.

Four or five points may push a gifted child into HG or an EG child into PG territory, but it will not make an average kid into a genius. Otherwise, people of the US born in the last hundred years or so would be the stupidest people in history.

We practice extended breastfeeding here.

BTW, Kriston-

It is unusual for a mom to be leaking all the time after the first few months. I have seen it, but you are definitely in the minority with your mooiness! We refer to that as a problem with "oversupply".