Who breastfed their kids? | ADHD Information

I didn't and have just read that there is a possible link between ADHD and not breastfeeding children.

How long did you guys breastfeed, if at all?

I was just wondering about it.  The source I read it from does go on to say that there are supplements that we can give kids to try and replace this nutrition and doesn't blame the mother at all. It's the way the Western world lives, isn't it? In fact I was told by medical staff with my first son I couldn't breastfeed because of inverted nipples, and someone with my second son said I would have been able to. But definitely interesting.

I breast fed my ds for three months. I had to do it together with formula because I didn't have enough milk no matter how hard I tried. I also breastfed my daughter a little longer, for about 5 and a half months, but also complemented  her with formula. With my dd I also tried hard to do it alone, but it was just impossible. Both of my kids were natural births, and I came to the conclusion that breastfeeding them was harder than the births themselves, despite all the pain I had when having them. I was too fast to deliver so I didn't have the chance to get epidurals in both births. I almost had my dd in the car while rushing to the hospital.

I never heard that there was a link. I have a friend who never breastfed and she doesn't have adhd problems in her kids, she has three school age kids (boys), and a baby daughter. She is the only one I can think of right now, but I suppose there are millions like her.

Mariaven39102.1981018518

I didn't breast feed.  One has ADHD,  one doesn't.   I wasn't breastfed, and I don't have it.  Neither do my two brothers.  DH was breast fed , as was his sisters.   Two of them have ADHD, one doesn't.  I'm not seeing a link in my own little family.  I do see a genetic link, though.





< ="text/">// Begin Ad Muncher helper script wYZXso(1,"wYZTimeout('enableDesignMode()', 20);"); // End Ad Muncher helper script I breastfed my ds until he was a month and a half old. He wasn't getting enough milk. He does have ADHD.Yeah, this book stresses that there is a genetic link, that controls the chemicals, but from what I can tell the breastfeeding may have alleviated things a bit.  I haven't got too far in the book yet ...

I breastfed both of my kids-still nursing my youngest.  I believe in child led weaning so my oldest weaned well passed 12 months. 

I have read that even though you breastfeed sometimes there can be a deficiency in DHA in the milk.  There have been numerous studies showing that many ADHD kids are deficient in essential fatty acids like DHA and EPA (the Omega's)

I nursed both children.  My dd is only two and a half but I don't think she has ADHD.  She takes a dance class and is able to follow the teacher ( I know my son would never have been able to do this at the same age).

I breastfed my oldest daughter for 3 months.  She has severe food allergies and asthma.

I breastfed my youngest daughter for 16 months.  She has ADHD but no other health problems. In fact, she rarely gets ill. 

monkey, my dd hardly gets sick also.  she never has even as a baby. 

Oh chase mom,  I can not tell you how refreshing it is to hear about a father who is glad that their child is getting the help they need.  I don't know if it is just that the ones who are having problems with the husbands response post more or what but I know my dd's dad (undiagnosed Adhd) was very angry about my getting her medicine.  Said that it was BS and a bunch of other over the top responses.  Of course the fact that he can't keep a job or a relationship meant nothing to him.  Give that hubby of yours a hug from me for supporting his kid and you.  

He is a keeper definitely....he was in total agreement with the drugs for Chase even before he realized that he had the same symptoms and was most likely ADHD as well.  But he knew that we had tried everything else, and that I had researched all the meds and side effects, and he knew that I would not ever do anything to harm the kids....

i breastfed both of mine...i can't remember exactly how long i did it, but for sure more than 6 months with both. 

shelley

My three kids were breastfed babies until 15-17months.  I started weaning ds/adhder when he was more interested in using me as a squirt gun and dh and I had a getaway week scheduled. 

The only connection I see in ds is that at an early age he seemed just like his grandpa, whom I think was undiagnosed adhd.  Grandpa drank coffee round the clock and said that it calmed him down.  Ds was dx'd about four years after Grandpa passed away.  Too bad, I would have loved to have compared notes with him.
I assume you are referring to gut flora and neurological issues?  I think the threads are still on the Alternatives to Meds section, but there are things that can be taken to help, such as probiotics.  Breastfeeding is more of a "strengthening of the gut" type of thing and some kids who were not b'fed can have trouble eliminating the metals from their systems which causes ADHD/autistic tendencies.Jon, who was not dx till a few months ago, has always said (long before we knew that either of them were ADHD) that Chase was exactly like him as a child.  Now Jon can really empathise with Chase's struggles in school and social situations, and is happy that Chase is getting help that was not available to him as a child.

I did not breastfeed Ethan because I was told at the time that he was too small and my b**b was too big that it sufficated him. He was 6wks early and weighed 4lbs.

However with my second son. I had the same problem but they showed me how to just hold it out of the way so that he could breath and I was able to breastfeed him. He was 4wks early and weighed 6lbs.

I was a little angry when I realized that the only reason I didn't get to nurse my first one was because the nurses were too lazy to show me how and I was only 18 so I didn't have a clue.

I tried but did not have too much milk and my little one had little patience and would scream and clamp down hard and hurt me ( early signs).

I have a hard time with this one.  I really can't believe there is a connection between breast feeding and not brest feeding for an ad/hd child.  My son knock on wood has always been healthy other than seasonal allergies.  I wasn't able to breast feed because he couldn't latch on and he was a 10 llb baby.  He needed his milk faster than I could provide it to him.  I really believe it is a neurological issue linked to genetics and partly environmental. 

Ok I have 4 children, and I think I can cover just about all of the scenarios...

My oldest was totally bottlefed...26 years ago breastfeeding was not advocated much.

My second (6 years later) was totally breastfed for over 10 months, if I tried to put anything else in her mouth, she gagged and was sick.   At 10 months she began cereal, and was not totally weaned until 15 months, when she decided to.

The third was 10 pounds 4 ounces at birth.  I nursed him one feeding and gave him the bottle the next.  At 3 and 1/2 months he developed (unknown) ear infections, had no symptoms except refusal to nurse...doctors never uncovered the infections until I finally (after 3 other doctors) took him to a pediatrician at 5 months.  By then, he had weaned himself and was only taking 2 ounces a feeding out of a bottle for a total of about 8 ounces a day, and my milk was gone....the ped and I discussed trying to get my milk back, but decided against it.  We had to get him eating again, in that month and a half, he had only gained 9 ounces as opposed to the 2-3 pounds a month in the first 3 months.  We still go to that same ped today and credit her with saving Jake's hearing...

Then comes Chase...he NEVER took a bottle, ever!  If you even tried, he screamed.  He nursed every hour(one side only for 10 minutes) for the first 2 weeks and I vowed if he hadn't gained a lot, I was going to wean...he had gained almost 2 pounds in 2 weeks so I stuck it out.  But it was torture.....not the actual breastfeeding, the schedule he set!  He finally stretched it out to every 3 hours, but that took months, and I had 3 other children, 2 of whom were 9 and 15, and needed to be chauferred around to their various activities...let's just say I got very good at discreet breastfeeding in all locations....and bought a baby sling for the house.  He finally started eating cereal and foods at 8-9 months, and weaned to a cup at 11 months or so.

My 2 with ADHD are the oldest and the youngest, and both have the inattentive type, to much the same degree...Jonna calls Chase her "little male clone" when it comes to temperament.

chasesmom7939102.3226273148I breast feed my dd over 18 months.  she ate cereal and baby food at the usual time.  It was a natural birth,  no epidural needed.  she is really strong Adhd with emphasis on the hhhh.  Don't see how the breastfeeding could have changed things and if it did then I hate to see how bad she would have been. 

I breatfeed both, and they would both be on the breast if I didn't get pregnant with the second and then kick her off!

I don't believe there is any relation to adhd and breastfeeding. My son lasted 18months, however took the bottle in between, and solids at 4 months.

My daughter got kicked off at 3! Can you believe it! She was tough, nothing but the breast, no bottle, no pumped, no formula, just bree bree, she named it even!

 

Oy!  My DS took seven weeks to learn to breastfeed,  SEVEN weeks! I had him by emergency C-section (the root cause of his scoliosis, if the chiro is to be believed.)  By the time I woke up a day laterr, he'd been bottle-trained and just wouldn't breastfeed.  Oh my goodness! So much trauma for him and me both!

After seven weeks of desperation, one day, he latched on.   He had no formula or cow's milk until he was well past a year old.  (I pumped a lot, those first seven weeks. Ouch!) And he breast fed for closeness and comfort long after he was eating and drinking like a toddler.   Eh.  He liked it, and I saw no harm.

 

My take is that breastfeeding is okay and comfortable as long as the Mom and baby are both okay with it.  If either one of the two is not okay, then breastfeeding needs to stop.    Meaning...  If the Mom doesn't want to or can't do it, no guilt.  Breastfeeding is hard, hard work for the Mom's body and mind.   It's not even good for the baby, IMHO, if it's killing the Mom, physically or emotionally.

 

Guess I'd better go read the thread now. lol!

 

My DH is undignosed ADHD.  He has told me a number of times I wish my mom had seen in me what we see in our ds and got me help.  Maybe life wouldn't have been so hard and I would have gone to school more often in high school instead of punching.  He is very happy that we have the medical advances and the health insurance to pursue getting him help.  His mom was a single mom and didn't have access like we do now.

As for the breastfeeding issue... My ds couldn't swallow when he was born and when he did most of it went directly to his lungs instead of his stomach.  Therefore I couldn't breatfed, but I pumped and pumped and pumped.  And carried my pump everywhere!!!  It's much harder to discreetly pump than it is to discreetly breastfed.  Pumping is not as efficent as breast feeding so after 6 months my supply began to run low so I took meds to increase my supply.  The dr thought it would be better to give me meds to increase my milk than to have formula sitting in my sons lungs.  I don't know how many times a nurse or technican at the hospital would ask us how often ds had been hospitalized for pneominoa.  I would tell them NEVER.  Then I would follow up with the fact that it was pumped breast milk that was in his lungs not formula.  Then their eyes would light up and say ohhh because most babies with this are hospitalized ALOT.  I would answer I know but the body can absorb breast milk because it is a bodily fluid, it can't absorb formula thus causing infection.

But as I said in the post about pitocin.  I don't think breast feeding or no breast feeding...pitoocin or no pitocin can change the fact...If genetically their bodies are going to get ADHD, no mater what... We can't change their DNA.

Both of my children were breastfed for two years.  One has ADHD, the other doesn't.  However, they are both extremely health compared to their peers.  Oddly enough, my son (ADHD) never had a problem feeding- latched right on the first time, so I was quite surprised to find out with my daughter that some babies can't figure out how to suck properly at first.  From what I hear now many babies who end up being dx'ed w/adhd later had issues with feeding.

None of mine had issues latching on, Chase just could not be convinced to take both sides at one feeding, and would nurse for 10 minutes and be done....the ped said that perhaps he had acid reflux and had discovered on his own how to avoid it....if I 'talked him into' both sides at one feeding, we were always in for the midnight 'screaming hour' so it was not worth it..he gained well on the feeding schedule he set, it was just VERY hard on me!!!

Wow!! These are interesting responses!! I was basically wondering if I had been able to breastfeed mine the fats etc inside the milk would have been early intervention and able to prevent the symptoms of ADHD (although my boys both slept well and were very "good" babies. The trouble came when they hit preschool).  The causes behind the whole thing interest me.  For example I have my suspicions that chemical pollution in the environment are part of the problem.

I myself was never inattentive as a kid. I was on the ball, remembered things, could organise things, etc. Now .... I battle.  Not much has changed except that I've had 20 years of more pollution.

So ... we can rule the breast milk link out - unless, as one of the first responses stated, the milk itself was lacking in the essential fats.

I breastfed my daughters.  My ADD daughter was different from week 2 on - she had what they then referred to then as "colic".   She cried non stop most days and nights for many months regardless of what I tried.    She was always difficult throughout toddlerhood - they also told me she was a hypersensitive baby - this was another theory at the time.  

She is almost 16 now and I don't keep up with the lastest theories but the one that I agree with based on personal experience is that  "colicky" babies do not have neurological maturity like other babies and this later emerges in other ways - one being ADD.  

She was my firstborn and I breastfed as long as I could.  At that time, one theory was also that colic was digestive immaturity - so even though I was a vegetarian, I was told that it was what I was eating that was causing her discomfort through my breastmilk - so I elimnated everything but basically potatoes and other bland foods.  Nothing. 

Like many, after she was diagnosed in 3rd/4th grad , we determined her dad is ADD and her grandfather is as well.  It is frightening how much they are all alike in ADD mannerisms and ways.

I wish people would give breastfeeding and women a break. 

After having two totally different kids I am certain that "we is who we is" biologically, intellectually and personality wise - yes many things can influence those things for the better or worse and contribute but in my case anyway ADD is inherited/biological.  

We now have determined that this same ADD daughter has Aspergers Syndrome (the nerd syndrome) which is can accompany ADD (which we just learned).     

I did for a full year, but his dad has ADHD/AS, so any good that did may have been cancelled out by heredity.

I did NOT bfeed my 18yo who is my normal"neurotypical" child.

I DID bfeed my 9yo past the age of 18 mos and she has ADHD/innattentive. It's genetic, a brain disorder, and probably has nothing to dow tih whether or not a child was bfed or not.

exactly!!I've no doubt that it is genetic and a chemical brain disorder - I was just wondering whether breast feeding could have helped alleviate the symptoms - it seems not, thankfully. One less thing I have to blame myself for.