Breastfeding Makes Bed Wetting Less Likely
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Wednesday, July 05, 2006
I'm not making this stuff up! I swear! ;) It's like every new news report gives yet ANOTHER reason why breastfeeding is the way to go.The latest one, published by someone at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey suggests that the developmental edge brought on by breastfeeding may make it less likely for children to wet the bed as they get older.
Now, granted, this is based on a VERY small sample size and I can't find any data on how the study was conducted or what the parameters were. It's quite possible that this is all a total concidence. (In other words, I'm not making this up, but someone else could be...)
Either way...it's interesting stuff.
From Reuters:
The study was based on 55 children who were bed-wetters at ages 5 to 13 and 117 in the same age range who were not. Of the bed-wetters, 45 percent had been breast-fed, compared to 81 percent of those who were continent at night. The study also found that babies who received breast milk supplemented with formula had a similar rate of bed-wetting as those who received formula alone.
Labels: Stats and Studies
Wow. I've not had a bedwetter yet with 4 breastfed babies. They even wake up dry at around 8 months (course that morning pee is huge!).
Could it be that some bedwetting is caused by mild food intolerances?
I tend to agree with you as it just seems like too much of a stress.
Add in the fact that most studies on bedwetting say that it isn't a neurological issue, but instead a physical issue of a bladder that isn't growing as fast as the body.
My brother(breastfed) was a bedwetter until 6 or 7 when his pediatrician told us he might have a (cow's) milk allergy. We didn't think it could possibly be related, but as soon as we took him off dairy, he stopped wetting the bed.
(vaguely recall a study saying breastfed kids had fewer allergies, wonder if it's related)
Well, we may be the fly in this ointment! I nursed my son for nearly a year, but I think heredity won this battle - we're still coping with bedwetting at age 10. However, I'm still a big fan of breastfeeding.
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