Hi Cian,

Thanks for your thoughts. I have updated the headline to better reflect this.

Kind Regards,

Paul

Cheers Paul..

I think the point being made is that while there are cases where antibiotics are needed (and your child may have been one of those cases) to treat illness there has been a culture of over reliance on antibiotics for years and that the long term effects of this over reliance are only now being seen.

Bingo.
There are patients who will spend a huge amount of time on antibiotics throughout their lives. We need to start ensuring that when a patient us put on an antibiotic that there are no long lasting side effects, and this area of antibiotics is indeed only coming to light now.
As research gets better we can expect for various treatment regimes to be utterly changed in the best interest of the patient.

I actually don’t think they have changed their minds on the facts which are:
–First preventative: for your baby’s best health, breastfeed exclusively for six months, then continue to breastfeed while introducing healthy solid foods. In this way you are not missing the step that nature intended to build up your child’s immune system (no artificial food can replace the natural infant food, breast milk, that changes from day to day in line with your baby’s exact stage of development) – this will leave your child less likely to get infections and allergies – this is just a scientific fact.
–Try to avoid antibiotics because it has always been known that they have the effect of lowering your immunity and resistance to further infections. Wrong use and over-use has led to many bacteria becoming resistant, which could be serious for the human species. In addition there are millions of beneficial bacteria in your body playing a vital role and antibiotics are a blunt instrument that kills them too, so a very bad idea unless your child is seriously ill. We need to get used to the idea that our child can have infections or colds or a nasty cough for even a month and it is better for them to let their body fight it than to give them antibiotics. Sometimes I think we want instant cures if we are suffering for more than a few weeks from the after effects of a virus, even when it is just that – a virus that will not really respond to antibiotics, but doctors get pressured into giving them.

What we’re the infant mortality rates before antibiotics?

Michelle

I brest fed my daughter till she was 2.5, didnt start feeding her solids till she was 6 months, yet she had chest infection after chest infection from 4 months on. My first son couldnt latch on because he was 5 week premature so i decided to bottle feed him, i liked the bottles so my third child came along i bottle fed him too. They are rarely sick. They too have to astmatic cough but then with my husband, his 2 sisters, my father and 2 brothers and 1 uncle having astma and me having infantile excema, there was no escaping it.

If its in the genes, its in the genes…

Statistically, with research backing this up, everything you do is wrong, according to someone!

It’s not as simple as that for many women. You can’t simply say “breast feed for six months”. Some women don’t produce milk that long, some babies won’t latch, that’s also a scientific fact.

Totally agree Brendan, you cant win…

On second thoughts if you live past 80 and enjoyed life, you have won…

Stephanie and Karla, whatever your own personal experiences, I still think the facts as supported by the entire medical community speak for themselves. In the vast majority of cases there is proven to be a substantial protection from breastfeeding when it comes to infection, allergies, sudden infant death syndrome, brain development, etc. This is simply a fact. I am not saying this to beat up mothers who choose not to breastfeed – I know there is not this culture in Ireland and perhaps we do not have enough supports. It’s easy to say some mothers’ supply runs out, but that is not a fact either – the more you feed a baby the more milk you produce in the vast majority of cases.

The only reason I am bringing all this up is that it is surely the elephant in the room when we are talking about childhood infections and antibiotics that if we were not at the bottom of the European ranking for breastfeeding (any by a long shot) then we would have way fewer cases of infant infections needing antibiotics. This is simply beyond dispute. Why do you get grief for stating what is supported by scientific fact?

Some women’s milk supplies do run out Michelle. That is fact. My own sister’s ran out despite continued breast feeding and all that happened was her baby was not getting a proper feed without supplemental formula. She tried camomile tea and breast pumps and every bit of advice the public health nurse had to offer but her supply simply was not forthcoming. And what’s more is she felt awful about it. I think breast feeding promotion has to be careful not to make women feel guilty when they cannot do so.

I have 3 living facts in my house. Breast feeding didnt do my daughter any good. Not being breast fed didnt do my sons any harm… 3 pieces of scientic evidence of my own.

If my sons were breast fed they would still be the same boys today, if my daughter had of been bottle fed she would still have had her chest infections and would still be diabetic but do you know something i would have had years of ‘you should have breast fed her and she wouldnt have had all those chest infections, she wouldnt of needed all those antibiotics’ …….. BULL!!!

That as the case may be, further studies RE antibiotics may well change the way we prescribe them, or deal with their side effects in the future.
Smart Alec.

There is only one way to put on weight and that is eating too much of the wrong stuff. Until people realise this the obesity crisis has little hope of being tackled. Looking for excuses does not help here

But I am not being a Smart Alec, but people who are overweight eat too much! Everything has side effects, but we are always looking to blame obesity on something other than eating! Obesity rates in famine areas, nil!

Actually eating too much of the right stuff does it too. As does eating the right amount of the right stuff but not exercising. Disease and depression will do it too. Oh and pregnancy. And hormone imbalance.

Etc. etc.

Both of ye have stated the direct cause of obesity. Well done.
It’s simplistic to say that the only cause of obesity is the direct cause; it’s not. There are underlying causes, there are always underlying causes (psychological, self esteem, lifestyle, diet), and these very often pose the reason as to why a person overeats. It’s fine to say that a person overeats, or to put it another way, a person takes in more energy than they give out; however, if it is found that other issues play on this, then we need to address them, and our prescription habits have to be looked at.
Also; Brendan; an undiagnosed malnourished child with a distended stomach can be defined as obese.
There are many reasons for obesity, the direct reason is overeating. The question we need to ask is what is the reason for overeating, as it is here where we will solve many an obesity problem.

Direct causes only James please! Ah no, I know your right but it’s the eating that primarily causes it!

Let’s clarify – underlying causes result in overeating which results in obesity. People will cling to any hint of a medical diagnosis as a cause for their obesity without facing up to the real issue. Change is hard but never impossible.

I don’t see how you can say it would be better to have a child with a bad chest for 3-4 weeks than to have antibiotics?? My eldest had more antibiotics and steroids than i care to remember in the first 3 years of his life. He had his first chest infection at 8 weeks old. His chest was that bad that by 11months old the hospital diagnosed asthma which they don’t usually do until the child is 2 1/2. It was a really hard time in my life and i was sick to the teeth of people like you inferring that he would be fine without antibiotics. If he didnt get antibiotics and steroids within a couple days of a bad chest then he would end up in hospital. He had a massive asthma attack at 2 1/2 which saw him being sent to the hospital in an ambulance. He passed out in my arms and i will never forget that for as long as i live. watching helplessly as your child fights for their life is an awful thing to go through. So i had no choice in giving him antibiotics. looking back he did get an awful lot of them but i would do it all again. giving him so many made sure he got through all of this attacks. he is 10 years old and is as healthy and hardy as a wild duck. He hasn’t been on inhalers in a couple of years thank god. Im sorry for the rant but sometimes you don’t have a choice when it comes to giving your children antibiotics.

Why the thumbs down? You simply cannot dispute the facts! Here’s what the American Association of Paediatrics says about immunity, allergies and stuff like sudden infant death syndrome:

Human milk provides virtually all the protein, sugar, and fat your baby needs to be healthy, and it also contains many substances that benefit your baby’s immune system, including antibodies, immune factors, enzymes, and white blood cells. These substances protect your baby against a wide variety of diseases and infections not only while he is breastfeeding but in some cases long after he has weaned. Formula cannot offer this protection.

If you develop a cold while breastfeeding, for example, you are likely to pass the cold germs on to your baby—but the antibodies your body produces to fight that cold also will be passed on through your milk. These antibodies will help your infant conquer the cold germs quickly and effectively and possibly avoid developing the cold altogether.

This defense against illnesses significantly decreases the chances that your breastfeeding baby will suffer from ear infections, vomiting, diarrhea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, or certain types of spinal meningitis. Infants under the age of one who breastfed exclusively for at least four months, for instance, were less likely to be hospitalized for a lower respiratory tract infection, such as croup, bronchiolitis, or pneumonia, than were their formula-fed counterparts. Even infants in group child care programs, who tend to catch more germs due to their close proximity, are less likely to become ill if they are breastfed or fed their mothers’ milk in a bottle.

All humans have a very large number of bacteria that normally reside in their intestines. Some of the bacteria serve normal and healthy functions, and some can cause disease such as diarrhea. Human milk encourages the growth of healthy bacteria in the intestinal tract of the breastfed baby. It does this by promoting a generally healthy environment and, in part, through substances called prebiotics, which are found in human milk. Since human milk stimulates the growth of these “friendly” strains of bacteria, other bacteria such as E. coli, which are more likely to cause disease, are inhibited from growing, multiplying, and attaching to the lining of the intestine, where they can cause infection. It has been well established that formula-fed infants have much higher rates of diarrheal diseases which may require visits to the doctor or sometimes to the hospital for intravenous fluids.

Breastfeeding and Allergies
Breastfeeding is recommended for many reasons. With regard to allergy prevention, there is some evidence that breastfeeding protects babies born to families with a history of allergies, compared to those babies who are fed either a standard cow’s milk based formula or a soy formula. In these “at risk” families, breastfed babies generally had a lower risk of milk allergy, atopic dermatitis (commonly known as eczema), and wheezing early in life, if they were exclusively breastfed for at least four months. It is presumed that immune components in maternal milk provide protection against these allergic diseases. Although the long-term benefits of breastfeeding on allergies remains unclear and studies have not carefully evaluated the impact on families without a history of allergy, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended as the feeding of choice for all infants.

Other Illnesses
Transfer of the human milk antibodies and other immunologic substances may also explain why children who breastfeed for more than six months are less likely to develop childhood acute leukemia and lymphoma than those who receive formula. In addition, studies have demonstrated a 36 percent reduction (some studies show this reduction to be as high as 50 percent) in risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) among babies who breastfeed compared to those who did not, though the reasons for this are not fully understood. Recent research even indicates that breastfed infants are less likely to be obese in adolescence and adulthood. They are also less vulnerable to developing both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Nuala, that sounds an awful experience to go through – there will always be cases of true serious and life-threatening infections that have to be treated with antibiotics and obviously that is the choice you took. I know it can be difficult when faced with a very sick child to weigh up the pros and cons for their future health.

I was just trying to point out that prevention is actually better than having to go through these horrors, and breastfeeding for six months will greatly strengthen their immune system and protect them against allergies – I think we all know this is scientific fact – and then they will be less likely to get infections that need antibiotics – because obviously we’d all rather our children didn’t have antibiotics as it makes them prone to further infections.

We have the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe (among the lowest in the world actually) and so I think we are unable to see from the inside how abnormal this actually is. I am sure with the horrible experience you went through with the infections and the asthma you would support anything that is proven to substantially lower the risk of these events for our lovely children, and that is all I am talking about – prevention.

Ok I get it, you breastfeed your children but think this article is about infant antibiotic use and it’s links to obesity and asthma.

Out of pure interest…what is your opinion on the recommended vaccination schedule starting at 2 months then?

My first born was given antibiotics at birth because there was more than 18 hours between waters going and him born. He was breathing ok and there was nothing else wrong so I am not sure why…
He was combined fed. He was ok until 10 months and then got ear infection after ear infection. He got one WHILE on a course of antibiotics. He got grommets, which helped for a while but then got more ear infections.
I m wondering if the antibiotics and amount of vaccines impacted his developing immune system. He produced one very very strange Nappy while on antibiotics.
Gave him pro biotics to help the good bacteria along…

He died in his sleep at 21 months…no cause found.

Oh…apart from the ear infections, (7 in the space of 8 months, I think), he was very healthy, happy, chirpy. Not a sickly child at all.