January News - excerpt from bestforbabes

By now you may have read the latest sensationalist headline suggesting that six months of exclusive breastfeeding ”could harm babies,”  according to the U.K.’s Guardian, which reported on a study in the British Medical Journal.   The point of the study in the BMJ was to question the timing for the introduction of solid foods, and argue against the widely recommended 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding with no other solids or liquids.  Fortunately, the Unicef  UK was on the ball, and issued an excellent rebuttal, which is well worth reading. Fortunately, the Unicef  UK was on the ball, and issued an excellent rebuttal, which is well worth reading. 

You would think that Unicef’s response should put the issue to rest.   Sadly, this won’t be the case, because the number of articles that are spinning off the Guardian’s sensationalist headline will far outnumber any visibility or publicity that Unicef’s response can get.   The media has figured out that breastfeeding is a hotter-than-lava issue and gleefully jumps on the opportunity to stir up controversy and strike more fear into the hearts of moms, all in the interest of hits and comments.   What is unfortunate is that many people won’t even read the full article, they will just interpret these headlines as proof that breastfeeding isn’t all that it is cracked up to be, and that it is okay to wean babies completely off breastmilk before 6 months.  Most people will miss that even the authors of the BMJ study were NOT recommending early weaning, because to the average mother-in-law, expecting mom or physician not trained in the basics of lactation management, the breastfeeding recommendations get a little fuzzy.    Sensationalist headings do tremendous damage to breastfeeding continuation.