The first thing I thought when reading the headline of this news is, Do breastfed babies cry more? Experience tells me that my daughters, who have taken breast, have not cried, no more or less than other children, even if I had to put them somewhere on the scale I would say that they have been quite calm.
But a recent study indicates that it is normal for a breastfed baby to be more irritable and cry more than one who takes a bottle.
Although the authors are quick to point out that parents should not worry and that breast milk in any case, in all cases, is the best food that the baby can take and recommend, as do authorities such as the WHO that advises breastfeeding exclusive maternal during the first six months of life.
According to experts from the Medical Research Council (MRC) of the United Kingdom in Cambridge (United Kingdom) the irritability of babies is natural. And it seems that babies who drink formula milk are happier and it is easier to appease them, although this could be because they are supercharged.
They don't have to cry from hunger
According to the authors, many new moms strive to breastfeed their babies, but in the first months or weeks they give up and switch to formula milk. The most common explanation of why they stopped breastfeeding is "my baby is not satisfied with breast milk only."
This reason, say the MRC scientists, reflects the perception that your baby's restlessness or crying is a negative signal. But they add that this irritability in breastfed babies is normalThere is no cause for alarm, and it is the way they have to communicate their needs to their mother.
In fact, they point out that the crying could be due to the tiredness of the child and not because he is hungry, although for the moment there is no such "crying decoder" in which so many efforts are being invested. Dr. Ken Ong, who led the investigation, notes that
There is overwhelming evidence showing that breastfeeding is the most normal and healthiest form of infant nutrition. And our findings do not contradict it. Babies who take a bottle may seem happier, but research shows that these infants may be overnourished and gain weight too quickly.
The MRC study, published in the journal "PLoS One", took into account 316 three month old babies. Their mothers were asked to comment on their son's temperament and write down if they had breastfed or bottle fed him. In total, 137 of the children were fed exclusively with breast milk, 88 exclusively with a bottle and 91 with a mixture of formula milk and breast milk.
The results showed that babies who had been breastfed (exclusively or in combination with artificial breastfeeding) had been classified by their mother as "more demanding temperament" and tended to cry more. In any case, whatever the baby is fed, it is essential to take care of it without losing your nerves.
I don't know what your experience is in this matter and what you have observed around you. Would you say breastfed babies cry more? I honestly do not see it that way, and I only see benefits of breast milk at all stages and I find it hard to believe that the irritability or crying of babies can be measured so easily.
