Breast Feeding Prevents Bed Wetting

A study published this month in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics states that children that are not breast fed are more likely to wet the bed later on than the ones that are breast fed.

It seems that breast feeding is very beneficial for the infants because through the milk there are passed fatty acids that improve and speed brain development, while bed-wetting is usually caused by "delayed neurodevelopment," as the research from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey states.

In the study there is also mentioned the fact that there is "biological plausibility in inferring that breast-feeding protects against bed-wetting and our results show a strong statistical association."

The study was conducted on 55 children between the age of 5 to 13 who were bed-wetting and on 117 in the same age range who were not. The results concluded that 81% of the children that received formula had problems with bed-wetting, as compared with only 45% of those who had received breast milk.

But the most amazing point of the study was the one that showed that babies who received both breast feeding and formula had the same results in bed-wetting as those who received only formula and no breast milk.

According to the Times editorial, breast feeding also lowers the risk of diarrhea, respiratory infections, ear infections and other types of infections in babies.

Recent studies also argue that besides the fact that it creates a stronger bond between the mother and her child, breastfeeding is also very beneficial for the future health of the child because it lowers the risk of obesity. It is very efficient for the mothers, too, because they are less likely to develop ovarian and breast cancer.