Having worked extensively with a baby with hydrocephalus, I feel strongly
about the benefits of long-term breastfeeding. Hypotonia (low muscle tone)
extends to the tonality of the muscles of the mouth. The infant's inability
to handle solids may be due to both hypotonia and to sensory issues, but
breastfeeding is physical therapy for the mouth. The study the American
Dental Association did (looked at 9 yrs later by Labbok who applied a meta
analysis to the data) described a reduction in maloclussion by about 40-50%
in infants breastfed for a year. This indicates an increase in oral motor
strength, positive affect on jaw alignment, etc. as the result of extended
breastfeeding.
An interesting study that Kay Hoover and I talk about in our book describes
a group of Dutch infants who were studied to examine the effect of
breastfeeding on neurological development. The infants were classified at
birth as normal, slightly abnormal, or frankly abnormal. At age 9 the
children were reexamined, and the mothers described their infant feeding
practices. The researchers discovered a small but significant beneficial
effect of breastfeeding on neurological status that persisted even after
adjustment for confounding issues. It was unclear whether the effect came
from a substance in the milk or from the improved psychosocial aspects. But
no matter, the effect was positive on the children. Therefore,
breastfeeding would seem to be a benign or beneficial way to feed/mother the
child. This refutes the OPINION of the mother's therapists, who are blaming
breastfeeding, rather than the child's abnormality, on the feeding problem.
My own experience with a child with hydrocephalus who was breastfed for
close to 4 yrs. is briefly described in the Breastfeeding Atlas , where the
child is pictured. I will share that anecdotally, his neurologist asked the
boy's mother after the CT scan done at age 4, "What miracle drug have you
been giving him?" The MD said that the boy's brain looked better than most
of the scans he sees. There were far fewer of the spongy cavities than are
normally seen with this condition. The boys mother, who went on to become
an LLL Leader, attributes their close emotional bond to extended nursing,
and feels she would have had a much more difficult time bonding and
remaining close to him through all their difficulties had nursing not
facilitated that. Last time I had direct contact, the boy had some autistic
behaviors and wasn't yet talking. He was learning to sign, however. I was
very grateful to be able to work with this heroic mother over the years she
breastfed.
I would suggest the mother try to find a cooperative way to work with the
therapists, educating them, but also agreeing to work diligently to find
foods the child can eat. Another special child I worked with who has Turner
Syndrome had lots of oral hypotonia and difficulty initiating solids. We
worked with thin, nutrient rich foods like egg yolk, yougurt with small
amounts of olive oil mixed in it, very thin potatoe soups. That child was
also nursed forever (almost 3 now) and HER specialists are astonished by her
good growth.
Finally, before I give the citations for all the studies I'm quoting, I want
to add that Prentis found no evidence that extended nursing indicated
parental obsession, or that extended bfg was harmful to children so long as
other efforts to encourage other types of nutrition were pursued. She did
find that toddler nursing reduced infection, esp. in stressed environments.
M. Labbok, G. Hendershot: Does breastfeeding protect against malocclusion?
An analysis of the 1981 child health supplement to the national health
interview survey, American J Prevent Med, 1987; 3(4):227-232.
C. Lanting, V. Fidler, M. Huisman, et al: Neurological differences between
9-year old children fed breast milk or formula as babies, Lancet
1994;344:1319-22.
A. Prentice: Breastfeeding and the Older Infant, Acta Paediatr Scand/Suppl
1991; 374:78-88.
Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.lactnews.com
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