Aaaannnddd *all* my children are farking geniuses.

They got all the good stuff, leaving me with quite a bit less than I started with.

I don't hold it against them, anymore.

Last paragraph in the article:

"Mothers who cannot breast-feed should not be alarmed; in fact if Raju's analysis is correct, they should be relieved. The missing ingredient may not be in the infant formula itself, but rather in the experience of an infant in a mother's arms feeding at her breast. This natural mode of feeding promotes the closest and most beneficial physical and emotional dialogue between mother and child, but recognizing the importance of this interaction, mothers and fathers of formula-fed infants can take care not to 'overlook the obvious,' and work to provide the ingredient that is missing in a baby bottle."

So it's not actually breast-feeding; it's being close and developing an emotional bond. The whole point of science is to be accurate and precise, and crappy misleading reporting like this article is undermining the science it's reporting on.

AbbeySomeone: Gots to have that grant money somehow, and these scientific no sh*t 'studies' really reel them in.

I generally am not bothered with "no shiat, sherlock" type studies. There have been many instances where what we assumed was true, or thought was true because of "common sense" ended up being completely false, and it was the research into it which revealed that we were all wrong.

Besides, having evidence to confirm what we thought was correct is always helpful, and can potentially lead to new research that we hadn't thought of before. For example, I know a woman who did research into the origins of the domestic cat. It turns out that the domestic cat originated in Egypt. A lot of people said, "no shiat, we already knew that." But her DNA database from that project is starting to become extremely useful for forensic cases in which the suspect or victim has a cat; the cat hairs which are transferred from one to the other can be analyzed using the techniques she developed.

Stories like this make me worried for my son. He was born six weeks early (no one knows why), which already puts him at a disadvantage. Then my wife was unable to breastfeed, so that worries me too.

Of course, I'm going to worry irrationally no matter what, being a new father.

AbbeySomeone: Indubitably: Lord Dimwit: Stories like this make me worried for my son. He was born six weeks early (no one knows why), which already puts him at a disadvantage. Then my wife was unable to breastfeed, so that worries me too.

Of course, I'm going to worry irrationally no matter what, being a new father.

You worry too much.

Having parents that are concerned for his well being and the future gives him great advantage.
Just love him.

Amen to that.

schmidtybone: God Is My Co-Pirate: Of course, if the States actually gave maternity leave, you'd probably see breastfeeding levels rise.

/Canadian

The USA doesn't give maternity leave?

/Canadian too

Six weeks is generally the maximum. Many places give only 30 days. A few rare places give 8 weeks, but those are extremely few and far between.

Aigoo: schmidtybone: God Is My Co-Pirate: Of course, if the States actually gave maternity leave, you'd probably see breastfeeding levels rise.

/Canadian

The USA doesn't give maternity leave?

/Canadian too

Six weeks is generally the maximum. Many places give only 30 days. A few rare places give 8 weeks, but those are extremely few and far between.

Wow. That's not enough time at all. I just finished my paid year off and I'm taking an extra six months off unpaid. I'm not ready for strangers to watch my son just yet.