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Comment by aljungberg | Hacker News Reader

Yes evidently many children grow up fine on formula. So given that the effect of breastfeeding is capped, it’s reasonable to choose to optimise for other factors such as practicality, father-child bonding time and so on.

As a counterpoint I’ll say that to the extent that the transfer of antibodies prevents or reduces infant illness, that is a win in the dimensions you describe on its own. A sick infant is both wildly impractical and hard to bond with.

For example, in this interventional cohort study with breastfeeding promotion [1], ”the percent of children having pneumonia and gastroenteritis declined 32.2% and 14.6%, respectively, after the intervention.”

[1] https://www.nec.navajo-nsn.gov/Portals/0/NN%20Research/Biolo...

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> Yes evidently many children grow up fine on formula. So given that the effect of breastfeeding is capped, it’s reasonable to choose to optimise for other factors such as practicality, father-child bonding time and so on.

Does breastfeeding negatively impact father-child bond ? I find it highly unlikely. We do know for a fact that it’s better for health.

> Does breastfeeding negatively impact father-child bond

Exclusive breastfeeding (not exclusively feeding breastmilk, but exclusively breastfeeding) would to a certain extent, yes.

Do you have behavioral studies to back this up ? My breastfed girl is daddy’s daughter.

Exclusive breastfeeding means the mother's presence is essential, she has to be available most of the time as the primary care giver. Due to the way modern societies and nuclear families work, it's reasonable to assume that it's unlikely both partners would take long term leave to be with the infant, or that the father could be there anywhere near the same amount of time as the mother. So the infant would have far more time to bond with the mother than with the father. Whether this time alone is enough to guarantee a stronger bond is probably worth a separate discussion.

> Exclusive breastfeeding means the mother's presence is essential

In early stages of life the mother’s presence will never not be essential.

I’m talking about the logistics of men taking on more of the woman’s traditional caregiver role in couples where both people work. In that respect breastfed babies (or even babies who drink pumped milk) are much more dependent on their mothers. With our first two, who were bottle fed, it was more convenient for my wife to go on a business trip in the first year or two than me. My third was breastfed for six months, and he was highly reliant on my wife in a way the others were not.

And the science shows that the health benefits are minimal.

You keep saying the health benefits aren’t there, so you need to provide evidence.

All the nurses, midwives, and doctors I know declare otherwise

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