Breastfeeding and T1 risk

Lovinlife

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I am exclusively breastfeeding the last 16 weeks. It has been tough but pushed through as my main concern is I want to reduce his risk of T1. However with every passing week it is getting harder for both me my other family members and him (He screams all the time) today I was diagnosed with Mastitis (blood sugars are soaring and I feel **** ) I think this is the final straw I think I am gonna cave and try a bottle of formula....,my question is how likely will he be to get Type 1? How big is the risk? Any of you bottlefeed and can report lack of type 1 diagnoses I hope? I have both my kids on Vitamin D as I know that can help!
 

Juicyj

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Hello @Lovinlife

Firstly well done, you have done incredibly well, I think I lasted about 3 months before I caved in to the bottle, I have to admit I couldn't stand the pressure of doing it, was getting it from all sides about continuing to do it, it was my sister in law who is a trained mid-wife/nurse who said to me to use the bottle, she knew I was getting stressed and told me it would be better for both baby and me to do it, it was a light bulb moment for me and I immediately felt much better, I felt I wasn't giving her enough, I didn't even consider any t1 implications to the decision, it was about keeping a happy household, she's now 12 and no sign of t1, no one can tell you for sure what the risks are but from a mental well being point of view it's what's best for you and baby, a happy mum = a happy baby x
 
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lucylocket61

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Do you have a link to the risk of T1 in bottle-fed babies please?

And about vitamin D amount and suppliements in small children?

I have a T1 friend who may be interested in this.
 

Resurgam

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At 16 weeks my two were grabbing food off my plate so I gave them their own being careful that the foods were large enough to hold onto or small enough to swallow easily - it is the bits in between in size which are the choking hazard. Meals were a bit messy and they were inclined to nosedive into the food but they both managed very well. They had very little bother teething, and both are very tall and strong.
Children really should not scream all the time - in my experience they hardly cry at all if they are contented, warm and dry.
I can't quite see a connection between a lack of supplementary feeding and type one diabetes, but milk formula is not a healthy choice if you read the ingredients list, and continuing to breastfeed should help with the mastitis. By adding in some food the child should be less anxious for milk. If the weather is hot, though do offer a little boiled and cooled water to keep up fluids, and of course do not add salt to the food offered.
Children need protein and fat for their growing bodies and brains - a child in its first year develops more than in any other year of its life, so do provide the building blocks for that growth.
I fed mine on meat fish eggs etc and we never had tantrums or screaming. They have both grown rather tall, but slender.
 

Lovinlife

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Hello @Lovinlife

Firstly well done, you have done incredibly well, I think I lasted about 3 months before I caved in to the bottle, I have to admit I couldn't stand the pressure of doing it, was getting it from all sides about continuing to do it, it was my sister in law who is a trained mid-wife/nurse who said to me to use the bottle, she knew I was getting stressed and told me it would be better for both baby and me to do it, it was a light bulb moment for me and I immediately felt much better, I felt I wasn't giving her enough, I didn't even consider any t1 implications to the decision, it was about keeping a happy household, she's now 12 and no sign of t1, no one can tell you for sure what the risks are but from a mental well being point of view it's what's best for you and baby, a happy mum = a happy baby x

juicyj your words really provide some comfort thank you for taking the time to reply! Yes I think my mental health is starting to suffer big time so happy your child is diabetes free and long may that last!!
 

lucylocket61

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Some babies are screamers. Even when fed, warm, dry and comfortable, some scream.

Just like some sleep well, and others don't sleep through the night until they are school age.

At 16 weeks a baby may be extra hungry as a growth spurt can happen, or first teeth can be coming through, for example.

Babies are all different. Experience of parenthood is all different. Having a screamer is no reflection on the quality of parenting, or necessarily a cause to worry if all has been checked out medically.
 
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I breastfed my daughter for a couple of months, but had to go onto formula. As she was a premature baby, smaller too, when she latched on after one of two sucks, she was asleep, this went on for around 1 1/2 hours. One night I nearly fell off of the bed because I was so exhausted, She is 19 now and shows no sign of type 1 diabetes.
ps I have 3 brother's and 1 sister, we were all bottle fed and I was the only one diagnosed with diabetes, it happened when I was going through a very tough and stressful time.
 
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Lovinlife

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Thanks everyone for your replies they have been most helpful! Lucylocket I was looking for the link to send you the studies there are various references bandied about about the link but I ended up finding a report from JDRF saying a suspected link but they can’t know for sure and some people who are breastfed get T1 and others who are bottle don’t do how do you explain that so I am at peace and try the formula and he won’t take it so now onto a whole new issue will have to sneak a bit into the breast milk day by day slowly!! In the meantime my sugars are getting out of control I presume from the Mastitis although I feel much better and temperature now normal but still on antibiotics...anyone know how long an infection will affect sugars?? Thanks again everyone!!!
 

AloeSvea

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Greetings @Lovinlife - Congrats on your baby! I'm at the stage of life where I am waiting for my babies to have babies so I can enjoy babies again. But being a Great-Aunt has been fun. If you were my niece and actually asked my opinion on this subject, I would be in seventh heaven IRL :D.

When it comes to working out risk - I suggest you go online and seek out the breastfeeding and non-human milk studies with reference to type 1 risk, and wade through the data to find the risk factors, or you may be lucky and you find the best study for you to look at right away in a search?

It can be quite time consuming, such a search, but really is the only way to satisfy risk percentage desires - if you read and weigh up the different studies and sources yourself? Is my humble opinion.

There is quite a lot, I believe, about future increased risk with type 2, from memory, as I tease my own elderly mother about this - I was breastfed the least, and have had problems with sick fat cells and insulin resistance and then type 2 that my older more breastfed siblings have not (but don't worry she can take the teasing!) I don't know about type 1 risk, but I guess it is related to what having milk proteins better suited to other mammals can do to the immune system? (It may be 'very little'!) And then there is the soy, if you are using soy non-human milk products for feeding your baby.

Regarding the mastitis - I have enormous sympathy - ghastly thing. Have you had advice from breastfeeding specialists? As mastitis is usually from what is called a latch-on issue, as in your baby might not be 'latching on' to your nipple properly? I had this issue also with my first born. Seeing properly latched-on babies is not something we are brought up with as a rule, in a way it would have been common place in earlier times. I had to learn to do it properly too, but once learnt (as in both you and your baby) it is a physical skill never lost, and with enormous nutritional benefits for the baby. And I would say - health protective benefits. No scientist or health professional or nutritionist seems to deny this. They can't. (I also liked the bonding aspect of breastfeeding - being so close to your baby, and being forced to sit and relax, and talking with folks, reading or watching TV or eating and drinking myself at the same time. Very relaxing in a not relaxing time of life - with a baby!)

Fair enough if you have decided to not breastfeed - no-one but no-one can tell another person what to do with their body, absolutely. (And especially not Great Aunts! :).) It is an extremely personal experience and decision. This is ultimately about you and your baby, and for you alone to decide. But I would hate to think you gave up breastfeeding for want of good hands-on (literally) advice about latching on. La Leche Leagues around the world are marvellous should you choose to get hands-on help! Or other organisations and professionals, depending on your country.
 
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