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Study: Formula-fed babies sleep more easily
Author: Jonathan Warren
There is a longstanding debate over which is better for our babies: breast or bottle-feeding. However, new findings suggest that in terms of sleep quality and the happiness of our little ones, the latter may be better.
In a study of more than 300 three-month-old British infants, conducted by the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge, it was revealed that breast-fed babies smiled and laughed less and cried more, and it was harder to get them to drift off to sleep in their children's bed.
The mothers of these infants were asked simple questions about their child's behaviour when being washed, dress and put to bed and their answers were compared. The researchers claimed that the irritability of breast-fed babies found was not symptomatic of the child's stress or hunger, but a natural reaction to being apart from its mother.
Professor Nick Wareham, director of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, called for more research into the area to help boost breastfeeding numbers, as only three-quarters of new mums breastfeed their child in the UK today.
