Breast Milk for Your Sick Baby

  Last Saturday night, Q-ball exhibited her first signs of the common cold- lots of sneezing and a little coughing. I hoped it was nothing as her demeanor, appetite, and sleeping habits were all pretty normal.  By Sunday night, though, it was clear that we were facing our first sick baby. Fortunately, it was a mild case- mainly just congestion with a reduced appetite for solids.  Her appetite for nursing, however, definitely increased.  Sunday night she literally nursed from 11 pm until 5:30 am.  But, on Monday, she was as full of life as ever, but still rather congested.  Using an eye-dropper, I was able to get a little breast milk up her nose, and I believe that it cleared up some of the stuffiness.  She continued to mainly play with, rather than eat, solids, but showed no diminished interest in breastfeeding.  I believe that breastfeeding helped us ward off sickness until 10 months and ensured that our first illness was as mild as it was.  While I am fairly knowledgeable about the wonders of breast milk, based upon our experiences over the last few days, I wanted to look into some research to answer the following questions:

1. How does breast milk help prevent illness and heal a sick baby?
2. Do babies tend to nurse more during illness?  And, if so, why?
3. How does breast milk clear congestion?

How does breast milk help prevent illness and heal a sick baby?

     I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to learn that this answer involves quite a bit of hard science.  Here, I've taken the hard science and attempted to break it down for the political scientist.

    Mama initially helps strengthen her baby's immune system during gestation.  Through the placenta, she provides her baby with antibodies (a.k.a- immunoglobulin, a protein the immune system uses to attack antigens such as bacteria and viruses.)  After birth, Mama continues to give baby antibodies through her milk.  Researchers have uncovered some ways in which breast milk strengthens a baby's immunity, thereby preventing illness and, should illness occur, hasten healing times.  

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

   One researcher states breast milk contains "direct acting antimicrobal factors." This might be breast milk's coolest trick (other than inducing sleep...)  Antibodies attack antigens by binding with them (see image), preventing the antigen from attaching to any bodily tissue.  Mama actually produces antibodies specific for her baby.  When she breathes in, eats, or even "catches" bacteria from baby's saliva during a breastfeeding session certain viruses and bacteria in the baby's immediate environment, her body begins to produce the antibodies needed to combat these bad guys.  She then provides baby the same protection through her milk. 

    The antibodies that Mama makes are also specially suited for baby in other ways.  (1) These antibodies know to ignore the "good" bacteria in baby's developing digestive system, but have been found to specifically attack Salmonella, E. coli, poliovirus, and rotavirus, just to name a few.  (2) These antibodies do not produce inflammation, which could cause harm to body tissue.  (3) The production of antibodies changes as baby ages, meeting his needs at the time.  So, no matter what the child's age, a nursing mother can provide the correct amount of antibodies.  For a newborn, this means that a teaspoon of breast milk has literally millions of antibodies. While an older infant has less concentrated antibodies as he likely nurses more often. In the case of a nursing toddler, the concentration of antibodies again increasing as nursing likely takes place less often. 

    In addition to antibodies, breast milk provides even more ways to prevent illness.  It contains Oligosaccharides (a type of sugar) which mimics the binding sites that bacteria use in baby's tummy.  So, instead of attaching to baby's tummy, the bad bacteria goes to this sugar chain.  Next, breast milk contains lactoferrin, a molecule that bonds with two atoms of iron.  Many bacteria live off of iron, so by reducing the available iron, lactoferrin stops the growth of these bacteria.  This method of illness prevention is especially effective against Staph. in newborns.  Finally, breast milk, especially colostrum, contains white blood cells which directly attack infections.

   Researchers have also found that breast milk serves as an "immunomodulating agent" which means that it helps strengthen and build the immune system. It seems that breast milk actually helps baby in the long-term, that is, beyond the period for which the baby is breastfed. These findings are rather recent, and research is still being conducted into the hows and whys. But, it has been seen that breast-fed babies produce greater blood concentrations of proteins which attack viruses, even after breast feeding has ceased.  Additionally, evidence has found that breast-fed babies have produce more anti-bodies as a result of vaccinations.  Finally, these babies begin to produce their own antibodies in larger amounts than non-breast-fed babies.

Whew!  Keep reading!  The other answers are not quite as long!

Do babies tend to nurse more during illness?  And, if so, why?

   Yes!  Research has found that effective pain relief for infants includes skin-to-skin contact, suckling, and sweet tastes- all factors involved in breast feeding!  Researchers found that infants who were breastfed before, during, or after receiving immunizations demonstrated decreased heart rates, less crying, and less painful expressions than babies who were not breastfed.  It seems that the fat and proteins in milk actually block pain fibers from running down the spinal cord.  Pretty amazing! 

How does breast milk clear congestion?

   Truthfully, I couldn't find anything scientific on this topic. Just stories of mothers sharing their success stories.  I guess it's a case where we have to trust mother's intuition.  I can only assume that it works in ways similar to a saline rinse. Again, I really didn't find any hard science on the topic.  Just general statements around loosening mucus in the airways. 

So, in conclusion, breast milk is pretty incredible for sick babies!  In times where I'm exhausted from nursing her every two hours, I'll be thankful that I'm working to avoid having a sick baby

Sources:

Efe, E. (2007). The use of breast-feeding for pain relief during neonatal immunization injections. Applied nursing research, 20(1), 10-16.

Goldman, A. (1993). The immune system of human milk: antimicrobial, antiinflammatory and immunomodulating properties. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal,8, 664-71.

Newman, J. (n.d). How breastmilk protects newborns.  Retrieved from http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/HowBreastmilkProtectsNewborns.pdf

Rousseau's "Natural Education" Method

    In yesterday's post, I mentioned and quoted Rousseau and his belief in a child-centered education, but I realized that many, even those who have studied educational philosophies and educational psychology may not realize Rousseau's influence in this field.  (I say this as he was not mentioned in my initial educational psych courses, but he did play a prominent role in my political thought courses.)  Given that I have not discussed a philosopher or researcher in some time, I will devote this Science Friday to Rousseau's work and subsequent development of his beliefs toward education.  

    Much of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's work was focused on the "natural man."  He believed that man, left to his own devices, is good but is corrupted by society, as he more eloquently states in his famous beginning line to The Social Contract, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."  With this idea in mind, it makes sense that Rousseau's work on child development and education would focus on natural education, free from societal influences.

   In Emile, written in 1762,Rousseau describes a fictional boy (Emile) whom he raises and tutors according to what he believes is nature's plan for child development.  Rousseau believed that education happens naturally, through everyday experiences, as Rousseau stated, "We begin to learn when we first begin to live; our education begins with ourselves, our first teacher is our nurse."

    According to this theory, it not is necessarily to teach towards an ultimate goal of being "a magistrate, a soldier, nor a priest." Indeed, nature alone allows children to develop in their own time without the outside assistance of adults. Rousseau identified four stages (from infancy to adolescence) of child development and the natural urges that ultimately lead to mastery of skills associated with each stage.  Rousseau argued that education must be individualized, meeting the developmental level and natural curiosities of each person. Thus, constant observation of the individual's abilities and interests is essential. 
     Here, I will explain Rousseau's beliefs about infancy, as Q-ball (9 months yesterday!) is in this stage. 

1. Infancy (birth to 2): 

• Importance of Breastfeeding:  Before I reviewed Emile for this post, I had never heard about Rousseau's stance on breastfeeding, but I found it very interesting, and will make a special point of discussing it here.  Rousseau strongly believed that there is "no substitute for a mother's love," and writes what I consider to be an angry rant towards mothers to refuse to nurse their babies and, instead, intrust them to midwives.  In fact, he argues that when mothers begin to breastfeed their own children "mutual affection" will be restored to society and a "natural feeling will be restored to every heart."  

• Sensory Exploration: Babies expereince the world through their senses.  They want to touch everything, which allows them to learn about the temperatures, weights, and textures of objects.  Rousseau removed all unsafe objects from his house, allowing Emile to touch anything he wanted, even bringing Emile objects that he desired but were out of reach.  However, he did not allow Emile to rule over him- Rousseau only granted Emile's wishes when they furthered his learning.

•  Language Development: The first signs of learning to speak occur during this stage.  Rousseau did not think it was necessary to force or teach language- it is a natural occurrence.  In fact, he believed that lessons would backfire as the grammar infants develop is often better than that of adults.  Additionally, by intervening, adults do not allow the inevitable self-correction of the student.

   Rousseau's goal in education, then, is for children to draw their own conclusions from their personal experiences in their own time.  He believed this is nature's intent.  As Emile was a fictional boy, there was no actual demonstration of how natural education would work. However, his ideas are put in practice in the Montessori Method.  Dr. Montessori strongly supported Rousseau's goals and educational philosophies.  It should be noted, however, that her on methods are not entirely derived from Rousseau, but they share the same underlying educational goals. 

    In our household, we share Rousseau's and Montessori beliefs toward child-centered education, although we would not go as far as to say that society will corrupt Q-ball.  We have worked hard to created a "prepared environment" in our home and largely allow Q-ball to go for whatever she wants to explore.  We work to allow her to discover an object's characteristics and purposes on her own. We certainly are not perfect in our attempts, but we hope that our efforts increase her own desires for self-exploration and love of learning as time goes on.    

Sources:

Crain, W. (2011). Theories of development: Concepts and applications. NY: Prentice Hall.

Roehrs, H. (2000). Maria Montessori. PROSPECTS: The quarterly review of comparative
education. Retrieved from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/archive/publications/ThinkersPdf/montesse.pdf.

Rousseau, J. (1762). Emile. (B. Foxley, trans.) London: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1948.

A Baby's First Teeth

Are my two front (bottom) teeth! That's right!  Q-ball's bottom front teeth emerged simultaneously about 10 days ago.  So, I wanted to share some fun or interesting facts about infants' teeth.  Also, it's the holidays, so I'm taking a little bit of a break with this Science Friday post. :) 

• The technical term for baby teeth is deciduous teeth (just like the trees that loose their leaves.)
• Streptococcus sanguis (a.k.a. the bacteria that causes dental plaque and, sometimes cavities)  is only found in the human mouth after the first teeth appear.  In the infants studied, the bacteria was found in 100% of infants by 3 months after their first teeth appeared. 
• The vast majortiy of infants get the bacteria from their mamas.  This is especially true for daughters (88%  of girls share the identical bacterium as their mamas, while 53% of boys do.)  There is no evidence that infants receive the bacterium from their fathers.
• Some babies are born with teeth (these are called natal teeth), while others develop teeth within the first month of life (called neonatal.)  Natal and neonatal teeth are more common in babies with cleft palate or other syndromes that are present at birth.  But, the teeth are not always a cause for alarm.  It is not necessary to remove natal or neonatal teeth, but they may be removed if they disrupt feedings. 
• Low-birth weight babies appear to have increased problems with their baby teeth, to include being more porous and containing more "subsurface lesions."
• There is no evidence that breastfeeding causes an increase in cavities, and some studies have found that breast milk can help prevent cavities.  But, nighttime snacking can be a cause of cavities.
  

No, this isn't Q-ball- my teeth picture attempts were a fail!

Q-ball only exhibited minor pain with the emergence of these first two teeth.  However, I suspect that her one or both of her top teeth are now coming in, and she does appear to be exhibiting some discomfort.  I am currently giving her a wet washcloth that has been frozen for comfort, but I have also been debating purchasing a baltic amber necklace.  However, I can't find any hard research to support their pain relief claim. But, it seems lots of mothers have had success.

Have you used a baltic amber necklace? Do you think they work?  Do you have any other recommendations for teething pain?

Sources: 

Carlsson, J., Grahnén, H., Jonsson, G., & Wikner S. (1970). Establishment of Streptococcus sanguis in the mouths of infants. Archives of oral biology, 15(12). Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0003996970900051

Caufield, P.W. & Yi, L. (1995). The fidelity of initial acquisition of mutans Streptococci by infants from their mothers. Journal of Dental Research, 74(2). Retrieved from http://jdr.sagepub.com/content/74/2/681.short

Le Leche League International. (2010). The womanly art of breastfeeding. Ballantine Books: NY.

Noren, J. (1983).  Enamel structure in deciduous teeth from low-birth-weight infants. Acta Odontologica Scandinavica. Retrieved from http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/00016358309162347

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptococcus_sanguinis

http://www.impcna.com/intranet/Nelson%20Pediatric/Newborn/NatalNeonatalTeeth%5B1%5D.pdf