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1. Children who had ever been breastfed
performed significantly better on the both the CDI* and ASQ** than children who had
never been breastfed.
2. Duration of exclusive-breastfeeding and duration of any breastfeeding (which included both partial and exclusive breastfeeding) to be positively associated with both cognitive scores.
Children's Cognitive Benefits
Research investigating the relationship between cognitive development and breastfeeding has shown the greatest gains for those children who breastfed the longest.
1. Prolonging your breastfeeding relationship promotes cognitive, language, and fine motor development, independently from a number of potential confounding factors.
In a recent study, Bernard et al. (2013) found:
A separate study by Levanteku et al. (2011) also found longer durations of breastfeeding to be associated with higher scores of cognitive, language, and fine motor development when compared to shorter durations of breastfeeding, even when controlling for a number of potential confounding factors including but not limited to:
- parental age at birth
- parental education level
- child’s gestational status
- if neonatal intensive care was given
- status of daycare attendance at 18 months of age
-number of hours each day spent with the parents
3. Breastfeeding's role in promoting your child's cognitive development has been linked to specific components of your breastmilk that is not present in formula.
Guxens et al., (2011) considers components such as long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) to be beneficial in promoting your child's brain development.
The evidence supporting breastfeeding, in children’s cognitive development, is compelling. Given the fact that these findings are consistent across multiple studies and locations, you can expect enhanced cognitive development when breastfeeding exclusively, and continually after the introduction of solid foods.
* Child Developmental Inventory - A developmental screening tool used for children from 15 months of age to six years of age
** Ages and Stages Questionnaire - A developmental and social and emotional screening tool used fro children from birth to six years of age.
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