Clean Aire Tip of the Month

December 2002 - FEEDING FRENZY

This bedtime story's a cautionary tale. The moral: don't give your baby a bottle in the crib. Pediatricians have been saying so for years -- sure, it quiets them down, but falling asleep with a bottle can rot those precious baby teeth. Now there may be another reason. Feeding in the crib may increase the risk of childhood asthma by up to 50 percent for tykes with a family history of the disorder, according to a report this month in Pediatrics. Children who were bottle fed in the crib even once during their first year were more likely to face wheezing and asthma by 5, say researchers from Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital who followed up 448 Boston babies. A likely culprit? Babies who like down during, or right after, a big meal can experience "reflux" (liquid coming back up the esophagus). That irritates the airway and might cause wheezing or asthma down the line. There was no increased risk for children breast-fed --presumably because they drink less milk and don't eat lying down, says Dr. Diane Gold, coauthor of the article.

The report does have its critics. "This is a statistical association, not cause and effect," says University of Wisconsin pediatrician Frank Greer. But the major formula companies aren't contesting the findings. "We've always said bottles in the crib is a bad idea," says John Vanderhoof, medical director for mead Johnson. "You have to hold babies when you feed them." Now it's the weary parent's turn to cry.

This article was written by Karen Springen and appeared in Newsweek, Dec. 16, 2002, page 74.

 

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