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Duration of breastfeeding and developmental milestones during the latter half of infancy

M Vestergaard1, C Obel, T B Henriksen

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|January 8, 2000
PubMed

Insights

Breastfeeding benefits infant neurodevelopment, supporting motor skills and early language acquisition. This study found consistent improvements in developmental milestones with longer breastfeeding duration.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Human Lactation

Background:

  • Previous research suggests breastfeeding influences long-term brain development.
  • Confounding factors often complicate the interpretation of breastfeeding's effects.
  • Limited studies assess infants early in life, before significant environmental influences.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between exclusive breastfeeding and developmental milestones in infants.
  • To assess the impact of breastfeeding on general motor skills, fine motor skills, and early language development at 8 months of age.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 1656 healthy, term infants was followed from gestation to 8 months old.
  • Data collection included information at 16 weeks gestation, delivery, and 8 months.
  • Developmental milestones assessed included crawling, pincer grip, and polysyllabic babbling.

Main Results:

  • The likelihood of achieving developmental milestones increased with longer breastfeeding duration.
  • Relative risks for higher breastfeeding categories were 1.3 for crawling, 1.2 for pincer grip, and 1.5 for polysyllabic babbling.
  • These associations remained significant after adjusting for potential confounding factors.

Conclusions:

  • The findings support the hypothesis that breastfeeding positively impacts neurodevelopment.
  • Early assessment in infancy helps mitigate environmental influences on observed developmental outcomes.
  • Breastfeeding is associated with enhanced motor and language development in early childhood.

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