Breastfed Babies Score Higher in Child Development Tests

When it comes to feeding, there’s more good news about child development for moms who choose to breastfeed their babies. 

A new study out of Greece’s University of Crete followed 540 mothers and their children from nine months of age until the children were 18 months old. Each parent was asked how long she nursed her little one, and researchers evaluated each child’s cognitive, communication, language and motor skills at 18 months of age.   

The findings? The toddlers who were breastfed for any amount of time as babies had higher cognitive, language and fine motor skills skills scores than children who were not breastfed. The children that were breastfed for more than six months had the highest overall scores. While researchers say that the study does not prove that breastfeeding is the sole reason for better development, it certainly points to a strong association. 

So who knows? By following the World Health Organization’s recommendation to exclusively breastfeed your baby for the first six months of her life, you could be helping her learn to master the Greek language…or at least, her ABCs. 

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