IIn my opinion, Breast Feeding Cy opinion breast feeding CAN be a way to increase IQ. But it is only ONE way. And if Breast Feeding is the ONLY good thing a baby experiences, breast-feeding will probably help only minimally....if at all.

I mean.....was Nero breast-fed? Probably. Was Caligula or Ivan the Terrible? Yes, there too. Bottle feeding wasn't an option in those days..... Yet, the sweet babies that Nero, Caligula and Ivan the Terrible undoubtly were, undoubtedly turned into horrifying adults!

What about the modern baby who has lost a mother? Or a baby with a mother who has had to have a double mastectomy? Unless the parents specifically looks for a wet-nurse, and/or the man marries or has a girl-friend who is willing to breast-feed, the baby in question will NOT be breast-fed, but will be bottle-fed by his or her father. Will this decrease the baby's growing IQ? Not of the father bottle feeds with love, rocking motions, and lullabies. Babies may thrive with breast-milk.....but it with LOVE that all humans....including, (and perhaps especially) babies, thrive the most!

My own second cousin was born with half a brain. No amount of breast-feeding will turn him into an Einstein....or even a person with a normal IQ. But he is getting therapy, is having classical music played for him all the time, and has the great love of all of his family.

Breast-feeding may increase the IQ. But many, many other factors come into play here, as well. Breast-feeding is, indeed, the ideal, and should be done if at all posible. But, if one cannot breast-feed, for whatever reasons, there is no reason to feel like a failure as a parent! Love, encouragement, music, good nutrition after infanthood, and a oarent's optimistic outlook on life can help a child's IQ grow, despite not having been breast-fed.

If you weren't breast-fed, or cannot breast-feed, do not despair. It is NOT the end of the high IQ -- or life's happiness quest. It is NOT life's worst tragedy, far from it. No breast-feeding in your past, or your child's future? As my father used to say, "May that be the worst thing that ever happens to you." : )