Effects of brief exposure to water, breast-milk substitutes, or other liquids on the success and duration of breastfeeding: a systematic review.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically evaluate the effect of supplemental fluids or feedings during the first days of life on the overall breastfeeding duration and rate of exclusive breastfeeding among healthy infants.


METHODS
Medical subject headings and free-language terms were used to search the following electronic databases for studies relevant to breastfeeding: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), the Cochrane Library, and La Leche League. Only randomized, controlled trials (RCT) were considered for study inclusion.


RESULTS
Of 56 potentially relevant clinical trials identified, only one RCT (170 infants) met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. In this study, formula feeding was significantly more frequent at 4 wk in the experimental group in which breastfeeding had been supplemented with 5% glucose ad libitum during the first 3 d of life (n = 83) than in the exclusively breastfed control group (n = 87) (p < 0.05). At 16 wk (5 mo postpartum), the percentage of mothers who continued breastfeeding, either exclusively or partially, was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
There remains considerable uncertainty about the effect of brief exposure to water, breast-milk substitutes, or other liquids on the success and duration of breastfeeding.
Szajewska
Hania
H
Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. hania@ipgate.pl
Horvath
Andrea
A
Koletzko
Berthold
B
Kalisz
Marcin
M
D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005526:Food, Formulated; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007229:Infant Welfare; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water
D014867:Water