--- title: Breastfeeding Is Good, But It May Not Make Babies Smarter description: A new study in the journal Pediatrics finds that while breastfeeding is good for both a baby and mother, it may not make kids smarter canonical: https://time.com/4713675/breastfeeding-effects-on-babies/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-27T14:02:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:02:46.886Z article:section: Health og:title: Breastfeeding Is Beneficial For Babies, But It May Not Make Them Smarter og:description: There are benefits to breastfeeding babies including reduced hyperactivity og:url: https://time.com/4713675/breastfeeding-effects-on-babies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8ed01477cf8eacb/6988c0022dce014abe9ecc6d/breastfeeding1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: mother nursing her child og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Breastfeeding Is Beneficial For Babies, But It May Not Make Them Smarter twitter:description: There are benefits to breastfeeding babies including reduced hyperactivity twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8ed01477cf8eacb/6988c0022dce014abe9ecc6d/breastfeeding1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Breastfeeding Is Beneficial For Babies, But It May Not Make Them Smarter by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 27, 2017 2:02 PM UTC  Autumn, Washington state Autumn, Washington stateGetty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 27, 2017 2:02 PM UTC A new study [casts doubt on whether breastfed-kids are smarter](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/27/520963053/breast-fed-kids-may-be-less-hyper-but-not-necessarily-smarter-study-finds) than their formula-fed peers, though it does note there are benefits to breastfeeding babies including reduced hyperactivity. The study, published in the journal _Pediatrics_, finds that while kids between 3 and 5 years old who were breastfed as babies scored higher on cognitive tests than their counterparts, the difference was not that significant.”We weren’t able to find a direct causal link between breastfeeding and children’s cognitive outcomes,” Lisa-Christine Girard, an Irish researcher who authored the study, told [_NPR_](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/27/520963053/breast-fed-kids-may-be-less-hyper-but-not-necessarily-smarter-study-finds)_._ Socioeconomic factors and the overall behavior and environment of a child contribute to a higher cognitive ability, the study found. When the researchers accounted for those factors, it was harder to link breastfeeding by itself to smarter children, [NPR reports](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/27/520963053/breast-fed-kids-may-be-less-hyper-but-not-necessarily-smarter-study-finds). The researchers did, however, note that the breastfed kids were less hyperactive by age three if they had been breastfed for six months as a baby. But by age five, the impact on hyperactivity appeared to fade. The study maintains that there are health benefits for both mothers and their children when it comes to breastfeeding, including immune system boosts for babies and a decreased risk of breast cancer for moms. \[[NPR](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/27/520963053/breast-fed-kids-may-be-less-hyper-but-not-necessarily-smarter-study-finds)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4713675/breastfeeding-effects-on-babies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4713675/breastfeeding-effects-on-babies/"},"headline":"Breastfeeding Is Beneficial For Babies, But It May Not Make Them Smarter","datePublished":"2017-03-27T14:02:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:02:46.886Z","description":"There are benefits to breastfeeding babies including reduced hyperactivity","url":"https://time.com/4713675/breastfeeding-effects-on-babies/","keywords":["Research","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8ed01477cf8eacb/6988c0022dce014abe9ecc6d/breastfeeding1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8ed01477cf8eacb/6988c0022dce014abe9ecc6d/breastfeeding1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mother nursing her child","caption":"mother nursing her child","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4713675/breastfeeding-effects-on-babies/","name":"Breastfeeding Is Beneficial For Babies, But It May Not Make Them Smarter"}}]}] ```