Baby Breastfeeding (TheHealthyDish.com / Photo: Luz Roman)
When it comes to newborns we always want to do what is best for them. Every mother has a decision to make. Breast milk or formula? There are many pros and cons to both. Formula is often considered a good choice because it allows the opportunity for someone other than the mother to feed the baby without problems. Formula is also very portable and is available in any quantity that is needed. However, there are many benefits to breastfeeding that formula cannot touch. Here are seven reasons why breast milk is best for your child:
Breastfeeding is Better
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Healthy Mother
– Contrary to popular belief, breastfeeding does not ruin your breasts. Though some women can have trouble breastfeeding their child due to physical complications, most mothers can easily breast feed their baby with just a little guidance and practice. Breastfeeding has many benefits for the mother. It has been clinically shown to lower the risk for some cancers such as breast, ovarian and uterine cancers. Breastfeeding also helps your body to lose the baby fat by consuming many calories. Hormones are released into your system while you breastfeed that also activate the elasticity of your uterus, helping it to shrink back to its original size.
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Reduce Anxiety in Mothers and Babies
– When it comes right down to it, many mothers experience anxiety about their baby, especially first-born children. It is natural for moms to want to love and protect those babies but not be sure how to do it. By breastfeeding your child you can reduce the anxiety because you know you are actively doing something to keep them healthy, well and happy. The connection you form with your child when breastfeeding can never be replicated or replaced. There is a physical side effect to breastfeeding that causes calming hormones to be produced by the mother and reduces anxiety. Babies are also victims of anxiety. They are tossed out into the world and do not know what to expect. Having their mother physically feed and hold them calms babies down and the action of nursing helps to keep them calm. The same anti-anxiety hormones in the mother get transferred to baby through the milk too, further reducing anxiety.
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Forms Connections
– Speaking of connections, breastfeedingyour children helps to form strong connections that can last a lifetime. Studies have shown that children who were breastfed for a year or more had better social skills and were more confidentthan their peers. This is due to the strong connection they feel to their mother and the social nature of their interactions. By forming a tight bond as an infant, children feel more confident and are less likely to be afraid of others.
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Healthy Baby
– Babies who are breastfed from the very beginning get a lot of benefits. The first few breastfeeding sessions transfer essential antibodies and immune boosting colostrum, through which babies get their immune response to disease. This transfer allows babies to fight off diseases that the mother has been exposed to and also develop their own immune system. Without this transfer, babies are more likely to get infections like ear infections and increase the use of antibiotics as children, which can cause health problems and hearing problems down the road.
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Reduces Allergies
– Another thing that is passed through breast milk is allergies. Mothers who suffer from allergies and exposure to allergensproduce antibodies in their breast milk that can help the baby to create an immune response that reduces their reaction to those allergens later on in life.
- Better Nutrition –Not only are the first few Brest feedingsessential, but continued breastfeeding through at least the first year leads to loweredobesity rates and a healthier child. The nutrition in breast milk is perfectly formulated to sustain babies and should not be supplemented in the first six months of life. Formula is not as good nutritionally because it runs the risk of being watered down or having incompatibleingredients like too much or too little iron.
- More Affordable –Not only is breast milk better for you and for baby, but it is super affordable too. After all, it is free! While formula can set you back over one thousand dollars a year or more, breast milk has no expensesassociated with it. It is the natural way to feed your child.
For working moms breastfeeding seems like it cannot be an option but that is not true. When you are not at home you can still provide your baby with breast milk via a bottle and pump, or you can ask your employer about bringing your baby to work until a certain age. If you can work from home or only work part time during the first few months that would be another way for you to breastfeed your baby.
Breastfeeding is the original way to feed your child and is also the healthiest. While there are some cases where formula is needed, in most cases your best bet to have a healthy child is to breastfeed for at least the first six to twelve months of life. Breast milk is the best form of nutrition for a child and a great way for mothers to connect to their children.
Author Bio: Amanda Carlson, a blogger as well as a former newborn care nurse contributed this post. To stay connected to her previous career and share the knowledge she gained, she began writing for www.newborncare.com.
About Photographer: Luz Roman, co-founder of Remember Me Global Initiatives (RMGI), contributed this photo to The Healthy Dish. She is a stay home mom and freelance grant writer.
We love to hear your opinion. Please comment below.
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Additional sources:
Healthy Milk, Healthy Baby Chemical Pollution and Mother’s Milk
WebMD on breastfeeding cuts breast cancer risk
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7 Reasons Why Breast Milk is Best,
Hello The Healthy Dish;
The photo is of my baby girl Madison Eva; who just turned 10 months (picture taken at 10 mo.). Breastfeeding was not easy and usually it is not. I am thankful for the network of lactation consultants, my doula, my midwife, my in-laws support network, friends who shared their similar experiences and frustrations with their first or even second baby; every pregnancy and delivery experience is as different as every child is, and La Leche League book. After delivery, during the first hour after birth and skin to skin connection, Madison did latch and got some precious colostrum. I thought breastfeeding will be a breeze as I saw in many videos on youtube. I was mistaken. My nipples were swollen due to the iv, then they shrunk, followed by a premature nipple shield, mixed with a biting baby: all ingredients for disaster. The first two months were the most emotionally wrecked I had ever been. Add to the mix all the hormone changes. I had to pump and my husband fed Madison with a baby medicine syringe then with a spoon. The stress from the lonely method of pumping and not being able to feed Madi like I had hoped for, affected the milk supply to the point I had to supplement with baby formula (thank God for formula). This allowed me to take a break, my nipples to heal, re-group with time management (pumping 8-12 times a day), and re-shift my thoughts about the options that are best for Madison. Finally, Madison and I learned to get the breastfeeding going when…thrush happened. Another setback: more time pumping, more time sanitizing breast-pump parts, less time bonding with Madison. Yes, at the beginning of Madison’s 4th month we are finally out at the park, breastfeeding. Freedom! Since then I am so thankful to God that He has giving me the strength to continue, to not give up when I am feeling tired of breastfeeding 6-8 daily, or when I did not receive the support I needed from family and friends encouraging to feed the baby formula, and being hungry all the time. Thankful that my former employer allowed for Madison Eva to be with me and for breastfeeding times as needed. Thankful that overall she has been a healthy baby with no ear infections, no flu and only mild colds, one pink eye, teething didn’t seem that bad, and she is only 10 months old. She is a happy baby… social, funny, likes to talk a lot, dance, and now she is walking holding on to anything on her path. Now we are on a mission of gaining weight as we started solids at 8 months. I am still hoping to stop breastfeeding soon after her 12 mo. Although she has not experienced separation anxiety when my husband and I leave her to go out on a date for example, I am the one who experiences the anxiety and can’t wait to free myself completely and not worry about coming home early or having that second glass of wine or not, or better yet, not having to pump after a romantic date…that just kills the mood! Overall, I am very happy that I was able to eat well, take care of my body even though I have not lost all the weight I would have wanted, but when I see my daughter’s smile and the way she stares into my eyes, there is no care about belly or weight drama.
Another reason why breast milk is the best…God created it to be! He also created Formula for those extreme cases when breast milk perhaps is not a reasonable option. I know is a personal choice; one that I hope women from all walks of life will choose as the benefits are truly endless.
Dear Luz: Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful story. You are such a relentless and great mom. All you went through and persisted. I love La Leche League, they have helped so many mothers.
Madison Eva is so beautiful! Again, thank you for the photo and for sharing with other moms and dads that it is possible in most cases for mothers to breastfeed their babies – just like nature intended. And as you mentioned, when it is not possible there were options, which most certainly gave you and has given other mothers a well deserved break, and a formula for their babies.
Regards and warm wishes,
Margarita