What Are The Benefits Of Breast Feeding?
What is the best way to give your baby a great start in life? Breast feeding is one of the best things you can do to optimise your baby’s health and protect him from illness. One of the main benefits of breast feeding is that it’s free!
Along with saving you money on HMR (Human Milk Replacement), breast feeding can also help you to keep your medical bills down. Babies that are formula fed get sicker more often and more seriously than babies that are breast fed They also have more ear infections, respiratory infections, and other health problems.
If there is a history of allergies in your family, breast feeding is even more important. A mother’s milk contains antibodies which are transferred to her baby during feeding. These antibodies protect her baby from allergies, food sensitivities and other illnesses until her baby’s immune system is mature enough to make his own antibodies.
The action of sucking on the breast actually helps develop and align the jaw. This could prevent expensive orthodontic work needing to be performed as baby gows older.
Breast milk is more convenient. It is available 24/7 and is always at the correct temperature for feeding. Breast milk also contains all the necessary nutrients in the way of vitamins and minerals for a growing baby.
Breast feeding also offers many benefits for the mom as well. The baby sucking at the breast will cause contractions right after birth, leading to less bleeding for the mom, and helping her uterus to it’s shape before pregnancy much faster. Breast feeding will also burn calories, so a mom can lose weight much faster than if she fed her baby with a bottle. Breast feeding will also create a special bond with the mother and the baby – which is one thing formula simpy cannot do.
If you’re a mom who’s unable to breast feed for one reason or another, this article is not intended to make you feel bad in any way. Bottle feeding is still a good option and there have been some considerable improvements to the formulas available today with added nutrients such as probiotics and omega 3.