What Are The Benefits Of Breast Feeding?
Posted by Babies - 03/06/09 at 12:06 amWhat 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!
While breast feeding can save you a lot of money on buying formula, it can also help with your doctor’s bills. Statistics show that breast fed babies fall ill less often than formula fed babies. When they do succumb to illness they usually have a milder form and recover much quicker. Bottle fed babies suffer more often with respitory infections, ear infections and other medical problems.
This can be even more true if your family has had a history of allergies. When a baby is breast fed, the antibodies pass on from the mother to the baby, helping to protect against illness and allergies. As your baby’s system matures, his body will begin to make it’s own antibodies and he’ll be more equipped to handle sensitivities of food.
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.
Unlike formula, breast milk is always ready, always available, convenient, and always the right temperature for feeding. Plus, it contains all of the vitamins and minerals your growing baby needs, saving you a lot of money.
Not all the benefits of breast feeding are just for baby. Moms can benefit by the fact that breast feeding burns more calories than bottle feeding and that will help her lose weight – always a great benefit! At the same time she can create a special bond with her baby which is not always possible with formula feeding. The sucking action of the baby also causes contractions of the uterus, helping it to return to normal a lot faster.
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.
