Rachel Carrington - Breast Feeding: Breastfeeding Guide and Breastfeeding Essentials for New Mothers

There are a lot of different reasons that every mother shouldbreast feed her baby. These include emotional, economic and health reasons, allof which make a compelling case for feeding your baby your own breast milkrather than baby formula. It should be noted that there are some babies(although this is a very small number indeed) that cannot tolerate breast milkor milk of any kind, for that matter. With the exception of these babies whoare allergic to milk proteins, theres a lot of great reasons to breast feedyour baby, but really no good reasons at all not to do so.

Breast feeding provides mothers and infants with aninvaluable opportunity to bond. Nursing may be tough at first, but itdefinitely gets easier and with so many resources and support available, virtuallyevery mother can now take advantage of this loving bonding experience withtheir child which builds family bonds which will last for a lifetime.

Newborn babies need physical contact with their parents,particularly their mothers. The experience of nursing provides a feeling ofwarmth, security and comfort as their mother holds them close while feeding.Its not just babies who benefit from this close physical contact either;mothers also benefit in a couple of ways. Holding a baby close stimulates the releaseof the hormone oxytocin, which provides a feeling of calm and emotionalconnection its a bonding hormone, if you will. Furthermore, taking time outfor breastfeeding also gives mothers some quiet time to relax even as theynourish their infant.

No one can provide for your babys nutritional needs likeyou, their mother, can. No one would deny the importance of this, but did youknow that its also generally far less expensive to breast feed your baby comparedto bottle feeding them? Its also easier, once you get past the learning curveand get comfortable with breastfeeding your baby.

When you take the natural route and breast feed your newbornrather than giving them formula, there is an obvious source of savings theres no formula to buy. Baby formula may not be up there with Beluga caviarand high quality champagne as far as prices go, but the cost of buying formulafrom birth until your child is eating solid food definitely adds up. With somany other costs associated with caring for an infant, any mother would welcomebeing able to save money while also looking after their babys best interests.

Not only will you never need to buy formula, you also wonthave to buy bottles (at least not nearly so many as you would if you werebottle feeding your baby) or accessories and youll never have to warm up abottle before a 2 AM feeding. No measuring and mixing formula or sterilizingbottles; and you could save as much as $1,500 a year on the cost of bottlefeeding! Its also true that babies who are breast fed get sick less often thanbabies who are fed baby formula, which can also help mothers and their familiessave money.

By now, almost everyone is aware that breastfeeding is a farhealthier option for your baby than bottle feeding them premade baby formula.There were entire generations where large numbers of infants were fed formularather than breast milk, back when it was thought that breast milk and babyformula were more or less equal, all things considered. Based on studiesfollowing people who were bottle fed formula as infants, a large body ofevidence mounted up showing the health benefits of breastfeeding. Research intothis area continues and knowledge about the beneficial effects of breast milkon infant development and human health long after infancy and even intoadulthood is being discovered with every passing year.

It is well known that breast milk contains a number ofthings which are beneficial to the health of infants. For starters, breast milkcontains antibodies which can provide babies who are breast fed with protectionfrom many common diseases of infancy and childhood.

Breast feeding also provides your baby with a source ofnourishment which is far easier for them to digest than baby formula, whichcontains proteins which are derived from cows milk. Knowing this, it shouldntbe at all surprising that breast milk is easier for your baby to digest, sincewe are, after all, designed to digest the proteins, sugar and fat found in themilk from our own mothers not the milk of another species entirely! Sincebabies can digest their mothers milk more easily, it means less gas, lesscolic and as many new mothers and moms to be reading this will be relieved tohear, less spitting up after a feeding.

Another point in favor of breastfeeding over giving yourbaby formula is the simple fact that there are a number of illnesses and otherissues which are more common in babies who are given formula instead of breastmilk. These include:

Atopic dermatitis (a skin rash)

Necrotizing enterocolitis, a very serious disease of thedigestive tract which is more common in infants who are born prematurely formula-fed infants seem to have an elevated risk of developing the disease.

Asthma

Respiratory infections

Ear infections

Type 1 diabetes (juvenile onset diabetes)

Type 2 diabetes (adult onset diabetes)

Leukemia