Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

Many parents prefer bottle-feeding their baby over breastfeeding, primarily because of time and schedules.  There is certainly nothing wrong with bottle-feeding a child but as you will learn in this article, breastfeeding has many excellent benefits.  The importance of breastfeeding far outweighs any negatives. The average time a mother breastfeeds  is one year, although some women go even longer.  The one thing that cannot be argued when it comes to the importance of breastfeeding is that the milk offers the child much more than any bottled milk could ever achieve.

For instance, human milk provides immunological, nutritional, and developmental benefits.  Studies have been done showing that babies who were never given breast milk tend to have more problems with ear infections, respiratory infections, gastrointestinal issues diabetes, and even forms of childhood  Going a step further, some studies have even suggested that breastfed babies are more intelligent than those raised on a bottle.

Today, we live in a world of toxins and chemicals that can lead to illness or, especially those with lowered immune systems.  Therefore, the importance of breastfeeding in this case is that babies are not subjected to contaminants, or they have a better ability to fight them off.  By being able to resist toxic effects from the environment, babies are healthier and happier. Over the past 15 years, the importance of breastfeeding has become quite apparent.  In fact, a declaration was signed in the United States back in 1990 stating that of all contributors to an infant’s life, breastfeeding was the most valuable. .

It has also been found that breastfed babies tend to gain and learn at a younger age.  Other benefits include convenience.  For mothers, they never have to worry about buying formula, bottles, and nipples, mixing the formula, heating it to the right temperature, and then feeding the baby.  Instead, the milk is perfectly mixed and at the ideal temperature all the time.  With breast milk available, many working mother are able to continue this process by expressing milk throughout the day and then adding it to a bottle.

Of course, the importance of breastfeeding also goes into the benefit of breastfeeding.  Formula is expensive, period.  As you can see, there are many wonderful benefits for the baby and the mom when it comes to breastfeeding, which is why more and more mothers are making this choice.  This very personal decision is one that needs careful consideration since there are so many factors involved.  Most importantly, if you choose not to breastfeed, it is perfectly fine.  Your baby will still grow and strong.  Therefore, never feel guilty for the choice you make.  Although breastfeeding does offer some special things to the baby that formula cannot offer, making the choice to bottle feed is not the end of the world.