Breastfeeding and Baby!
By now, you've probably been asked about 500 times whether you plan on breastfeeding or bottle feeding, and if you're a first time mom, the decision can be hard and there can be a lot of pressure on both sides to do it one or the other. The ultimate decision is yours, and it has to be something you are comfortable with.
In this post, I am going to outline some of the benefits for your baby of choosing to breastfeed!
1) Immune System:
There are so many studies that show that incidences of stomach viruses, respiratory illnesses, ear infections and meningitis occur less frequently in breastfed babies and are less severe when the do occur. Your breast milk is specially made...for your baby! Your body responds to bacteria in your body and makes antibodies in your breast milk to protect your baby from whatever you've been exposed to. Your breast milk also responds to your baby's saliva and detects pathogens your baby has been exposed to and creates antibodies based on that as well. Breastfeeding exclusively offers the most benefits, but any amount of breast milk is beneficial!
2) SIDS
A study published in 2009 found that breastfeeding at all can help to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, by as much as 50%!
3) Obesity
An analysis of 17 studies shows that breastfeeding can help to reduce a child's risk of obesity as a teen or an adult.
Experts think that this may be possible for several reasons:
-Breastfed babies are better at eating until their hunger is satisfied, leading to healthier eating habits
-Breast milk contains less insulin, which stimulates the creation of fat
-Breastfed babies have more leptin in their system, a hormone that researches believe plays a role in regulating appetite
-Compared with breastfed babies, formula fed babies gain weight more rapidly in the first few weeks of life.
There are many more benefits to breastfeeding, which can be found at
http://www.who.int/topics/breastfeeding/en/
If you choose not to breastfeed, or you cannot breastfeed due to health issues, formula is of course a wonderful alternative :)
