Benefits for Mother & Child

You may have spent some time deciding whether to breastfeed or not. A lot of women start off breastfeeding, but a large number of them give up after a couple of weeks. This is a shame, because breastfeeding offers considerable benefits. For good measure, we have listed a number of these benefits below.

Benefits for the baby

The composition of breast milk in terms of protein and fats is perfectly adapted to the specific age of the baby;
Babies that receive breast milk rarely get diarrhea or constipation;
Breast milk offers better protection against allergies and infections than formula milk;
Any symptoms of allergy to cow’s milk (such an allergy can be strong, especially in the first six months) are avoided, although sometimes you have to avoid using cow’s milk in what you eat yourself;
The strong sucking at the breast is beneficial for the development of the jaw, speech and teeth and satisfies the baby’s need to suck;
Breastfed babies never actually get too fat. Even in later life, they apparently have less chance of becoming overweight;
Breastfeeding satisfies the baby in its need for body contact.

Benefits for the Mother

It is a unique experience that you only go through for a short period of time;
Breastfeeding creates an intimate contact with your child, strengthening your mutual bond;
Breastfeeding reduces the chance of later developing osteoporosis (bone loss) because the density of the bones increases the longer a woman feeds;
It is easy: you always have food on hand, and do not have to go through the rigmarole of sterilizing bottles, bottle warmers, etc. if you go out;
Breastfeeding does not cost anything, so it is cheaper than bottle-feeding which can sometimes be expensive.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.