Breast is Best
We have all heard the phrase “Breast Is Best” but do we really understand why? There are several reasons that breastfeeding is the best choice for both the mother and her little one. In my research I found more than 30 years worth of studies showing the benefits of breast feeding; their findings include the ability to boost and mature your infants immune system, increased intelligence, emotional and psychological bonding, affordability, ease of use, and the fact that it adjusts its composition to meet the needs of your child’s changing nutritional requirements (growth spurts, illness, etc). Breastfeeding also benefits mom in many ways as well. What artificially produced formula can do all that? The answer is… none of them.
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Breast milk contains five types of antibodies, most abundantly is the type IgA, which is found most prominently in the gut and lungs of adults. These antibodies are shielded from being destroyed by digestive acids and |
A 1993 study done by John Hopkins University showed that breastfed infants develop differently from those who received formula. Breastfed infants showed higher scores on intelligence tests up to 15 years old! All the snuggling and quiet time you get to spend with your little one while nourishing their bodies, you are also nourishing their minds. Formula’s have begun using synthetic additives that mimic the brain building benefits of breast milk, however science will never be able to fully replicate all of the benefits of all natural breast milk.
| The time you spend breastfeeding your little one is precious time well invested. The bonds you form are both physical and emotional. Especially during those first moments after birth when |  |
 | Just as your little one begins to depend on you for their physical nutrition, they begin to realize they can also rely on you for their emotional needs. When they have a need (hunger) you not only meet it, but you do it with lots of snuggles, eye to eye contact and the warmth of your body. Little ones learn quickly that you are the source of more than just their food; you are the source of their comfort and happiness. Don’t believe me? Wait until your little one is about three months old, look down into |
Because breast milk is made by mom, it is essentially free. Who would pass up a free meal? Why would you pay for a synthetic when the real thing is so readily available? Wherever you go, its there, it’s the correct temperature, it’s sterile, and it’s exactly the formulation that your infants body needs. Unless you’re feeding your little one expressed breast milk there is also no need for bottles, nipples and all the other implements that accompany bottle feeding. As your child grows, your
breast milk grows as well, increasing in quantity as well as evolving its quality. Fat content increases as your child enters growth spurts, it adjusts during illnesses and constantly adjusts to meet your little one’s demands.
| Mom also benefits from breastfeeding in several ways. Breastfeeding immediately after birth stimulates the contractions that help to expel the placenta and shrink the uterus, reducing the risk for hemorrhage. Exclusive breastfeeding also extends absence of your menstrual cycle and can sometimes keep it at bay until your little one is weaned. Breastfeeding can also stave off post partum depression due to the release of endorphins.
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When you consider all the things breast milk can do, it’s hard to imagine how formula can even come close to competing. The benefits are immediate and long lasting. It’s a low risk, high pay off investment in your child’s future.
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Choice
There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
~Denis Waitley
Melissa
Melissa is a 35 year old Army wife to her deployed husband, and the mother of three girls. Two are toddlers and the third is a teen, lending to her bouts of insanty. Melissa and her husband Tom are still deciding whether or not they will have "one more" while Melissa tries to figure out how to convince Tom that homebirth is a good thing.
