Breastfeeding - is Breast Milk the Best for Baby and You?

I think breast milk is far more beneficial to our infants and children then commercial formula. I am surprised that many woman would actually not even try to breastfeed because of social opinion, and would rather start their children off on a man made milk. Here are the top ten reasons why I believe breast milk is the only option!

1) God Created It

When it comes to looking at nature, we see God has created everything in perfect balance. So why then would we offer our children anything but the food God created for them? Breast milk has a complete balance of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Perhaps the only thing lacking in breast milk is Vitamin D, due to the fact God created the sunlight to supply us with this, just make sure you are absorbing 15 minutes a day.

2) It's FREE

Boy do I love the word FREE. You should see my mailbox, I get free samples, coupons, trial sizes, you name it. So pardon my enthusiasm when I jump for joy because breastfeeding your child costs you nothing. There is an investment in your health, you do want to eat healthy foods, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. However, if you want that baby weight off, thats what you would be eating anyway. The only additional cost you may have is a pump, and breast milk storage containers and a few nursing bras. At that, you are still saving tons of money each week, compared to bottle feeding.

3) It Helps You Loose Weight Faster

Enough said right? Just in case, let me add more punch to #3, not only can you consume about 300-500 extra calories a day, guilt free, but breastfeeding actually helps the baby weight fall off faster, and tones your uterus back to size much faster as well.

4) You Finally Get Bigger Boobs

The down side, you cant wear those attractive push up bras because (a) they don't have the convenient pull down flap, and (b) when you get full, you will soak the push up padding. Ladies come on, loose weight faster, double your cup size...Go ahead ask your husband, it's a no brainier, although he does have to share the goods.

5) You Stimulate The Love Hormone

Studies shown that a nursing mother bonds with her child faster because they both release love hormones when baby is latched on. It has been confirmed that the pupils of babies who breastfeed get larger as the hormone releases, and they begin to fall in love with Mommy. This too is often why some woman say breastfeeding is too exclusive and not fair to the fathers. Not so, you can easily express milk and put int in a bottle for a special feeding for Daddy bonding time. You should however, wait at least four weeks to prevent nipple confusion.

6) Less Visits To The Doctor

Between check ups, shots and being sick, you could spend a lot of time in the doctors office. Or you could reduce it by breastfeeding. Studies show children who are breastfed have less ear infections, less colds, and a higher immune system then those who were formula fed. I can personally attest to this one. My kids are hardly ever at the doctor unless it's check up time.

7) You Have More Appreciation Of Motherhood

As if labor wasn't enough, so the breastfeeding may be too, only at first - a difficult experience. It may be unimaginable to believe that although babies are hungry they may not know how to latch on correctly. Also, not all nipples are created equal, some are called inverted or flat, don't worry hobbit shells will fix this problem in just a few days, and you should not need to lose hope, almost anybody can breastfeed unless there is a serious illness, such as Aids.

It's just another right of passage and will hold many memories for you as a mother.

8) Once You Get It, It's So Easy!

I can't even imagine what it must be like to get up every two hours (in the beginning, thats how often you wake up) and mix formula, warm it up, ouch thats hot, cool it down, feed your now starving infant, give him a burp, and go back to bed just to repeat in another 2 hours.

Breastfeeding is so simple once you both haveit down. I shared a bed with my baby and when he woke up, I turned over, pulled out my breast and fell back to sleep. It was already "mixed" and warmed up. When he was done, I instinctively woke up and burped him and we fell back to sleep. You don't have to share a bed to make this easy. No matter what you are skimping on a whole trip to the kitchen, and often!

9) And All Is Quiet

When your baby gets a bit older, by a few months and gets over the colic stage, your breast will calm his or her screaming fits in a second. It's like you are a pacifier, in addition to the other pacifier of course (if you used one). When all else fails, sit down and nurse. Suckling creates a calming sensation in babies. This is why a pacifier often works wonders, but when you can find one or your baby needs a reason to not spit t out, there's nothing like breast milk and the comfort of suckling.

10) You Boost Brain Power

We all hope for smart children, no one says, I hope this one fails in school, at least I hope not! Most of us would love to help our babies raise their IQ, before they even know what one is. We read to them, sing to them, and go crazy at every milestone from clapping hands, to actually walking. But do you know it has been confirmed that if you breastfed you baby for at least 6 months, you can raise their IQ by more then 5 points! That means if you had chosen to bottle feed your child, you would have deprived him or her of over 5 points of brain power!!

Which brings me back to number one - God created our bodies, the female physic, and our babies. We also have benefits from breastfeeding even beyond the larger chest and skinnier waist, we also can cut our risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer by 30% or more by exclusively breastfeeding our children. It is Gods way of saying "Thank You".