Why Breastfeeding is Best for Babies

There is no question, that under normal circumstances, breastfeeding is best for our babies. It provides the perfect food, and the perfect food delivery system.

Here are the known benefits of human milk:

1. It's Custom Made - Tailored to the needs of human infant, the breast milk contains at least 100 ingredients that are not found in cow's milk and that cannot be precisely duplicated in individual formulas. The nutrients are matched to an infant's needs and its ability to handle them.
   
2. It Goes Down Easily - The proportion of mother's milk is lower making it more digestible.
   
3. It's Safe - You can be sure that the milk served up directly from your breast isn't improperly prepared, contaminated or spoiled.
4. It's Tummy Soother - Nursed babies are almost never constipated, because of the easier digestibility of breast milk. They also have rarely diarrhea, since breast milk seems both to destroy some diarrhea-causing organisms and to encourage the growth of beneficial flora in the digestive tract.
5. It's Fat Flattener - Nursed with breast milk appears to relate to lower rates of obesity later in life. It may also be linked to lower cholesterol readings in adulthood.
6. It's Brain Booster - It increases a child's IQ at least through age fifteen. This may not only be relat to the brain-building fatty acids (DHA) it contains, but to the closeness and mother-baby interaction that is built into breastfeeding (which fosters intellectual development).
7. It Keeps Allergies on Hold - Virtually, no baby is allergic to breast milk.
8. It's an Infection Preventer - It lower respiratory infection, urinary tract infection, ear infections and septicemia in the first year of life. And it improves the immune response to immunizations for most diseases.

Here are the benefits of breastfeeding for Mom's as well:

1. Convenience. No advance planning, pacing, no equipment needed. It is always available.
2. Economy. No bottles, no nipples or formula to buy.
3. Speedy Recovery. It helps the shrinking of uterus back to its prepregnant size and decreases the flow of lochia (postpartum discharge).
4. Speedy Return to Prepregnancy Shape (My favorite!). It can help burn off fats accumulated during pregnancy.
5. Period Postponement. It suppresses ovulation and menstruation at least to some degree.
6. Bone Building. Improve mineralization in your bones after weaning and reduces risk of hip fracture after menopause.
7. Cancer Risk Reduction. It can reduce risk cancer down the road. Women who nurses have a lower risk of developing uterine cancer and premenopausal breast cancer.

And of course, breastfeeding brings you and your baby together, skin to skin, eye to eye. The emotional gratification, the intimacy, the sharing of love and please can not only be very fulfilling and make for a stronger mother-child relationship but it may also enhance your baby's brain development.

Source: What to Expect