Thanks for joining us for the second part of “Benefits of Breastfeeding for Mom and Baby.” We talked about bonding/empowerment, antibodies, passing of meconium after birth, contraction, and developing sucking reflexes. If you missed the first 5 benefits, click here.
Easy to Digest
Breast milk is packed with a lot of vitamins, proteins, and amino acids that are easier to digest when compared to formula. Babies will have fewer occurrences of colic, constipation and diarrhea.
However, because breast milk is so easily absorbed by the body, babies tend to nurse more often. Mothers need to be aware of the amount of time their babies spend nursing on one breast. It’s very important that babies empty one breast before starting nursing at the next breast. This eliminates the chances of a baby drinking too much foremilk, which is a very thin base milk and has less fat content. Foremilk initiates the hunger drive and allows babies to nurse more often. Babies need to drink adequate amount of hindmilk, which is packed with a lot of fat and protein. Foremilk allow babies to stay full until its time for the next nursing session. They are also able to sleep longer during the night.
Promote Proper Brain Functioning
Breast milk contains antibodies that are transferred from a mother to her baby to increase an infants concentration and cognitive ability over time. Therefore, mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their infants for the first six to twelve months of life, to promote proper brain functioning and development.
Lowering Chances of SIDS
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is considered to be the leading cause of mortality among babies from birth to the first year of life. Infants who are breast fed exclusively, are easily aroused and more alert, which minimizes the risk of SIDS. Also, the natural antibody that is found in immunoglobulins, provides an adequate amount of nourishment and vaccination to protect breastfed infants from this particular disease.
Economical/environmentally-friendly
Breast milk is naturally produced by a woman’s body during or after birth. A mother who has decided to breastfeed her infant exclusively is able to offer the best source of nourishment to improve her baby’s health. She is also able to save a lot of money each month on bottles, pumps, or expensive formulas, which makes breast milk economical and good for the environment.
Convenience
Breastfeeding is very convenient and easily accessible to babies when they are ready to be nurse. There is no need to worry about making a bottle or buying expensive formula. Breast milk is always at the right temperature, which eliminates the need of pre-warming milk. There is no need to worry about sterilizing bottles for babies to drink from. Most importantly, mothers can also co-sleep with their babies without having to worry about getting out of bed to feed their little ones.
Breast milk is essentially important and is considered to be the healthiest choices of nourishment that will improve a baby’s quality of life, growth and development. Mothers are taking a more proactive approach by offering their babies the best source of nutrients, that is convenient, affordable and packed with all the added benefits to prolong a sustainable lifestyle.
Who inspired you to breastfeed your baby? Are there any other benefit of breastfeeding that you would like to share with us? Please share your thoughts in the box below. We look forward to reading your comments.
[…] is a very personal thing between a mother and baby. There is so much love and bonding that happens when breastfeeding that it’s quite hard to describe sometimes. But when out in […]