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27 answers

yes it has better nutrients for the babies but some mothers just can not do it....

2006-10-04 00:36:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 3

It's been proved over and over again and there's so many countless benefits that I can't even list them all. When I got pregnant, I thought about bottle-feeding my baby. Now he's eight months old and I'm really glad that I didn't go that route. besides all the obvious health benefits, I lost a ton of weight (breastfeeding burns about 600 calories a day by the time the milk supply is well established) and also I don't have the hassle of making formula and boiling bottles. My baby has also never been sick a day of his life. No colds, fevers, nothing! If I could change something, though, it would be to pump some milk and give him a bottle at least once a day. I didn't do this, so now he doesn't know how to drink from a bottle or sippy cup for juice and water and so that's a bit tough for me. But all and all I have no regrets!

2006-10-04 00:43:30 · answer #2 · answered by MJ 3 · 2 2

Breast milk is by far better, but the immunities that people talk about are given to the baby during the first 3-4 days. It is in the colostrum (don't know if I spelled that right). This is the sticky liquid you get before your milk comes in. The best with breast feeding is that it is extremely easy for your baby to digest, whereas formula can be somewhat difficult. I find it easier to have formula than to breast feed simply because I am a working mother.

2006-10-04 01:59:32 · answer #3 · answered by Carrie L 1 · 1 2

The World Health Organisation recommends exclusively breastfeeding infants until they are 6mo for improved immunitity and the correct proportion of nutrients (as long as mum has a healthy diet).

It also helps develop a child's ability for "portion control" (they finish feeding when they want rather than when the bottle is empty) reducing the risk of childhood obesity, and introduces them to different tastes earlier (breastmilk changes taste a bit with different things mum eats and throughout the feed - fattier at the start, etc).

2006-10-04 02:42:47 · answer #4 · answered by EC Mama 3 · 1 1

The benefits have been proven but the mistake is made when breastfed babies are compared to bottlefed babies. The benefits are to the individual child. My son will not necessarily be smarter than his bottlefed cousins but he will be smarter and healthier than he would have been if I bottlefed him. Same as health. Because there are other factors which determine this. Genetics, diet after the breast or bottle, active or non-active lifestyle all contribute to the child's health. Same as intelligence- genetics (neurological difficulties) and nurturing methods can affect the IQ. Emotional difficulties also get in the way.
Yes, it has been proven that breastfeeding is better. But is has also been proven that formula is the best alternative (as opposed to the milk and karo syrup concoction and others like it).

2006-10-04 01:33:05 · answer #5 · answered by AlongthePemi 6 · 2 1

Yes breast-feeding is what nature intended but if some mothers are unable to why should they be made to feel guilty about that? As long as a baby is being fed and growing up strong and healthy then what does it matter how the baby is fed? Would people just rather the baby starve than have formula?

I had a terrible and dangerous pregnancy and was left so ill at the end of it that my midwife and OB/GYN reccommended bottle feeding because my husand was going to have to do the lion's share of the work for the first couple weeks of our baby's life. I needed time to heal. My daughter just celebrated her 1 year birthday and she's so healthy, happy and strong. As far as this "breastfed babies are smarter" crap our doctor has said that developmentally she's ahead of a lot of other babies her age. My SIL also bottlefed her two kids and they're both gifted children. The oldest is at the top of his class and got accepted to university at the age of 15. A formula fed baby actually amounting to something..shocker!

2006-10-04 01:19:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1 3

Human milk is the biological norm - it is what our brains, stomachs, intestines, and so forth are expecting and need. Formula is a non-human milk substitute made from non-human foods.

Humans are mammals, and part of the definition of mammal is "milk-producing mammary glands for nourishing the young". Even the word mammal derives from the Latin word, mamma, meaning breast.

Cow's milk is perfect food - for cows. Human milk is the perfect food - for humans.

Some women are unable to breastfeed for multitude of reasons, and for them, thank God formula exists, since milk banks are far too expensive and wet nursing is very very rare. And formula is much better these days than back at the turn of the century when babies fed non-human milk regularly died.

But please remember that WHO classifies non-human milk substitutes (aka formula) as FOURTH best infant feeding method. First is breastfed by mother at the breast, second is bottle fed with expressed breastmilk from mother, third is fed with another woman's breastmilk and fourth is fed with non-human milk substitutes.

The fact that milk banks and wet nurses are rare, or that many women have problems with nursing, or that our society does NOT truly support breastfeeding (making women feel guilty but not reducing barriers to breastfeeding is not support), or that formula companies are actively trying to increase their market share and the US government does nothing about it - the context in which women make the decision to formula feed or breastfeed does not change biological fact that human babies need human milk.

2006-10-04 03:15:53 · answer #7 · answered by Siobhan G 1 · 2 0

I read an article in todays parent that says formula feeding is as dangerous as riding a mechanical bull while pregnant....
If you can breastfeed, you definitely should.

I Decided that I wasnt going to stop trying to breastfeed until I had absolutely tried my best.
It reminded me of when I quit smoking, I had to keep pushing myself to keep trying and I kept trying to justify quitting and giving a bottle.I got thrush, a VERY PAINFUL yeast infection in the breast, The lactation nurse told me to keep breastfeeding through it and I did, sometimes almost crying at the pain.

I dont judge people who dont breastfeed, my mother didnt.
But I wanted to everything I could for my baby and if breastfeeding is that much better, than Im not going to give up without a fight.

-I was just reading the 101 reasons to breastfeed that someone posted and it is funny, I mentioned that my mother didnt breastfeed and she used to say that "her kids turned out fine."
one of the reasons to breastfeed was "Breastfeeding protects baby against bacterial meningitis"
WHen I was 9 months old I almost died from Bacterial meningitis, I was very lucky and did not have any permanent damage either.

2006-10-04 05:47:21 · answer #8 · answered by Pro_Dog_Trainer 3 · 2 0

Yes it has been proven by mothers all over the world, babies reared on breast milk are healthier than those reared on bottle.
They also grow better and faster.
The longer you breast feed the better for the child

2006-10-04 02:20:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1 1

Have you ever looked at an ingredient list on a can of formula? It is as long as I am tall. Why pump your baby full of preservatives? I realize some women do not have a choice and I understand that. But a mother's milk was made specifically for the baby. That is proven. What is better than something made specifically for your own body? Unless you are one of the women who have no choice I don't see why anyone would choose formula over breast milk.

2006-10-04 00:58:34 · answer #10 · answered by Amelia 5 · 2 2

101 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Baby
http://www.promom.org/101/

Yes.....breastmilk has been proven superior to formula over and over and over. Man simply can't copy the perfection of breastmilk. Cow's milk is made for baby cows. Breastmilk is made for baby humans. Breastmilk is a living substance that changes day to day, feeding to feeding, to meet the baby's needs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing for AT LEAST 12 months. The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend nursing for AT LEAST 2 years. Pretty much all professional health organizations out there have recommendations to exclusively breastfeed for at least 6 months and then continue for many months more.

ADDING....
BTW....babies get immunities from mom the ENTIRE time they are nursing, not just from the colostrum in the first few days.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/immunefactors.html

2006-10-04 02:50:28 · answer #11 · answered by momma2mingbu 7 · 1 1

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