What's the big deal about breast feeding?

Question

Doesnt formula have more ingredients that the baby needs?
Whats the difference between a child who was breast fed and a child who was bottle fed?

I heard it on a baby story show..
they say breast feeding doesnt give enough of some kind of ingredient and you should use formula to give the child the amount of that needed ingredient

I know many people that werent breast fed when they were babies and they arent sick or any different

Answer 1

We bottle fed our two kids, by choice. With the first, we did try for 2-3 days, but it didn't work. It might have worked had we persisted.
Our reasoning, was they are our babies, we decide what works for us. We were all new in the place and country, and knew not a soul here.
My husband did suggest we "try breastfeeding" after 1-2 weeks of bottle feeding. I said, yeah sure. "How about this, instead of just me getting up in the night, you also wake up, I'll feed the baby, you change the diaper and put back to sleep etc,and maybe get me some water or milk/juice", just 3-4 times a night". It was an end to that discussion.

so, point is we made our decision to bottle-feed because it worked for us. My kids are about the smartest, politest, most active kids on the block and in their schools.

and to all of those who breast feed, good for you. just spare me the lecture.

Answer 2

Sometimes it is said that breast milk can be deficient in Vitamin D, however it is rare that a baby needs supplements for this, and usually a routine of allowing the child to be exposed to sunlight for various minutes of the day can take care of the problem. The added junk in formula doesn't make up for the fact that they have added Vitamin D, breast milk has, and always will be best.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/vitamin-d.html

The next link shows some major benefits of breastfeeding over formula feeding,

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/food/infants/breast_bottle_feeding.html

And yes, I am sure we all know kids that were on formula, that never had any problems , it doesn't mean that what is written about breastfeeding versus formula isn't true.

Answer 3

Breast milk is natural so it doesn't have all the additives and such that formula has.

Some women even if the boob nazis say other wise can not breast feed. I was oneof them and it doens't mean I loved my daughter any less, I didn't want her starving, I produced no milk so she drank formula.
She wasn't overweight or underweight, she wasn't any sicker than normal, a cold here and there, she talked early at 5 months by 6 months she was saying small sentence and made all other developmental milestones before or on time.
She is almost 9 years old now still a healthy weight and in the top 5% of her grade level district wide.

I would have liked to have breastfed her, and I"m pregnant again I will attempt to this time as well but if not then the baby will be formula fed and I won't feel guitly about it.

Answer 4

Oh, the benefits list is so very long, for baby, mom and dad! If mom is eating a reasonably healthy and nutritious diet she will pass natural immunization to the new baby, which is a very good thing as everybody around wants to hold the baby and you never know what those people are carrying. Breast fed babies will experience fewer allergies in their lifetime - environmental, chemical and food allergies and will generally experience over-all better health (easier on mom & dad, too). Breast fed babies are generally more calm babies suffering colic less. They generally have a higher IQ. Breastfed babies experience a far lower incidence of obesiety. Breast milk is more easily digested leading to less spitting up, less gas and more comfortable rest for baby (and mom & dad!). Another great benefit is that since breast milk is so easily digested, baby's dirty diaper has a remarkably less offensive odor than that of a formula fed baby. And laundry is easier, too. Breast milk does not have the same protiens, etc. that leave stains in clothing - the messes wash away more completely without staining. Breastfeeding is best for mom, too. Science has proven that moms who breast feed experience breast, ovarian and uterine cancers at a significantly lower rate than moms who have not breast fed. Mom will lose that baby weight faster. Her uterus will contract more quickly and easily resulting in improved uterine health. The only cost involved is nursing pads (very, very inexpensive when compared to the cost of formula). The simplicity just can't be beat - in the middle of the night I used to bring our babies to bed with my husband I and just doze off. Daddy gets to speak softly to the baby and stroke or pat the baby and be involved. There is a bonding beyond all measure when you breast feed your baby. Yet, one of my favorite memories of our little babies is one day when my husband came home from work and I was sitting in the rocker nursing our middle son - daddy came up behind me and looked over my shoulder. You should have seen that beautiful grin and the happy eyes! Milk ran out of his mouth and down my side, but it is one of my happiest memories. Dad is involved, too. He can offer to burp the baby while mom "puts herself back together" or goes on with other needs. Breast feeding is a decision I am so very glad I made. (PS - I'm the grandmother of 2 now - treasure the moments!)

Answer 5

While I am pro breastfeeding and encourage all mothers to at least try it. I will say that there is nothing wrong with formula.And that women who chose to bottle feed are no less of a good mother than those who breast feed.
Now as for formula being better than breast milk because it has more stuff. That is not true. The one thing it has added that breast milk does not have is Vitamin D. And for that there are drops that are given to a breast fed baby once a day.
But if you want to break it down. Breast milk is all natural. In fact that is the what nature intended the breast for. To feed our baby's. While formula is healthy and safe it is still fake milk.

Answer 6

Yes there are all of the benefits that heave been mentioned. When my children were babies, my husband and I were amazed to find that we could tell the difference between a breast-fed baby and a formula fed baby. Breast-fed babies are so much more alert and engaged than their chubby, glazed-eyed formula-fed friends.

Answer 7

no milk can replace mother's milk. It is the only thing which shall take of the new born's needs. You may assume that kids who are not breast fed live as good as the ones who are breast fed. But at one stage or the other the deficiency will crop up even at a very late stage.

Secondly breast milk is fed with pure love of a mother who was reborn for the sake of her child

Answer 8

Bluntly, persons are indignant by using ****. it extremely is not conventional or socially perfect for a woman to get her breasts out in public, and so whilst one does, even for the purpose of breast feeding, it extremely is met with some confusion or disdain. i think of breast feeding's surely a solid ingredient, yet I nonetheless sense a splash perplexed and uncomfortable to work out a girl doing it in public, it sounds like it extremely is going to be some thing private or particular. yet it extremely is only me! You asked for an explaination, you acquire one!

Answer 9

Okay...what exactly are you watching?
Okay, stuff your kid with formula for all I care, can't change what you do anyway. I personally prefer to know that I breastfed my son and never gave him even a slightest bit of formula.
You see, if he's lacking in a certain ingredient, then he's lacking just like half the human population on earth, and definately the whole human population before formula was invented.
I don't know where you get your facts from lady, but they sure are wrong and warped.

Answer 10

Breastmilk is formulated by your body for your baby. Science can't recreate something that was perfected by nature. How did babies survive hundreds of years ago if formula is better than breastmilk? Its only been recent civilization that has used formula interchangably with breastmilk. Prior to this, people who couldn't breastfeed used wet nurses. Science has shown that children who are breastfed generally have fewer allergies, better health and higher IQs than formula fed children. Not to mention less of a chance of being obese as an adult.