I must tell you that breast milk is usually best for your baby.
-Each mother's breast milk is made especially for their own newborn. It contains all the Vit., Min. & iron that your baby needs( where as bottle milk has as little as 5-10% of all vit., min., & iron that are used by your baby.) Breast milk also continues to chg. as your baby grows to meet the changing needs of your infant, no formula is capable of such a chg. Breast milk contains protecting agents to help insure your baby's health, these agents (WBC's and immunoglobins) help fight DZ and INF.
Advantages of Breastfeeding (Disadvantages to bottle feeding):
1) promotes bonding between mom and infant, easily and quickly digested.
2) Breastfed babies have fewer illnesses and faster recovery. The antibodies found in breast milk provide immunities that make it easier for a baby to fend off illnesses such as colds and ear infections. So not only do breastfed babies tend to get sick less often but when they do get sick, they get better faster then babies that are bottle fed. Pre-mature babies who get breast milk also have less GI problems
3) Breast milk has long term health benefits for your baby. The positive effects of breastfeeding last well beyond babyhood. Studies show that babies breastfed for the first six months are 43% less likely to become obese as children, if breastfed for more then 1 year they are 72% less likely to be overweight. Breastfeed babies have a lower risk of HTN later in life, they also have a lower risk of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea later in life. Breastfeed babies also have an average of 8 to 10 IQ points higher then bottle-fed babies. Finally breastfed babies have a lower incidence of SID's
4) Breastfeeding helps to take the pounds off after pregnancy. Producing breast milk requires 500 calories a day
5) Breastfeeding also helps benefit mom's health. Some studies indicate that breastfeeding decreases or