Breastmilk for babies: what the experts say
Here are some reasons why experts say that breastmilk is the natural food for your baby.
Breastmilk: designed by nature
- Breastmilk has developed over millions of years to be exactly suited to your baby’s needs. Although baby formula manufacturers try to copy breastmilk as closely as they can, formula won’t ever be exactly the same as breastmilk.
- Breastmilk adapts to your baby’s changing needs as he gets older and has fewer feeds. It even changes during a feed – the first milk is thirst-quenching, and the last milk is rich, creamy and full of good fats.
- The taste of breastmilk changes with whatever you’ve eaten, which means that a breastfed baby is likely to accept new tastes when she starts eating solids.
Breastmilk: a complete food
- Breastmilk contains all the nutrients your baby needs for the first six months of life. Your baby doesn’t need any water or foods other than breastmilk in these early months.
- Breastmilk is easy to digest and is easily absorbed into your baby’s system.
Breastmilk: a basis for healthy development
- Both colostrum and mature breastmilk contain antibodies and other agents that help protect your baby from infection and reduce the risk of diseases like gastroenteritis, respiratory tract infections, ear infections and type-1 diabetes.
- The good fats in breastmilk are important for baby brain development.
- Breastfeeding is important for baby eyesight, speech, jaw and mouth development.
- Babies who are breastfed have a lower risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and fatal sleeping accidents.
- When a baby nurses, breast milk is body temperature. So naturally, babies often prefer bottles of warm milk over cold. But don’t go running for your microwave yet! Using it to heat breast milk or formula is a no-no. Microwaves can create hot spots in liquid and scald your baby’s mouth.
- Enter bottle warmers. They quickly and uniformly heat a chilled bottle, freezer bag of milk or refrigerated baby food so it’s safe to use right away.
- Note: There’s no danger in feeding your little one cold milk or formula if they’ll take it.
Breastfeeding: why it’s good for mothers
- Breastfeeding is convenient. You don’t have to sterilise bottles, scrub teats, carry bottles and sterile water when you go out, mix powder, keep baby formula chilled or warm formula for feeds.
- Breastmilk is free.
- Breastfeeding can help some women lose weight after the birth.
- Breastfeeding mothers get back to sleep more easily than formula-feeding mothers, and their sleep cycles are more in tune with their babies’ cycles.
- Women who breastfeed have lower rates of breast cancer, osteoporosis and type-2 diabetes.
Breastfeeding: your choice
In the end, it’s an individual choice – but it should be an informed choice.
If you decide not to breastfeed, rest assured that formulas give your baby adequate nutrition. And if you need to supplement breastmilk with formula, it doesn’t mean that breastfeeding has to stop completely.
How long to feed your baby breastmilk
It’s recommended that you breastfeed exclusively until you introduce solid foods when your baby starts showing signs she’s ready, which usually happens around six months. It’s around this time that babies start to need extra nutrients for growth and development.
Your baby needs only small amounts of food for the first few months of solids, and breastmilk is still baby’s main source of nutrition. Once you introduce solids, it’s best for your baby if you keep breastfeeding along with giving your baby solids until your baby is at least 12 months old.
After that, it’s really up to you and your baby how long you keep going. If you decide to breastfeed for longer, your baby will get added benefits like protection against infections in the toddler years.