Reasons to Breastfeed Your Baby
In this article, discover some of the amazing advantages of breastfeeding your baby. Nursing provides various health benefits for both mother and child, from nutrition to emotional and intellectual development.
To breastfeed or not to breastfeed, that’s the question. This subject has been discussed tirelessly and therefore there are many different points of view.
There has also been talk about the quality and benefits of breast milk. However, there are several proven reasons why breastfeeding your baby is beneficial.
As we all know, breast milk is the best food you can offer a child until they reach the age of one. Breast milk contains all the nutrients your baby needs in the first months of life; it also increases their defenses to fight diseases.
Breastfeeding is not only beneficial because of the composition of breast milk, it also strengths the affective bond between you and your little one.
When you breastfeed your baby, you also give them life and love; in many ways it helps you protect and communicate with your precious treasure.
As we stated above, breastfeeding has benefits for both mother and child.
For some new mothers, breastfeeding has also been found to help speed up weight loss from all the weight gained during nine months of pregnancy. It also helps to fight anemia, hypertension and postpartum depression.
Benefits of breastfeeding your baby
Breastfeeding your baby is not only beneficial for their physical health, it also helps them develop emotionally and intellectually.
Another advantage of breast milk is that it is completely natural, since it is not manufactured, stored nor transported. This saves energy and prevents pollution of the environment.
There are several other reasons in favor of breastfeeding your child.
Below are the benefits that your child’s development has to gain from breastfeeding during the first two years of life:
- Breast milk is the ideal food for babies since it has all the necessary nutrients. It contributes to healthy growth and development.
- Breast milk generates and increases the baby’s defenses, it reduces their risk of suffering from diseases such as bronchiolitis, colitis, otitis, urinary tract infections, meningitis and sudden death syndrome.
- While breastfeeding you can provide attention and affection which is the best stimulus for the newborn. It is the pillar of their development since it provides security and also strengthens the affective bond with their mother.
- Breast milk has a high lactose content. This makes it an essential source of energy for the newborn. In addition, the high concentration of Vitamin E helps to prevent anemia and the calcium it contains helps to fortify their bones.
- Since breast milk is easy to digest, it favors the development of the baby’s intestinal flora. This way the child will be protected against diarrhea causing bacteria.
- It also transfers antibodies from mother to child and this results in a better state of health for the newborn. They will require less health care than those fed with artificial products.
Breastfeeding helps develop the baby’s intellect.
Specialists recommend breastfeeding not only because of the wide range of nutritional benefits that come along with it, but because it is of indispensable value for a child’s integral development.
Breastfeeding also promotes the baby’s psychological growth since it provides an optimal environment for interaction.
Breastfeeding directly influences the development of the newborn’s central nervous system. Therefore, practicing it can provide your child with greater intellectual capacity. This occurs because breast milk has essential fatty substances that are vital to neurological development.
Breastfeeding also provides tactile stimulation and body contact which are important for your child’s development. The whole process becomes an experience from which they can learn based on interaction.
Breastfeeding also strengthens the mother’s confidence in her maternal role and improves her self-esteem.
All of these reasons are why experts in the field insistently repeat that breastfeeding is the greatest act of love between mother and child.
The simple contact with their mom’s soft and warm skin is enough to ensure their tranquility and pleasure, making them feel protected, cared for and loved.
Breastfeeding also has benefits for you
The benefits of breastfeeding are countless and immeasurable, nature is so wise that breastfeeding is also incredibly important for a mother’s health. We would like to share with you a few of the advantages that breastfeeding provides to mothers.
- Breastfeeding accelerates the recovery of the uterus, making it return to its usual shape and size. This prevents bleeding and postpartum infections.
- It increases the intervals between pregnancies.
- It reduces the risks of developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer and uterine cancer.
- Breastfeeding helps you return to your shape by quickly mobilizing fat reserves. Therefore, breastfeeding effectively helps you regain your figure.
- When breastfeeding, oxytocin is released. This is the love hormone and it promotes the bond between mother and child. At the same time it makes us feel happy and united.
- Breastfeeding reduces the risk of suffering from osteoporosis.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Binns C., Lee M., Low WY., The long term public health benefits of breastfeeding. Asia Pac J Public Health, 2016. 28 (1): 7-14.
- Ciampo LA., Ciampo IR., Breastfeeding and the benefits of lactation for women’s health. Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet, 2018. 40 (6): 354-359.