Breastfeeding Benefits

Breastfeeding Saves Time And Money

• Your nutritional supply of food for your baby is right there, in your breasts. That means you don’t have to run out to the store to constantly buy more expensive formula. The average formula cost to feed a baby is around $1,733.75, but breastmilk is 100% free. A breast pump may cost you a little, but you can get one through insurance.
• You don’t have to measure anything out or warm anything up either because breastmilk is always the perfect temperature. All you have to do is unbutton or lift your shirt up. Then you get to spend more time bonding with your baby with the added benefit of having no clean up after.
• With less prep work involved with feeding your baby, you can instantly put a boob on it. This helps to more quickly calm your baby down and it will cry less.
• Traveling with your baby is easier because you don’t have to pack as much for the trip. Plus, you don’t have to worry about what to feed your baby or staying out too long, because your breastmilk will be right there with you.
• Formula can cause babies to spit up and ruin their own clothes and yours, so you may save on having to buy new outfits.
• Breastfeeding is better for your baby’s immune system and health so, with a healthier baby, less is spent on doctor visits and medicine.

It Improves Baby’s Health

• The breastfeeding benefits for baby are seemly endless because breastmilk is basically liquid gold for your little one. It’s easy to digest and full of essential nutrients, antibodies, vitamins, protein, and fats for an entire lifetime of benefits.
• For example, breastfeeding leads to lower rates of obesity as studies show obesity rates are 15-30% lower in breastfed babies than formula fed babies. This could be due to the higher amount of healthy gut bacteria breastfed babies develop or the fact that breast milk gives babies more leptin, which regulates fat storage and appetite.
• Breastfeeding helps babies develop mature immune systems by providing antibodies to help fight diseases and infections. Breastfed babies had lower rates of issues like diarrhea, diabetes, colds, infections, and more.
• Breastfed babies are also linked to lower rates of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), allergies, cancer, and more. Best of all, these benefits go on to last through adulthood.
• By being easier to digest breast milk helps your baby avoid issues such as gas, rashes, and colic. It also helps relieve your baby’s meconium, which is your baby’s first stole, from while it was still in the womb.

It Improves Your Health Too

• Even though your new baby is the world, you still need to make some you time, even if that may be seemingly impossible to find after giving birth. However, breastfeeding is actually one to treat yo’self.
• Breastfeeding benefits for mom include rates of faster healing after birth as breastfeeding releases the hormone oxytocin, which helps your uterus more quickly return to its normal size and can help reduce postpartum bleeding.
• Oxytocin also helps to prevent postpartum depression and promotes long-term anti-anxiety relief.
• Prolactin is another hormone released while breastfeeding that helps you relax to focus on bonding with your child. This relaxation combined with the warmth and calmness provided by skin to skin contact creates an incredible satisfying maternal bond.
• While you breastfeed, you’re also burning calories. Moms who continue to breastfeed through 3 to 6 months tend to lose more weight than those who don’t breastfeed. This can help you return to your pre-pregnancy weight faster.
• Breastfeeding could also reduce your risk for diseases, as it’s linked with a lower risk of developing both breast and ovarian cancer. Then if you breastfeed for 1 to 2 years you may also benefit from lowered risks of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and more.

Breast Milk is Great For Development

• Benefits of breastfeeding for baby include getting the necessary nutrition they need to grow up big, strong, and smart. Studies show that breastfed babies have more developed growth in the regions of the brain related to language, emotional function, cognition, and more.
• Breast milk can also help babies grow faster. Which can be a little sad, as babies only stay little for such a short period of time. However, if your baby doesn’t grow fast enough with formula you may need to supplement start feeding your baby solids before the recommended age of 6 months old.
• Your milk is full of calcium and Vitamin D which are both needed to help your baby develop strong bones.

Enjoy Those Breastfeeding Benefits