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Nursing Your Baby:
The Benefits Of Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is one of the best things you can do for you and your baby. Babies that are nursed have less incidence of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Breastfeeding gives your baby all of the nourishment he needs for the first 6 months of life and creates an instant bond with your child that will last a lifetime. There are so many medical benefits for you and your baby.
For the mom, it helps to shrink the size of your uterus back to its pre-pregnancy size. It also helps to increase your metabolism, allowing you to get back into shape a lot faster than if you weren’t nursing. Woman who nurse also have less post-partum complications. They also have a lower risk of getting breast cancer.
Breastfeeding helps to reduce stress for the mom because when a woman is nursing, her body produces the hormone oxytocin. This hormone causes your body to be more relaxed. The medical benefits for the child are amazing. Before your milk comes in post-partum, the beginning milk, called colostrum is produced. When you nurse your baby with colostrum, you’re passing along all of your immunity to illnesses.
You will notice that because your baby was breastfed that they will get sick less often than non-breastfed babies. There’s also evidence to suggest that breastfed babies have higher IQ’s, less chance of developing high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, obesity, gastrointestinal issues and ear infections. And that’s only some of the benefits. Researchers are now reporting that the benefits of nursing continue for a large part of the child’s life.
Another one of the benefits to choosing to nurse is the fact that you save money. There’s no expensive formula or bottles to buy. All you need is you and your baby. It’s convenient too, especially for those middle of the night feedings. There’s no running around the house sterilizing and heating bottles while your baby cries. You can nurse while you’re sitting, standing, or even in bed while you’re lying down.
If you choose to nurse there are tons of books and information to assist you in the event you have any problems or need any help. Most hospitals have lactation consultants on staff if you need help. Sometimes hospitals rent nursing supplies. The La Leche League is an organization that is dedicated to educating and helping woman breastfeed. They offer support groups and local help.
There are a few optional things a nursing mom may wish to buy. A nursing pump is good if you want to store expressed milk for another feed or if your husband or someone else wants a turn at feeding the baby. There are bottles that usually come with the pump for storing the milk. These bottles can also be used to feed the baby.
There are different types of pumps you can buy. There are manual ones which are inexpensive but take longer for you to pump the milk out. There are electric pumps that are more expensive but more efficient in pulling the milk out. Deciding which one to buy all depends on what your needs are. There are also plenty of things you can get to help with nursing problems such as nursing pads for leaking breasts and lanolin cream for sore nipples.
Breastfeeding is the most natural and healthy thing you can do for you and your baby. If you choose to breastfeed, you’ll find it to be a wonderful experience that will stay with you forever.
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