BREASTMILK - SUPERJUICE FOR BABIES...

Breastfeeding is the best and healthiest way to feed an infant. A baby receives so much from the custom-made mother's milk that no formula can replicate.

Human breast milk contains nutrients and antibodies that can't be duplicated in a lab and aren't found in cow's milk or formula. Dr. William Sears notes in The Baby Book that there are at least 400 nutrients in breastmilk, including hormones and growth factors, that are absent in formula.

Every feeding gives baby just the right amount of what she/he needs, including:

• In the first postpartum days, the breasts produce colostrum, a thin, milky fluid often called "liquid gold." This protects the newborn by giving: rich proteins; immune factors; vitamins; infection-fighting agents and; also gives the baby's digestive system a little kick start to help it begin to function well.
• The healthy and crucial fats, including brain-building fatty acids, give the baby energy and change with his/her needs as the baby grows.
• The carbohydrates, in breast milk, are mostly a lactose--crucial for the growth of the brain.
• There are at least 4 proteins only available in breast milk: taurine (a brain builder); lactoferrin, which helps the baby get enough iron; lysozymes, a natural antibiotic; and nucleotides, which help tissues grow.
• Breast milk provides all the liquid a baby needs, and so extra water to drink is not needed.
• A baby gets all the vitamins and minerals she needs from breast milk in the first 4 to 6 months before eating solids. She/he can absorb the iron present in breast milk 20 times better than that available in formula.
• Breast milk is a natural immunizer for babies, passing on critically important antibodies to help fight infection.
• The baby has many fewer stools than her/his formula-fed counterpart because his/er body can use and digest almost everything in breast milk.

The list of advantages to breast milk provides keeps growing. The bonding and physical contact are great, but the health benefits are as compelling. According to research, breastfed babies have:

• 5 to 10 times fewer stomach infections than formula-fed babies.
• up to 50 percent fewer ear infections than formula drinkers.
• protection from bronchitis, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia.
• less risk of becoming diabetic.
• protection from getting asthma and other allergies.
• have fewer diaper rashes
• are leaner than formula fed babies

New research also finds that premature babies who were tube-fed breastmilk had higher IQs than those who didn't when tested at age 7.

For the mothers, breastfeeding helps to:

• build a strong bond with the infant
• speed up the recovery from pregnancy and delivery
• stimulate hormones that helps the uterus contract back to its pre-pregnancy size
• lose weight
• save time and money over preparing formula and
• relax mom

Breastfeeding Your Baby cites research that says women who breastfeed for at least 3 months are:

• 50 percent less likely to get pre-menopausal breast cancer.
• less likely to get ovarian cancer.
• at a lower risk for osteoporosis