[Knowledge: Baby] ECB1: FEEDING AND NUTRITION – Why Breast is Best

Your baby depends on you for the provision of adequate nutrition, and for a newborn, breast or bottled milk will provide all she needs. Breast milk is the ideal food for a baby. It is the perfect food for babies because it contains all the nutrients your baby needs, and in just the right amounts.

Breast milk has many benefits for your baby.

1. Breastfed babies tend to suffer less than bottlefed babies from such illnesses as gastroenteritis and chest infections. Antibodies from the colostrum and the mother’s milk are absorbed into the bloodstream, where they act to protect the baby against infections. In the first few days of life, they also protect the intestine, reducing the chances of intestinal upsets.

2. Breastfed babies don’t get constipated, since breast milk is more easily digestible than cows’ milk, although they pass few stools because the milk is so completely digested that there is little waste.

3. Breastfed babies are less prone to ammoniacal nappy rash which irritates and burns the skin.

4. From some mother’s point of view, breastfeeding is far more convenient than bottlefeeding: there is no need for the milk to be warmed up, there are no bottles to sterilize, no formula to be made up and no equipment to buy.

5. Breastfed babies usually sleep longer, suffer less from wind and posset – that is, regurgitate food – less, and the posset smells less unpleasant.

Every woman is capable of breastfeeding her baby, and you should try to do so. Many women feel that they must breastfeed to be a good mother, and feel guilty if they decide not to. On the other hand, some women find it emotionally or psychologically difficult to breastfeed; others find that however much they try, they cannot master breastfeeding. If this is the case, then you should forget about it and concentrate on giving your baby a good bottlefed diet: she will still thrive.