Breast Feeding Your Baby - Pros and Cons

The choice to breast feed or use formula is a personal one.  There is no truly right or wrong answer.  If you’re having a debate on what to do, consider the following points:

Breast milk is generally healthier than baby formula.  Sure, baby formula manufacturers have spent a lot of time researching what nutrients a baby needs.  Formulas provide nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, so growing babies stay healthy and happy.  However, breast feeding provides some things that formula simply cannot, such as the following:

1. Antibodies - Your immune system has had many years of exposure to viruses and bacteria.  As a result, you have a store of antibodies that help you stay healthy and prevent infection.  Your baby doesn’t have this protection.  However, you can pass your antibodies to your infant via breast feeding, thus protecting them until they can make antibodies of their own.  Baby formula cannot do this.  There are no manufactured antibodies that can be mixed in to the formula prior to its purchase at a store.

2. Changing nutrient blend - Your body naturally changes its milk formula as your baby ages.  This means your baby gets more of what it needs.  Store-bought baby formula has a constant composition.  Your child will get the nutrients he or she needs with formula, but it may not always be optimal.

You can bond with your baby without breast feeding.  While nutrition and immune system health are viable arguments, you shouldn’t think about bonding with your baby as a reason to breast feed.  You can bond with your baby just as easily by feeding him or her with a bottle.  This still provides skin-to-skin contact, so your baby will know you are there.  Anyone who tells you differently is wrong.

You shouldn’t feel guilty if you don’t breast feed.  There are plenty of reasons not to breast feed, just like there are plenty of reasons to do it.  You should make a list of pros and cons and think about them carefully.  Whatever your decision, you should never feel guilty about your choice.  In the long run, it will not really affect your child.  Good reasons not to breast feed are as follows:

1. You or your child has a medical condition that prevents you from breast feeding.

2. You are a working mother who cannot always breast feed.  Of course, using a breast pump is a viable alternative.  That way, you can feed your child breast milk from a bottle.  If this isn’t practical for your lifestyle, then baby formula is your best bet.

3. You feel uncomfortable doing it.  Your comfort matters, too, and breast feeding is a personal choice.