Healthcare - Health Tips - Children and Teens

BREAST FEEDING
Walter Reed Army Medical Center

New parents want to give their babies the very best.  When it comes to nutrition, the best first food for babies is breast milk.  More than two decades of research have established that breast milk is perfectly suited to nourish infants and protect them from illness.  Breast-fed infants have lower rates of hospital admissions, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies, and other medical problems than bottle-fed babies.

Babies should be breast-fed for six to 12 months.  The only acceptable alternative to breast milk is infant formula.  Solid foods can be introduced when the baby is 4 to 6 months old, but a baby should drink breast milk or formula, not cow's milk, for a full year.  There aren't any rules about when to stop breast-feeding.  As long as the baby is eating age-appropriate solid foods, a mother may nurse for 2 years if she wishes.  A baby needs breast milk for the first year of life, and then as long as desired after that.

Benefits To Infants

The primary benefit of breast milk is nutritional.  Human milk contains just the right amount of fatty acids, lactose, water, and amino acids for human digestion, brain development, and growth.  Cow's milk contains a different type of protein than breast milk.  This is good for calves, but human infants can have difficulty digesting it.  Bottle-fed infants tend to be fatter than breast-fed infants, but not necessarily healthier.

Because human milk transfers to the infant the mothers antibodies to disease, breast-fed babies have fewer illnesses.  About 80 percent of the cells in breast milk are macrophages, cells that kill bacteria, fungi and viruses.  Breast-fed babies are protected, in varying degrees, from a number of illnesses, including pneumonia, botulism, bronchitis, staphylococcal infections, influenza, ear infections, and German measles.  Furthermore, mothers produce anti- bodies to whatever disease is present in their environment, making their milk custom-designed to fight the diseases their babies are exposed to as well.

A breast-fed baby's digestive tract contains large amounts of Lactobacacillus bifidus, beneficial bacteria that prevent the growth of harmful organisms.  Human milk straight from the breast is always sterile, never contaminated by polluted water or dirty bottles, which can also lead to diarrhea in the infant.  Human milk contains at least 100 ingredients not found in formula.  No babies are allergic to their mother's milk, although they may have a reaction to something the mother eats.  If she eliminates it from her diet, the problem resolves itself.

Sucking at the breast promotes good jaw development as well.  It's harder work to get milk out of a breast than a bottle, and the exercise strengthens the jaws and encourages the growth of straight, healthy teeth.  The baby at the breast also can control the flow of milk by sucking and stopping.  With a bottle, the baby must constantly suck or react to the pressure of the nipple placed in the mouth.

Nursing may have psychological benefits for the infant as well, creating an early bond between mother and child.  At birth, infants see only 12 to 15 inches, the distance between a nursing baby and its mother's face.  Studies have found that infants as young as 1 week prefer the smell of their own mother's milk.

Many psychologists believe the nursing baby enjoys a sense of security from the warmth and presence of the mother, especially when there's skin-to-skin contact during feeding.

Parents of bottle-fed babies may be tempted to prop bottles in the baby's mouth, with no human contact during feeding.  But a nursing mother must cuddle her infant closely many times during the day.  Nursing becomes more than a way to feed a baby, it's a source of warmth and comfort.

Benefits To Mothers

Breast-feeding is good for new mothers as well as for their babies.  There are no bottles to sterilize and no formula to buy, measure and mix.  It may be easier for a nursing mother to lose the pounds of pregnancy as well, since nursing uses up extra calories.  Lactation stimulates the uterus to contract back to its original size.

A nursing mother is forced to get needed rest.  She must sit down, put her feet up, and relax every few hours to nurse.  Nursing at night is easy as well.  No one has to stumble to the refrigerator for a bottle and warm it while the baby cries.  If she's lying down, a mother can doze while she nurses.

Nursing is also nature's contraceptive-although not a very reliable one.  Frequent nursing suppresses ovulation, making it less likely for a nursing mother to menstruate, ovulate, or get pregnant.  There are no guarantees, however.  Mothers who don't want more children right away should use contraception even while nursing.  Hormone injections and implants are safe during nursing, as are all barrier methods of birth control.  The labeling on birth control pills says if possible another form of contraception should be used until the baby is weaned.

Breast-feeding is economical also.  Even though a nursing mother works up a big appetite and consumes extra calories, the extra food for her is less expensive than buying formula for the baby.  Nursing saves money while providing the best nourishment.

Health Tips from Army Medicine
February 2010