How you feed your baby will depend on what works best for you, but there is growing evidence that breastfeeding is better for your baby’s health.
Breastfeeding
It is the best way to boost your baby’s development, protect him against infections and help you lose the weight you gained in pregnancy.
Breast milk is the perfect food for a baby and contains protective antibodies, so breastfed babies get fewer ear, chest and urine infections, less diarrhoea and fewer tummy upsets.
Breast milk is easily digested, and has growth factors and hormones that help your baby’s development.
If you have a family history of allergies, such as hayfever, eczema or asthma, breastfeeding can help to cut the risk of your baby developing them.
Breastfeeding can also help you to lose weight (it uses up 500 calories a day), help your womb shrink back to its normal size, and give some protection against pre-menopausal breast and ovarian cancer.
Breast milk is free, on tap when your baby needs it, and you don’t have to make up feeds or sterilise bottles.
It is possible to express breast milk using a special breast pump, and to feed this to your baby using a sterilised bottle. Some women choose to do this at times when they can’t or don’t want to breastfeed.
Bottle feeding
Infant formula milk can be used as an alternative to breast milk. It is designed to give your baby the nutrition he needs. Bottle feeding can give other people a chance to help with feeding.
You will need four bottles and teats, a bottle brush and a steriliser. There are various types of steriliser: microwave or electric, or one that uses cold water and sterilising tablets.
Before sterilising, wash and rinse everything thoroughly to remove every trace of milk and ensure the teat holes flow freely. Wash your hands with soap and warm water before making up feeds. If you’re using a cold-water steriliser, rinse the bottles in cooled, boiled water.
When making up feeds, follow the manufacturer’s instructions exactly. Never make milk thinner or thicker, and always use cooled, boiled water. Put the water in first and check the level is right before measuring the powder.
Before feeding, you can warm the bottle in some hot water. Don’t use a microwave as it may heat the milk unevenly and burn your baby’s mouth. Check the temperature of the milk by dripping some on the inside of your wrist.
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[New Post] Breast milk is better for your baby’s health – via @twitoaster http://www.allvitalpoints.com/?p=359
i just want to say that expressing milk is not as easy as everyone says it is, by the tme i sterilized the equiptment and went to start expressing my baby needed feeding again. i dont think its fair to criitisize bottle feediing either, so many breastfeedinng mums are so biased and i think its unfair. ive breastfed for 5 months and am now mix feeding because i am due to go back to work in a month then will move to formula complelty, which i think is practical for me and my child. also what people dont tell you is how hard it is to get a breastfed baby onto a bottle, it has taken me 2 months to get my baby to take a bottle even with breast milk in, and even then i have had to buy special bottles that cost me 19 pounds for 4 called breastflow available in mothercare that imitate the sucking motion and putting a little bit of my milk on the teat, thats the only that has worked.
so dont feel bad if your bottlefeeding as long as you comfort your child and interact with your child whilst feeding theirs nothing wrong and the dads do benefit, my boyfriend loves being able to feed lotus now, rather than purely just me before.
I am a breastfeeding mum of 2. One of the wonderful advantages of living in western civilization is freedom of choice. If feel so lucky to of been able to make my own educated decision on how I would like to feed my babies. I chose to breast feed because the FACTS show it is by far the most superior food for a baby. I feel for the women in this world who, for whatever reason cannot breast feed or are led to believe formula milk is better.
We need more support and education, including NHS led support groups and on-call breast feeding councilors for mums who have just left hospital, (the time when most Mums find breastfeeding most challenging and are most likely to give up).
I also think more support in the work place should be put in place. Often mothers think they have to give up breast feeding when they return to work – which is not always the case.
I might sound rather biased but only because I have looked at the facts.