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Breast Feeding and its importance to a child's growth

Whether to breastfeed your little one or not is a deeply personal matter, and supporters on both sides of the issue tend to have strong opinions. The majority of the experts today suggest that breastfeeding offers a plethora of benefits. If you have been considering not breastfeeding your new baby, you are probably inundated with information. It’s a personal decision only you can make, but the benefits are seemingly endless.

But before you make a final decision, it is essential to go through the benefits of breastfeeding offered in this guide. Breast milk provides optimal nutrition for babies. It has the right amount of nutrients, is easily digested, and is readily available. Some of the experts say that you should continue to breastfeed your baby for a longer duration.

Some of the reasons why breastfeeding is essential to a child’s growth are:

It provides ideal nutrition for babies:

Almost all healthcare professionals recommend exclusive breastfeeding for at least six months or much longer. It is mainly because breast milk contains everything a baby needs for the first six months of life, in all the right proportions. Its composition even changes according to the baby’s changing needs, especially during the first month of life.

After birth, birth, your breasts produce a thick and yellowish fluid called colostrum during the first days. It’s high in protein, low in sugar, and loaded with beneficial compounds. It is truly a wonder food and should not be replaced by the formula. It is ideal first milk for the newborn and helps the newborn’s immature digestive tract develop. After the early few days, the breasts start producing larger amounts of milk as the baby’s stomach grows.

The only thing that lacks in the magic supply of breast milk is Vitamin D. your breast milk won’t provide enough unless you have a very high intake. Ideally, Vitamin D drops are recommended.

Breast milk is loaded with essential antibodies:

Breast milk is loaded with antibodies that help your baby fight off viruses and bacteria, which is essential in those tender, early months. It mainly applies to colostrum, the first milk. Colostrum offers high amounts of immunoglobulin A (IgA), as well as several other antibodies. You start producing antibodies that then go into the milk when you are exposed to viruses or bacteria. IgA protects the baby from getting sick by forming a protective layer in the baby’s nose, throat, and digestive system.

As per several studies, it has been proved that that baby who is not breastfed are more vulnerable to health issues like pneumonia, diarrhea, and infection.

Can help in preventing obesity:

Studies have shown that hat breastfed infants are less likely to be obese later in life. The theory is that nursing mothers get in tune with signals that their baby is full and don’t overfeed. It is mainly because you don’t necessarily have to read your baby’s ‘satiety cues’ a little better. After all, unlike with a bottle, you can’t see how much he’s eaten. All you need to do is rely on your own instincts and your baby’s behavior to know when your baby is full.

Protects against allergies and eczema:

It may be especially beneficial for you to breastfeed if there is a history of either in your family. No doubt, protein in cow’s milk and soy milk formulas can stimulate an allergic reaction, but the proteins in human breast milk are more easily digested.

Promotes healthy weight for baby:

Breastfeeding promotes healthy weight gain and helps prevent childhood obesity. It is mainly because of the development of different gut bacteria. Breastfed babies have more significant amounts of beneficial gut bacteria, which may affect fat storage.

Babies fed breast milk also have more leptin in their systems as compared to formula-fed babies. Leptin is a crucial hormone for regulating appetite and fat storage.

Breastfeeding might make kids smarter:

Breastfeeding may help the baby ace those tests. As per recent researches, it has been proved that breastfed babies have higher intelligence scores and are less likely to develop behavioral problems.

Hence, we can say that breastfeeding benefits are so numerous that most health agencies recommend it for everyone for as long as possible.