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Breast Feeding Benefits

A baby having milk from a bottle. 

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You may be well aware that breast feeding can be better for your baby but here are some of the benefits you may not have considered. Not only is it an excellent bonding experience, there are other benefits as well.

Health Benefits

There are many health benefits associated with a mother’s breast milk. For one thing, there is nothing on the market like it. There are plenty of formulas that do have similar attributes but natural milk is best if possible. There are antibodies in the mother’s milk that help your baby from a variety of illnesses and diseases. In fact, studies have shown that breast fed babies help the mothers too. Mothers who breast feed typically have lower rates of diabetes and breast cancer so not only are you helping your baby but you are helping yourself as well.

Cost Benefits

There is also the issue of cost. Breast milk is free while formulas can be very expensive.

Closeness and Bonding

One of the best benefits of breast feeding can be the bonding experience you develop with your baby. Even the baby’s father can grow closer to his baby by helping with bottle preparation and simply being near when the breast feeding is done.

Not every mother can breast feed due to a variety of reasons and that’s okay too. However, if you feel that breast feeding is right for you and your baby, you can certainly see the benefits of doing so. Breast feeding is universally accepted and you’ll love the benefits.

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Your Diet Affects Your Breast Milk

Women who are pregnant are always advised by their doctors to eat a healthy diet, not to smoke, and to stay away from alcohol. As part of that admonition, the doctor always explains how the things that you eat and drink can and will affect the baby.

Giving birth to that baby doesn’t mean you can suddenly go on a binge though. If you’re going to breast feed, you still need to watch your diet, avoid alcohol and be especially careful about any over the counter or prescription drugs that you take. Many of these things can end up directly in your breast milk and affect your baby.

You have to realize that your body is working to produce the entire nutritional necessity of your baby. Not only that, but it is adding antibodies and other health factors to the milk it is producing. All of this is important to your baby’s proper growth and development.

If you are lacking in some type of nutrient in your diet, your baby will end up lacking that nutrient as well. Take calcium for example. Calcium is necessary for the growth of bones. If you aren’t taking in enough calcium, how can your breast milk have it for your baby? While that baby was growing in you, it would literally take calcium from your system, if necessary from your bones, in order to have what it needs. But now that the baby is born, it only receives what you give it in your milk.

I realize that most women want to lose the weight they gained from the baby, but you have to be careful about that. A balanced diet is essential to insure that you are giving all the necessary nutrients to your baby. That doesn’t mean you can’t lose weight, just that you have to be careful how you are doing it. Cut out carbohydrates and sugars from your diet, but don’t cut out proteins, vitamins, fruits and vegetables, both you and your baby need them.

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Getting Back In Shape After Giving Birth

So, you have just experienced one of the most incredible moments in your life. You are holding your new born, and are in shock that nature has such an amazing gift. Then you get home, and realize that your belly does not look quite right, your jeans will not budge past your knees, and all of your shirts are about four sizes too small. Do not panic, what you are experiencing is normal. Think about it, it took nine months for your body to stretch out, and prepare for giving birth, and it won’t go right back to normal in just the few hours it took to deliver. It is ok, this is a normal part of the process.

The first step that you need to take is to mentally prepare that things will not be right back to where they were in five minutes. Some experts say that takes a full year for your body to go back to how it was, this includes your hips going back down, your belly shrinking back, and your breast to tame down. In the meantime, there are things you can do so that you build up your muscle tone, burn off that baby weight, and get ready to be a goddess. During your postpartum period, if you are nursing, your body is burning calories like crazy, close to 2,000 calories a day. This is more than what you burned while pregnant. Work on your cardio fitness plan, and the combination of breast feeding and cardio melts the pounds off.

Walking is a great way to build up endurance, strengthen legs, and get you back into a fitness routine. Giving birth is an exhausting effort. There is a lot going on during that time, and it takes a while to get that energy back. Plan on easing into a routine, and by the time your baby is two months old, you will be feeling good as new.

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Breast Feeding

Breat feeding is an exciting event that mother and child can experience together. It is incredibly bonding, and according to most experts, is the single biggest thing you can do for your child’s health. However, some new mothers need help with this exercise, because babies are not always as cooperative as they need to be. Some of the issues that new moms deal with is the baby grabbing onto the nipple, instead of the areola. This can be very painful if done too often, and as a result lead to cracking and bleeding around the nipple area. To get your baby to latch onto the full part of the breast, try placing your nipple into the babies mouth, so that it rubs along the roof of his or her mouth. This creates a reflex from the baby to reach out and grab the breast to suckle. Another issue that mothers experience is preferential treatment. One breast tends to have a firmer nipple than the other, and the baby prefers the firmer or softer, and develops a pickiness for the other. This can be frustrating at times because lactation occurs equally, and the baby will not fully nurse one side. This is a good time to try a pump. Pumping can help release pressure so that the milk is released, and you can avoid a breast infection.

Some mothers find that using lanolin cream after breast feeding helps to decrease sensitivity and cracking. Pumps are always go to have, but be wary of nipple confusion. This is when a baby confuses a bottle for the breast, and then refuses the breast. If there are any questions about breast feeding, hospitals have a La Leche League foundation, where trained nursing assistant can answer questions and provide tips so that your breast feeding experience is a wonderful one.

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Importance of Breastfeeding

In various parts of the world, the coming of a new baby into a family is always followed by great felicitations and celebrations. If you have ever experienced one before, you will agree that having a new baby is a very joyful one especially for the parents and their well-wishers.

However, after the celebrations and the festivities of the naming ceremony, the parents are faced with the stark challenge of raising the child. It is at this point that the parents, especially the mother begins to understand the challenging and highly demanding nature of motherhood. In a world where mothers are also contributors to the family income, a lot of mothers see breastfeeding as a time-wasting and laborious process.

As a result, millions of mothers all over the globe opt for baby milk formulations and different types of infant formulas. However, when we learn of the many benefits of breastfeeding, you will agree that there is really no alternative that is better.

Breast milk has been analyzed by scientists and it has been discovered that it contains the right amount of sugar, fats, proteins and water that the baby needs. Nothing is in excess or insufficient. In addition to this, breast milk gives protection to your child against various infections. However, breast-feeding is not advisable in a case where the mother is down with diseases such as tuberculosis or the much-dreaded human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This is to prevent the possibility of a mother-to-child transmission.

Another important discovery that has been made in this regard is that children that were breastfed exclusively during the early months of their lives have been shown to have a relatively higher intelligence quotient (IQ) than their counterparts that were fed mainly on baby formulas. They were also seen to have a lower risk of developing diseases such as diabetes and conditions such as obesity.

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Why you must Breastfeed your Child

Let us imagine a scenario in the maternity ward of a hospital in which a woman is being delivered of her very first child. The delivery process is smooth and in some minutes, the hospital reverberates with the shrilling cries of a newborn. The new mother is very tired from the stress of labor but she is visibly ecstatic. What is going on through her mind is what to give the new child as best gifts. But funnily enough, the best gifts anyone can give a child are right there on her chests. Yes, her breasts!

Some call it the mammary glands but these pairs are some of the most amazing structures ever designed. They produce fresh and unpolluted milk for the newborn. The milk is so precise in its composition that it contains the right amount of nutrients just suitable for the baby. The contents of fats, proteins, water and sugar (lactose) happen to be in the right quantity, as if the breast milk was customized for the baby.

Apart from the high nutritional status of breast milk, you need to also realize the fact that it contains substances that protect your child from different sorts of infections, some of which can be fatal. These substances are called antibodies and circulate in the bloodstream of the mother and are passed on to the baby via breast milk during feeding.

In addition to all these, another reason why you must breastfeed that child of yours is the fact that breast milk contains a lot of vitamins and minerals that are needed for proper growth and development. Some of these minerals are calcium, sodium, potassium and phosphorus. Thus, your child will not suffer from conditions that result from the deficiency of these minerals if you adopt breastfeeding  exclusive breastfeeding.

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How to Care for a Baby

One unique thing with being a mother is that any time you are heavy with a baby or when you have just been delivered of a baby, you will be overwhelmed with advice, tips, secrets and all sorts of information on how to care for the newborn. Some of these tips leave you reeling with laughter while some others leave you even more confused, particularly when it is your first time.

However, the nice thing about caring for a baby is the fact that the steps are quite basic and simple. These include how to bathe, clothe, feed and care for the baby. Although simple, taking care of a baby is like an art, one that must be learnt over time.

The bathing of a baby is one that must be done carefully and without the slightest haste. If not done properly, the bathing of a baby can result in the death of the baby by drowning. That is the reason why you must never leave you child in a bathing tub alone, not even for a second. As a matter of fact, you must never leave your baby unattended to in any circumstances. Caring for a baby is a duty that is for 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week! You cannot afford to take chances. If you do not know how to bathe your baby properly, you can seek for assistance from those that have the experience.

Once the bathing issue has been taken care of alongside clothing, another important aspect that you must attend to is that of feeding. This is a very crucial aspect in pediatric care and to minimize your problems, you can adopt the highly beneficial method of exclusive breastfeeding. Apart from the fact that the cost is quite negligible, your baby stands to gain a lot from breastfeeding and you should not deny him or her such benefits.

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