The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Breastfeeding

Mother can decide whether she wants to breastfeed her child or not. There are various pros and cons of breastfeeding. As you see, mothers have lots of benefits from breastfeeding for their children and themselves. Breastfeeding is directly related to the newborn baby’s growth and the mother’s health after delivery. 

However, breastfeeding is also related to so many disadvantages for nursing. So before taking any particular decision, you need to know the pros and cons of breastfeeding. 

What Is Breastfeeding?

Trusted and the world-renowned health organizations such as WHO or World Health Organization and AAP or American Academy of Pediatrics said that breast milk or mother’s milk is the best way to give a newborn baby the dose of nutrients. 

AAP said that a newborn baby should be fed by breastfeeding or mother’s milk for the first six months. Also, they said that newborns can be fed after six months by combining the solid food and the mother’s breast milk until 1. These organizations use the word “Exclusively,” which means babies have only to be fed with mother’s milk and not any other thing, not any liquid or solid for that duration, which means no water. 

The Advantages Of Breastfeeding

The mother, as well as a child, can have numerous breastfeeding benefits. Here below are some benefits of nursing your newborn baby.

• Breastfeeding is a natural process in which mothers feed their newborn babies. The mother’s body naturally works to supply nutrition to the child. 
• Breast milk has so many benefits to the development of the body. Breast milk contains natural ingredients that prevent and protect your newborn from disease and illnesses after their birth. 
• Breastfeeding is also beneficial for mothers. Those mothers who choose to breastfeed will tend to recover faster after childbirth than those who don’t. 
• Breastfeeding also reduces the risk of getting breast and ovarian cancer. Not only this, but breastfeeding also has so many benefits like lowering the risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular issues, rheumatoid arthritis, and hypertension. 
• It is also proven that breast milk is tastier for the newborn baby. Mother’s milk is creamy, sweeter, and better in taste than formula milk. Breast milk passes the taste and nutrients of food a mother eats. So this means that breastfeeding is much more effective for your newborn baby’s growth and for the mother. 
• Breast milk gets more easily digested by your newborn baby than formula milk. It is because your body or mother’s body especially makes this milk for babies. Mother’s milk is easy to digest and prevents colic and gas in the newborn baby’s stomach. 
• Babies will also not face any constipation and diarrhea if fed with breast milk.
• Breastfeeding is the ideal way to feed your newborn. Your breast will provide the right supply of nutrition to your baby at the right temperature. You don’t have to do anything to heat and feed your child at the right temperature like formula milk. 
• Breast milk is also economical as compared to formula milk. It will save thousands of dollars, which you have to spend on artificial feeding methods. You are not even required to shop for any bottles, supplies, or formula for feeding your newborn. Breastfeeding keeps your newborn baby healthier that also aids in lowering medical costs and other associated costs for your child’s health.
• Breastfeeding provides your child with comfort if they are crying, scared, injured, or feeling not good. They also fell asleep during breastfeeding. 
• Breastfeeding also provides relaxation to your newborn baby. During breastfeeding, the child’s body releases the Oxytocin hormone. This hormone responsible for feeling good makes your child relax completely. 
• Periods also get delayed if you are breastfeeding your newborn. As soon as you stop breastfeeding your newborn, you will face periods in the same month. 
• You can also feed your newborn baby with breast milk by pumping the milk into a bottle. If you are a working woman, then pumping breast milk is the best way to give your newborn the nutrients of mother milk if you are not near. 

The Disadvantages of Breastfeeding

There are numerous and priceless advantages of breastfeeding. However, breastfeeding is not for all types of newborns and even not for every mother. Below are the reasons that make breastfeeding not for every type of child. 

• Your newborn baby gets a habit of breastfeeding that makes you available every time your child cries or wakes up. For the first few weeks, you have to breastfeed your child two hours a day. 
• Breastfeeding is painful and uncomfortable. This may also cause breast engorgement, sore nipples, plugged milk ducts, and mastitis. 
• Some mothers may feel embarrassed to feed their children with breast milk. 
• In the beginning, breastfeeding can be uncomfortable and challenging for mothers. Breastfeeding is harder for mothers; it makes them feel discouraged and disappointed if they do not properly. 
• Breastfeeding demands a healthy living lifestyle. The mother of a newborn baby cannot eat and drink anything she likes. She has to make her diet super healthy to give the nutrients to her newborn baby. Breastfeeding mothers are not allowed to eat junk food or alcoholic drinks after giving birth to their child. It may also lead to increased disease risk in the child’s body and affect newborn growth. 

What Are The Disadvantages Of Bottle Feeding 

As it is clear that feeding your baby with breast milk is the best way to give your newborn the right way of supply of nutrients and keep its health good. Breastfeeding is beneficial not only for newborn babies but also for mothers. It will protect both of them from diseases that might attack them in the future. However, some mothers provide their children nutrition through bottles instead of breastfeeding. Unless there is any such condition that you have to feed the newborn baby with a bottle, do not choose to bottle feed your child. Breastfeeding is the natural and best way for you and you’re newborn.

Here below are some disadvantages of bottle feeding a newborn baby.

• Formula milk is not effective in protecting the newborn from diseases and infections as breast milk does. 
• Buying formula, breast pumps, bottles, and rubber nipples are expensive.
• Formula feed can lead to constipation and other digestion-related issues in newborns.
• For making formula milk, you have to make sure it should be at the right temperature. 

I hope this article will give a better idea of why breastfeeding is always better than feeding your newborn with formula or bottles. One of the best things about breastfeeding is you don’t have to spend any money, and you can give your baby your personal touch and care. This helps in the overall development of the baby.