9/12/11

This is a touchy and important issue. How will you choose to feed your baby? There are some women judge women who choose not to breastfeed very harshly and there are some women who are anti-breastfeeding because it grosses them out or they feel weird about it. 

It's totally your choice and I'm fine with it either way. I personally think that breastfeeding is a perfectly natural and appropriate way to feed my baby, but you will not find me in a public place doing it in front of everyone. A couple weeks ago there was a girl at church breastfeeding her baby. She was wearing a wrap so you couldn't see anything, but it was a little awkward even for me.

Breastfeeding has many benefits for mom and baby. For baby it provides all the nutrients he or she will need to grow. The first milk contains antibodies important for protecting your newborn against illness. Breast milk contains just the right amounts of protein, fat, sugar and water. Breast milk is also easier for your baby to digest which may guard against colic and uncomfortable gas.

Breastfeeding benefits for mom and her boss when you consider that breastfeeding moms miss less work due to sick infants. Breastfeeding is more convenient in the middle of the night because you don't need to warm up bottles. It can save you lots of money too because you don't need to buy bottles, nipples or expensive formula, not to mention fewer visits to the doctor's office. And an added and important benefit for moms is health. Breastfeeding can actually reduce your risk for type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and postpartum depression. Oh yeah and you can burn up to 800 calories when you breastfeed so you lose baby weight much faster.

Yesterday I was having a conversation with my family about breastfeeding and my mom mentioned that when she was toward the end of her pregnancies the doctor told her that a beer a day could help with milk production. Of course now a days they tell you to avoid alcohol all together while you're pregnant and to keep drinking to a minimum while you're breastfeeding. There's no need to pump and dump if you have one or two in a day, but more than that you shouldn't feed your milk to your baby. I read an article about this on Babycenter.com and learned that the old wives tale suggests dark beer helps with milk production, but studies have shown that alcohol actually reduces milk production.

Speaking of alcohol there are lots of risks to consuming alcohol while pregnant. It can lead to low birth weight babies, fetal alcohol syndrome and can cause premature labor. Even small amounts of alcohol can cause problems for your baby so it's best to avoid it all together. 

Thanks for reading my extra long blog today. I'm interested to see how you feel about breastfeeding please comment below.