Essay About Premature Baby And Breast Milk

Breastfeeding Vs Formula
Breastfeeding Vs Formula
On July 9th 2001 Gabriel Michael was born into the world a month in a half early. His mother
breastfed him for the first 7 months of his life. Today he is just the same as any other child running
around. You would never of known he was a premature baby. Breastfeeding is a better form of nourishing
and nurturing a newborn than formula feeding. It helps the baby in many ways. It gives the baby the
nutrition it needs. It also lets the mother and baby bond. It is very convenient. And it helps the baby
development in mental, deal with stress and health later in life.
The nutrition a baby gets from breastfeeding is amazing. Breast milk is the most complete form of
nutrition for infants. A mothers milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water and protein that is
needed for a babys growth and development. Most babies find it easier to digest breast milk than they do
formula. As a result, breastfed infants grow exactly the way they should. They tend to gain less
unnecessary weight and to be leaner. This may result in being less overweight later in life. Premature
babies do better when breastfed compared to premature babies who are fed formula.
Breast milk has agents called antibodies in it to help protect infants from bacteria and viruses.
recent studies show that babies who are not exclusively breastfed for six months are more likely to
develop a wide range of infectious diseases including ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory illnesses and
have more hospitalizations. Some studies suggest that infants who are not breastfed have higher rates of
sudden infant death syndrome in the first year of life, and higher rates of type one and two diabetes,
lymphoma, leukemia, disease, overweight and obesity, high cholesterol and asthma.
I am a mother myself and I breast feed my daughter. Shes 7 months old and as healthy as can
be. I have friends who also have little babys. All of them breastfed for a month or less. I notice that their
children are less alert, and do tend to go to the hospital a lot more than mine. I am not trying to sit her and
bash on mothers who choose formula instead of breastfeeding. Sometimes there are certain
circumstances which make it so they arent aloud to breastfeed. My friend had a horrible labor and was in
the ICU for three days. She was not even aloud to see her child for the first 24 hours after he was born. By
the time she was able to even try to breastfeed he refused the breast and wanted the bottle. Or another one
of my friends is a single parent so she had to stop breastfeeding in order to go back to work. But from
what I have noticed the majority of woman think it is easier and more convenient to bottle feed. Time and
time again I here “In the middle of the night its easier to make my husband get up and feed the baby.”
Well sure he can get up put formula in the bottle, pour water and then micro wave it. Or you can put the
baby in bed with you lay on your side and breast feed? That takes a total of one minute maximum vs at
least four minutes? And then when you bottle feed you have to stay up and hold the bottle. Breastfeeding
you can just go back to sleep. Which I have done a few times! Also a lot of parents tell me “well when
your out isnt it hard because you cant just give them a bottle you have to go sit somewhere and
breastfeed.”