Pros and Cons of Breastfeeding vs Formula Feeding

Therefore, all caution has to be exercised to guarantee that the right amount of nutrition is reaching the baby during the first 6 months of its life. It is because of this importance and emphasis on nutrition that experts say that breastfeeding is imperative during the crucial first months of the baby’s life.

Breast milk contains the essential nutrients and the necessary antibodies that foster good health, adequate growth and sound development in the baby. It is the goodness of breast milk that ensures that the baby is kept safe from impending infections and diseases.

Unfortunately, due to their professional ambitions and demanding workplace situations, many women cannot afford to breastfeed their baby and switch to formula feeding.

Breastfeeding

Your baby can develop a lifetime of health with the right start. And breastfeeding is still the best way to feed your baby. Breastfeeding gives the right amount and quality of vitamins and minerals to match your baby’s nutritional needs.

It aids your baby’s digestive system, which means constipation and diarrhea is unlikely to occur. Mother’s milk also contains antibodies and other immune factors that protect your baby against illnesses. In addition, an exclusively breastfed baby should get a daily supplement of Vitamin D in drops form.

Formula Feeding

Formula feeding is usually used when breast milk is not available for your baby due to some reasons. However, you need to know the proper way to prepare the formula milk. If it is not properly prepared, it may cause malnutrition and other illnesses. First, you need to prepare the milk product, the baby bottle, and something to measure the milk powder and water. You can read on the milk product’s can for the right preparation instructions.

Pros and Cons of Formula Feeding

While formula feeding is a very convenient process for a working mother there are certain pros and cons associated with this process. Let’s evaluate the different angles of the process of formula feeding.

Pros

• Breastfeeding Creates Bonding – Breast milk is without a doubt the best food for infants and breastfeeding is an essential component of the bonding that takes place between an infant and its mother. Studies show that breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer in mothers. It allows mothers to stay infertile longer as it delays ovulation. There is no need to worry about getting pregnant again, right away if you are breast-feeding. It also helps with weight loss and is certainly easier on the pocket as it costs nothing to breastfeed.
• Breastfeeding is Excellent for Mums – Breast milk isn’t only excellent for your infant, but it is also great for the mum as well. It has been stated that Mother’s who breast-feed children for a minimum of 6 months have established a dramatical reduction in the risk of different kinds of cancer like breast cancer and ovarian cancer. A surplus happy note… via breast-feeding, new mother’s will also lose the extra weight she gained although pregnant, and yet another benefit is that it will also aid her uterus contract to its pre-baby size.
• Formula feeding can be done by anyone, could be a caretaker or the father of the baby or anyone else. Thus, the physical presence of the mother is not required. Click here to find out which formula is the right one for you.
• Formula milk is heavier than breast milk and thus keeps the baby feeling full for long as the time required to digest formula milk is more. Consequently, a mother can have some time to attend to other chores as frequent feeding is not required.
• Formula milk promises of a lot of convenience if one is travelling, as you need not have to look for a mother’s room to nurse the baby.
• A mother need not watch her diet if a baby is formula fed which is not the case with breastfeeding mothers. As a breastfeeding mother needs to be vigilant of what she eats as that might impact the quality of the breast milk.

Cons

• Formula might be difficult to digest for the baby, thereby, creating bouts of stomach pain and discomfort for the baby.
• Though, the formula milk is supplied with most of the essential nutrients synthetically while they are manufactured, the immune system of a formula fed baby needs time to develop in comparison to a baby who is nursed on breast milk.
• Formula fed babies tend to be overweight as formula fed babies gain weight faster than breastfed babies.
• Sterilizing the bottles and other bottle feeding gear is an added responsibility to ensure that the process of formula feeding is safe and devoid of infections. The process of cleaning the bottles and other feeding gear can at times become stressful and time consuming.

Further Thoughts on Feeding

Though, formula feeding is a known and popular phenomenon, there are a number of modern day devices available that can help a working mother feed her baby with mother’s milk. The devices like breast pumps etc. make the process of pumping and storing of breast milk very efficient and convenient.

Even though using formula is not the best way to feed your baby, it might be the only option as there are rare cases where babies are born unable to digest mother’s milk. These babies are given soy formula. Bottle-feeding with formula can also be necessary for the event the mother has specific health issues and cannot get milk donated by another breastfeeding mother.

Newborns ought to be solely breastfed, that means they should get breast milk exclusively for half a year to accomplish maximum development. “Breastfeeding alone” is when the infant receives no other food or drink, this means that the infant doesn’t receive water either. The infant may, however, receive, oral rehydration salts and fluids such as syrups.

Conclusion

Formula-fed babies are no less healthy or brisk or act like the breastfed ones. In case the mother is unwilling to breastfeed on her own grasp of the subject or because of some other different conditions then obviously there is no meaning in piling up pressure on the mother to undertake the breastfeeding.