How Breast Feeding Works

How Breast Feeding Works Overview
The decision to breast-feed or bottle-feed is yours to make. Since you are the one taking care of your baby, you must feel comfortable with the decision. Feeling you've been pressured into one or the other method only leads to discontent.

More and more mothers are deciding to breast-feed their new babies. In deciding if you will breast-feed, you must consider many facts. The more we learn about breast milk and its composition, the more we realize it is the perfect food for babies. Some research even suggests that breast milk improves a baby's intelligence and can protect a baby against certain forms of cancer. Besides the nutritional benefits, a special closeness often develops between mothers and their breast-fed babies. In this article, we will explore all aspects of breast-feeding, including:

The Benefits of Breast Feeding

The reason why breast-feeding has been such an entrenched method for feeding newborns is that there are some empirical benefits to the process. On this page, we will explain the benefits of breast-feeding so that you can decide if it would be right for you. First, there are the nutritional benefits to consider. Next, there are immunologic factors to consider. Many of the mother's immunities can get passed on to the baby through the breast milk. Finally, there is a benefit to the mother from breast-feeding.


How to Breast-Feed

Breast-feeding might not come as naturally to some young mothers as they would have hoped. In fact, some women have a tremendous amount of trouble learning how to breast-feed. In this section, we will show you how to get the help you need to breast-feed successfully. We will also address the questions of when you should definitely not breast-feed and how long you should breast feed. We will also explore the question of breast-feeding at work. Finally, we will look at when it is time to stop breast-feeding.


Breast-Feeding and Diet

You might be surprised to learn that you will require more calories when you are breast-feeding than you did while you were pregnant. There are many complications to your nutritional needs while you are breast-feeding that might surprise you. Also, whatever the mother takes into her body can be passed on to the baby through the breast milk. Naturally, the nursing mother will want to be just as vigilant about what she takes into her body during this time as she was when she was carrying the baby inside her. On this page, we will help you sort all your diet concerns while nursing.


How to Bottle-Feed

If you opt to bottle-feed for medical or personal reasons, we will offer you some helpful tips on this page. First, we will examine the various baby formulas that are available. With recent advancements, baby formulas are almost as fortified as breast milk. There are also soy-based formulas for babies with milk allergies and formulas with special additives for infants with health problems. Next we will discuss mixing and storing your formula. We will also look at the various bottles and nipples that are on the market. Finally, we will look at the correct way to bottle-feed your baby.


Infant Feeding Schedules and Burping

Whether or not you choose to breast-feed or bottle-feed your baby, you will eventually have to decide what schedule you will feed your baby on and know a thing or two about burping your baby. We will show you the two main strategies in feeding methods -- demand and schedule feedings. We will also teach you the correct way to burp your baby.


Infant Feeding and Fathers

An article on breast-feeding would naturally focus on the mother, but fathers can play a vital role in feeding their baby. Fathers can bottle-feed a baby expressed milk and of course formula, but there are other ways a father can contribute. On this page, we will offer some advice to keep dads actively involved in feeding their child. There's no reason why a father has to miss out on the closeness that can develop while feeding a newborn baby.