Breast Feeding Vs. Bottle Feeding

The decision for many new mothers to decide between breast and bottle feeding is becoming an increasingly difficult decision. There are some pros and cons to each method, as will be discussed below.

Breast Feeding:

Breast feeding is the most natural way for a mother to feed their child, thus having various advantages to bottle feeding, particularly in the first four months, where a newborn is extremely vulnerable.

Breast feeding is a good choice because:

-It is readily available,

-It is FREE,

-Easily digestible for the baby,

-Nutrient proportions of protein, fat, calcium, and fat are in harmony,

-Contains fatty acids for brain development,

-Decreases the baby’s future risk of obesity,

-Protects against future allergies and asthma,

-Can potentially protect against SIDS,

-Contains active white blood cells that protect the baby from infection (this is particularly important during the first 4 months because of the babies low immunity),

-Helps mother lose weight.

Bottle Feeding:

Despite the numerous advantages breast feeding provides, there is no reason to feel guilty about bottle feeding.

Bottle feeding is a good alternative because:

-Formulas have become great at matching ingredients of formulas to breast milk,

-Infections are relatively rare, whether the baby is breast or bottle fed

Some tips for formula use are:

-Room temperature formula is perfectly acceptable,

-Do NOT reuse formula the baby has sipped from,

-Less expensive brands of formula are essentially exactly the same as more expensive brands; be money conscious,

-Use iron-fortified formula for brain development,

-There is no significant difference between concentrate, powder, or ready-to-feed formulas (powdered formula is the least expensive),

-Use cow’s milk formula over soy formula to start with.

Sources: Web MD