Many mothers often find it difficult to breastfeed their babies for six months because of a variety of reasons which may range from work, less breast milk production or other reasons why it isn't convenient to exclusively breastfeed their baby for six months.
Medical studies have shown that breast milk contains anti bodies that will help your baby fight off viruses and Bacteria. Breast feeding helps to lower your baby's risk of having asthma or allergies.
Babies who are breast fed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any infant formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses and bouts of diarrhea.
Breast feeding has been linked to higher IQ scores in later childhood in some studies. What's more, the physical closeness, skin-to-skin bond with the mother helps make babies feel secure.
Breast fed infants are more likely to gain the right amount of weight as they grow rather than become overweight children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has said that breastfeeding also plays a role in the prevention of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
Breastfeeding helps to burn out extra calories off breastfeeding mothers, so it can also help you loose weight faster. It releases the hormone oxytocin, which helps your uterus return to it's pre-pregnancy size and may reduce uterine bleeding after birth.
Breastfeeding also lowers your risk of breast and ovarian cancer. It may lower your risk of osteoporosis too.
Since you don't have to buy and measure formula, sterilize nipples or warm bottles, it may save you time and money it also gives you regular time to relax quietly with your new born as you bond.
During the first few days after birth, your breast milk produces an ideal first milk, called "Colostrum". Colostrum is thick, yellowish and comes out scanty, but there's plenty to meet your baby's nutritional needs. Colostrum helps a newborn's digestive tract to develop and prepare itself to digest breast milk.
Most babies lose a small amount of weight in the first 3 to 5 days after birth, but this is unrelated to breastfeeding.
As your baby needs more milk and nurses more, your breast responds by making more milk, so a mother should not stop breastfeeding exclusively at the earlier stage because as you keep giving the baby the breast milk the more it comes out.
Experts recommend breastfeeding exclusively ( no formula, juice, or water) for 6 months. If you supplement milk with formula, your breast milk might might less milk.
Even if you breastfeed less than the recommended 6 months, it's better to breastfeed for a short time than no time at all.
You can add solid food as from 6 months and above but also continue to breastfeed your baby if you want to keep producing milk and most appropriately until when your baby can feed very well and can be nutritionally balanced without breastfeeding which is ideally at 2 years.
Source:WebMD
