Mother’s Milk

We all know that breast is best. But some of us felt guilty when we couldn’t keep going. The truth is that breastfeeding your baby for even one day is one of the greatest gifts you can give. Here are a few reasons to stick with it, or celebrate the journey you shared.

If you breastfeed your baby for just a few days, congratulations! Your baby will have received all the benefit of your colostrum, which delivers precious antibodies and is the perfect food a brand-new baby. Colostrum is also baby’s first, safest, and easiest – “immunisation” and helps get his or her digestive system running smoothly.
Breastfeeding is how your baby expects to start, and it also helps your own body recover from the birth more quickly. Given how little it takes to offer it, and how very much your baby stands to gain, it makes good sense to try to breastfeed for at least a day or two, even if you plan to bottle-feed after that.

If you breastfed your baby for four to six weeks, you will have become quite the expert. The first six weeks are known to be the most challenging and difficult. Breastfeeding is a learned skill, for both of you. But if you can do it for six weeks, you can do it forever! (Well, as long as you both enjoy it at least…)

If you breastfed your baby for three or four months, you will have aided your baby’s digestive development. Another plus: exclusive breastfeeding for four months provides strong protection against ear infections for a whole year! Isn’t that amazing?

If you breastfed your baby for six months you will have provided him with a great deal of protection against allergies when in the coming months, you will probably be introducing solids. Breastfed babies have better developed jaw and facial muscles which aids in their speech development. And exclusive, frequent breastfeeding during the first six months, if your period has not returned, provides 98 per cent effective, and perfectly natural, contraception.

If you breastfed your baby for nine months, you will have seen him through the fastest and most important brain and body development of his entire. Your milk changes naturally at each age and stage, during sickness it can aid healing, during the hotter seasons it contains more water, it adapts naturally and automatically to your child’s needs. The unique combination of fatty acids and other components in your breastmilk contribute to optimal eyesight and brain development. Weaning may be fairly easy at this age… but then, so is continuing your loving breastfeeding relationship! If it’s not broken, why fix it?

If you breastfed your baby for one year, you avoided the expense and bother of bottle feeding. Her one-year-old body can probably handle most of the table foods your family enjoys. And because your milk is flavoured by what you eat, your baby will be more open to different tastes and foods. Many of the health benefits you have provided in this year of breastfeeding will actually last her entire life. Lower rates of diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers as well as lower chance of developing heart disease. She will have a stronger immune system — for life.

If you breastfeed your baby for 18 months, you will have continued to provide at least a third of his nutritional requirements as well as comfort and protection from illness. Breastfeeding is wonderful for our environment too – it has the lowest environmental impact, saves food resources, fuel and energy and it involves no packaging or chemicals, leaving the planet a better place for our children.

If your baby is able to wean when she is ready, you can feel confident that you have met all her physical and emotional needs in the best way you could. The World Health Organization and UNICEF strongly encourage breastfeeding through toddlerhood: “Breastmilk is an important source of energy and protein, and helps to protect against disease during the child’s second year of life.” Breastfeeding can help ease both of you through the tears, tantrums and illnesses that come with early childhood. Don’t worry that your baby will breastfeed forever &mdash they all wean.

Breastfeeding holds many benefits for mum too — women who breastfeed have lower incidences of heart disease, osteoperosis and cancer of the breast and ovaries. Breastfeeding aids your body in returning to its pre-pregnancy state more quickly and many mothers find they lose excess weight while breastfeeding. Plus, it’s easy, convenient, and free. Breastmilk is instant, pre-warmed and ready to serve whenever its’ required, making breastfed babies easily transportable and ready to go.

Whether you breastfed for a day or for several years, the decision to breastfeed is one you need never regret and every single feed should be counted and remembered as the gift it is. Breastfeeding is more than just nutrition, to your baby, being cuddled up against you, smelling your skin and seeing your eyes, feeling your warm breast and being filled with your milk, truly is a way of sharing your love for each other. You gave the best of yourself to your baby and that’s definitely a cause for celebration!

Danni Guerreiro is founder of Celebreast, a website and forum for mothers to share their breastfeeding stories and experiences.