Many new mothers struggle with the decision to breastfeed or bottle feed their new baby. Still so many pro and contra between breatfeeding and bottle feeding milk. Here’s some guidance to help you choose what’s right for you.

Breastfeeding Baby

Breast milk is the perfect food for baby, with numerous advantages of breastfeeding over baby formula especially in the first four months or so. Here’s why:

• It’s always available.
• It’s free.
• It contains active infection-fighting white blood cells and natural chemicals that give increased protection against infections in the first months, when these can be the most serious.
• It contains the perfect proportion of nutrients that your baby needs, including protein, carbohydrates, fat, and calcium.
• It is easily digestible.
• It may protect against allergies in the future.
• It may decrease a baby’s risk of obesity in the future.
• It may contain some fatty acids that promote brain development.
• Breastfeeding can help new mothers lose weight more easily.

Additionally, there probably are other beneficial components of breast milk that we are not aware of and so are not added to formula.

Bottle Feeding Baby

With all these advantages of breast milk, should you feel guilty if you choose not to breastfeed? Absolutely not!

• Infant formulas have gotten better and better at matching the ingredients and their proportions to that of human milk.
• While breastfed babies may have relatively fewer infections, the vast majority of infants won’t get a serious infection in the first months whether breast- or bottle fed.

A happy, unstressed mother is the best mother. If you feel that bottle feeding best fits your needs, then it’s the best for meeting your baby’s needs as well.