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Home › Articles › Breast is Best › The Nursing Mother's Companion

The Nursing Mother's Companion

By Kathleen Huggins, R.N., M.S.

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Some studies suggest the benefits of breastfeeding also extend into adulthood. Breastfed babies have lower cholesterol levels, on average, when they become adults. Although asthma rates are not significantly different between breastfed and non-breastfed babies, there is a lower rate of asthma in adults who were breastfed. Babies have a smaller chance of developing diabetes and cancer of the lymph glands if they are breastfed. For all of these reasons, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be offered only breast milk for the first four to six months after birth, and that breastfeeding continue throughout the entire first year.

Establishing a close bond and meeting the emotional needs of a child are certainly an essential part of mothering. The nursing woman is thought to produce hormones that promote a physiologic bonding between mother and child. And in what better way can a baby be nurtured, comforted and made to feel secure than snuggled within his mother's loving arms, against the warmth of her breast? Although some rationalize that bottle-feeding mothers can capture a similar warm feeding relationship, in reality they do not. This is partly because bottle feeding doesn't require much human contact. The bottle-fed baby generally receives less stroking, caressing, and rocking than the breastfed baby. He is talked to less often and he spends more time in his crib away from his parents. Although it is unknown how prevalent the practice of propping bottles for the young infant is, probably the overwhelming majority of babies who are able to hold their own bottles become almost entirely responsible for feeding themselves.

In the Beginning
Throughout the first two hours after birth, the infant is usually alert and eager to suck. At this time he is most ready for his first nursing.


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