Breastfeeding vs Formla Feeding Essay

Parents-to-be have a lot of things on their plate. One of those many things that parents should worry about is what their child is going to consume. The choice to either breastfeed or formula feed should be the main thing on an expectant mother’s mind far before the baby is born. The nutrition a baby takes in from milk for the first year of life is very valuable for a baby’s growth and health. The choice of breastfeeding or formula feeding should be looked at and thought about deeply before deciding a nutritional plan that will alter a child’s life forever. Furthermore, these choices will also affect the parent’s life. The main aspiration for this essay is to contrast the health benefits, cost, and convenience of breastfeeding as opposed to formula feeding. The first important difference between breast and formula feeding is the health benefits. Every time a healthy woman breastfeeds her baby, she is passing on natural antibodies and vitamins that has been known to keep the baby healthy and strengthen the newborn’s immune system. The immune system assists in fighting most infections and diseases that new babies may be susceptible to, such as ear infections, respiratory infections, diarrhea, and the common cold. Some of the illnesses are more serious and could cause sudden infant death syndrome, mainly whooping cough, meningitis, leukemia and other devastating cancers. Breastfeeding can help in the prevention and reduction of risk in developing diabetes, asthma, and allergies later in life. Formula milk, however, lacks all the natural antibodies that newborns need to strengthen an infant’s non-existent immune system to help fight off infection and illnesses. Formula milk is primarily a source of nutrition and does not contribute to the development of a newborn’s immune system. Shelby Medico 05/28/12 The second difference between breastfeeding and formula feeding is the cost. Breastfeeding is a smart choice because not only is it free, but it saves money. Instead of wasting money on manufactured milk, mothers can take advantage of the free milk produced by Mother Nature. Parents can use money saved by breastfeeding and use it toward other important items newborns need. On the other hand, formula is very expensive and the price of formula adds up. As a baby grows, the parents will have to keep up with the baby’s expanding appetite; therefore, parents will eventually find themselves spending double the amount of money on formula. Formula fed babies also will not be receiving the proper antibodies to help prevent the illnesses that lead to trips to the doctor’s office. Doctor appointments are expensive, not to mention the time off work a parent may have to take to care for a sick child. The final difference between breastfeeding and formula feeding is convenience. Convenience is the key to make feeding a baby an easier task for the parents. Breastfeeding is very convenient because it is always available day and night whenever the baby is hungry. When a mother plans to run errands or simply to go out to eat for lunch with her baby, she will not have to pack anything for the baby to eat. Another convenience of breastfeeding is that it is not necessary to prepare milk and warm bottles in the middle of the night for the half-asleep midnight feedings. Parents of formula fed babies, however, have to spend extra time boiling water to prepare the formula and sterilizing the bottles before the baby can eat. Parents also have to be cautious about warming bottles to make sure the formula milk is not too hot for the baby’s sensitive mouth. Extra inconvenient tasks that have to be done before feeding a hungry, impatient baby can be very frustrating. In conclusion, considering the health benefits, cost, and convenience of breastfeeding, it would be the most logical choice to better a new family’s life.