Breast Feeding Benefits 1
Breast feeding is the single most important thing you can do to protect your baby and help to promote good health.  Best of all, breast feeding is free.

Breast Feeding Benefits 2
Breast feeding can also help you to keep your medical bills down.  Babies that are fed with formula get sicker more often and more seriously than babies that are breast fed  They also have more ear infections, respiratory infections, and other problems.

Breast Feeding Benefits 3
When a baby is breast fed, the antibodies pass on from the mother to the baby,  helping to protect against illness and allergies.  As the baby's system matures, his body will begin to  make it's own antibodies, and he'll be more equipped to handle sensitivities of food.

Breast Feeding Benefits 4
Sucking on the breast will also help with the development or jaw alignment and the development of the cheekbone.  For this very reason, there is less of the need for costly orthodontic work when the  child gets older.

Breast Feeding Benefits 5
Breast milk is always ready, always available, convenient, and always the right temperature for feeding.  Plus, it contains all of the vitamins and minerals your growing baby needs, saving you a  lot of money.

Breast Feeding Benefits 6
Breast feeding also offers many benefits for the mom as well.  The baby sucking at the breast will cause contractions right after birth, leading to less  bleeding for the mom, and helping her uterus to it's shape before pregnancy much faster.

Breast Feeding Benefits 7
Breast feeding will also burn calories, so a mom can lose weight much faster than if she fed her baby with a bottle.

Breast Feeding Benefits 8
Breast feeding will also create a special bond with the mother and the baby - which is one thing formula simpy cannot do.

Long term Breast Feeding Benefits

The important long term benefits of breast feeding include reduced risk of asthma, allergies, obesity, and some formS of childhood cancer.  The more that  scientists continue to learn, the better breast  milk looks.

In addition to making your baby healthier, breast feeding may also make him smarter.  Many studies have proved that breast fed babies tend to be more smarter than babies who were fed with formula or other methods.  Breast feeding does help with nutrients and the support of brain growth, which is something every mother should think about.

The benefits for the nursing mom are just as good as they are for the baby.  The hormones that are released during breast feeding will curb blood loss post delivery and help to shrink the uterus back to it's normal size.

Long term, the breast feeding mom will have a lower risk for premenopausal breast cancer, which is the kind that strikes before the age of 50.  The benefits will begin to show with  three to six months of breast feeding and increase the longer that breast feeding continues.