Photo: Jo-Anna Robinson (Adelaide Now)

Author: Lucy Hood

BREASTFEEDING exposes babies to a variety of flavours, making them more accepting of different foods as they grow, a CSIRO expert says.

CSIRO research psychologist Dr Nadia Corsini said studies showed breastfeeding provided infants with a greater variety of tastes compared with formula, which was beneficial when weaning them on to solid foods.

“Exposure to flavours takes place in utero and via breastfeeding, where the baby is exposed to flavours in mother’s diet,” she said.

“A lot of people might not realise this is one of benefits of breastfeeding, the exposure to different flavours.

“Research suggests children with exposure to different flavours are more accepting of different foods as they grow older to those who didn’t have exposure.”

According to a European study of 147 mothers and their infants, both breastfeeding and daily changes in vegetables offered early in weaning increased the child’s acceptance of new foods for at least up to two months.

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Photo : Raphaël Goetter

Having given birth, breastfeeding is the best thing you can do to ensure that your baby will grow up in the best of good health. Here are five convincing reasons why ‘breast is beat’.

1. Lower Medical Bills - breast feeding can help you to keep your medical bills down! Studies have shown that babies that are breastfed are healthier; become ill less often and, when they do, less seriously than babies that are fed with formula. Specifically, breastfed babies are less prone to ear infections, respiratory infections, and other maladies compared to their bottle-fed counterparts.

2. Antibodies - If your family has had a history of allergies then the effects of breast milk are even more pronounced. When a baby is breast fed, antibodies are passed on from mother to baby which help protect against numerous illness and allergies. Babies’ systems mature over time and as this takes place their bodies begin to make antibodies of their own. These antibodies will enable your baby to handle the different ingredients of various foods without getting an upset stomach.

3. Jaw and cheek development - The physical action of sucking on the breast promotes the development of the jawbone in the correct alignment as well as the development of the cheekbone. This invariably means that as your baby grows into and infant and then a child, there will be less chance of her requiring expensive orthodontic work.

4. Convenience – Unlike formula, breast milk is always ready, always available, convenient, and always the right temperature for feeding. Not only that but it contains all of the vitamins and minerals your growing baby needs.

5. Economic and Environmental – As well as all the health benefits, there are often overlooked economic and environmental benefits – breastfeeding is free and creates no waste! Breastfeeding then will save you money on formula milk as well on utility bills by avoiding all the washing and boiling.

As you can see there are numerous benefits to breastfeeding when compared to bottle-feeding.

Author: Rob Keating

Article Source: EzineArticles.com