Breast Feeding Or Bottle Feeding – Which Is Best For Your Baby

by Alice Thomas Writer

When it comes to any aspect related to your baby, you will hear many opinions. Some will advise amniocentesis while others will strongly recommend baby scan clinic; some will advise C-section, while some will advocate for natural both. But apart from these crucial factors, there are many other aspects you need to know about too. Whether to breastfeed your baby or have them bottle feed is yet another major aspect to consider.

The mother’s milk is the best nutrition for the baby and in fact, it is recommended to give them only milk until the baby is 6 months old. If they are fed well, they need no other nutrition, not even water. While we all can agree to this fact, many mothers who come at a baby scan clinic often has been found to enquire whether to go for breastfeeding or bottle feeding. Let's understand about it in details.

Breastfeeding is the practice of latching the newborn to the breasts of the mother and let them suckle to have milk. This has been the way of nurturing the infant since the dawn of humanity. The mother needs to switch between her breasts to make sure she feeds her baby properly and also helps her milk glans to work properly. The mother can breastfeed her newborn till 2 years and also gradually add other food supplements.

Bottle feed, on the other hand, is the practice of feeding the baby through a bottle. Now it can be of two types. Either the mother can feed her infant formula milk or pump her breast milk and give it to the baby routinely in the bottle. Many mothers prefer to breastfeed and bottle their baby simultaneously. This is comparatively newer than the breastfeeding practice, but many mothers these days are preferring the same.

So which one is best for your baby?

Though many orthodox people agree to only breastfeed, there is no one correct way to nurture your baby. You can either breastfeed or bottle or do them both, depending upon which one you prefer. But many times, you don't have a choice but to bottle feed your baby. It can happen due to either one or more of the following reasons-

1. The difficulty of the baby to latch on to your breast

2. Your babies have been kept in NICU for observation

3. Breastfeeding is very painful for you

4. You want to evaluate how much milk you are producing

5. You are engaged in your work very soon after childbirth

6. You need to feed your baby in public a lot and bottle feed seems more comfortable

7. You have multiple babies

8. You are not producing enough milk

Some, folks frown upon the mothers who decide to bottle-feed their babies and hence can cause the mother to feel low esteem about herself. But don't let them influence your decision in any way. Instead, always remember the golden words said by Jill Churchill

“There's no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one”

Start your motherhood journey from a good baby scan clinic.