Attachment Parenting - More Benefits

Breastfeeding benefits include:
(But are not limited to)

* Breast milk is custom-made for your baby.
* Breastfed babies tend to be better disciplined.
* Breastfeeding helps get mom back in to shape.
* Breast milk provides valuable antibodies against disease.
* Nursing shows a marked decrease against ear infections.
* Breast fed babies have a higher IQ (anywhere from 8.3 to 10+%).
* Breast Milk has the right ingredients, many which can NOT be duplicated by formula companies.
* Breast milk is always fresh, at the right temperature, always the right amount, and already packaged!
* There’s mutual giving between mother and baby: mother gives baby her milk, baby gives mom a release of the hormone prolatcin, which in turns promote motherly instincts and feelings.
* Breastfeeding helps mom and baby relax. (Baby gets a natural sleep inducing protein in the milk; mom gets the natural tranquilizer released by baby’s sucking: the hormone prolactin.
* Women who breastfeed at least a year (doesn’t have to be consecutively) have a reduce rate of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, endometrial cancer, and are protected against osteoporosis.
* Breastfeeding is less expensive (no formula, healthier babies means low cost medical bills, don’t have to buy bottles and related items.)

Baby Wearing benefits include:
(But are not limited to)

* Wearing baby reduces colic and crying.
* Baby achieves quicker day/night regulation.
* Helps baby cry better and parents cope better.
* Wearing baby enhances parent-infant bonding
* Organizes and regulates baby by continually being in mother’s presence.
* Wearing baby makes life easier for busy parents (you can take baby anywhere)
* Baby is more content and can spend that extra energy (used for crying) on development.
* Enhances learning because they are in a state of quiet alertness, not crying and fussing to be picked up.
* Carried babies are more involved in the world, seeing what mother or father sees, hears what they hear, and in some ways, feel what they feel.

Sharing Sleep benefits include:
(But are not limited to)

* Breastfeeding is easier.
* Most babies and parents sleep better together.
* Baby learns not to resent going to sleep and not to fear staying asleep.
* Baby stay asleep better. Your presence reassure her throughout the night.
* Baby’s needs are met throughout the night without delay.
* baby goes to sleep better.
* Baby and mom’s internal clocks and sleep cycles stay in sync.
* Sharing sleep fits in with a busy lifestyle. (Baby gets reconnected all through the night)

Extended Breastfeeding and Child led Weaning benefits include:
(But are not limited to)

* Nursing toddlers benefit nutritionally. Second year milk is very similar to the first year milk nutritionally. Breastmilk remains a valuable source of protein, fat, calcium, and vitamins well beyond two years of age
* Nursing toddlers are sick less often. Second year milk is very similar to the first year milk nutritionally.
* Nursing toddlers have fewer allergies.
* Nursing toddlers are smarter. Children who were breastfed when they were babies perform better in school and score higher on standardized math and reading tests
* Nursing toddlers are better adjusted socially. One study that dealt specifically with babies nursed longer than a year showed a significant link between the duration of nursing and mothers’ and teachers’ ratings of social adjustment in six- to eight-year-old children
* It helps to soothe the frustrations, bumps and bruises, and daily stresses of early childhood
* Meeting a child’s dependency needs, according to that child’s unique timetable, is the key to helping that child achieve independence. Children who achieve independence at their own pace are more secure in that independence then children forced into independence prematurely.
* Nursing toddlers are normal. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be breastfed for at least the entire first year of life, and longer if mother & child both wish to continue. A US Surgeon General has stated that it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond. The average age of weaning around the world is 4.2 years.
* There are no arguments or emotional trauma surrounding a child led weaning.
* The child who breastfeeds until he weans himself (usually from 2 to 4 years), is generally more independent, and, perhaps more importantly, more secure in his independence. He has received comfort and security from the breast, until he is ready to make the step himself to stop. And when he makes that step himself, he knows he has achieved something, he knows he has moved ahead. It is a milestone in his life.

These are the facts. None of those statements are concocted. All statements have research standing behind them.