Breastfeeding and Alcohol: Keeping Infants Healthy from Alcohol Breast Milk

Breastfeeding for many mothers can be time natural bonding, and provide an infant best source of nutrition, assuming the mother is healthy, and does not have any breastfeeding complications. The American Academy Of Pediatrics recommend mothers exclusively breastfed their babies for the first six months, and that breastfeeding should continue until 12 months (and beyond), if both the mother and baby are willing. The nutrients of breast milk help an infant grow into a strong and healthy toddler. Infants triple their total body weight during the first year of life. Also, antibodies passed from the nursing mother to her baby, protect against common childhood illnesses (ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory infections, and meningitis) and may provide immunity (or less often), certain types of cancer. Breastfeeding is particularly beneficial for premature babies, protecting against allergies, asthma, diabetes, obesity, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). A cost study published in the April 1999 issue of the journal Pediatrics, researchers determined that infants, who were never breastfed, increase additional medical costs $331 to $475 per year. Dr. James W. Anderson, professor of medicine and clinical nutrition at the University of Kentucky, a lead researcher, investing the connection between breast milk and babies with higher intelligence (IQ), attributes the higher IQ level to brain food found in the mother's milk. Breast milk has nutrients that contain docasahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic Acid (AA) (long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids) appear to support brain development, and not found in formulas sold in the United States. Nursing helps most women lose weight after delivery, as 500 calories or more are used by breastfeeding each day.