1) It's what boobs are ACTUALLY for.
2) I burn 500 extra calories a day just from sitting on my butt and cuddling my newborn...Hello!? Who doesn't want that!? Especially when you have baby weight to lose.
3) It's totally free!!! Who says babies have to be expensive!?
4) I never have to wash a single extra dish! No bottles, no bottle scrubbers, no sterilizing, no mess! My baby won't even take a pacifier so I don't have to wash those either. YIPPEE!!
5) It's soooo easy. I never have to pack a bottle, warm a bottle, or make a bottle. Breastmilk is ready-made and even warmed to the perfect temperature for my baby!
6) I never have to worry about how much is enough or how little is too little. Breastmilk increases or decreses as babies demand more or less. If the baby is going through a growth spurt he/she will breastfeed more regularly, up the milk supply, and grow accordingly. It also reduces chances of baby developing obesity later in life.
7) It is a beautiful bonding experience between mother and child. The skin-to-skin, the warmth of baby and mommy cuddling, the ability to nurture your baby in such an important and life-sustaining way, watching how comforted and soothed your baby is by the experience... yeah. Need I say more?
8) Breastfeeding grows healthy babies! This one is a biggie! No formula can compare to the benefits of breastmilk. Read any study on it (one's that aren't done by the formula companies of course!) Breastmilk gives babies a much higher chance of thriving and surviving in life! This one could be a post of it's own. Breastfeeding puts babies at lower risk for pretty much every awful thing (respiratory diseases, ear infections, diabetes, crohn's diseases, allergies, and SIDS... and a million other things too) while increasing chances of thriving in terms of health and development both physically and cognitively (like higher IQ scores).
9) Breastfeeding makes healthy MOMMY'S too!! Breastfeeding your baby not only burns hundreds of calories a day, contracts your uterus back to it's original size, and burn the baby fat... It also puts you at lower risk for developing many cancers including breast and ovarian cancer!
10) NO PERIOD!! WOOHOO!! The more frequently you breastfeed the longer it takes for your period to return. Enough said. I choose breastfeeding.
Before I end I just have to throw in three "did you know's?" ...
Did you know that you can breastfeed adopted babies even if you have never been pregnant before!?! WOW! I just learned this today and I was so amazed! Google it!
Did you know that the World Health Organization recommends TWO years of breastfeeding, not one? No one told me this before and I always assumed that one year was best for babies but actually studies show that two is much better. I'm not saying you have to or even that I will. I'm just saying that women deserve to make informed choices about these things. I always thought I'd be superwoman if I made it to a year but as it turns out it gets easier and easier to breastfeed as the baby gets older and by the time they are one year old they are only feeding like once a day! How easy is that? And they still get all the nutrients and benefits.
Did you know that if your milk supply is low there are other things you can try before supplementing with formula? Skin-to-skin time, pumping between nursing sessions, eating a nutrient dense and healthy diet, etc... (Do this under medical direction of course but it's worth a try right!?)
Finally, the next time someone asks me about breastfeeding with that "how-awkward-is-that!? look on their face I just want it to be known that I think THEY'RE the crazy one, not me. ;)
