Breastmilk is the perfect food for babies. Almost daily, scientists are discovering new ingredients in breastmilk that have important functions in the bodies of growing babies. While formula companies try to add these nutrients to their formula, they cannot keep up with the discoveries. Even if they could, there is so much that is still unknown about breastmilk. Artificial milk is NOT a comparable substitute for breastmilk -- not even close!

Breastmilk is the perfect food for *your* baby. Your breastmilk is constantly changing to meet your growing baby's needs. From day to day, even at different times on the same day, your breastmilk is perfectly formulated to completely meet your baby's changing nutritional needs. For example, in hot or dry weather, your breastmilk contains more water than usual. Again, artificial milk is NOT a comparable substitute for the real thing -- not even close!

Breastmilk protects your child's health. Breastfed babies have less allergies, less ear infections, and better overall health than artificially-fed infants. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that breastfeeding protects against: diarrhea, lower respiratory infection, otitis media (middle ear infection), bacterial meningitis, botulism, urinary tract infection, sudden infant death syndrome, insulin-dependent diabetes, Crohn's disease, lymphoma, allergic diseases, and chronic digestive diseases. This protection carries into adulthood. For example, girls who are breastfed are less likely to later develop breast cancer. Not only is breastmilk full of antibodies and other substances that protect against illness, your body manufactures it to suit your baby's particular needs. When there is an illness in the house, your body will secrete antibodies to that illness into your milk to protect your baby. Protective substances continue to be secreted into your breastmilk as long as you are breastfeeding; and if your baby should nurse less (such as she would when she begins solid food) the protective substances become more concentrated in your milk so that your baby still gets large amounts.

Human breastmilk is formulated for human babies. Cow's milk (the main ingredient in infant formula) is formulated to meet the needs of growing cows. It is highly concentrated in protein and other building materials so that the baby cow will gain a lot of weight in a very short amount of time. In contrast, human milk is designed for optimal central nervous system growth in the first year, and slower physical growth. Thus, breastfed babies have higher IQs than their artificially-fed counterparts.

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