Breast Feeding or Bottle Feeding?

Should you breast feed or bottle feed. Most experts recommend breast-feeding. This is because recent research has shown that babies who are breast-fed have higher intelligent quotient scores (ICQ's) then children who were bottle-fed. So if you want a smart kid you better bottle-feed because the average boost in IQ for breast-feeds babies over non breast-fed was ten points. This difference in points could make the difference between your child being a worker in a car wash or a brain surgeon. Many studies of thousands of children have also show that those who were breastfed consistently get better marks in school.

The reason kids get smarter if breast fed is because breast milk contains a brain-boosting fat called DHA (docasahexaenoic acid). This is an omega-3 fatty acid. DHA that is crucial for the growth and development, of brain tissue. The brains of breastfed babies have a higher concentration of DHA. There is no DHA in milk unless it is added as a supplement.

By the way soymilk is the worst thing you can bottle feed a baby as it is missing this essential nutrient and also causes your baby to have gas. Babies are carnivores and need their mother's milk.

DHA levels are highest in babies who are breastfed the longest, which also creates an argument for feeding a child for as long as possible. Infant formulas made in the United States do not contain DHA, which is why bottle-feeding is frowned upon. You are basically feeding your child's body and not their brain.

Babies also need lots of cholesterol for their brains to grow. Breast milk contains a lot of cholesterol, while infant formulas currently contain none. “Low in cholesterol” may be good news for adult diets, but this is not true for babies! Cholesterol helps cells grow essential nerve tissue in young brains.

Children that are bottle-fed may also be more nervous or sensitive than children who are breast-fed. This is because both DHA and cholesterol are the building blocks of a substance called myelin. Myelin acts as insulation for nerves, making it possible for nerves to carry information from one part of the brain or body to another.

Breastfeeding can also help your baby build healthy fat and tissue. The skin of babies who are breast-fed is nicer, softer and firmer to the touch. The skin of bottle fed babies can be rough, scaly and have red patches

Yet another benefit of breastfeeding is that it produces less foul smelling feces in the diaper. The stools of a bottle fed infant tend to be more smelly because cow' milk does not contain enough lactose to allow the infant to digest the milk properly. A baby that is breast-fed may also have less gas, colic, and struggles with burping and as a result be more good-natured and sleep better at night. The bottom line is that breast fed babies is just smarter and healthier in every way.

Parenting Tips
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Special Sleeping Tips for Newborns

The first thing you need to realize about newborns and sleep is that they do not necessarily need sleep! They don't have biorhythms like we do or need eight hours sleep at night. It is very abnormal for a newborn to sleep all night so you might as well see it as a natural process that can't be helped. No matter what you do your baby is going to wake up in the middle of night anywhere from once to several times and demand to be fed, changed or simply patted on the back.

The key to managing a newborn is to relinquish fantasies about being in control of the situation. Sleeping like eating or defecating is not something you can force a little person to do. However you can make your baby more comfortable by teaching the child positive attitudes towards bed. One way is to feed it just before bed so it thinks of the bedroom and crib as positive. This also helps the child get rid of any separation anxiety and associating bedtime with being abandoned.

There is no set rule or guide about how a newborn should be sleeping. Some are more active then others and most kids just don't do what you read in books.

If your current daytime or nighttime routine is not working for you, think about what changes you can make in yourself and your lifestyle that will make it easier for your baby to get to sleep. This is a better approach than trying to change the behavior of a newborn. It may seem like the newborn is suddenly controlling your schedule and sometimes even your entire life but that is the way it is when you have a baby. Accept it. And stay away from books that try to liberate you by telling you to ignore your own biological cues. Your instincts know best how to calm your child and make it feel secure and safe so it will sleep.

If you change your behavior to fit in with your babies you accomplish several important things. First of all you build your baby's trust in you. A baby that understands that you comprehend his or her needs is less likely to scream and cry in the first place. If you opt for traditional baby training methods such as letting the kid scream it out then you might be creating a more neurotic individual. Be careful before you choose a baby training method as many of them teach you to mistrust your own instincts. Don't forget that as the mother of a newborn that you possess natural abilities to understand your newborn and all of his or her needs whether it be for food, comfort or sleep.

Bottom line is that all you can do is go with the flow for a while. Yes you will lose sleep. However sleep deprivation is all part of having kids. Above all don't take it personally. Your kid has no idea what he or she is doing to you.

Parenting Tips
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