Is Breast Feeding Best for Babies?
New parents aspire to provide their babies with the very best. When it comes to nourishment, the top first food for babies is breast milk. More than 20 years of research has established that breast milk is completely suited to nurturing infants and safeguarding them from illness. Breast-fed babies have fewer rates of hospital admissions, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies, and other medical troubles compared to bottle-fed babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be breast-fed for 6 to 12 months. The only satisfactory option to breast milk is infant formula. Solid foods can be introduced at 4 to 6 months; however, a baby should drink breast milk or formula, not cow’s milk, for a full year. In 1993, 55.9 percent of American mothers breast-fed their babies in the hospital. Only 19 percent continued breast-feeding when their babies were 6 months old. Government and private health experts are working to lift those numbers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administra
