Infants and Toddlers


The majority compute the cost of baby formula as the sum of the cost of formula, feeding bottles, and artificial nipples. Not to mention the cost of sterilizing and storing all these baby formula supplies. But there is a hidden cost of baby formula on children’s health.

Children who are formula-fed have increased risks for certain diseases than children who have been breastfed. These risks mean increased costs to families and societies in terms of greater medical care, medicines, hospitalization costs, and lost time at work because parents have to stay with the sick child. More illnesses may also impede a child’s growth and proper development.

Most people calculate the cost of baby formula by adding up the price of formula, feeding bottles and rubber nipples. They might also include the cost of sterilizing everything, which requires clean water and energy.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and INFACT Canada, babies who receive baby formula instead of breastmilk have greater chances of developing:

Diarrhea and Pneumonia

Formula-fed babies have been shown to get sick twice as often and 3 times longer than breastfed babies. They also have increased risk of pneumonia and diarrhea. In contrast, exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life prevents at least 33 per cent of diarrhea cases.

Asthma

Babies fed infant formula have a 40-50 per cent higher risk of developing asthma and wheezing than infants breastfed for at least nine months.

Allergies

Children who were breastfed the longest in infancy had the lowest incidence of atopy, eczema, food allergy and respiratory allergy.

Reduced Intelligence

Children who were formula-fed in infancy had lower IQ points than breastfed children. Greater differences were observed with children who were breastfeed longer.

Infection From Contaminated Formula

The International Food Safety Authorities Network says that it is not possible to manufacture sterile powdered baby formula. Therefore, the risk of contamination is always present. In fact, baby formula products are being recalled all the time, because of contamination with anything from molds to metal particles to bacteria.

Chronic Diseases

Children who receive little or no breastmilk are at increased risk for becoming overweight and developing diabetes and cancers, including leukemia.

The hidden cost of baby formula is the cost of illness and even death of a child in a family. The increased risk for illness and disease - even death - are part of the cost of baby formula. The loss of human potential through reduced intelligence is another hidden cost of baby formula. Parents should be aware of the true cost of baby formula in order to make informed choices about how to feed and nourish their children.

Alexis Rodrigo is a breastfeeding Mom and certified childbirth educator. Find out why breastfeeding beyond one year is good for Moms and babies too. Want to get more natural parenting information? Subscribe to the free Natural Parenting Newsletter at http://www.naturalmomsblog.com

Mothers who use baby formula incur more costs than breastfeeding Moms do. After all, they need to buy the formula, along with feeding bottles, artificial nipples, and sterilizing equipment. They also have to spend sterilize and store everything. However, there is a hidden cost of baby formula that many do not realize. This is the cost to women’s health in terms of increased risk to diseases and other conditions that women who do not breastfeed, or do so for limited periods, are exposed to.

When a woman uses baby formula, she ends up either not breastfeeding or doing so for a limited period. Because breastfeeding is part of the pregnancy and childbirth process, when a woman’s breastfeeding is disrupted by the use of baby formula, her health risks increase.

For women who do not breastfeed, or do so for a limited time, the risks for the following increases:

Breast Cancer

Non-breastfeeding women are at greater risk to develop breast cancer than women who breastfeed. The longer a woman breastfeeds, the greater is her protection against breast cancer. The scientific evidence for breastfeeding’s protective effect against cancer is so great that The World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research identified breastfeeding and being breastfed as one of 10 ways to prevent cancer.

Being Overweight

For every month a woman breastfeeds after birth, her weight is reduced by 0.44 kg, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Being overweight and obese increases the risk for a number of diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancers. Since breastfeeding helps women control their weight, then it also helps protect breastfeeding women against those diseases that are associated with weight gain.

Diabetes

For every year that a woman breastfeeds, a woman’s risk for developing diabetes is lessened by 15%. This was found by a study published by the American Medical Association. The longer a woman breastfeeds, the more she is protected against diabetes.

Endometrial and Ovarian Cancers

Other studies have found that women who never breastfeed have increased risks of developing endometrial cancer than their breastfeeding counterparts. Moreover, those who breastfeed longer and have more children have greater protection against ovarian cancer.

Osteoporosis

Contrary to popular belief, breastfeeding makes for stronger bones. Higher bone density and fewer bone fractures were observed among women who had more children and breastfed for longer duration than women who never had any children or never breastfed.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

In a study published in Arthritis and Rheumatism, breastfeeding for at minimum of 1 year lessened women’s chances of having rheumatoid arthritis.

Stress and Anxiety

In a study in Biological Research for Nursing, mothers who use baby formula said they had fewer positive moods and positive events in their life, and more stress than breastfeeding mothers did. Formula-feeding Moms also had more experience of depression and anger than mothers who breastfeed. Breastfeeding causes oxytocin to rush into the mother’s brain. Oxytocin is a hormone that creates positive feelings and increases feelings of trust. No wonder it is also called the “feel good” and “love” hormone.

Closely Spaced Pregnancies

Breastfeeding, when it is done exclusively during the first six months after birth, has a natural contraceptive effect. According to a study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, none of the test women who were breastfeeding got pregnant within six months after birth. Women who use baby formula do not have this natural reduced fertility.

Using baby formula brings about more costs than what can be computed in dollars and cents. Baby formula increases a family’s - and society’s - medical expenses, reduces productivity, and could even contribute to death. If one wants to understand the real cost of baby formula, you should take all this into consideration. Parents, especially, should be aware of the hidden cost of baby formula so that they can make an informed choice on the feeding and care of their children.

Alexis Rodrigo is a breastfeeding Mom and certified childbirth educator. Find out why breastfeeding beyond one year is good for Moms and babies. Want more natural parenting tips and resources? Subscribe to the free Natural Parenting Newsletter at http://www.naturalmomsblog.com

The long wait is finally over. After that long nine months of waiting, the much awaited baby is finally here, making everybody in the family so excited. Excited to hug, kiss, carry and cuddle that little bundle of joy. There is no need to debate on the fact that every addition in the family is often bestowed with the warmest welcome the family can offer.

It is in this sense that the tradition of gift giving once again sets in. It would be made possible with other members of the family trying to gather all their resources to come up with the best gift for the new addition of the family.

In this modern era, finding gifts for the new baby in the family is no longer a nerve breaking endeavor. There are a lot of baby gift basket that can be readily grabbed from specialty stores or even in on line stores in the Internet. These types of gifts for the newly born baby come in different themed packages.

It is often the best gift idea for welcoming a new baby in the family for its practicability and fashion sense for the fact that is it now becoming and in thing. Baby gift basket should I say is the most practical gift item that one can hand in to parents with newly born angels. Practical in the sense that you no longer need to crack your head of thinking for the best gift idea to hand in with baby gift basket one only needs to pick out the theme package that suit his/her personal taste or those of the recipients parents.

One may surely agree that it is often the parents who are so excited and delighted to received gifts for their newborn simply because the little angel is not capable yet of appreciating the bounty given out to him/her. Therefore, it is the parents who should you try to please whenever you hand in baby gift basket to welcome the latest addition in your family or that of your friends.

In specialty stores both in malls and the Internet, there is a wide variety of baby gift baskets to choose from. They may vary in theme-packages, the gift items inside it as well as the size and price. They may differ in those aspects but they all have one common
purpose. That is to welcome the newborn and to please and delight their parents as well.

So, the next time there is a latest addition to your family or that of your friends, never try to grab a baby gift basket for that little angel bearing in mind his/her needs and of course never try to forget to delight the parents at the same time.

Matthew Stanton writes an article about Baby Gift Basket which will nurture your friendship to the proud parents of the infant which you intend to give the gift. Simply visit this website at Baby Gift Basket

It has now become a tradition to hand in gifts to parents of newly born babies as a sign of giving the new addition to the family a warm welcome. With this gesture now becoming an in thing, specialty stores both in the malls and the Internet are trying to beat each other by coming up with the best baby gift basket they could offer to their
prospective customers.

Thus, these stores never run out of ideas on what to include in their baby gift baskets and how they must come up with the best themed packages to lure their customers. We should therefore sometimes be happy with the stiff business competition that would surely give us the money wise advantage.

With now many stores competing in this business genre, consumers are given a lot of freedom to choose the best baby gift baskets that would surely suit their personal taste. It also gives them the chance to make sure they will be able to grab the best baby gift baskets that would perfectly cater to the needs of the innocent recipient at the same time ensuring utmost satisfaction for their parents.

So its really a matter of choice so to speak for those who are trying to hand in gifts for the new addition of the family. There are a lot of things to take into consideration in picking out the best baby gift baskets. Aside from ones personal choices, recipients taste and needs must also be taken into consideration.

It is a bit heartwarming when you will be able to grab some baby gift baskets that you personally liked. I mean the gift ideas in it are your personal choice and the way it is being wrapped or packed is also the way you wanted it. But, you must also thing about the needs of the little recipient of those particular gifts. Try to see to it that what is inside in your gift basket must be useful to the little angel for which it shall be give.

Baby gift baskets such as those that contain, little stuff for the newborn like feeding bottle set or baby bath set are perfect gift ideas for the latest addition of the family. They are indeed useful and probably the most practical thing to hand out these days with global financial crisis wrecking havoc anywhere.

These types of gift baskets need not be expensive. They maybe found in some high end specialty stores but there are those that you can grab in some on line stores which are equally superb yet purse friendly. It is simply a matter of having enough time and less a bit patience too in trying to scout for the best buy on these stuffs.

Matthew Stanton writes an article about Baby Gift Baskets which will nurture your friendship to the proud parents of the infant which you intend to give the gift. Simply visit this website at Baby Gift Baskets

Do you have a problem in taking care of your newborn child? Does your husband help you on taking care of your baby especially at night? I know it because Dad can use all the excuses they want to not to rock baby to sleep. They did not know that there is a lifetime benefit for him whenever he get closer to his baby and to help you get some rest in the process.

Changing diapers, breast feeding every two hours and rocking your baby is a very exhausting job and some husbands don’t realize that. They thought that it is the mother should do the unending job for their baby. They did know that a little help is much appreciated and also they are not aware that the parent bond can only happen in a limited period of time Some dads use work as an excuse; some awkwardness at holding the newborn while some still refuse to share in responsibilities because they say it is a woman’s job.

But still there father who also wants to help their wife on taking care of their children, they are few but still a woman is lucky to have them. Before you get too enthusiastic and start yelling for your husband to pick up the baby on the dot. Remember this do not force your baby on your husband. There is an opposite effect on them, be considerate if he is just come home from work and tired, he also needs a quite time. You know most men don’t like being told what to do. Give his some time a half hour maybe, and then slowly you build up their exclusive time together and when the baby respond to her dad excitedly with her cute smile and sweetness will charm his father and you will be surprise if the next day hell be so addicted to his new baby. And that the start of your Calvary in taking care of the baby alone. Mommy also know how to make this thing progress.

The bond started if dad will already at rest you just ask him in a nice way to play with his baby. We know that woman are gentler taking care of the baby but man are not. Men are livelier and energetic when it comes to play they have an extra energy despite of long hours of work. With this, Dad can help stimulate baby muscles with some gentle massage and exercise. But also make some precaution on how your husband play with the baby, because some play their baby by tossing them on air and bouncing them with their knee. They don’t know that too much shaking is dangerous for baby. At bath time once in a while especially when there is no work or weekend let him do the bath for his baby. And let him stroll together when there is free time. You must know your husbands mood when he is ok and nothing to do, then try to teach him how to change diapers. From this little help is a great way to make your baby and his father bond.

James Brown writes about BunnyburyBaby.com key code, momAgenda key code and Maternity Fashions key code

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