Breast is best
Breast milk has all the nutrition a baby needs. It also gives many other benefits:
• Breast milk protects the baby against many illnesses including
diarrhea, pneumonia, diabetes, and cancer.
• Sucking on the breast, close to the mother,
helps the baby feel safe.
• Breast milk is always fresh, clean, and
ready to eat.
• Breastfeeding helps the mother’s
Breastfed babies are healthier.
womb contract after birth and slows bleeding.
• Breastfeeding can prevent the mother from getting pregnant again right away.
• Breastfeeding helps protect the mother against brittle bones (osteoporosis) and
some kinds of cancer later in her life.
• Breastfeeding costs nothing — it is free!
Baby formula can be dangerous
Companies that sell formula and other breast milk substitutes will say almost
anything to make people buy them. They may say substitutes are modern, or clean,
or as safe and nutritious as breast milk. But milk substitutes do not have all the
benefits of breast milk and, for most babies, they are not safe.
• Formula is less nutritious.
• Formula is harder for the baby to digest.
• Bottle-feeding requires extra clean water and fuel to boil the
water and bottles. If the bottles or water are dirty, bottle-
feeding can cause dangerous diarrhea that can lead to death.
• Formula costs a lot of money.
Bottle-fed babies
are more likely to
get sick and die.
• S ome families try to make formula last longer by adding extra
water. This makes babies grow more slowly and get sick more.
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