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Women working 9 to 5 jobs and caring for their infants are superheroes. In a study, about 59% of women started going to work after the baby turned nine months old. If you want to do the same, you need a solid plan.
Harvard Business Review states that you should be gentle with your expectations, set a proper schedule, be honest with your boss, and seek support. This way, you can balance work and childcare seamlessly. However, one thing that you might be worried about would be your baby’s nutritional intake when you are not around.
Should you rely on baby formula or take extra time to pump out breast milk and store it? In this article, we will answer that.
An Insight Into Baby Formula
Baby formula contains cow’s milk whey and casein proteins. It is advertised as an alternative to breast milk because of the presence of vitamins and nutrients. Some products are manufactured in sterile conditions and have a complex mixture of sugar, vitamin, protein, and fat.
Benefits
Baby formula is the holy grail for women who have medical concerns and cannot feed their infants. It is convenient as anyone can share feeding duties. At the same time, baby formula offers flexibility once you have made the bottles.
Any caregiver can then feed the baby, and the mother need not worry. Moreover, formula-fed babies eat less because it takes longer for the baby to digest.
Disadvantages
Recent research has proven a disturbing fact. If your baby is born premature and has a lower birth weight, baby formula can be life-threatening.
Formulas from brands like Similac and Enfamil contain toxic cow milk, leading children to develop Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). It is a severe illness in which a baby’s intestines become inflamed, causing perforation and sepsis.
TorHoerman Law suggests some treatments with antibiotics, surgery, and supportive care do not work for babies with NEC. As a result, several infants passed away. Brands like Enfamil and Similac have since stopped manufacturing such products.
But, the parents of the deceased children filed an Enfamil lawsuit for wrongful death and false advertisement. It soon became a class action lawsuit, and the companies paid a total settlement of USD 8.4 million.
Additionally, baby formula is expensive and can lead your baby to develop gas. It lacks antibodies and cannot match the exact nutrients found in breast milk.
A Closer Look at Breast Milk
According to the National Library of Medicine, breast milk contains fat, protein, carbohydrate, and minerals. Due to this mixture, the baby receives almost 75 kcal for 100 ml of the mother’s milk. The nourishment provided by the mother’s milk helps the baby grow and fosters an unbreakable bond due to the skin-to-skin touch.
Benefits
During breastfeeding, your baby gets antibodies from you that strengthen their immunity. Usually, breastfeeding lowers ear infections, meningitis, diarrhea, and respiratory infection.
It can also help fight allergies, diabetes, obesity, and asthma. Moreover, premature babies should be given breast milk as it helps reduce the chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SDIS). Breast milk is a powerhouse of nutrition, and it can ease the digestion process. Some consider it the perfect food for babies.
Unconventional benefits include low cost and convenience. Moreover, breast milk helps your baby to develop faster.
Disadvantages
New mothers have minimal concerns when it comes to breastfeeding. Initially, you will feel weird during breastfeeding sessions, but you will eventually become accustomed to it.
For the first few days, you will feel latch-on pain due to sore nipples, but it will become better eventually. It is a huge time commitment, and mothers need to feed their baby frequently in the first six months. At the same time, the mother needs to go on a stringent diet during this time.
In some situations, the mother’s milk might be dangerous for the baby due to medication used, breast surgery, or diseases like AIDS. Consult a doctor before moving on to breastfeeding your infant.
Breast Milk or Baby Formula: What Should You Choose?
The World Health Organization says that breastfeeding is the best choice. It helps prevent allergies and infections. With it, you can protect your baby from chronic issues.
At the same time, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that you should exclusively breastfeed till the baby is six months old. After that, mothers can introduce solid food items like bananas and cereals along with breast milk.
However, if you have underlying conditions, you can choose high-quality and natural baby formula. Ensure not to buy from Enfamil or Similac brands. Even then, deciding how to feed your baby as a working mother can be hard.
You can either choose to pump and store breast milk for your baby. Or, you can rely on certain natural baby formulas.
