When One Child is Breastfed

By Melissa Clark Vickers, MEd, IBCLC

When one child is breastfed, the effects are felt through his family, his community, and ultimately through the world.

• He is given the best start possible, with a food that is nutritionally complete and specifically designed for human dietary needs.
• He is given dose after dose of a disease-fighting, living fluid that can:
• Decrease risk of respiratory disease, ear infections, gastroenteritis, SIDS, allergies, childhood cancers, diabetes, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's Disease and many others.
• Improve his response to vaccines he receives later on.
• Fill in the gap until his immune system matures.
• He is given brain food that will increase his cognitive scores throughout his childhood.

• Decreased risk for breast cancer, osteoporosis, ovarian cancer, anemia.
• Daily doses of the "mothering hormone," prolactin, that calms her and improves her mothering skills.
• Extra time that she might otherwise be mixing formula, sterilizing bottles, cleaning bottles, and heading to the store when the supply runs low.
• A sense of empowerment that comes with providing such an unmatched beginning for her child.

• The opportunity to learn that parenting is not just about feeding so he finds new ways to interact with his child.
• A sense of pride in his family.

• A higher spendable income:
• With the savings on the purchase of formula alone, his family can buy a major appliance every six months.
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