Breast Milk Benefits Baby, Mommy and the Bank Account

Did you know that breastfeeding could save you $1,600?  Besides being nutritionally potent for your baby and keeping their immune system healthy, breastfeeding could be the single best thing that you could do for your baby, yourself--and your pocketbook!

Mothers are presented with the idea of breastfeeding and formula feeding well before their babies are even born. Whether it's their grandmothers advocating nursing, their friends who swear by the ease of formula feeding, or their obstetrician encouraging breastfeeding (then minutes after, handing them some samples of Enfamil), everybody has a thing or two to say about it.

Many parents seek to find ways they could save money, but also give the best care their child deserves. Meet "breastfeeding," the golden ticket to health, wealth, and happiness. It quickly becomes your new best-friend. Personally, I knew I wanted to breastfeed from the get-go because of all the advantages breast milk had to offer.  For one, it's nutritionally well rounded with amino acids, vitamins, enzymes, and minerals, which also makes it easy on the baby's digestive system.  Moreover, breast milk contains antibodies that fight off infections which is very important for newborns because their immune systems are not fully developed yet.  Nursing is also a time when mommy and baby can bond, and it provides an easier transition from the womb to the outside world. 

Once a nursing schedule is established you begin to notice other things that help not only the baby, but yourself.  Breastfeeding brings you back to pre-baby shape naturally and more easily, as it burns up to 500 calories and your uterus shrinks at a more rapid pace, compared to your formula feeding counterparts.

There is also the ease of not having to prepare the bottle and, at a moment's notice, your breast is accessible to your baby at all hours of the day and night.  Especially in the early days after labor, you don't want to be moving around too much because everything does hurt and nursing helps with saving time and energy.

Breastfeeding also helps you save money because it's free.  Of course nursing tops, nursing bras, pillows and breast-pumps all cost money--but essentially to breastfeed you only need your breasts.  With formula feeding, you need to buy formula, which adds up over the course of the year--and this doesn't include the costs of bottles, warmers, sanitizers, and other items you use for formula feedings.

So how much money do you exactly save?  Well, it depends on the cost of formula.  For me, I essentially picked out Enfamil Lipil Infant Formula 12.9 oz can which makes 94 fluid ounces for $14.99 and calculated how much it would cost per ounce, which comes out to be 16 cents.  Then I used the calculator at Kellymom.com to do my yearly calculation and it came out to be $1,632.96.  So essentially that is a rough estimate of how much I would be saving by breastfeeding.

While breastfeeding has so many benefits for you, your baby, and your savings account, it's not as easy as most advocates make it out to be.  Especially, if you are a first time mom.  Everything requires time and transition and breastfeeding definitely takes time and getting use to.

After I nursed my daughter for the first day, I was really close to giving up because I was in so much pain. No one told me it was going to be painful, so it did come with a bit of a shock.  I thought it would be easy and everything would be fine, but the second my daughter latched on to my breasts, I cringed, and thought they had been skinned raw (I am being completely honest so you know what to expect, I'm sure each breastfeeding experience is very different).

The initial month was very hard, but once the milk came in it was smooth sailing from there on out.  I'm glad I stuck with it and now 13 months after the fact, I still nurse her and we both continue to reap the benefits of breastfeeding.  So if you are looking to provide your baby with the most nutrient dense milk (full of antibodies), go back to your pre-pregnancy shape, save time, energy, and a good amount of money, breastfeeding is your best bet.