Why I breastfed my babies

I read recently that the percentage of breastfeeding moms is on the rise lately. It makes me wonder what all those women who don't breastfeed are thinking. I understand health reasons if a mom is unable and moms who are forced to go right back to work and are gone for most of the day, (Although if you are that poor, it seems the financial benefits of breastfeeding would be good for them. Pumps are available for free or dirt cheap from most social service offices). I spent way too much time in the last few months watching A Baby Story and shows like that and saw so many moms get talked into quitting by a selfish husband or an uptight grandma. Things like that make me wanna scream.
But rather than scream, I just thought I'd write why I do choose to breastfeed my babies.
1. Breast milk is free. And it is always available. I cannot see paying for something that my body makes for free. Maybe I'm just too frugal. Or cheap. But I could never justify the cost of formula when I can make it and cost us absolutely nothing.
2. It is always the perfect food for the baby. It is always the perfect temperature. It is always the perfect nutrition. A mother's milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water, and protein that is needed for a baby's growth and development.
3. It helps me lose weight faster. Breastfeeding burns 500 to 1000 calories a day. And when you're a woman like me, that's an awesome benefit.
4. Breastfed babies tend to score higher on IQ tests and be more well rounded in their education. How could I not do something with that long term of a benefit for my kids?
5. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancers, and possibly the risk of hip fractures and osteoporosis after menopause. This was always an important factor for me, but after watching my Mom's struggle with breast cancer this year, it's become even more important to me.
6. Breastfeeding saves on health care costs. Total medical care costs for the nation are lower for fully breastfed infants than never-breastfed infants since breastfed infants typically need fewer sick care visits, prescriptions, and hospitalizations. I'm always shocked to hear how often other kids go to the doctors, my kids might go once in two or three years.
7. Breastfeeding is better for the environment. There are no empty formula cans to throw away, no old bottles to toss out and no energy use in heating the milk.
8. Breastfeeding forces me to take some down time every few hours. I sit on the couch with my baby at the breast and have time to nap or read. This is a sanity-saver, especially in these first few weeks.
9. I personally like the "tradition" of breastfeeding and knowing that I'm sharing in an "art" that women have been doing for all of time.
10. I love knowing that at any moment I have the perfect solution to any problem Isaiah might be having. I can help him when he's hungry, help him go to sleep, help him feel warmer, provide a safe place, hold him close, bond with him, make him stop crying, help him relax, help him feel secure. I can immediately be his source of comfort any time of day.
And also- when you exclusively breastfeed, no periods!!
Here are a few more statistics about the benefits to the baby:
-Breast milk has agents (called antibodies) in it to help protect infants from bacteria and viruses. Recent studies show that babies who are not exclusively breastfed for 6 months are more likely to develop a wide range of infectious diseases including ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory illnesses and have more hospitalizations. Also, infants who are not breastfed have a 21% higher postneonatal infant mortality rate in the U.S.
-Some studies suggest that infants who are not breastfed have higher rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in the first year of life, and higher rates of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, lymphoma, leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, overweight and obesity, high cholesterol and asthma. More research in these areas is needed (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2005).