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Benefits and Uses of Breast Milk
I remember when I first became amazed by breast milk. Dominic and I were at a community center with about 50 other moms and tots when one of mothers shared that she squirted breast milk up her baby’s nose to clear up congestion! The concept of using breast milk for anything other than nutrition was new to me and compelled me to investigate; compiling not only the benefits of breast milk, but also some of it’s lesser known uses.
The Benefits
- Immunity Boost: Mom’s antibodies are passed to the baby; resulting in less illness
- Premature infants that are breastfed do better than those who are formula fed.
- It’s perfect nutrition and gives baby exactly what they need, when they need it.
- Is a profound bonding experience between mother and child.
- It’s conveniently “on tap” with no bottles to heat or mixing to deal with.
- Less waste
- Breastfed babies score higher on IQ tests
- Can help mom lose weight because of the extra calories lactation require
The Uses
- feed your baby
- contains antibacterial properties so you can squirt it on an open wound
- pink eye treatment, just squirt some drop in the infected eye
- express a few drops and rub into sore nipples or cracked skin
- apply it on mosquito bites or other itchies
- use to clear up diaper rash by washing with water, covering with breast milk, and let air dry
- soothes a sore throat
- some studies point to breast feeding as a way to reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancer
- use in place of saline solution to loosen up mucous in the nose
The most interesting use I found, however, is laid out in this article from sciencealert.com
Recently a scientist in Australia discovered the presence of stem cells in breast milk. The implications of this discovery are huge and have many scientist excited about the possibilities. Yet again, breast milk is proved to be much more than perfect nutrition for your baby. Now it looks to be something that guides baby’s genetic development!
I wouldn’t be surprised if this amazing milk even leaves a streak-free shine on windows! Windex watch out!
[...] breastfeeding is damaging to mother, baby, and society at large. You can read my post about the benefits of breastfeeding. I would add to the list of benefits that breastfeeding lowers infant mortality. Premature babies [...]
August 9th, 2008 at 4:45 pmHey! I like your post “s and Uses of Breast Milk | Lactation Consultant” so well that I like to ask you whether I should translate into German and linking back. Answer welcome. Greetings Kroatien
November 30th, 2008 at 3:47 am