Healthy nutrients Breastmilk has the nutrients that are best for your baby's brain growth and nervous system development. Studies of breastfed babies have found that they do better on intelligence tests when they grow older. A breastfed baby's eyes also work better.
That is, breastfeeding is positively associated with performance in intelligence tests in childhood in such as subjects who had been breastfed had an average gain of 3.44 IQ points [1].
In addition to providing physical benefits through critical nutrients, research shows that breastfeeding also has a deep and lasting effect on thought and understanding, behavior, and mental health in children. For instance, babies who are breastfed are likely to have: Stronger critical thinking and reasoning skills.
Specifically, for each additional month of exclusive breastfeeding, child verbal IQ was 0.8 points higher, translating to a benefit of almost 5 points over 6 months, the recommended duration of exclusive breastfeeding.
With MRI scans, we found that babies fed more breast milk had larger brain volumes. This is important because several other studies have shown a correlation between brain volume and cognitive development.”
Breastfed babies cry more, laugh less, and generally have "more challenging temperaments" than formula-fed infants, a study has found.
The paper, which was published in the Journal of Nutrition, shows that the adolescents who were breastfed as babies ha stronger leg muscles than those who were not breastfed. Moreover, muscular leg strength was greater in those who had been breastfed for a longer period of time.
The Science Behind Breastfeeding and Early Brain Development
For example, one study found that breastfeeding for 12 months or more was associated with a three-point increase in IQ and both higher educational attainment and income.
Lifelong benefits of breastfeeding
Research has shown that babies who receive breast milk have a lower risk of hypertension, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, allergies, cancer, asthma, intestinal and respiratory infections, and obesity both during childhood and adulthood.
But they say this crankiness in babies is normal and just their natural way of communicating their needs to their mother and is no cause for alarm. For example, some cries will be down to tiredness not hunger.
Myth: Babies who have been breastfed are clingy.
All babies are different. Some are clingy and some are not, no matter how they are fed. Breastfeeding provides not only the best nutrition for infants, but is also important for their developing brain.
In fact, Lessa Horta said the subjects who had been breastfed for 12 months or longer had a higher IQ (about 3.7 points), more years of education and earned roughly 20% more than the average income level. “It's suggesting that the positive effect of breastfeeding on IQ leads to a higher income,” he said.
Talk to them and read to them.
Playing simple teaching games along the way, for instance asking them to name or count objects, boosts their intelligence even more. "You can raise your child's IQ by six points by simply doing this over a few years when they are young," Roche writes. Start as early as you can, he adds.
Four to six weeks
This period is the most critical time for building baby's immune system. As your little one grows, your breast milk adapts to their needs, providing nutrients that are perfect for their developmental state.
Breastmilk or infant formula should be your baby's main source of nutrition for around the first year of life. Health professionals recommend exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, with a gradual introduction of appropriate foods in the second 6 months and ongoing breastfeeding for 2 years or beyond.
By continuing breastfeeding beyond six months, you lower your lifelong risk of developing heart disease,27 type 2 diabetes28 and cancers of the breast,29 ovaries30 and uterus.”31 And breastfeeding mums often find their periods don't return for many months – and possibly for as long as two years.
WHO recommends mothers worldwide to exclusively breastfeed infants for the child's first six months to achieve optimal growth, development and health. Thereafter, they should be given nutritious complementary foods and continue breastfeeding up to the age of two years or beyond.
Breastfeeding difficulties and interruption lead to poorer maternal mood and increase the risk of developing postpartum depression. A 2011 study conducted by Nielson and colleagues found women who were unable to breastfeed were 2.4 times more likely to develop symptoms of depression 16 weeks after birth.
“Most breastfeeding children tend to have a generalized attachment to their mother's breast(s), and this often continues after weaning, particularly during the period before they are fully verbal and have enough expressive vocabulary to describe their insecurities or need for comfort,” says Dr.
Babytalk | A baby's bond with its mother may start with the sense of smell. One of my favorite things to do is show mothers how their baby can smell them from as far away as 1 to 2 feet.
An infant's intestinal tract responds to its mother's milk by sprouting receptors that detect the hormone, activating neurochemical signals that can travel all the way to the brain. These signals may influence a baby's stress response and the development of brain regions that regulate emotions such as fear and anxiety.