Thursday 13 #3

13 advantages of nursing my children
1 – I never had to deal with cleaning bottles – Breastmilk comes straight from the source.
2 – They never ran out of food – The body makes as much or as little milk as the child wants so it never runs out and your breasts never get left at home by accident.
3 – I saved us over $5000 by not buying formula – A $7 32oz can of ready-made formula every day for a year for 2 kids = $5110.
4 – I’ve decreased my chance of ovarian cancer – Extended breastfeeding delays the return of ovulation thus lowering the risk of ovarian cancer.
5 – I’ve decreased my chance of breast cancer by 32% and still counting - According to a study, a woman's risk for breast cancer decreased by about 4.3 percent for every 12 months she breast-fed. The risk went down 7 percent more for every child born.
6 – The kids had fewer and less severe illnesses than if they didn’t nurse – The month after Giselle weaned she got sick every week at gymnastics, the month before she was weaned she never got sick.
7 – I feel that my bond with my children would not be this strong if just anyone could have fed and comforted them - I intuitively know when they need something and what it is that they need.
8 – I would be a lot crabbier if I didn’t get that relax hormone kicking in every time my child nurses – Oxytocin is released when a woman nurses and gives her a relaxed feeling.
9 – My kids know what breasts are really for - Nourishing a child.
10 – I would have never joined La Leche League and consequently I would have never met some of my closest friends – La Leche League is an international mother-to-mother breastfeeding support group that meets once a month in communities everywhere.
11 – My kids’ first Spanish word was comida (food) – It’s our codeword for nursing.
12 – My kids ate 100% organic for the first 6 months of their lives – Eating organic has been shown to be healthier than eating non-organic.
13 – It’s a great excuse to sit on my bottom and play on the computer every 2 hours - Yes my kids were the kind that nursed every 2 hours for their first 2.5 YEARS.