Breastfeeding: The Best Investment...

Breastfeeding not only gives love, bonding, and health for mothers and babies. It can also save you money!

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International Lactation Consultant Association via Maternal Connections™

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There are many ways families can profit from breastfeeding!

1. A Healthy Investment

Taking care of a sick baby or child can take a lot of time and money. For active, working families, a sick baby can really upset your routine and add more stress.

Babies who are breastfed are less likely to get sick. In fact, the older a breastfed baby is before any other foods are given, the greater the protection from breastfeeding.

Human milk actively coats, protects, and supports a baby's fragile body and immune system. It makes it harder for germs and bacteria to get in baby in the first place, and helps keep them from sticking around and hurting baby. Every time you breastfeed, baby gets another dose of protection. Some studies suggest that this protection lasts long after baby has grown out of breastfeeding.

Of course, breastfeeding can't protect baby against everything. The good news is that even when they do get an ear infection or diarrhea, breastfed babies are usually not as sick and get better faster than babies who are not breastfed.

2. Fewer Illnesses Means More Income!

When your baby is sick, you or your family lose money.

• A study in two Southern California businesses found that breastfeeding moms were half as likely to miss work because of a sick baby. Among babies who were never sick, 86% were breastfed.¹
  
  

Breastfeeding is like opening a "Health Account" for your baby. Each time you breastfeed, you make a deposit into that account. Breastfeeding for several months builds a large and strong account. This can help your baby and child fight off infections. Your breastfeeding deposits grow a healthy body, like the interest in a savings account. In the long run, your breastfed child comes out ahead.

• A study in the Houston suburbs estimated that the total average cost to treat one episode of diarrhea was $289. Of this, about $100 was for medical care. The rest of the costs (average $189) were for missed work, transportation to the doctor, special foods, extra diapers, and extra costs for child care.² Breastfed babies are half as likely to get diarrhea as babies who are not breastfed.
  
  
• Babies and young children in group child care settings tend to get sick more often. When babies are sick, it means missed work. Breastfed babies tend to have fewer illnesses, even in child day care settings³.
  
  

3. Breastmilk Is Practically Free!

Buying substitutes for breastmilk (sometimes called formula) can be pretty expensive. In the U.S., formula for the first year can cost between $800 and $1000. If specialized substitutes are needed, this cost can double or triple.

Besides the artificial baby milk itself, families have to buy bottles, teats/nipples and cleaning supplies.

There are hidden costs, too: water for preparation and clean-up, fuel for traveling to the store, heating water for preparation and storage, and garbage disposal for the used packaging. Although these costs may not be obvious, they do add up.

In general it costs about three times as much money to purchase and prepare breastmilk substitutes as it does to breastfeed.

4. Time is Any

Only part of the time spent breastfeeding is just for feeding. Moms and babies also cuddle, comfort, and rest. Although it may seem to take less time to feed formula, studies show that formula preparation and cleanup, and time caring for a sick child can double your time costs. Many breastfeeding moms are good at doing other things at the same time they are breastfeeding, too!

What YOU Can do:

1. While you're pregnant, learn more about the benefits of breastfeeding and how to do it. Talk with your doctor or other health care provider, go to classes and mother-to-mother support groups and read books.
   
   
2. Discuss your desires with your employer during your pregnancy. Plan for what you will need when you return to work.
   
   
3. Breastfeed early and often after birth and at home.
   
   
4. Get help for any breastfeeding questions you may have. Lactation Consultants are the health professionals who can help you - ask your doctor to refer you to one. Breastfeeding should be enjoyable. No question is too small.
   
   
5. Feed baby only breastmilk as long as possible, preferably for the first 6 months. This will give baby the best possible protection against getting sick.
   
   
6. Encourage your employer to give you permission, time and space at work to express and store your milk.
   
   

Is breastfeeding REALLY going to save me money?

What if I need a breast pump?

Good pumps will still cost less than the cost of buying formula. And you don't always need a pump - lots of moms express with their hands better than with a pump!

I get my medical care free, so going to the doctor doesn't cost me anything.

You still should think about lost work time, travel costs, and medicine costs. And who can measure the suffering of a child?

I know kids who were breastfed, and they got sick, too!

Breastfed kids are healthier in general. There are some kids who get sick for many reasons. Just think how much sicker they would be without breastfeeding!

I can get free formula through government programs.

On many programs, you will still need to buy some formula. You'll still have to buy feeding equipment, and spend the time and money in buying, preparing, and cleaning up.

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