Unless you live in a cave, you have probably heard about Gisele Bundchen’s comments about breast feeding.  In a nutshell what Gisele says is it should be a law that you have to breastfeed your child for the first six months of the baby’s life.  Gisele went on to talk about how it helped her get her figure back quickly.  The quote that I thought was interesting was when Gisele said, ““Some people here (in the US) think they don’t have to breastfeed, and I think, ‘Are you going to give chemical food to your child when they are so little?’ ”

Gisele later clarified her point about not making breastfeeding a law explaining, that she is just really passionate about children.

What if she is right?  Should there be a law about breastfeeding?  Of course not, however does Gisele have a point?  I say yes.  Here is a quick synopsis of the benefits of breastfeeding:

• No cost
• Transferred immunity between mom and child
• Reduced risk of constipation, colic and diabetes
• Reduced risk of SIDS
• Reduced chance of ear infections, allergies and asthma
• Not to mention tons of other benefits

What I didn’t mention is that breast milk is all natural.  No additives, chemicals, etc.

Now what is in formula?

How about this for an ingredient list:

• “Enzymatically hydrolyzed reduced minerals, whey protein concentrate, palm olein, soy, coconut, high-oleic safflower oils, lactose, maltodextrin, patoassium citrate, calcium phosphate, calcium chloride, salt, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, potassium iodide, soy lecithin, mono and diglycerides, inositol, choline bitartrate
  sodium ascorbate, alpha tocophyeryl acetate, naicinamide, calcum pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, phylloquinone, biotin, vitamin D3, vitamin B12, taurine,
  L-carnitine”

That is a lot of ingredients.  Without a dictionary I cannot even tell you what most of those things are.

Please, please, please understand that I am not judging what a woman who has spent nine months carrying her child chooses to do.  I am simply hoping to educate a few people who may not have been aware of the differences bewtween formula and breast feeding.