Milk Vs Breast Milk

were found to cry more and have more challenging temperaments, and formula fed infants were said to be more content. The study also presented that breast-fed babies showed greater distress and took longer to settle down and soothe compared to formula fed babies, suggesting that formula fed babies do in fact settle easier than breast fed infants (Hazell, 2012). Maternal breast milk’s distinctive hormones and proteins are believed to directly affect babies sleep patterns. Breast milk contains several sleep-promoting hormones and proteins e.g. melatonin and prolactin, the release of these hormones tracks the mother’s circadian rhythm (physical, behavioural and mental changes over a 24-hour cycle) and assist with entraining the infant’s personal …show more content…
Infants have a delicate stability of gastrointestinal tract, and alternatives to breastmilk can upset this. Babies who are breastfed are more likely to have their stomach inhabited with valuable bacteria to help keep them healthy, which is the developing immune systems host site (BellyBelly, 2016). Formula is known to alter the range of bacteria present in the gastrointestinal tract, hypothetically disturbing the process. Furthermore, breastmilk is incredibly easy for infants to digest, whilst formula is hard for an infant’s stomach to process (BellyBelly, 2016). Hoklas also mentioned in the interview that she believes babies tolerate breastmilk better than formula milk (Hoklas, 2017). Some mothers may find that if they change to formula feeding at night, in hope of their infant sleeping for longer periods, that their breast milk supply will actually start to decrease and the infant may have latching difficulties and start to wean off breastmilk, causing the mother to have to supplement her …show more content…
Maternal breast milk assists with making an infant’s digestive system more acidic, which in turn prevents harmful bacteria from growing, reducing the possibility of infections (NHS , 2017). Breast milk also contains growth factors and antibodies, which once again help protect infants against infections as it stimulates the development of their infantile digestive system, and protects the infant as needed (NHS , 2017). Breast fed babies are also thought to have a lesser chance of developing asthma and eczema, rather than those who are formula fed (NHS , 2017). A mother creates antibodies to fight off germs that she comes into contact with in her environment, and these antibodies are passed onto her infant through her breast milk. Due to a mother and her baby commonly being exposed to the same germs, this helps protect her baby from the illnesses they are both faced with (Australian Breastfeeding Association , 2016). Hoklas touched on this in her interview, mentioning; “Immunity can only come from breastmilk; formula cannot provide this. As breastmilk is 'living' in a sense, it constantly changes to what the baby needs. Every bottle of formula is theoretically exactly the same.” (Hoklas, 2017). IgA is the most common antibody found in breastmilk, which protect