Breast milk is the best milk for a baby. It has by far the greatest nutritional value that a growing baby (and toddler) needs. It is so packed full of nutrients that scientists continue to learn about the makeup of breast milk. It is unique to each child and further unique by how healthy the breastfeeder is. For instance, I'm sure quite a few of you have seen the comparative photos (floating around social media of mothers who store excess milk) of breast milk from two different days being two different colors/thickness. The post typically goes on to say that the child was sick one of those times and the breast milk the mother produced adjusted to rectify and fight the illness within the child. This happens when the breastfeeding child's backwashed spit is basically monitored by the mother's breast. Weird, but kinda awesome at the same time. "Part of the immunity that breast milk imparts, it seems, may depend in part on a mixture of milk and baby saliva flowing upstream. This backwash may actually cause a mother’s body to create made-to-order immune factors that are delivered back to the baby in milk", according to ScienceNews. Here is a comparative list of breast milk components next to those found in formula:
Breastfeeding is one of the most natural, bada** things we were made to do so why not rock that gig as long as we can?! So long as both the mother and child enjoy the process, children will wean when they are ready to be done. In the meantime, treasure that liquid gold and the child(ren) who love it so much!
Reference: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/growth-curve/backwash-nursing-babies-may-trigger-infection-fighters
