Different moms have different needs. For some, breastfeeding isn’t an option, for either medical or personal reasons. 

If you don’t breastfeed, there are several good artificial formulas available. Formula is easy to work around your sleep schedule. (At bedtime, just put a thermos of clean warm water and a baby bottle with premeasured formula powder by your bed. Then, when your baby gets hungry, mix them together and voilà! You have fresh formula without having to totter down to the kitchen and start from scratch.) Formula also lets your partner give a feeding, allowing you to get a little catch-up sleep. 

But if you can breastfeed, this is definitely the best way to go. Breast milk has hundreds of ingredients to build strong bodies and brains, and scores of special immune boosters (even white blood cells) to enhance immunity and prevent illness…and it reduces SIDS. 

In addition, breast milk is always clean, warm and available (which will save you hours of time and hundreds of dollars). And breastfeeding can also help you lose weight (your baby sucks out of you as many calories as you’d consume running 3-5 miles a day). Amazingly, nursing can even reduce your risk of breast and ovarian cancer!

About Dr. Harvey Karp

Dr. Harvey Karp, one of America’s most trusted pediatricians, is the founder of Happiest Baby and the inventor of the groundbreaking SNOO Smart Sleeper. After years of treating patients in Los Angeles, Dr. Karp vaulted to global prominence with the release of the bestselling Happiest Baby on the Block and Happiest Toddler on the Block. His celebrated books and videos have since become standard pediatric practice, translated into more than 20 languages and have helped millions of parents. Dr. Karp’s landmark methods, including the 5 S’s for soothing babies, guide parents to understand and nurture their children and relieve stressful issues, like new-parent exhaustion, infant crying, and toddler tantrums.

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Disclaimer: The information on our site is NOT medical advice for any specific person or condition. It is only meant as general information. If you have any medical questions and concerns about your child or yourself, please contact your health provider.