Breast-feeding provides your baby with the needed nutrients to help build their immune system. But there will come the time to wean your baby. Do you know when that is?
Breast Milk has many things that commercial formula doesn't have. This includes the ability to help your baby immune system. Breast Milk contains antibodies. These antibodies protect your newborn child from the many things that can plague their immune system.
Here some compounds that are present in your breast milk and how they help your child's immune system.
Secretory IgA
When your baby is born, some parts of his or her body remain undeveloped. This includes your child's stomach. Secretory IgA is responsible for the protection of your baby's stomach from foreign bacteria.
Lactobacillus Bifidus
This is a bacterium (it is not harmful to your child) which is also present in your breast milk. It is responsible for acidifying the contents of your baby's stomach, thus killing bacteria or suppressing the growth of bacteria in his or her gut.
Lactoferrin
This enzyme is responsible for binding to iron. Without free iron in your child's gut, it reduces the growth of bacteria. This reduces them to a manageable amount.
B12 Binding Protein
Like iron, bacteria also require B12 to thrive. This proteins bind to B12 thus suppressing the growth of bacteria to a normal level in your baby's gut.
Lysozymes
You can think of Lysozymes as a cell that eats other cells. This compound attacks the cell membranes of bacteria and digest them thus killing the bacteria.
There are many other ways breast milk can protect your child from bacteria. Children who are breastfed are less like to get middle ear infections, asthma, respiratory infection, diarrhea, as well as gastrointestinal diseases. In other words, breast milk gets your child off to a healthy start. To obtain the optimum benefit of these immune factors it s suggested that you breastfeed for 6 months or longer. Contact your physician or lactation counselor for more information.
