Boobie Smart
Monday, January 7th, 2008“Breastfeeding makes babies smarter, said a comprehensive international study. Ninety percent of babies carry a digestive gene that allows them to reap the extra benefits of breast milk. So when fed at their mothers’ breasts instead of given formula, nine out of 10 babies experience meaningful brain growth, increasing IQ by an average of about seven points.” source: The Week, Dec. 28, 2007-Jan. 11, 2008.
For those who cannot breastfeed, please bring this information to your pediatrician to request a prescription for milk bank breastmilk. There is a milk bank in North Carolina (and several others around the country) that will mail it to you in a dry-ice filled container. It is available only by prescription. Your babies brain development is plenty good enough reason to have an authorized request for breast milk. It doesn’t come cheap, though, so you can also search out friends and friends of friends to get some donated. I did for my adopted son and he was not the same child during those months that we had breastmilk. When it came to an end, the colic returned.
There is also an excellent tool for assisting breastfeeding for those with adopted babies, previous breast-reduction surgery, or anyone needing assistance with milk supply (or who is told to “supplement” with formula at the detriment of your own milk supply development)… the Lact-Aid is an amazing tool to make sure your baby it getting the milk and physical connection he needs, and your breasts are being stimulated to produce milk.