Breastfeeding and Bottle Feeding: Is One Better Than the Other?

McKayla Horton
Ottawa University
Abstract
In the following bibliographic essay, a variety of scholarly and non-scholarly
sources and research methods are used to answer the question of whether
breastfeeding and breast milk or bottle feeding and formula are the best options for an
infant. These sources were evaluated by the author of this paper and come from many
content types such as encyclopedias, academic journals, databases and parenting
websites made by pediatric organizations and includes articles written by experienced
researchers and medical doctors. Throughout this research experience, it should be
known that there were no biases involved and has included original work and
observations.
Whether a person is an expectant mother, a doctor or a student wanting to go
into the pediatric field, there is always going to be controversy on what method of infant
feeding is better. Some doctors explain to pregnant women how important it is for a
mother to breastfeed and other doctors disagree. How do we prove what is the best
choice? To start off, a person needs a good idea of the history of infant feeding. Did
ancestors start out breastfeeding? Next, knowing the amount of fat, hormones,
proteins, carbohydrates and other nutrients in breast milk and formulas are important
for the growth and development of a child. Thirdly, this paper is going to cover the good
and bad effects of breast milk and formula on a family and a child socially,
developmentally, costs and more. Lastly, the paper will explain the importance of a
parents choice as well as what really is better. The intended audience for this article will

be for expectant parents and someone who is interested in the profession of infant
care.

Introduction
For people, there are many milestones to be excited about that occur during a
lifetime. One of these milestones, is the joy of introducing a new baby to the family.
Once parents hear about the exciting news that a baby is about to come into their lives,
the preparing process starts right away. However, there are difficulties in the this
process. What are the best choices for the baby? More specifically, is breastfeeding
going to be better for the parents and their child or children, or will formula and bottle
feeding be the best choice? Many people believe breastfeeding is the best and that
formula should never be used. How is it better? In this paper, the following points will
be discussed: the history of infant feeding, the nutrients involved with breast milk and
formula, the advantages and disadvantages to breastfeeding for parents and their
baby, the advantages and disadvantages of bottle feeding for parents and their baby
and lastly, what really is the best method of infant feeding?

History: The Start of Infant Feeding

In the beginning of 2000 BC, there was a different method used for feeding
children. It involved a woman breastfeeding another womans child. This was called wet
nursing and the women that breastfed these infants were known as wet nurses. Wet
nursing was a profession for many women and involved a contract and laws that
needed to be followed. However, wet nursing was not practiced the same in different
countries. In France, wet nursing was a method used by all who could afford it. The

parents would send their children miles and miles away for several years just to have
their children wet nursed by the low class women or peasants. Also, parents back then
with children needed to keep a job to pay their rent, so wet nursing was another way to
work without an infant at their side. On the other hand, wet nurses that fed these
families babies, also neglected them. This caused many infants to die. This high infant
mortality rate caused wet nurses to move in with families whose baby she was nursing.
This allowed parents to watch the wet nurse's actions as she fed their baby and to
make sure that there was no neglect present. These wet nurses were paid minimum
wage through the Bureau of Wet Nurses. This bureau ensured that parents had enough
supply of wet nurses to feed their children and to persuade nurses not to neglect their
duties and advance their monthly salary. The bureau would collect the wet nurses
wages from the father of the infant.
In England, wet nursing was mostly used by the wealthy and the working-class
breastfed their own babies. Also, a strange thing that occurred in this country was that
wealthy women would most likely give birth to a baby every year while the working
class was most likely to wait approximately three years. The reason for this was said to
be because breast-feeding reduced ovulation of women. Concluding that the workingclass did not have kids as often as the wealthy. Another thing that was different in
england was that there were two types of wet nurses. One was a nurse who was poor,
not paid well and could not get the right amount of care for their charges. The other
nurses were professionals that were well paid and were respected by others. Also,
families hired wet nurses that were well known to them, unlike in France where the
nurses werent well known.

The last country is The United States of America. In the U.S., english colonists
had a method of placing babies to live with wet nurses. However, some people did not
like this and stated that mothers who did not feed their children themselves were to be
called half mothers. As years went on, the method of living changed. Instead of babies
coming to live with the nurses, the nurses now began living with the families (similar to
the first country mentioned in this paper.)
A good thing that wet nursing did was that it fed abandoned babies who were
thrown into trash piles during the Medieval Times and was used to feed a child if the
mother was deceased or suffering from lactation failure. If the case was lactation
failure, a remedy was used before wet nursing was chosen. However, during the middle
ages, people started to question wet nursing. Books were written that explained
reasons why this method of feeding a child was bad unless the mother for some reason
could not nurse her own child. It was said that using a wet nurse could ruin the
relationship between the mother and her child, the child could be switched with another
in its place, or the child could inherit a bad condition. If a wet nurse was needed, a
redheaded woman could not be a nurse because it was thought that redheads had a
big temper and they could pass that trait to the child through breast milk. However, wet
nursing was still popular among families and there were many women who wanted to
become a wet nurse. Women would have a child just to throw it away to obtain a job as
a wet nurse.
As the end eighteenth century and beginning of the next came around, wet
nursing slowly started to come to a stop. Women preferred feeding their own children
before considering hiring a nurse. Also, animals milk was used and the feeding bottle
became even more modern. If the mother chose not to use the milk of an animal, two

other options for feeding were called pap and panada. Pap is bread soaked in water or
milk and panada are cereals cooked in broth. Later in the mid 1900s, food
preservatives and synthetic formula products were invented and was used more often.

Nutrition of Breast Milk and Formula

There are many different types of nutrients that are found in foods. Some are
fats, proteins, carbohydrates, immune boosters, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and
hormones. These nutrients provide every living organism with growth, formation of
strong bones, intestinal health, efficient digestion and helps with brain development.
Breast milk and formulas provide children with all of these. There are many different
formulas that promote certain health factors for mothers to give to their children. Breast
milk has all of these factors if the mother is healthy and each mothers breast milk is
specifically made to fit the needs of her child.
Fats are one of the most important nutrients needed in infant milks. They are
vital for the growth of an infant's brain and body. If no fats are present in breast milk or
formulas, the child may be at risk for heart and central nervous system diseases when
they become an adult. Starting off with breast milk, its fats contain two types of omega 3
for brain building. These types are DHA and AA. Also, breast milk contains lots of
cholesterol and fat digesting enzymes. For formulas, there are different types of
formulas that contain different types and amounts of nutrients for an infant. In milkbased infant formulas, the amount of fats are about 48-50%, which is a bit lower than
breast milk. In soy formulas, the fat content is 45-49% and uses vegetable oils.
Proteins is the next nutrient of milk that will be discussed. In breast milk, the
main protein is whey and for mothers who deliver preterm, there is more protein in their

milk. Other proteins that are included in breast milk are lactoferrin which promotes
intestinal health, lysozyme which is an antimicrobial and more proteins that induce
sleep and brain and body growth. In formulas, the main ingredient is casein, but others
may contain whey from a cow's milk. For soy formula, it will contain only soy proteins
that will give a child normal growth and development. There are also hydrolyzed
formulas that have broken down proteins for infants with special needs in digestion.
A third type of nutrient in breast milk and formulas are carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates role is to promote brain development. The most important carbohydrate
is lactose. There are studies that show that lactose levels have an effect on the size of
the brain in an organism. Fortunately for children, the brain development of infants fed
formulas versus breastfed infants does not show a big difference. Breast milk will
always be rich in lactose, there is no changing that and there are formulas that are also
rich in lactose such as milk-based formulas. However, for the children who are allergic
to lactose, there are other formulas that do not have lactose and have another nutrient
that promotes brain development in infants. Soy formulas are this way.
The next type of nutrient are immune boosters. For breast milk, when a mother
gets a germ in her body, there are antibodies that are made to fight that germ and then
the antibodies are given to the child through breast milk. Also, millions of white blood
cells are given to the child with each feeding and immunoglobulins. In formulas, there
are prebiotic ingredients added to give the baby healthy bacteria and to enhance
immunity to fight off infections.
The last types of nutrients are vitamins and minerals. Breast milk and formulas
both have iron, zinc, calcium (except for the formulas for lactose intolerant babies), iron

and an antioxidant called selenium for vitamins and minerals. The only difference is that
formula has more of these vitamins and minerals than breast milk.
After evaluating all the nutrients in formula and breast milk, it is clear to
determine that there is no significant difference between the two. Also, it should be
noticed that a mother can be comfortable with using either method to feed her child and
a doctor should be able to tell a mother that either method will give their child the
growth and development he or she needs.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Breastfeeding in Children and Parents
Most people realize the good things to breastfeeding thanks to doctors or
relatives with children or websites seen on the web, but what about realizing the bad
things? This is overlooked by many and the only way to make a decision in the method
of an infant's feeding is to look at both the advantages and disadvantages to the child
and the parent starting with the advantages. The first advantage of breastfeeding to the
infant is that they may have a lower risk of getting infections such as ear infections,
diarrhea, respiratory infections, meningitis and others than formula fed infants. This is
due to the mothers antibodies being passed to the child through the milk. The second
advantage is that breast milk is usually more easily digested. This is essential so that
baby does not get constipated. The last advantage to the infant is that the milk will have
a different taste during almost every feeding. The mother needs a healthy diet and what
she eats will change the flavor of the breast milk for the baby. Also, by tasting the
different flavors, infants may accept solid foods easier when old enough.
There are also some advantages to the parents. The first advantage is that
breast milk is free. Parents do not need to spend costly money on buying bottles, a
pump (unless they want to), nipples and more. The second advantage is that a woman

feels like she bonds more with her baby during breastfeeding. Feeling that skin-to-skin
contact can develop an emotional connection between a mother and her child. A third
advantage to breastfeeding is that a mother can lose weight by breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding requires the mother to eat healthy and the action of breastfeeding burns
about 500 calories a day. This can also shrink the mother's uterus. The last advantage
to the mother is that breastfeeding can lower risk of developing certain diseases and
conditions such as lower the risk of breast cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and
more.
Now that the advantages have been covered, it is also important to look at the
disadvantages of breastfeeding in the child and parents. The first disadvantage of
breastfeeding for a child is that there needs to be a good sucking reflex present or
attachment will not occur. Attachment can be very hard for premature infants and
children born with defects. The second disadvantage is that since breast milk digests
faster, there will need to be more feeding times throughout the day and night. This can
put more stress on the mother. The next disadvantage is that some babies can not take
the richness of breast milk on their stomachs. Some infants throw it up or are allergic to
the lactose in the milk. The last disadvantage of breast milk and feeding in the infant is
that if the mother develops serious diseases such as HIV or cancers and uses
chemotherapy as treatment, it can be dangerous for an infant who is being breastfed.
There are many disadvantages of breastfeeding for parents also. The first
disadvantage is that the mother can not eat what she wants such as lots of sweets or
drink what she wants such as soda or alcohol. These foods and beverages can be
passed to the infant through the breast milk and cause problems such as restlessness
and irritability. The second disadvantage is that the first few weeks or months of

breastfeeding can be very uncomfortable for a mother and latch-on pain will be present
for a few weeks. Also, because of the world today, the public can be harsh on
breastfeeding mothers who choose to feed in public. Which can cause the mother to
switch to formula feeding. Another disadvantage to breastfeeding is that if the mother is
not using bottles or pumping breast milk, she is the only one that can feed the child.
This can make the father or other relatives feel left out and feel like they are not getting
bonding time with the infant. The last disadvantage for breastfeeding is that the mother
will not have much of a social life. She needs to dedicate her time to feeding her infant.
Knowing the pros and cons of breastfeeding will help parents keep an open mind
on trying different methods of feeding for their infant and will not make mothers who
cannot or do not want to breastfeed for certain reasons think that they are hurting their
child by formula feeding.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Bottle Feeding in Children and Parents
Unlike breastfeeding, most people do not see the advantages of bottle feeding.
Once a parent hears from a doctor on how great breastfeeding is, biases and
conclusions start to develop right away without questioning on why formula is good or
bad. Also, this can make mothers who can not breastfeed or do not want to feel like
they are not giving their child adequate nutrients for growth and development when in
reality, the child is getting a balance of nutrients through formula. Unlike the United
States, China is a country who understands the benefits of formula feeding. The
formula feeding rate is higher than the breastfeeding rate. According to the
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, fifty mothers were
interviewed and asked why they chose to bottle feed. They simply stated that they had

poor lactation or felt uncomfortable breastfeeding and that formulas had the same
nutritional value as breast milk.
The first advantage to bottle feeding for a child is that the child does not need as
many feeding times as infants who are breastfed. This is due to formula not digesting in
the body as fast as breast milk. The second advantage to bottle feeding is that a
mother can be sure about how much milk and nutrients are being given to the baby.
This can ensure normal growth and development in the child. The next advantage is
that formulas still give infants the right kind and amount of nutrients needed for healthy
growth and development. This is described more in detail under the Nutrients
subheading earlier in this paper. The last advantage for bottle feeding in an infant is
that the infant can become less cranky if given formula.
There are many advantages to bottle feeding for parents, but just to name a few,
the first advantage is that the mother can eat and drink what she wants. Whether it is
five cupcakes or a few glasses of wine at dinner, she can drink or eat it without harming
the babies health. The next advantage is that the father and other relatives can help
with the baby and develop bonding time with it. This will make the family feel like they
are a part of the experience. The third advantage is that a mother can have a social life.
She can leave her infant with a babysitter and have a night out and away without
having to worry about feedings. The last advantage to bottle feeding for parents is that
the mother does not have to worry about being judged for feeding her child out in public
and it is a great alternative for mothers who can not breast feed due to lack of lactation
or other reasons.
While researching this topic, many disadvantages came up.. This is no surprise
due to the way doctors and others explain how breastfeeding is better. However again,

a person needs to see all aspects of every topic to reach a decision. The first
disadvantage to bottle feeding in infants is that in some formulas, there may not be as
many antibodies present to help the baby fight off infections. This can cause a higher
risk of getting sick. A second disadvantage is the complexity of breast milk can not be
manufactured into formula. As the baby changes, the milk will need to change and
formula can not complete this task to change for the babys needs. Another
disadvantage is that more solid and smelly bowels can be produced from being fed
formula. This can cause gas or constipation in the child. The last disadvantage of bottle
feeding to the child is that there is a higher risk of obesity in bottle fed children.
For parents, a disadvantage to bottle feeding is that the mother could feel like
she is not getting bonding time with her baby. However, a child will get that bonding
time no matter what method of feeding the parents are using, but sometimes a mother
does not realize this. The second disadvantage is that a mother has to make sure that
there is always formula at hand for when the infant needs it. If the mother does not, this
can make the child very unhappy. The next disadvantage is that formula can be
expensive and it can be hard to choose what type of formula will be right for the child.
The last disadvantage of bottle feeding for the parents is that bottles and nipples need
to be cleaned and sterilized very well before each feeding.
By reading and knowing all of the advantages and disadvantages to
breastfeeding and bottle feeding, it can be clear to see that both of these feeding
methods are not perfect. Each method is unique in its own way and has its own
strengths and flaws.
Deciding What is Right for an Infant

When a parent is preparing for the arrival of baby, it is important to keep all of
these points mentioned in mind. It is clear to see that no matter what choice the parents
make, it will not affect an infant's development in any way. In a study stated in a journal
called Developmental Neuropsychology, scientists studied the cortical responses and
behavioral development in two infants aged 3 to 6 months. One infant was fed breast
milk and the other was fed formula. The results of this study indicated that there was no
difference in cortical responses or development. It was shown that diet and gender
may play a role in this.
Conclusion
As this paper wraps up, it is important for parents to pick what they believe is the
best choice for an infant. To make this decision, it is important to research each method
of feeding. As a person researches these methods, it can be clear to see that
breastfeeding and bottle feeding both have its advantages and disadvantages. This
does not make one method better than the other. Lastly, if a healthcare professional
uses this research method to talk with expectant parents along with asking what the
parents are wanting to do, this will reduce the thought of breastfeeding being better
than bottle feeding. A parents choice is always the best choice.

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