Researchers report that mothers who are breast feeding can safely do aerobic exercise without affecting their ability to nurse. Scientists found that women could do aerobic exercise four or five times per week, beginning six to eight weeks after giving birth, without any adverse effects on the amount of milk they were able to give, the composition of the milk or the infants' weight gain. The exercise also had the positive effect of improving the mothers' cardiovascular fitness. Doctors at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas say mothers should breast feed their infants if they can. Breast feeding provides many benefits to infants that can't come from any other source.
Breast milk can transmit certain immune properties from mother to baby.
Studies have even shown that breast feeding can reduce the incidence of middle-ear infections. Doctors say mothers should breast feed as long as they can, at least for the first six months. After that, it's okay to alternate between breast milk and formula. As the baby gets older, its own immune system takes over and it needs the immunity from breast milk less. Remember that children learn by observation, so if they see their parents exercising, they're more likely to keep fit themselves.