Breastfeeding satisfies baby's emotional needs. All babies need to be held. Studies have shown that premature babies are more likely to die if they are not held or stroked. There is no more comforting feeling for an infant of any age than being held close and cuddled with while breastfeeding. While many bottle-feeding parents are aware of the importance of cradling their babies while offering the bottle, some are not.
Breast milk provides perfect infant nutrition.
The breastfed infant is the reference or normative model against which all alternative feeding methods must be measured with regard to growth, health, development, and all other short and long-term benefits. Not breastfeeding increases a mother's risk of breast cancer. If all women who do not breastfeed or who breastfeed for less than 3 months were to do so for 4 to 12 months, breast cancer among parous premenopausal women could be reduced by 11 percent, judging from current rates. If all women with children lactated for 24 months or longer, however, then the incidence might be reduced by nearly 25 percent. This reduction would be even greater among women who first lactate at an early age.