These advantages include:

Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding. All other commercial substitute feeding options differ markedly from it. Breast milk is easily digested and contains antibodies that can protect infants from bacterial and viral infections. The health benefits to mothers include lower rates of certain breast and ovarian cancers.

Regardless of the superiority of human milk against all other infant feeding options, health professionals agree that there are rare exceptions when human milk is not recommended. Breastfeeding is not advisable if one or more of the following conditions is true:

Breastfeeding should begin as soon as possible after birth, usually within the first hour.

Newborns should nurse whenever they show signs of hunger, which include:

All the above signs will appear before crying. Crying is a late sign of infant hunger.

Newborns should nurse about 8 to 12 times every 24 hour period until satiety. This is usually accomplished within 10 to 15 minutes on each breast. If the infant is non-demanding in the early weeks after birth, they should be aroused or awakened to feed if 4 hours passes since last nursing.

Do not give supplements such as water, glucose water, formula and so forth to breastfeeding newborns unless advised by a health care professional due to some kind of medical indication. With adequate breastfeeding knowledge and practices, supplements are rarely needed. Pacifiers and supplements should be avoided and if used at all, only after breastfeeding is well established.

Newborns and breastfeeding mothers should be seen by a pediatrician or other knowledgeable health care professional when the newborn is 2 to 4 days of age. At that time, infant weight and a general health assessment should be done as well as observing breastfeeding for evidence of successful breastfeeding behavior. In addition the infant should be assessed for jaundice, adequate hydration and age-appropriate elimination patterns. The infant should have at least six urinations per day and three to four stools per day by 5 to 7 days of age.

Some obstacles to the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding include:

The highest rates of breastfeeding are among higher-income, college-educated women, 30 years of age living in the Mountain and Pacific regions of the United States.

The AAP strongly recommends breastfeeding as the ideal method of feeding and nurturing infants and recognizes breastfeeding as most important in achieving optimal infant and child health, growth and development.