Breast or Bottle?
There are advantages and disadvantages to both and you ultimately must weigh them against each other and find the one which works best for you and your baby. Here are just the facts which I have tried not to color by my own preferences. If something is incorrect, or if I left something out, feel free to email me.
Breastfeeding advantages:
Human milk is uniquely suited to human babies. It is nutritionally complete and able to change to meet the needs of your growing baby.
It has all of the vitamins and minerals that your baby needs and they are in the right form and the right amount.
Breastmilk is easily digested. Because of this, a breastfed infant's diapers will be much less smelly than a formula fed infant's.
Breast milk is free. Formula is expensive and the expense grows as your baby does.
Breast milk contains antibodies that help the baby resist both ear and intestinal infections.
Breastfeeding helps to release a chemical in the mother's body called oxytocin which hels the mother's uterus return to it's normal size.
Breastfeeding burns calories, helping the mother return to her normal weight.
Breastfeeding promotes an intense closeness with the baby. You have time to get to know each other, to spend time together.
No matter where you go, or how much of a hurry you are in, you won't forget your breasts and therefore your baby will always have warm, nutritious, ready to eat food available.
Less gass, less likely to be a colicky baby.
Breastfeeding Disadvantages:
Some mothers feel like they are trapped by being the only one to feed the baby, day and night. This can be avoided, however, by pumping breastmilk so dad or grandma can take turns.
It can be difficult to get the hang of.
More frequent and more runny bowel movements.
Bottlefeeding advantages:
Flexibility, anyone can feed baby so mom doesn't have to feel trapped or tied down.
It's easy to monitor the baby's intake of food.
In rare cases, some babies (like my son) can not have breastmilk for different reasons and formula is best.
Bottlefeeding disadvantages:
It is very expensive!
You are up at three in the morning and half asleep with a screaming baby, the last thing you want to think about is how to mix the formula, how to put together the bottle (especially if you use the lined kind) and on top of that you have to wait for it to warm up. (Always check the temperature of the formula by squeezing a little onto the underside of your wrist; the formula should feel neither hot nor cold.)
Nutritionally, formula is not as good as breastmilk or as easy to digest for baby.
Smellier diapers, and in my experience, baby is more likely to become constipated.
You also lose the advantage of passing on your antibodies to your baby which means that, compared to breastfed babies, your baby has a higher risk of getting ear or intestinal infections.