Babies who were breastfed are shown to have IQs that are about seven points higher than the non-breastfed baby. Even when researchers took out factors, such as mother's level of education, breastfed babies still scored significantly higher than non-breastfed babies on cognitive and motor skill tests.

    

Whoo hoo! I remember reading this when I was pregnant. It only added to my decision that I would breastfeed and not use any formula. No one told me to breastfeed, though. It just what felt natural to me and all the literature supported it, too. Including this one. Thanks for the info!

Yeah, breastfeeding is so good for growing babies. It's probably the best food that a newborn baby could eat. It's loaded with nutrients that formula does not have, such as omega-3 fatty acids that babies need for brain development. Breastmilk also has antigens, which help the baby fight infection. And the proteins in breastmilk are much more digestible than that of cow's milk.

Here's the article about breastfeeding and IQ. Breast-Feeding May Boost IQ - washingtonpost.com

However, there have been thousands of articles written about breastfeeding and brain development. Thousands. However, the only catch about breastmilk is that it tends to be low in Vitamin D, so breastfed babies are usually advised to get some sun exposure everyday.

I am not so sure about all of these studies that show what the advantages of breastfeeding over bottle feeding. It seems like there will be one study, then another one to disprove what the first one said. I think it is really a personal choice, I mean if a mom is uncomfortable with breastfeeding then I would think that if she done it anyway it might have worse effects. I personally did not breastfeed, and my child is advanced for her level. I think it just depends on the child.