Breast Feeding, Parenting | featured news

From hospital milk banks to pages on Facebook, more new moms are using another mother's donated breast milk to feed their babies.

Erin Carroll planned to breast-feed both her newborn sons. But like many women with the best intentions, it didn't work out. A new government study finds only a third of new moms achieve their goal of exclusively breast-feeding for three months.

A controversial Time magazine cover, which shows a young mom breast-feeding her nearly 4-year-old son as he stands on a chair, has caused a media frenzy and inspired critics and supporters alike.

Conventional wisdom says pacifier use deters babies from breast-feeding. So one hospital decided to lock up all the binkies. But instead of soaring, breast-feeding rates declined. Do pacis get a bad rap?

Along with a list of breast-feeding’s health benefits for mothers and children, pediatricians often tout an added bonus -- unlike formula, breast milk is free. Not so fast, researchers say.

Study finds that breast-fed babies who are fed solids before 4 months are not at increased risk later on.

Evidence for the long-term benefits of breast-feeding — well beyond infancy — continue to grow. In the latest analysis of the academic performance of children who were breast- or bottle-fed, researchers found that breast-fed babies scored higher on tests of math, reading and writing skills at 10 years old, compared with those who were bottle-fed as babies.