Interesting and Effective Breast Milk Benefits—Aside From Lunch!

Everyone knows that breast milk is good for feeding babies. But not everyone knows that breast milk benefits extend beyond giving your baby a nutritious meal. Hindi Zeidman, the founder of The Ollie Swaddle, shares some surprising ways that breast milk can be utilized, beyond feeding a baby.

Like what? Read on to learn more.

Anti-inflammatory properties:

If your baby has an eye or ear infection, including pink eye, try pouring some breast milk into a dropper and putting some in your baby’s eye or ear a few times a day. The infection and the soreness may diminish.

Fighting bacteria:

The bacteria that cause diaper rash or yeast infections in babies is hard to manage. But breast milk comes to the rescue! Just apply some to your baby’s bottom to help treat a rash. It can also be applied regularly, as a preventative measure.

{ MORE: Breast Cancer Survivor Sheryl Crow Speaks Out About the Importance of Breast Cancer Screening }

Soothing irritated skin:

Many babies have sensitive skin. They react to things like detergents or soaps more than adults do and are prone to skin conditions like eczema or rosacea. One way to deal with these is to apply breast milk to the skin, much as you would a pharmaceutical ointment. It will work wonders! And if your baby gets a bug bite? Breast milk will help soothe the itch and speed up healing.

Another skin condition that is fairly common is baby acne. While this is normally a condition that is left untreated, breast milk applied to the affected areas will help to clear up much more quickly.

Sunburn emollient:

As much as you will try to avoid it, sometimes it happens: baby gets a little overexposed to sunlight at the pool and their sensitive skin gets a little burned. Not to worry! Breast milk will help soothe the skin and help it to heal naturally and quickly.

A natural solution for cradle cap:

Most babies end up with the scaly build-up on their scalp. It’s nothing to be concerned about but removing it needs to be done correctly in order not to damage the hair follicles. The best way? Apply breast milk to the area, which will loosen up the build-up and then use a comb to remove it.

If you think breast milk will help, try squeezing some on your finger or keep some pumped milk frozen for when you need it. Although not all of these uses for breast milk are proven to work medically, they may help support your baby, and can't hurt. Remember to always call your pediatrician if in doubt.

{ MORE: Heart Murmurs Are Actually More Common in Babies Than You Would Think }

Have you found breast milk benefits for anything besides baby meals? Share in the comments!

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Interesting and Effective Breast Milk Benefits—Aside From Lunch!

Author

Jamie Davis Smith

Jamie is a Beltway Insider who loves channeling her pre-motherhood love of traveling into spending time exploring all D.C. has to offer with her brood of two girls and two boys ages 9, 7,5, and a baby. She is a reformed lawyer turned full-time kid wrangler who enjoys photographing her everyday chaos and anything salted caramel. Since life is never dull, she loves writing about the issues and events going on in her life at any given time, including caring for a daughter with special needs and th ... More