whatshappeningtothekids:

Another breastfeeding benefit: Preparing baby’s belly for solid food

The moment of birth marks the beginning of a beautiful, lifelong relationship between a baby and the billions of microbes that will soon colonize his or her gastrointestinal tract.

In a study published today in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology,
researchers from the UNC School of Medicine and UNC College of Arts and
Sciences found that a baby’s diet during the first few months of life
has a profound influence on the composition, diversity, and stability of
the gut microbiome. These factors, in turn, influence the baby’s
ability to transition from milk to solid foods and may have long-term
health effects.

“We found that babies who are fed only breast milk have microbial
communities that seem more ready for the introduction of solid foods,”
said Andrea Azcarate-Peril, PhD, assistant professor in the department
of cell biology and physiology and the study’s senior author. “The
transition to solids is much more dramatic for the microbiomes of babies
that are not exclusively breastfed. We think the microbiomes of
non-exclusively breastfed babies could contribute to more stomach aches
and colic.”

Amanda L. Thompson, Andrea Monteagudo-Mera, Maria B. Cadenas, Michelle L. Lampl and M. A. Azcarate-Peril. Milk- and solid-feeding practices and daycare attendance are associated with
differences in bacterial diversity, predominant communities, and
metabolic and immune function of the infant gut microbiome. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 2015 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2015.00003