HeraldNet: Best for babies: "
Published: Tuesday, March 8, 2005
"By Debra Smith
Herald Writer
When Marlene Cooper's first child arrived, the 20-year-old mother was too stressed and overwhelmed to breast-feed. Julie Busch / The Herald
Marlene Cooper of Edmonds breast-feeds her 2-month-old daughter Domina. Cooper feels breast-feeding is beneficial for her daughter as well as their relationship. "You become a lot closer with the child. with bottle feeding you're not as close," Cooper said.The Edmonds woman was working at a fast food restaurant. The job, which she planned to return to, didn't exactly make pumping breast milk easy. Cooper, now 28, knows breast milk is better for babies and cheaper than formula. When she became pregnant with her second daughter last year she was determined to give breast-feeding a try. For Cooper, breast-feeding wasn't easy at first. She took her daughter home less than a day after she delivered. Like many babies, little Domina slept through most of her stay at the hospital, providing few opportunities for Cooper to master breast-feeding. Once she got home, Cooper's nipples cracked and bled. She sought help from a lactation specialist and learned her baby wasn't latching on properly....

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