Cristalle Belo's son Hunter James was born prematurely on May 28, 2018.
The little boy weighed only 2.3 kilograms then, a low birth weight typical of a premature baby.
Now, at six months, Cristalle is thankful that Hunter appears much healthier at nine kilos.
The secret?
"Pure breast milk," the celebrity mom revealed in an Instagram post dated December 1.
The full caption read: "9kg vs 2.3kg. Hunter reached that 6 month mark 2 days ago but technically he's only supposed to be 4.5 months.
"Everyone asks, what vitamins he's on. The answer is: NONE.
"It's pure breast milk (ok let me give a little credit to @justinpitt77’s genes too!)"
Back in September, PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) caught up with Cristalle at the ABS-CBN Ball and she spoke a bit about her journey as a breastfeeding mama.
She remarked, "A lot of the people still think now if you're mayaman, you can afford formula so go formula. But at the end of the day, breast milk is still the super duper best for babies...
"I wanna give him all the nutrients, especially because he's premature. I want to give him that head start in life, and that's something my breast milk can give him, di ba?"
Cristalle has been exclusively breastfeeding Hunter, and she "ideally" wants to get to the one-year mark.
READ: Cristalle Belo addresses comments saying she doesn't need to breastfeed because she's mayaman
BREAST MILK BENEFITS FOR PREMATURE BABIES
According to Tommy's, a UK-based support and charity funding research group led by midwives, breast milk for premature babies helps "build your baby's health and strength as well as protecting them from viruses and bacteria, which can cause infection."
Breast milk, which is "easier for a small baby to digest than baby formula," also has antibodies that strengthen a premature baby's immune system and "immature gut."
At the same time, breastfeeding encourages both baby and mother to form a bond.
Premature babies draw strength from skin-to-skin contact with the mothers as well.