Being blessed with a baby is an overwhelming feeling that is greater than any feeling in the world. Taking care of babies is of the utmost importance for the proper growth of the baby. Making rights to food choices for the first year of a baby’s life is crucial. A mother must feed her baby with the right variety of healthy food at the appropriate time for good growth. Good eating habits in the first years of life will help set good eating patterns for the rest of life.
Infant formula, also known as the baby formula is a specially manufactured food for infants under one year if age and babies. It is usually made for cup-feeding or bottle-feeding from powder and liquid. The infant formula contains cow’s milk, casein, and whey as a protein source and includes intermingle of all the vegetable oils which work as a fat source. This formula tends to use soybean, which acts as a protein source instead of cow milk.
Recommendations from pediatricians of feeding baby for the first years
It is highly to avoid giving solid food to the baby until and unless advised by the healthcare provider. Once the baby is for four months, you can provide solid food and not before that because:
- Feeding solid food to the baby may lead to being overweight due to overfeeding.
- Babies are not physically developed to eat solid food and also that with a spoon.
- Breast milk of mother or infant formula is best for babies as it provides all the nutrients to them for proper growth.
Feeding tips for Babies
- Once you started providing solid food to infants, provide small amounts like a teaspoon and gradually increase.
- If you start a new solid food, then provide that solid food for only 3 to 5 days and bring another new food. In this way, you can know if a baby is allergic to any ingredient and cannot abide by it. Also, this will help parents to know about the developing taste of babies or infants.
- You must begin with dry infant rice cereal; mix it as directed on the box followed by fruits, vegetables, and meats.
- If you are making infant food at home, avoid using sugar or salt. Canned foods are supposed to contain a huge amount of sugar and salt, which are not healthy for babies. Before giving fruits or vegetables to baby, always wash and peel them. Also, you must never give them fruits and vegetables that have fallen on the ground.
- Cow’s milk must not be provided to the baby until the age of 1, as it doesn’t contain the proper nutrients required for the body.
- For infants, try feeding food with a spoon to help the baby learn to eat. Parents must avoid using infant feeder.
- Never put your baby with a bottle proper in the mouth in bed. It may increase the chances of ear infections. Even after the tooth appears, you must never prop the bottle as it may lead to tooth decay.
