Feeding Your Baby

One of the more complex questions that you will ask yourself during your baby's first year is: What do I feed her? When do I feed him?

Your baby starts out with a simple requirement of either breast milk or formula. What happens after the milk?

This section will help you learn what types of foods to introduce into your baby's diet at a certain stage of development. This information should only be considered a guideline. Your doctor and baby may have different ideas.

It is important to realize that not all babies will be ready for solids at the same time. So how do you know when you baby is ready? There are a few simple guidelines that you can follow to help you decide when you baby is ready for solids. When in doubt, always check with your doctor.

Your baby is probably ready for solids when:

• His birth weight has doubled.
• She tries to grab the food you are eating.
• He watches you eat with great interest.
• She consumes 32 oz or more each day of formula or breast milk.
• He is always putting things in his mouth.
• She can sit easily in the highchair.
• He can demonstrate to you that he is full or hungry.
• She always seems to be hungry.

If you baby fits the criteria above, he is probably ready for solids. Introducing solids too soon can cause food allergies. Don't be in a big hurry to push solids on your baby. If she is content with the liquid diet, leave things as they are. Only consider solids when baby seems to need more food than just the bottle or breast.

Also consider: Baby needs to be able to chew and swallow easily before solids will be safe to consume. This should never be done in a prone position. If baby can't sit up, he can't have solid foods!

The first six months is usually all formula or breast milk. If you are breastfeeding you will be using cues from your baby as to when she is full or hungry.

If you are using formula, this is a little trickier. How much formula do you make? How much will baby need at each feeding? The following chart may help you with this. Ultimately, your baby will have the final word and that word will be very loud if he doesn't get enough formula.

A note about night feedings: By the time your baby is six months old you will want to think about giving up those night feedings if you haven't already done so. You should start by offering less and less breast milk or formula during night feedings. Eventually she will stop  waking as her body adjusts to not eating during the night. If you are bottle feeding, you can gradually substitute water in your baby's bottle in place of formula.

Four to Six Months: Introduction to solid foods. You should try to wait until your baby is at least four months old before introducing any solid foods. When you do decide to offer solids, start with a tiny bit of baby cereal thinned with formula or breast milk. Don't offer too much at first. Let baby's digestive system figure out what to do with this new substance.

You can start to introduce baby to fruit juice diluted with bottled water. Apple juice or white grape juice are good first juices. Orange juice should wait until after 7 or 8 months.

Six to seven months: Adding fruits and vegetables. Once your baby has been introduced to cereal you will want to add mashed/strained fruits and vegetables. Start with small amounts (one teaspoon). increasing gradually as your baby get used to the new food. You should only introduce one new food every 3 to 4 days. This is so you will be able to see if your baby is having an allergic reaction to any of the foods you are offering. If you start with 10 different foods and baby is allergic to one, which one is it?

Seven to eight months: Adding protein. Protein foods include strained meats, cottage cheese, egg yolk, yogurt and dried beans. Follow the same guideline as six to seven months. One new food at a time and small amounts to begin with.

Eight to twelve month: Adding other foods. By now baby is probably eating what ever the rest of the family is eating. Make sure all foods are in tiny pieces for baby to prevent choking.

A note about the bottle: If you are bottle feeding baby, please never put anything other than formula, milk and water in the bottle. Juices are for a cup. Once baby is past 4 months, if you are offering a bedtime bottle, it should only have water. You don't want to damage those new teeth with fruit juice laying in the corner of baby's mouth while she sleeps.

Here are a few solid food tips:

• Baby does not need sugar or salt added to his solid foods.
• Baby does not need dessert or pop.
• Introducing cow's milk too soon can cause milk allergies. Ask you doctor about this.
• Do not give baby nuts, seeds, popcorn, raw carrots or other hard foods. Never give baby a whole sausage or hotdog.
• After you have determined which foods baby likes, make sure you offer a wide variety each day.
• As soon as she want to try, let her feed herself. I know this is messy but your baby needs to develop her motor skills and what better way than with a hungry baby?

Finally, be patient with baby while he is learning his new eating skills. You don't want to make mealtime a stressful time. Let baby enjoy the food and time spent with the family.