Baby-Health.net

New parents are often overwhelmed with all the decisions that are involved in taking care of a baby. After all, babies don’t exactly come with instructions!

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New parents are often overwhelmed with all the decisions that are involved in
taking care of a baby. After all, babies don’t exactly come with instructions!
Your baby depends on you to make all of the right decisions for him, and that
is a huge responsibility. Don’t worry, though. Most of the decisions are fairly
simple, and loving your baby will be the easiest thing you can do. There are a
few points you should remember, however, as you begin putting your baby on a feeding
schedule.

The First Four Months

Actually, the first four to six months are easy when it comes to deciding what
your baby should eat. Most pediatricians recommend that you give your baby only
breast milk or formula for the first four to six months of her life.

Years ago, many pediatricians told parents to mix baby cereal with formula or
breast milk and give the mixture to infants as young as two or three weeks. They
believed that this would help the infant sleep for longer periods. Today, however,
pediatricians realize that giving some type of solid food before the ages of four
to six months can actually increase the chances of food allergies, and solid food
can also be hard on an infant’s immature digestive system. So, until your pediatrician
gives you the go-ahead, you should only give your baby breast milk or formula.

In the first couple of months, you may need to feed your baby every two to three
hours, especially if you are breastfeeding. Eventually, the feeding schedule may
be stretched out to three or four hours, and you will also notice that your baby
is able to go longer between feedings at night. It is important, though, that
you feed your infant when he is hungry. Now is not the time to try and force a
strict feeding schedule.

Four to Six Months

At approximately four to six months, you have probably begun introducing your
baby to solids under the guidance of your pediatrician. While breast milk or formula
should still be her main source of nutrition, you can begin feeding her solids
a couple of times a day.

In the beginning, you are really feeding her just enough to help her become familiar
with taking food from a spoon and swallowing. Eventually, she’ll look forward
to the various foods that you give her.

For the first couple of weeks, you should stick to baby cereals, such as rice,
oatmeal, or barley. These can be mixed with formula or breast milk. Do not force
your baby to eat. She may only be interested in a few bites. It is better to feed
her when she might be a little hungry but not ravenous. She’ll only get angry
if you try to satisfy her hunger with cereal when she really wants milk.

Six to Eight Months

Once your baby has become adept at eating baby cereal, you can begin expanding
her diet. Some pediatricians recommend fruit before vegetables; others recommend
vegetables before fruit; and still others really don’t make a difference between
the two.

What is more important is how you introduce these new foods to your baby. You
should give one new food at a time and wait several days before introducing the
next new food. By doing this, you can check for food allergies, and if your child
does have an allergic reaction, you can quickly narrow down the offending food.

By the time your baby is around eight months old, you will probably be feeding
her a schedule of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You will still need to give her
plenty of breast milk or formula, too, though. You can give her milk with her
meal, or you can give her juice if she is over six months old. Refrain from giving
her citrus juice, however, until she is older.

Eight Months to Twelve Months

As your baby continues to grow, you can begin to add more food items, and these
can include baby food dinners. Dinners are great because they mix meats with vegetables
and/or pasta or rice. Because your baby still doesn’t have many teeth, you will
probably want to stick with foods that are labeled “first foods” or “second foods”.

In fact, you may begin with first foods, but you should progress to second foods
by the time your baby is at least ten months, so that he can become accustomed
to the different textures of food.

By the time your baby is ten months old, you should be able to give him foods
from your own plate as long as you can mash them up. You do need to avoid foods
that are choking hazards, such as nuts, peanut butter, grapes, hard candies, hot
dogs, etc.

Once your child reaches his first birthday, he should be eating almost anything
that isn’t hard for him to chew and swallow. You will have gradually dropped some
of his bottle feedings or breast feedings, and many pediatricians tell parents
that they can switch their children to whole milk at one year.

Growth Spurts

You may discover that certain months find your baby wanting to nibble all day
long. Just when you think you are raising a little pig, she refuses to eat a meal
or two. Babies have growth spurts when their bodies need more calories and nutrition.
You should follow your baby’s need. She’ll let you know when she is hungry. Continue
to offer her a variety of foods, but don’t try to force her to eat more than she
wants. Putting your baby on a feeding schedule can be trying at times, but you
and your baby can also enjoy many mealtimes together.