10 Things To Note When Feeding Your Baby

Things to note when feeding baby? Am I serious?

Sounds like a no-brainer. Everybody knows how to feed a baby, hey, we have been feeding babies for a few thousand years, long before there are books, long before there is Internet, long before anybody knows how to speak. So, what’s this fuss about?

It’s true that feeding babies takes nothing more than parental instinct, it’s also true that we don’t need books and/or Internet to know how to feed babies, but it’s even more true when we tell you we have lots of customers asking us, “what to take note when feeding my baby …”.

So, this topic don’t really seem like a no-brainer but more of a concern to everybody. Why not discuss it with us here? Let’s help to grow the list more to give a hand to those new parents or parents-to-be:-

1. Are you breastfeeding your toddle?
   • If you choose to breastfeed, which we encourage, there’s a possibility that some may have problem producing enough milk for their baby. These may be due to work-related stress, or health-related problems, but as mentioned, it is possible for it to happen. We definitely do not encourage underfeeding your baby in this instance.
   • Do note that this don’t happen always and only to a minority of women. Lots of mothers are not able to breastfeed usually because of the fact that they are stressing themselves too much worrying that they don’t produce sufficient breast milk, and the vicious cycle just keeps going.
2. Are you formula-feeding your toddler?
   • make sure you do not always change the brand or type of formula milk as there is usually a need for progressive changes for your toddler and you cannot switch formula milk instantly for your infant or else they may suffer upset stomach.
3. Do you intend to feed-on-demand or stick to feeding schedule?
   • actually, there is not much difference for this, really. There are some parents who believe in feeding just sufficiently, as and when needed, and there are those that just stick to the time, no matter whether the baby is somewhat full or maybe even sleeping. To them, when it’s time to eat, it’s time to eat.
   • However, no matter which group of parents you belong to, you’ll find that eventually your baby will always go hungry at around a pre-determined time! So, feeding-on-demand or sticking to schedule doesn’t really make any difference, they’ll always be about the same!
4. Before feeding, remember to warm your refrigerated breast milk by letting it sit at room temperature or by immersing the bottle in a pan of warm water or even using a bottle warmer. Do not microwave the bottle as this may create “hot spots” that may burn your baby’s mouth–even if you shake the bottle after microwaving, it still isn’t the safest method. Feeding a baby lukewarm or even slightly cool formula or breast milk is far preferable to letting him drink anything that is too hot.
5. As your baby reaches about six years of age, you can start to introduce solid food. Although people used to try introducing solids earlier, research now shows that infants’ gag may be too strong to allow them to swallow non-liquids safely.
6. Place your child in a sturdy high chair with a safety belt and a tray, and then place a few small toys on the tray to amuse her while you prepare her food. Use small plastic bowls and plastic spoons for feeding. You may buy special plastic infant feeding speeding spoons if you like, or you can use small disposable plastic spoons or even the tiny “taster” spoons that many ice cream stores keep on hand to allow you to sample different flavors.
7. Start off with an iron-fortified rice cereal. This type of food is one readily accepted and easily digested by most babies. To help ease the transition away from formula or breast milk (although you will be needed to continue with these until your baby is around 12 months old), you can mix a little of this into the cereal to reconstitute it instead of using water. This also provides a little added nutritional boost.
8. Introduce new food one at a time, at intervals of about three days. This allows you to see is any one particular food causes your baby to develop an allergic reaction. Many parents, after achieving success with cereal, will mix in a little pureed fruit. You may continue to do so (one fruit at a time) for a few weeks, then switch over to pureed vegetables.
9. Add yogurt and cottage cheese when baby is around eight to 10 months old. Table foods like pasta, small pieces of banana, cooked carrot pieces and other appropriate foods can be introduced when baby is at least seven months old and can handle them without gagging.
10. Give your baby juice mixed with water in a training cup after she is used to eating fruit. She will probably not want to take her formula or breast milk from a Sippy cup, but small amounts of diluted juice will allow her to drink from a cup without providing too much sugar. If you are really concerned about feeding juice, you can give her water in her training cup; this will help keep him hydrated and prevent constipation.

Related posts:

1. The Importance Of Breast Milk And Breastfeeding
2. Types of Pacifier For Your Baby
3. Worried About Underfeeding Your Baby With Breast Milk?
4. The Purpose of Baby Wet Wipes
5. The Purpose Of Baby Teether

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