Food in the first year
Feeding your new baby is one of the most rewarding things you do as a new parent.
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In the beginning, your breast-fed baby will eat every two to three hours (eight to 12 times a day) and bottle-fed babies will eat every three to four hours.
You may have heard that breast-feeding is “best for your baby”. In this chapter we set out the benefits of breast-feeding, both for you and for your baby, and tell you how to do it. If you decide to use formula instead, or to introduce it while you are breast-feeding or when you return to work, you can follow the advice given here on choosing a formula and how to prepare and store it. We also outline how formula compares with breast milk nutritionally and for convenience.
Beginning solid foods
At about six months of age, your baby will sit up and hold his or her head up, and he or she will become much more interested in what you are eating. In the following pages, we outline why you should wait until your baby is six months old before giving any solid food and why infant rice cereal is the ideal first food (see image). We tell you how to make the transition from giving your baby infant rice cereal to baby foods during this critical first year, when your baby will triple his or her weight. New parents will have many questions about nutrition during this time and we make an attempt to answer most of these in this chapter.
Food allergies
Since food allergies have become increasingly common and may be life threatening, we discuss the issues involved and provide practical information for parents with children who have a history of food allergies.
Introducing first tastes
A question often asked by new mothers is, “When can I start feeding my baby family foods?” Doctors now recommend waiting until babies are at least four, but preferably six, months old.
There are three reasons for this. First, at four months, the average baby needs at least 600ml (20floz) of breast milk or formula each day, and early introduction of solid foods may result in babies drinking less milk, thus interfering with proper nutrition during this critical period. Second, very young babies have a tongue reflex that pushes food out of the mouth. By four to six months this reflex disappears, so they can accept food from a spoon. Third, before six months, a baby's digestive system cannot properly digest the nutrients in food.
In addition, if you introduce solid foods too early, it may result in the development of food allergies or cause your baby to choke or breathe food into his or her lungs.
Lisa Hark, PhD RD & Dr Darwin Deen
Posted 14.02.2011
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