Email: "Guide To Feeding Your Baby"
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Baby’s First Year:
A Guide to Feeding Your Baby from Birth to 12 Months of Age
BREAST-FEEDING
Your breast milk is the most important food for your baby’s first year. It is the best food to meet your baby’s nutrition needs. It also helps protect your baby from some common childhood illnesses, such as ear infections, and it may reduce your baby’s risk of allergies.
GETTING STARTED
Expect your baby to be hungry every 2 to 4 hours at first. Let her, not the clock, be your guide. Relax and enjoy this time together. You’ll know your baby is getting enough to drink if there are 6-8 wet diapers each day.
VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENT
Vitamin D is produced in our bodies when we are outdoors and our skin is exposed to daylight. Older children and adults get vitamin D from milk. However, for breastfed babies, a daily supplement of 400 I.U. of vitamin D is recommended. Other vitamin supplements are not needed. D-Vi-Sol provides the vitamin D recommended.
FORMULA FEEDING
A commercial iron-fortified infant formula is recommended if your baby is not breastfed. Commercial infant formulas are nutritious, but don’t protect your baby from common childhood illnesses the way breast milk does.
Evaporated milk formula is not recommended because it is not as nutritious as breast milk or commercial infant formula. Also, the protein and fat in evaporated milk formula are not as well suited to your baby’s needs.
PREPARATION
Read can labels carefully for sterilizing, preparation and storage directions.
Sterilize all equipment for the first 4 months.
Follow mixing instructions closely.
Keep open cans in the refrigerator. Once opened, use liquid formula within 48 hours and dry powdered formula within one month.
Store prepared formula in the refrigerator and use withing 24 hours.
Cuddle, look at and talk to your baby while feeding.
Discard formula left in the bottle after a feeding.
Don’t put your baby to bed with a bottle of milk, juice or any sweet liquid. This practice promotes tooth decay.
FORMULA FEEDING GUIDE
Below are guidelines to the amount your baby may drink, but let your baby’s appetite be your guide. Don’t coax your baby to finish a bottle. If she seems hungry, feed her more often.
0-4 months
Your baby isn’t ready to digest solids yet; Breast milk or commercial iron-fortified infant formula meets all your baby’s needs. It is best for your baby to continue mainly on breast milk or formula for the first year.
4-6 months
Can transfer solids from front to back of mouth. Can sit up, supported. Ready for spoon feeding; Infant cereal — Introduce one type of grain at a time. Start with rice, then try barley or oatmeal and then wheat, soy and mixed grain infant cereal.
Infant cereals are fortified with iron and are an important source of iron for the first 18 months. Do not put infant cereal in the bottle at any age. Infant cereal should not be given before 4 months of age. All babies should be given infant cereal by 6 months.
5-7 months
Ready to try new flavors and textures — Pureed or mashed vegetables, pureed or mashed fruits.
Your baby may be more willing to eat vegetables if she tries these before trying naturally sweet fruits. Both of these start your baby on good eating habits. Pureed foods are needed only for a short time, perhaps a few weeks. Then go on to mashed table foods, which promote chewing skills.
Can drink from a cup: Unsweetened fruit juice. There is no need to use “baby juice”.
Introduce juice when your baby can drink from a cup. Don’t serve juice in a bottle. Your baby may keep the bottle in her mouth too long, which can promote tooth decay. Give your baby no more than 60 ml (2 ounces) of juice a day. You want to make sure she has room to take enough breast milk or formula.
6-8 months
Growing rapidly. Grabs spoon. Ready to chew. Pureed or ground meat, fish, poultry, and meat alternatives (beans, peas, lentils). These provide additional protein, vitamins and iron for rapid growth. No salt meat or salt fish.
Teething: gradually change to mashed table foods without sugar, salt, seasonings, butter or margarine. This introduced firmer textures to help your baby develop chewing skills.
Egg yolks, plain cheese, unsweetened yogurt, cottage cheese.
Egg white may cause an allergy if given at an early age, so wait until 12 months.
Grasps food: For finger food, use toast, plain unsalted crackers, soft fruit, lightly cooked vegetables, unsweetened ready-to-eat cereals. They encourage chewing and help develop your baby’s coordination. Unsweetened ready-to-eat cereals are fine as finger foods, but your baby should still have iron-fortified infant cereal as her main cereal.
9-12 months
Eats a variety of foods. May begin feeding whole milk from a cup (not 2 percent, 1 percent or skim milk) When your baby is eating 180 ml (12 tbsp.) of solid food (including infant cereals, vegetables, fruits and meats, fish and poultry), you may start giving whole cow’s milk in place of some breast milk or formula.
“Adult” chewing motions (side to side). Finely cut table foods  provide more texture and variety. Your baby does not need to be on pureed or commercial “junior” foods at this age. These foods are too soft and don’t promote chewing skills.
After 1 year
Gets better at using the spoon, but still spills most times. Continue milk feeding with whole milk until at least age 2; egg white may be offered; Variety of nutritious foods from the four food groups. Milk continues to provide an important source of protein and fat.

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