Infant feeding and nutrition within the first few months of a baby’s life are crucial for their healthy development. Proper infant feeding and nutrition play a vital role in ensuring that they get all the necessary nutrients for growth, development, and overall well-being. It is essential to understand the importance of providing the right kind of nutrition to your baby during this critical stage.

Baby feeding

Infant Feeding Suggestions

  1. Breastfeed for as long as you and your baby are comfortable. 
  2. An infant should consume breast milk or formula exclusively for the first year, after which they can be introduced to whole milk.
  3. Warm the formula with hot water in a pan or container. Do not microwave the formula; it may heat unevenly and scald the baby. 
  4. Hold your infant while feeding. Do not prop a bottle, as the baby can easily choke. 
  5. Do not put your baby to bed with a bottle because formula resting in the mouth can cause tooth decay and promote ear infections. 
  6. When introducing a new food, wait 4-5 days before introducing the next one so that you can watch for an allergic reaction to one new food at a time. Offer the least allergenic foods first. 
  7. Generally, the order is rice cereal, other grains, vegetables, fruit, meat, and table foods.
  8. Use a spoon to feed your baby solid foods. Although there are some instances where it is okay to add rice cereal to a bottle, generally, no food should be added to a bottle. 
  9. Homemade food should be prepared without salt, sugar, or spices. 
  10. Start with single-ingredient jars if commercially prepared baby food is used. Do not add salt, sugar, or spices. Mixed baby dinners, meats, and vegetables provide less nutrition by weight. 
  11. Finger foods can be given when the baby sits up in a high chair. 
  12. Some good finger foods are mild cheese, large curd cottage cheese, Zwieback, dried toast, Cheerios, ripe bananas, fresh peeled apples, fresh peeled soft fruit slices, partially cooked or raw green or wax beans, squash, peas, and cubed, ground, or luncheon meats.
  13. Your child should not walk and eat at the same time.
  14. Keep regular checkups to determine if your baby is gaining the proper amount of weight. 

Do not feed the following foods to your baby for the following reasons: 

May cause allergy

  • Chocolate, Cocoa, Fish, Peanut Butter, Egg Whites

May cause choking

  • Berries, Candy, Corn, Nuts, Popcorn, Olives, Raisins

May irritate digestive system

  • Pastries, Fatty Foods, Highly Spiced Foods, Gravies, Gas Forming Foods

It may take a few days before a child becomes accustomed to the texture and taste of different foods. The time of day each food is given will be according to personal preference. For example, it does not matter if a child has cereal in the morning and vegetables and fruits in the evening or has vegetables in the morning and cereal in the afternoon and fruit at night. Maintaining a well-balanced diet and healthy weight gain is important, and any combination of foods can be included to achieve this goal. The smaller details are not significant.

The following is the recommended feeding schedule for introducing each food group. The amounts of food mentioned below are just averages. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, six months of age is the ideal time to start introducing solid foods. You should not be concerned if your child takes more or less than average as long as they maintain good growth according to the growth chart. A child typically starts with one feeding a day and increases to two or even three times a day as time progresses.

1-4 Months:

  • Breast milk or 20-32 ounces per day of formula with iron. One ounce = 30 ml

4-6 Months:

  • Breast milk or 20-32 ounces per day of formula with iron.
  • Infant cereal such as rice, oatmeal, barley, or mixed grains. 2-4 Tablespoons or 25-50 grams per day. Start with rice cereal with breast milk or formula added. Wait 4-5 days and then go to oatmeal, barley and finally mixed grains. Use a spoon.

5-7 Months:

  • Breast milk or 20-32 ounces per day formula with iron.
  • Cereals: average 4-6 Tablespoons or 50-75 grams per day.
  • Vegetables: average 4-6 Tablespoons or 50-75 grams per day.
  • Finger foods such as crackers or teething biscuits may be started. Keep a bottle handy. A mouthful of dry snacks can cause a choking incident.

6-8 Months:

  • Breast milk or 20-32 ounces per day of formula with iron.
  • Cereals: average 4-6 Tablespoons or 50-75 grams of cereal per day.
  • Vegetables: average 6-8 Tablespoon or 75-100 grams per day of vegetable per day.
  • Fruit or fruit juices: average 2-4 Tablespoons or 25-50 grams of fruit and 2 ounces or 60 ml of juice per day. A cup may be used for the juice.
  • Finger foods such as crackers or teething biscuits.

8-9 Months:

  • Breast milk or 20-32 ounces per day of formula with iron.
  • Cereal, vegetable, fruit and fruit juices. Average about 6-10 Tablespoons per day of each food and 2 ounces or 60 ml of juice per day.
  • Egg yolk (whites after 1 year of age) scrambled with breast milk or formula at an average of 2 tablespoons per day.
  • Finger foods such as crackers, teething biscuits, bananas, toast.

9-10 Months:

  • Breast milk or 20-32 ounces per day of formula with iron.
  • Cereal: average 6-8 tablespoons per day.
  • Vegetables: average 10-12 tablespoons per day.
  • Fruit: average 6 tablespoons per day.
  • Juice: average 4 ounces per day.
  • Egg yolk: average one egg per day.
  • Meat can be started at an average of 1-4 tablespoons of strained meat per day.
  • Starches such as potato, rice, noodles and spaghetti can be started at an average of ¼ cup per day.
  • Finger foods such as cheese, cottage cheese, Cheerios, and smooth yogurt can be started. Be sure to avoid any potential choking hazards such as nuts, hard candies, hot dogs, raw carrots or celery, popcorn or frozen peas.

10-11 Months:

  • Breast Milk or 20-32 ounces per day of formula with iron.
  • Cereal: average 8 tablespoons per day.
  • Vegetables: average 12-14 tablespoon per day.
  • Fruit: average 7 tablespoons per day.
  • Juice: average 4 ounces per day.
  • Egg yolk: average one egg per day.
  • Meat: average one-ounce ground meat per day.
  • Starches such as potato, rice, noodles, and spaghetti  at an average of ¼ cup per day.
  • Finger foods such as cheese, cottage cheese, Cheerios, and smooth yogurt. Be sure to avoid any potential choking hazards such as nuts, hard candies, hot dogs, raw carrots or celery, popcorn or frozen peas.

1 Year:

  • Breast-feed as long as you and your baby are comfortable. May stop formula and use whole milk. Any food is fine as long as a child cannot choke on it. Keep a balanced diet.

Remember, the amounts shown above are simply averages. When it comes to eating habits, our focus should be on a child’s growth rather than the amount of food consumed. A child’s height, weight, and head circumference tell us what we need to know about growth. If the size of the child is increasing as expected, then the amount of food eaten, when they eat it, and the combinations of food eaten are not as important.

 

This blog was written by Dr. Michael Bornstein, who has 30 years of experience as a pediatrician. 

Disclaimer: The contents of this article, including text and images, are for informational purposes only and do not constitute a medical service. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health professional for medical advice, diagnosis, and treatment.