Breast Fed:
No other food quite equals a mother's milk in early infancy. If you think supplementary feedings are needed, call us. If necessary you will be directed to start supplements at the appropriate time.
Formula Fed:
Modern infant formulas are complete foods for healthy babies. They are easily digested, nutritious and fortified with all the essential vitamins.
Cow Milk:
Usually at 12 months, you will introduce white milk. One way to switch over is to introduce one bottle of milk per day for 3 days. Then offer 2 bottles of milk per day for 3 days, etc. In this way, a gradual switch is made that should not upset baby. Avoid propping the bottle since this may be dangerous. We will caution you to continue breast and/or formula until you have a good solid diet because cow milk by itself is inadequate.
Solid Foods:
The foundation of early infant nutrition is in the breast milk or formula. We don't encourage feeding solid foods too early. Current research shows that, ideally, solid foods should not be started until 4-6 months of age.
When solid foods are introduced, offer 2 tbsp. twice a day to start and then increase the amount to meet baby's appetite. Offer only one new food every 3-5 days so that if baby has a reaction to it, we can identify the offending food.
If you wish, you may use the following sequence of solid introduction:
- initially - rice or oats cereal
- in 2-4 weeks - pureed or mashed vegetables, e.g., peas, carrots and squash
- in 6-8 weeks - pureed or mashed fruits, e.g., peaches, applesauce and pears
- in 12-14 weeks - meat and vegetable dinners and egg yolk
If you have any questions please ask your doctor.
Solids should be given by spoon, not by bottle or food pump. Introduce egg yolk, either boiled or in the jar. Egg white is avoided until around 9-12 months because of the risk of allergy.
High meat dinners are satisfactory, but harder to use and offer little advantage.
When you are instructed to introduce fruit juice, dilute 1:1 for first 2 weeks with water. Orange juice should be last since it might cause a rash.