How Much Food Should My Baby Eat?

Feeding your baby can be one of the most stressful aspects of parenting. When my daughter was a baby, it was definitely one of the things on my mind all the time. Am I feeding her too much? Not enough? When should I start giving her solids? How much of her diet should be liquids and how much should be solids?

Birth to Six Months

For the first six months, your baby should be drinking breast milk or formula exclusively because it has nutrients your baby needs. Breast milk also offers immune system protection and is nonallergenic. Newborns should be fed 2-3 ounces every few hours and need fewer bottles with more formula or breast milk as they get older. If you watch your baby’s cues, you’ll know when to start giving her more or less.

You can figure out if your baby is getting enough to eat by monitoring the diapers. If they’re getting enough, your baby will have 4-6 wet disposable diapers a day and 2-4 poopy diapers in a 24-hour period. Babies who are breastfed may have fewer poppy diapers. You can also tell by having them weighed and measured by your doctor.

Six Months to One Year

From four to six months you can start feeding your baby solid foods. You’ll know your baby is ready when the tongue-thrust reflex is gone and they can support their head and sit up. In our case, my daughter didn’t seem to be getting enough to eat from just the formula so our doctor suggested we start her on cereal.

The first food babies are given is an iron-fortified rice cereal. You can mix it with breast milk or formula. The first attempts should be mostly liquid with a little cereal. You can thicken it with more cereal as your baby gets used to eating it. You can heat the cereal or serve it cold. If you warm it in the microwave, stir it and make sure it is cool enough for your baby to eat. Don’t feed your baby cereal in a bottle as it doesn’t help them learn how to eat solid foods.

After your baby has gotten used to eating from a spoon, you can start adding in pureed single foods one at a time. Start with vegetables first then add fruits. After success with the single foods you can start mixing them. The primary source of food should still come from breastfeeding or formula and you need to continue until they are at least a year old.

At six months, you can introduce your baby to 100% fruit juices in a sippy cup (a specially designed cup that slows the flow of liquids and helps teach your baby to drink from a cup). You should only give your baby four ounces of juice a day to avoid your baby becoming overweight or having diarrhea.

Around nine months you can start giving them chunkier soft foods, second stage for most baby food companies, and single food pureed meats. You can also start mixing in some table foods. Watch for signs that your baby is full, like pushing the spoon away or turning their head, and stop feeding them. Also, watch for signs that they want more. As your baby is approaching one year, they will drink less breast milk or formula. Your baby should only need 3-4 six-ounce bottles a day, which should be fed to your baby before their meal of solid foods.

As with the first six months, you can tell if your baby is eating enough or too much by monitoring their growth with your doctor. Your doctor can answer  your questions about feeding, too. Your baby’s needs may vary from these recommendations and you should pay attention to cues they are giving you.

Foods to Avoid

In the first year, you should also avoid honey, eggs, fish, seafood, nuts, and citrus fruits and juices. These foods are common food allergies or may cause health issues, like honey possibly giving your baby botulism or acidic citrus fruits causing painful urination. Cow’s milk should be avoided in the first year as it doesn’t provide enough of the required nutrients for your baby.

References:

Boyse, K., RN (Sept. 2010). Feeding your baby and toddler (Birth to age two). University of Michigan Health System. Retrieved from http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/feedbaby.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010). Breastfeeding: Recommendations vitamin D supplementation. Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations/vitamin_D.htm.

KidsHealth (August 2008). Feeding your 4- to 7-month-old. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/feeding/feed47m.html#.

KidsHealth (August 2008). Feeding your 8- to 12-month-old. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/feeding/feed812m.html.

Thompson, J and Manore, M (2010). Nutrition for life (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Baby Mental Stimulation

Babies need mental stimulation. Some are doing this even before their child is born with people having their baby listen to classical music because, according to studies, this is helpful in stimulating a baby's mind. There are a variety of effective ways to ensure that your baby is properly mentally stimulated and nourished.

• Communicate with your baby. Sure they’re not yet equipped with the vocabulary to respond to you in full sentence but it does not mean that talking to her is futile. Talk to her while you dress her, bathe her or feed her. This will encourage interaction and she will soon respond with a coo, smile or a few syllables.

• Engage your child in activities that will stimulate their mind. Allow your baby to explore his surroundings by showing him around the house, taking him for a stroll at the park or letting him play with safe household items like plastic cups and pails. Just be sure he can't put it into his mouth.

• Give her mind stimulating toys like building blocks, shape sorters and push and pull toys that will incite her to use her creativity, imagination, logical thinking and teach her a variety of lessons like spatial awareness and cause and effect.

• Encourage socialization and interaction. Introduce your baby to other kids and neighbors. Teach him the art of conversation by putting up a puppet show or making him play with toy telephones and have him imitate you when you talk to someone on the phone.

• Give constant signs of affection such as hugs and kisses to make your baby feel loved and cared for and to give her an assurance that she is safe and secure which is also contributory to the development of a positive self-esteem.

• Read stories to your baby. This is important in widening your baby's language capacity and introducing him to different concepts.

• Avoid subjecting your kid to stress. Don't over stimulate your baby by bringing her to crowded and noisy places. Also, avoid having arguments in front of your baby because this may cause psychological trauma and may be detrimental to her overall development.

• It is of utmost importance that you give your baby a proper nutritional diet. If he's already started on solids, make sure you give him adequate nutrients, vitamins and minerals that are needed for his brain to thrive and develop properly.

• Let your child have cars, trucks and vehicle toys that do not have small or loose parts, sharp and pointy objects and are made of durable and flexible but safe plastic material.

Your baby's brain development is one of the most important aspects of their overall development as an individual. As a parent, it is your responsibility to provide a safe environment where your baby can explore with their mind and senses, and learn about the world around them.