How to Feeding Your Baby

Feeding your baby properly is most important.

Does Your Baby Need Water?

Babies usually do not need water. Water does not contain any of the nutrients or calories that your baby needs and may make your baby feel too full to breastfeed.

Vitamins

Your baby’s doctor may prescribe vitamins and fluoride to ensure that your baby care gets proper nutrition and to protect your baby’s emerging teeth. Breast milk provides all the nutrients that a baby needs during the first six months. Therefore, breast milk substitutes and solid foods (such as infant cereals and baby food) are not needed for nutritional or physical reasons prior to six months of age. Giving solid foods too early can contribute to obesity, may provide more salt than your baby’s system can easily handle, and may cause an early onset of a food allergy.

Burping Your Baby

During the first few weeks, you will need to burp your baby frequently. You need to do this during, and at least once after, every feeding. Traditional over the-shoulder burping works well, or you may want to try sitting your baby in your lap and leaning him slightly forward, supporting his jawbone and upper chest with your hand. Gently rubbing or patting your baby’s back is comforting and may help the air bubbles come up.

Pacifiers

Pacifiers may interfere with identifying feeding cues. If breastfeeding, pacifiers are discouraged for the first 4 to 8 weeks of life while breastfeeding is being established.

Pacifiers may; however, be used briefly as a method of pain management during procedures that may be painful. Following the procedure, the pacifier will be discarded if you are breastfeeding.

Once breastfeeding is firmly established (around 4 to 8 weeks of life), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends pacifiers for the first year of life to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Approximate size of your baby’s stomach (1 teaspoon of liquid is about 5 milliliters)

• Day 1 (5-7mL)
• Day 3 (22-27 mL)
• Day 10 (60-81mL)

How Much and How Often to Feed

Babies should be fed at least 8 to 12 times per 24 hours. Feed your baby on demand at the earliest signs of hunger. Babies demonstrate hunger by turning their heads when their cheeks are touched or “rooting”; sucking on their fists; increasing their physical movement and stretching; and crying. During the first month, if your baby sleeps longer than four hours and starts missing feedings, wake him up and offer a feeding.