INFANT NUTRITION

Experience has clearly taught that most infants thrive when fed breast milk or an appropriate formula. Most physicians agree that breast milk is the ideal food for the infant. Not only is breast milk more economical and convenient to administer, numerous studies have further demonstrated that breast-feeding confers the advantage of protection against infection and allergy. I encourage mothers to breast-feed. Formula supplementation may be used a maximum of once per day after two weeks of age. 
Additional foods are introduced according to the infants need. Some babies will require earlier introduction of solids. Infant size, prematurity and health status pose special problems to which I give individual attention as to the most appropriate time to start solid foods.

In general, most healthy, breast fed babies do not require any solids for the first 4-6 months of life. Iron-containing foods should be introduced by the sixth month. This is best accomplished by the addition of infant cereals. 
Always introduce solids singly, and use a given new solid for several consecutive days to insure that there will be no upset. In this way you will be introducing one new food at a time, and averaging, perhaps two per week. If the new food does not agree with the baby, vomiting, colicky pain, or a rash may develop. If any of these occur, stop the new food. You may expect changes in stool color and consistency when new foods are introduced, and this should not be alarming. If the three-day trial period is successful, the food may be increased as tolerated. The new food may then be given by itself or mixed with other foods, which are known to agree with your baby. Incidentally, sometimes a hungry baby wants his milk first, so try the solids after a small amount of the milk is given.

When your baby is over a year old, milk becomes a less important food. A total of 12-24 ounces of milk in a day is adequate. It is important to use whole milk until 2 years of age because babies need the fat for development. Do not urge milk beyond the baby’s desire for it. Do not substitute milk for other foods or give milk between meals. The intake of large amounts results in an unbalanced diet and poor nutrition.

Baby food can be bought or prepared at home with a blender. When preparing foods in a blender, it is important to obtain the correct consistency and to avoid seasoned food and very rich food. There are a number of infant food cookbooks on the market. These will help you in the preparation and storage of infant food.