Archive for the 'Feeding & Nutrition' Category

Is it helpful and necessary to feed a baby by force? Don’t worry if your growing and developing baby eats only a half portion of food that you prepare for him. Leave him alone, but don’t force to eat.

First of all look at yourself and your partner. If both of you are under height and weight, what can you expect from your daughter or son.

So, don’t force such baby to eat like everyone does. Feeding the baby forcibly can lead to dysorexia and indigestion.

Set proper baby food ration that is suitable for your baby’s development, but not on age.

Mainly, underweight is the result of wrong and inappropriate nutrition. Here are various practical suggestions that help your child to break the bad cycle and learn how to take proper food.

• Strictly stick to an appropriate feeding schedule. Don’t give any stuff to eat in the intervals between one meal and the other. Your child then will automatically start the meal with a liquid dish.
• If your baby rejects to eat the food by the regular scheduled feeding time, then you should miss it.
• Sometimes, prepare the dishes that your baby likes to eat.

You have to give balanced and nutritious diet so that your baby can be healthy.

You have to prepare the food with the baby food recipes that are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, fat, vitamins and minerals.

The solid baby food should be introduced at 4 or 6 months of age.

Some parents introduce the solid food at 4 months of age. But it is better to introduce the solid food to your baby at 6 months of age.

The baby food recipe should contain the fruits and vegetables. You have to introduce only one food first. After the introduction of first food, you have to wait for some days to introduce the other food.

By this process you can know whether your childsl is allergic to any food. In case of food allergy, you can change that food and introduce the other food.

The baby foods that are given to your baby should be highly strained or pureed. You can begin feeding your baby with the vegetables like sweet potato or butternut squash and fruits like avocado.

Baby food recipes:

Mashed fruit baby food recipe is the best and first weaning food for your baby. This can be digested easily by your child.

You have prepared the delicious food for your baby and now you want to store it.

Here you can get some tips for baby food storage. You can store the food in freezer or refrigerator.

You can store small quantity of food in refrigerator. You have to see that the food kept in the container should be air tight.

As the temperature in the door is low, the food should not be placed on the door of the refrigerator. Always place the food in the shelves.

You can store large quantities of food in the freezer. See the following chart for your baby food storage so that you can know the length of the time for safe storage.

You can see that the frozen foods can be okay, but the nutritional value and taste will change.

Is your baby getting enough food? It is challenging to ensure your baby with the nutrient food.

Use the baby vitamin mix that has nutrient values and helps your baby to grow well.

This baby vitamin mix has 23 essential minerals and vitamins.

It easily gets mixed with the food, juice and water. Your children will say yes to this pleasant-tasting powder.

Baby vitamins those are chewable:

The most tooth-friendly, comprehensive minerals and multivitamin supplements are available in the market. These can have 23 essential nutrients that include vitamin K, 100% vitamin B, phytonutrient that is natural and trace minerals.

Your children will be strong and healthy. The tooth decay can be prevented by using sugar alcohol in Vita-Lea Ocean Wonders (mannitol and xylitol).

In fish shapes, dolphin and sea horse, these chewable tablets comes in three flavors that have great taste. The colors are berry, orange and grape.

No artificial flavors, preservatives, sweeteners and colors are added to them. For children less than six years of age, the overdose of products that contain iron can lead to fatal poisoning in your children.

The new parents will be overwhelmed with the responsibilities of children.

You have to remember few things while making the infant feeding schedule.

The infant feeding schedule involves the month by month schedule:

The first four months feeding schedule:

This is the easy way for feeding your babies during the first four to six months. The breast milk or formula milk is the only source for feeding during these months. This has been recommended by the pediatricians.

Many years ago, the pediatricians recommended mixing the cereal with the breast milk or the formula milk to feed the infants up to 2 weeks. They believed that the children fed with this mix can sleep for long time.

But, now the pediatricians realized that the solid food before four months can lead to the food allergy in your children and it will be hard for the immature digestive system to digest the food.

During the first few months, you have to feed your baby for every two hours or more, if you are breast feeding. The infant feeding schedule can be stretched to more than three hours. You have to feed your infant when ever he is hungry.

Infant vitamins are the essential organic substances that are required for growth, functioning of the baby and maintenance.

Food supplies the necessary vitamins because the body cannot produce it.

Vitamin D is exceptional to it as it is produced by the sunlight when our skin is exposed to the sun.

Infant vitamins also contain the four fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) and water soluble vitamins i.e. vitamin B (folate, niacin, biotin and pantothenic acid) to ensure proper nutrition.

Vitamin supplementation is not needed for the healthy infants taking the formula, unless or until directed by the pediatrician. High doses of certain vitamins cause adverse effects on the children’s health.

High dose of vitamin A causes vomiting, head ache, brain swelling, bone abnormalities and liver damage. High dose of vitamin D leads to heart and kidney damage, and high levels of calcium in blood.

So the high dose vitamins should not be given to children and infants without the advice of the pediatrician.

Premature babies and infants with low birth weight should be supplemented with infant vitamins and special formulas. The specialized formulas should contain more calories per ounce than that of the routine formula.

Toddler food consists of ½ to ¼ portion of the adult food.

It is better to give some portion of food and let your child ask for more food.

Appetite may vary, sometimes they may eat more and the other meal he may eat like a bird. Children can know how much to eat. Keep this in mind.

Toddler food may not be more as their stomachs are small and they cannot eat much. They need along with the meal one or two snacks during the day. About midway between the meals, offer the healthy snacks. The child has to be fed with the snacks when he is hungry and not for entertainment.

Juice and milk are the good snack items but do not give over quantities of them. As these foods are sweet they should not be given very often. If your child drinks more soft drinks, then he will not eat the solid food. Other drinks like pop, fruits, tea or coffee should not be given to the toddlers.

To wean your toddler from bottle to cup:

By the end of first year, the child may be given off the bottle and well on the cup. Introducing the cup can be done slowly by giving the water and juice in the cup.

In infant feeding, the milk is fed by breast feeding.

For the first six months of life, the breast milk is the best food.

The babies who are breast fed will be healthier through out their lives.

The first milk produced by the breast is known as colostrums that are rich in antibodies and other substances that protects from illness and infections.

Breast feeding in infants:

If you eat well more milk will be produced. When the baby is fed, the body produces more milk to replace it. If your baby is fed with other fluids, then the milk remains in the breast and no more milk is produced.

Infant feeding in the initial days should be breast milk. If the infant has jaundice, he will be recovered quickly with breast feeding.

Breast feeding prevents illnesses like diarrhea, chest infection and ear infection. Mother is also benefitted by infant feeding through breast. Osteoporosis, ovarian cancer and breast cancer are much less among the women who breast fed their babies.

Positions in breast feeding: When you are a new mother the following things should be observed carefully:

• Sit down comfortably