Feeding Your Baby

Breast milk or the formula recommended by your baby’s doctor are the only foods your baby should have now.

Your baby’s feeding schedule should be on demand. He senses what his body needs and adjusts his intake. Sometimes your baby will need more, sometimes less.

Your baby will have five to 10 feedings a day, drinking between 16 and 32 ounces of milk.

Be careful that your baby is not being fed too much. Interested friends and relatives may pressure you to "fatten him up." Fat does not equal healthy. Researchers believe that putting on too much weight during these early months may cause your child to be overweight later. Babies need to be fed the correct amount. If your baby isn’t hungry, don’t force him to eat.

Do not give your baby fruit juice. Fruit juices can lessen his appetite for what is really needed — breast milk or baby formula.

Babies don't need baby cereal until they are at least 4 to 6 months old. Feeding cereal to your baby does not help him sleep through the night. Your baby will sleep through the night when he is ready, usually when he weighs about 11 pounds, not because of what he eats.

Your baby may not be hungry every time he cries. When babies are fed too often, they eat less at each meal. Their stomachs empty more quickly, and empty stomachs soon make them hungry again.

Try to figure out why your baby is crying and soothe him in other ways. Giving him a bottle just to keep him quiet teaches him to connect food with being unhappy. This may lead to feeding problems later. If you think it is too soon for your baby to eat again when he cries, try playing with him or helping him become interested in another activity. If he is truly hungry, he will let you know by trying to suck on his hand, your shoulder, or anything he can touch.

Bottle Feeding

One of the most important parts of feeding is the warmth and pleasure your baby feels while being held and fed. Don't prop the bottle in your baby's mouth and leave her alone. Doing so can lead to serious health problems, such as ear infections and tooth decay.

Don't put your baby to bed with a bottle. There is a small opening or tube between your baby's throat and her ear. If your baby is lying down and sucking on her bottle, a small amount of formula may travel from the throat to the ear and cause an ear infection. The formula that stays in her mouth when she falls asleep with a bottle can cause tooth decay.

Keep extra containers of formula or breast milk cold. Bacteria grow rapidly in infant formula or breast milk that is not refrigerated. When you go out, take a bottle of formula or breast milk with you. Keep the bottle cold until your baby is ready to drink it. Pack the bottle in an insulated cooler with some ice.

Thumb or Pacifier?

While a pacifier or finger may help satisfy your baby's urge to suck now, she will outgrow this between the ages of 2 and 5 years old. When the time comes, you can help her find comfort in other ways, such as by singing to herself or holding a favorite stuffed toy.

The American Dental Association says that sucking on a pacifier or a thumb can be equally damaging after the permanent teeth come in. However, the ADA maintains that's it’s often easier for children to give up a pacifier than to give up thumb sucking.

Try other ways to comfort your baby, such as rocking her, singing to her, and gently rubbing her body.

If you use a pacifier, use it safely. Replace pacifiers frequently because they can fall apart. To avoid strangulation, do not put a pacifier on a string or ribbon around your baby's neck. Wash the pacifier if it falls on the floor.