Baby Feeding from 4 to 8 Months

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:48:44 +0000

When your baby is about four months old you can start looking for signs that they are ready to start trying solid foods. At four months old they will not be displaying all of the signs of being ready to try solids, but there are certain things that you should start looking for.

One sign that it might be time to try solids is that your baby can hold their head up well and sit in a high chair easily. Their birth weight will also be significantly higher; usually twice their birth weight. Babies will start making chewing motions and will also start showing interest in food.

You know that it is time to trying solid foods when your baby can close their mouths around a spoon. They will also be able to move food from the front of their mouths to the back and will no longer be pushing food out with their tongues. Another clue that it is time for some solid food is that they are still hungry after having 8 to 10 bottle feedings a day. Teething is another sign that your baby might be ready to try solid foods.

The first foods you feed your baby are cereals. You begin with iron fortified rice cereal. Make the cereal by mixing one teaspoon of rice cereal with four or five teaspoons of formula. This will be very runny and should be as close as possible to the consistency of plain formula. Gradually thicken the consistency of the cereal until you are using one tablespoon of dry cereal. Do this twice a day.

If your baby is not eating the cereal give him or her a few days and then try again. Once they have mastered rice cereal you can move on to the other types of cereal such as oats and barley. It is very important that you always feed cereal with a spoon and never put cereal in your baby’s bottle.

Healthy eating habits begin when your child is young. It is important that you follow the guidelines for eating. Start with the cereal and move on to other solids after you have gone through the cereals. Never start your baby on fruits or any type of yogurt. If you give baby sweet things before cereals and vegetables you will have a great deal of struggle getting them to like vegetables. You should also feed your baby in the highchair and avoid feeding him or her in front of the television.

Baby Feeding from 0 to 4 months

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:45:48 +0000

When your new baby comes home you want things to go as smoothly as possible. Knowing what your baby needs will become second nature to you and you should always follow your instincts and do what is right for your little one. That being said there are some tips that you can follow to help get you started.

Your baby will need to eat every couple of hours when they are first born. That is about every two hours from when they start a bottle, not when they finish one. At first it may seem like you are always feeding your baby. Do not worry because as they get older they will start eating their meals farther and farther apart.

One word of caution is to always make formula according to the package instructions. Either using too much powder or too little can both hurt your baby. Many people think that adding an extra scoop of powder will help their baby sleep longer at night, but this just is not true and it could make your baby very sick.

Your baby’s digestive tract is still growing and forming so solid foods are off limits for now. There are ways to tell if you baby is getting enough formula to eat. Babies eat when they are hungry and stop eating when they are full. This means that the most important thing you can do is read your baby’s hunger clues when you want to know how much to feed them. They may eat more during the growth spurts that occur at about ten days, three weeks, six weeks, three months and six months. When your baby is not feeling well they may want to eat less.

Babies will cry when they are hungry. You have to resist the urge to respond to every whimper with a bottle, especially if baby has just eaten. Your baby may also be wet, need a burping or just wants to be close to you. Another clue that they are actually hungry is smacking their lips, sucking or putting their hands in their mouths. If your baby is still hungry after a bottle he or she will quickly turn their head around looking for more. If you need to make more formula immediately after the first bottle try only making an ounce or two at a time. If you make too much additional formula you will just end up having to throw it out.

Baby Feeding Tips » baby bottles

Baby Feeding from 4 to 8 Months

Baby Feeding from 0 to 4 months