Baby formula is a substance that contains all of the essential vitamins and nutrients that an infant needs for growth and development, even in the absence of other foods. They are designed to provide optimal nutrition and as such, contain lots of ingredients that sound like labels on bottles in a crazy scientist’s lab. To replicate breast milk as closely as possible, manufacturers add animal and plant bi-products to ensure adequate consumption of fats, carbohydrates, sugars and proteins.
Archive for March, 2006
How Often Should I Feed My Baby Solids?
When you first start giving solid food to your baby, it is more of an introduction to solids rather than giving him full-blown meals. A taste here and there is advised for starters so that he can grow accustomed to the new sensation of food as opposed to drink. There will be new flavors to discover and eating from a spoon instead of sucking from a bottle is a brand new experience all on its own.
When Should My Baby Eat Solids?
Some babies will be hungrier than others, and some will be keener than others to try whatever is put in front of them.
There are babies who fuss and cry even after their bottle, and continually put their fist in their mouth and they just seem, well, hungry. From about four months of age, you can start introducing little tastes of solid foods, but before that, a baby’s digestive system simply is not well enough developed to cope with breaking them down. The recommended age for beginning solids is around six months but some will be happy with formula for longer, and breastfeeding for up to a year.
How Much Formula Should My Baby Be Drinking?
All babies are not created equal, therefore, individual nutrition needs vary from child to child. For this reason, it’s a good idea to follow an example of ounces of formula per pound of body weight.
My Baby Is Constipated. Could It Be The Baby Formula?
When something is not 100% right with our babies, we want to find the cause as quickly as possible. But pointing the finger inappropriately can mean we miss out on the real cause. It’s long been assumed that the iron content in baby formula is responsible for constipation. After all, even we grownups can experience this problem when taking iron supplements. However, a study was done to determine if it were true of baby formulas. Half of the babies were fed with low iron, half with regular, and as it was a blind study, only the professionals conducting the research knew which babies received which formula. Constipation was reported at the same rate in both groups, proving that for most children, the formula didn’t make the difference. What is known for sure is that iron is essential for growing babies, so to blame the constipation on the iron levels in the formula, and to subsequently discontinue formula as the baby’s main source of nutrition would be counterproductive.
