How To Feed Your Baby: Nutrition Guide

Once you’re blessed with a baby, it becomes a great concern how you will feed them and after how long they should transition from breastfeeding to baby formula. 

You’re likely to get a lot of ideas and suggestions from moms masquandering as experts to confuse you further on when to wean your baby, what kind of formula to feed your baby and when.

The best thing to do is to follow your instincts and medical recommendations plus the signs your baby manifests. To experienced moms, you will always know when your baby no longer wants the breast milk and when to transition to baby formula and solid food. To new moms, it’s overwhelming.

Breastfed Milk

As we all know, your bundle of joy should only consume breast milk for the first 6 months of life. Babies who are introduced to cow milk and baby formulas earlier than this tend to develop some behavioral patterns and do not mentally develop well when compared to breastfed babies.

It is therefore essential to set aside some moments to breastfeed your baby even as a working mom. Nowadays, you can suction breast milk with breast pumps, so there is no reason why your angel should not access the breast milk.

Breast milk is healthiest and very nutritional. It consists of essential vitamins, minerals and special antibodies essential for the development and growth of the baby’s immunity. You’ll not find most of these important nutrients in baby formula.

Besides, breastfed babies grow fast and are not vulnerable to sickness and infections when compared to formula fed babies

Baby Formula

After 6 months, it’s safe to introduce your baby to baby formulas. However, going on with breastfed nutritious milk is the best idea unless you want to supplement it with baby formula if you feel your baby is not getting sufficient milk or nutrients.

There are lots of baby formula in the market and not every formula will work for your baby. Some babies will be allergic to certain formulas and others will not. With the try and error, you’ll be able to identify the best one for your angel.

With the evolving world, we have baby formulas that are made for sensitive stomachs while others are made for constipation. 

Organic formulas are the best because they are made with natural ingredients. But again, this will depend on how your baby responds to them.

Using baby formula comes need a lot of supplies like baby bottles, so you should be considerate on the sterilizers, nipples and bottles you use with the baby formula.

Solid Foods

You have introduced your baby to solid food after 6 months, but that doesn’t mean that breast milk is no longer important. Experts advice moms to breastfed their babies until they are at least 1 year of age. 

There are signs that you’ll need to see before you introduce your baby to baby formulas. Your baby should be able to

• Support their head and neck unassisted
• Sit with support like baby floor seats
• Swallow solid foods

Knowing when to transition from breast milk to formula and solid food can be overwhelming to new moms. The best thing is to breastfeed your bundle of joy up to when they are 1 year if there are no health issues or related impediments. You can also supplement with baby formulas after 6 months if the milk supply is less or if you need to provide extra nutrients for your baby’s growth.

How To Wean Your Baby

Popular question amongst moms is “how do I stop breastfeeding?” There are two ways: baby-led and mother-led. Mother-led weaning is when a mom decides to no longer breastfeed the baby probably because the milk supply is low or you’ll be going back to work. Baby-led is when the baby manifests signs that she no longer wants the breast by pushing it away.

Mother led weaning should never be instant. There are practical steps that are recommended by experts for moms who wants to wean their baby.

1.  Replace breastfeeding session with breast milk in milk bottles

Instead of instantly skipping a breastfeeding session, suction the breast milk into milk bottles. Feed your baby the milk bottles in a particular session then alternate that with breastfeeding in the next session.

2.   Reduce the number of feedings

Let’s say you were breastfeeding your baby 3 times in a day, reduce that to 2. You can also decide to shorten your feedings. For example, if your baby was taking around 4 minutes per session, reduce that to 3 then to 2 minutes and so on. You get the gist.

Your baby will realize that he’s not getting satisfied and will crave for something else. I am assuming your baby is beyond 6 months, so, to satisfy their craving you can provide expressed milk or baby formula.

If your baby is beyond one year, it’s even better because you can introduce them to solid food or provide them with whole milk.

3.  Distract your baby when they want to feed

Before you decide to wean your baby, start introducing a game to them or snacks. During this period, you should be able to identify their favorite snack or game.

To wean your baby, provide their favorite snack or initiate a game every time they want to nurse. Provide these distractions every time they want to feed and your baby will get used to that.

Some moms will wonder if the breast in milk will negatively affect their breast. However, if the process is slow and steady, the milk production will reduce as the feedings reduce so you won’t be at risk of mastitis or plugged ducts.

At first, express some milk if you feel full, but allow the breast to retain some milk. This way, you are telling the brain to reduce milk production. You can use ice packs to counter any discomfort or swelling that may arise.

Weaning your baby is never easy, you have to gradually prepare your baby to stay without the breast milk. It is therefore important to wean your baby when they are in good health. Doing this while your baby is sick will derail their growth.

While the decision to wean is determined by both of you, make sure your baby is beyond 6 months, then from there you can decide what time is right if your baby is healthy and does not initiate the process.