Breast Feeding Questions Answered For Common Woman

How much milk should be given to your baby?

The bottle-fed babies are at a minor advantage as their feeds can be measured easily. But if we take a rough estimate, then a young baby needs 2 1/2 ozs milk per pound of body weight daily. After the first week, a seven pound baby needs 17 1/2 ozs milk that can be divided into five or six feeds, i.e. approximately 3 oz at a time. Baby will consume different amounts at different times but this will give you some idea at least.

Baby Weight Gain

Your baby will gain roughly 4 to 7 oz of weight weekly in the early months. And if he consistently fails to do so then something is wrong and needs an expert advice from your doctor. There could be several causes for this:

1. feeding problem
2. infection, particularly in the waterworks
3. congenital defects such as heart disease

When to start giving solid food to your baby?

You can give your baby solid food such as cereal after four months, not before that. There is a proprietary brand of rice available in the market especially for infants, this is one of the least stodgy solids to begin with.

But how much?

One teaspoon with one of the daily feeds is enough to start and you can gradually build up over the subsequent months. Sieved vegetables and fruit and finally meat meals can be introduced slowly to your baby.

Your baby will probably have fads and fancies but there is nothing to worry about it as milk supplemented by vitamin drops is his most important food for the first nine or ten months. When your baby starts growing his teeth around six months, he will want to bite on something a little harder such as rusk; but he won't be able to eat more than half of it. The nutritional value of a rusk is similar to cereal.

Any special tip for the feeding mothers?

Yes, here it is-

Try to stay relaxed as much as possible as a relaxed mother is likely to have less complications with feeds than a stressed mother, so try to aim to put aside a little time daily for yourself and your own interests.