Pregnancy And Baby Care Baby Nutrition

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• Breast milk is the best food for babies. It is high in nutritional value and is easily digestible. Also, breast milk is a source of antibodies that help infants fight germs and infections.
• You may supplement the diet of your baby with formula food only when the mother is unwell and is unable to breast-feed the baby.
• When the baby is 4-5 months old, you should supplement breast milk with solid foods like cereals so as to habituate the infant to consuming solid foods. Cereals are a rich source of proteins that are very essential for the growth and development of the babies.
• Once the baby is accustomed to eating solid foods, you can then supplement its diet with fruits which are rich in vitamins and minerals. You can give strained or mashed fruits and vegetables in smaller quantities.
• You can also give fruit juices to babies, but in a diluted form. You may dilute the juices with water in order to ease the assimilation of liquid.
  
  
• Once the baby is 7-8 months old, you may feed it with other forms of solid proteins like dried beans, cottage cheese, yogurt, and egg yolk.
• When the baby is one year old, you can feed it mashed legumes and fruits like berries and oranges.
  While it is essential to balance the nutritional content of food that is give to your infant, it is also vital to keep these additional factors in mind while feeding your baby:
• First of all, you should feed the baby with solid food using a small spoon and not an infant feeder.
• Do not over feed the baby. You should not be over zealous in feeding the baby, which may otherwise lead to constipation, vomiting and stomachache.
• You should not add salt and sugar to solid baby foods. Also, you must keep in mind that you feed the baby with foods in their natural form rather than the processed form.
• You should avoid feeding babies with hard foods like nuts, raw carrot, seeds or popcorn. This might cause choking and is also tougher to digest.
  You can make a baby nutrition chart in order to track the nutritional content of the babies’ diet.