The Essentials of Feeding the Baby (完整版)

這份寶寶喂養指南是我們的兒醫在4個月的visit給我們的。內容包括1歲以前的喂養要點，以及對home made foods, cup,和food allergy的一些看法。我一點一點手動輸入的，這次先敲到8個月的，剩下的下次再輸入。希望對其他媽媽們有所幫助。

我們家的寶寶剛剛滿5個月，我想鍛煉她的吞咽能力，給她嚐了一點兒米糊，一點兒蔬菜泥，一點兒果泥。她剛開始不會咽，總嗆著，但練幾次好像就好多了。我們家保姆說我的奶好，能喂飽孩子，不要急著上輔食。我打算再等一個月在開始regularly的加輔食。

The Essentials of Feeding the Baby

When your baby reaches the age of six months he or she will be ready for solid foods

• Younger infants do not properly digest complex starches or other foods
• Most babies do not have the coordination of the lips and the tongue to handle solids efficiently before four to six months
• There are concerns that early introductions of solid foods to infants less than 6 months of age may predispose certain infants to food allergies

When your baby eats solids

• The stools will change in color. They may become either harder or looser
• Expect the unexpected! Rashes, Diarrhea, spitting up, cramps etc., may occur
• The most recently introduced food or foods should be suspected
• Poor nighttime sleeping will NOT be improved by the addition of solid foods
• Go slowly with the addition of new food items and introduce one thing at a time
• Add only one new item every three or four days. That will give you a chance of to know what may have caused a reaction
• Do not give commercial or home made mixtures, which contain more than one food, which is new to the baby

What to feed and when to feed is partly scientific, partly tradition, and partly common sense.

Six months old

• Start with any cereal or any fruit
• Add one new cereal or fruit every three or four days
• Start with small amounts
• Infants, like their parents, may not like every kind of food
• Feed the baby once or twice a day depending on his or her appetite and don’t be concerned if a meal is refused now and then
• If the first bottle or nursing of the day is 6 AM it’s probably best to offer solids at the next feeding when you are really awake

Seven months old

• Vegetables are introduced as a lunch meal
• If baby dislikes a particular food, put it aside for a later time
• Use a few tricks now and then but don’t force feed
• Use fruit on the spoon with the vegetables
• Use mashed table vegetables, which taste a lot better than jars

Eight months old

• Introduce meats at the lunch mean along with the vegetables
• Catch up on all things you may have skipped in the last two months
• Try those foods, which may have caused some mild upset such as loose stools, spitting up or belly aches when first introduced. These reactions rarely recur after an interval of one to two months

Nine months old

• Those with any allergic disorder or with a history of allergy in the immediate family should avoid cow’s milk and all cow milk products such as cheese and yogurt at least a year of age
• Low fat milk should NOT be used until two years of age
• Cow’s milk may constipate some babies and this may happen whether the whole milk is introduced gradually or all at once
• Hot or cold milk is a matter of taste and personal preference and not a matter of health to infants
• Formula drinking will decline spontaneously and this may begin anywhere from nine months to over a year of age
• Also introduce non-mold cheese and yogurt. This is particularly useful if the milk drinking has decline too quickly
• Introduce fish into diet either as carefully boned fresh fish or canned fish. Hold off on shellfish until after one year of age

Twelve months old

• Most one-year old infants will spontaneously begin to loose interest in nursing. The vast majority of infants will abandon nursing at the breast or the bottle at twelve to sixteen months of age
• Never put the infant into bed with a bottle nor allow him/her to fall asleep in your arms while nursing or while on the bottle. Falling asleep on the bottle or at the breast as a newborn infant was inevitable and natural but it should be discourage at a early age. The frequent consequences are difficult weaning, sleeping problems and dental decay
• At this time a child can be drinking whole cow’s milk on a regular basis

Home made foods

• This may be done as early as 6 months of age with cereal and fruit
• Start table foods no later than 9 months of age
• Introduced new textures and tastes. Most infants take to this right away
• Infants want what they see other people eating
• The taste of table food is always an improvement over most commercial baby foods
• Start with soft, well-cooked vegetables and fruits that can be easily mashed
• Anything you can easily mash, an infant can easily chew with no teeth
• The more he/she likes these new coarser foods the more you switch over. There is no hurry. Go at your child’s pace

Cup

• Should be introduced at about eight to nine months and gradually increase
• Do not stop the bottle or nursing before 12 months unless the baby makes his or her own decision to be weaned
• Put a variety of things (milk, juice, water) in the cup and in the bottle
• Twelve –fifteen months of age is a reasonable time for infants to be completely weaned to a cup and also to be entirely on mashed and chipped table foods

Foods cause more allergies than others

• Avoid feeding chocolate, uncooked tomato, eggs, strawberries, pork, shellfish, nuts and peanut products until one year of age. Use citrus with caution
• Do not introduce honey until 1 year of age
• If there are any food allergies in the family, avoid the use of peanuts until the age of 3

Some other foods and food substances create unhealthy lifetime habits or dependencies

• Minimize the use of salt
• Minimize the use of sweetened food whether natural or artificial
• Minimize high fat and high cholesterol containing foods

Still other foods can be dangerous

• Foods can get lodged in the throat or be aspirated into the windpipe or lung
• Beware of peanuts and hard candy, raw hard vegetables and smooth rubbery things such as grape, hot dogs, and popcorn
• Some children stuff their faces without swallowing, some bite off more than they can chew. Always supervise infants and toddlers when they have access to food, even supposedly safe foods

Quality counts and so does costs

• Commercial baby foods provide convenience. It is not healthier and it is not better tasting
• There is an amazing amount of water in baby food
• Try using a little machine called a baby food mill. It will pay for itself
• The infant should be totally on table foods, chopped or mashed, by sixteen months of age
• Fruit juices should be given in moderation because of their large sugar contents. “Grown up” juice are just fine if dilute in half with water
• Inexpensive fruit drinks sold as 10% real fruit juice are 90% cane sugar or corn syrup and should be discouraged. Better to use a little of the costlier good stuff than a lot of the cheaper sugar drinks
• Artificial sweeteners may not be safe for children on a daily basis
• Don’t let food become a sleeping pill. Rotting teeth and interrupted sleep will inevitably become a problem