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FEEDING PATTERN
Breast feeding
Stomach capacity has never been given much
importance while telling a mother how to feed her baby. This results in mothers either
force feeding or getting unnecessarily worried about baby not taking enough.
Stomach capacity(0 – 4 months): 30 – 86 ml (6-14
tsp.)
No top feeding / Supplementary foods at all as:
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Breast milk alone can supply all requirements
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Solids given close to breast feed can reduce the absorption
of nutrients from milk
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Ability to move food and chew does not develop before 3 - 4
months
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Poor head control and cannot hold neck up for swallowing
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Food digestion is poor as stomach is small (30 - 86 ml)
Foods:
The current recommendations are to exclusively breastfeed your
baby until around
6 months of age- this means that they do not require any substitute milks, water, juices,
or foods until around 6 months when you would continue to breastfeed your baby
alongside the introduction of complementary foods, for up to 2 years or beyond if it suits
both mother and child.
Some may start weaning at 4 months of age
Simplifying it � till six months breast milk as the only source of
milk; no milk from out
provided mother has enough lactation
Breast fed babies will often continue having night feeds for more
months- not all, but
many will and this is completely normal. Some babies may not give up breast feed at
night for 2-3 yrs. When breast milk is regularly consumed the rate of milk production
remains what the baby needs to grow; so moms need not worry about �is the baby
getting enough?�.
Because all our babies and breasts are unique, the pattern of milk
consumption and
frequency or duration of feeds are never the same between mother/child pairs.
Some babies would very much still need night feeding after 3 months
from a nutritional
perspective, and since one of the several advantages of breast-feeding is that
promotes bonding between mother and infant. Infant learns to depend on/ enjoy
the comfort / calming effect the period of breast-feeding provides; many babies would
require the closeness of their mother in the nights for many months, which again is
totally normal.
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