Infant Learning

Breast-feeding Versus Bottle-feeding
Many thanx to Jeams Hinaloc

Breast Feeding

Bottle Feeding

Malnutrition caused by poor child feeding practices claims over 10 times as many lives as actual famine,” says researcher William Chandler. Often, the ‘poor feeding practices’ begin in infancy.

Breast milk is the ideal food for most infantsbecause it contains all the needed nutrients. It contains antibodies that protect and help the baby to build up resistance toinfections. Breast-feeding also provides an infant with loving attention, essential to emotional development.

As women take on secular jobs, however, breast-feeding declines in many developing countries. Consequently, many African babies are fed powdered formulas. Queen, a Nigerian mother of seven, recalls that hospital nurses introduced her babies to bottle-feeding right from the start. Now Queen is breast-feeding our seventh child during its first few months.”
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Tips For Feeding Your Baby From Birth Till Three

Baby Feeding

Should you make homemade baby food? In nearly all healthy children, the recommended age to start solid foods is 4 to 6 months. Rice cereal is a customary and safe first food, but most babies can tolerate a variety of foods like rice cereal, vegetables, fruits and meat.

The first few weeks of eating solid foods is more about becoming accustomed to spoon-feeding than meeting nutritional needs. Your baby is learning to negotiate food. Older infants may try to feed themselves. It means messy meals, but letting your child feed himself encourages the development of his fine motor skills.

While some are persistently poor eaters, most babies eat what they need to be healthy. How do you know if you are feeding your baby enough? Toddlers tend to be unpredictable eaters. Growth spurts, painful teething, and toddler toilet training all contribute to their unpredictable food intake. Many times, toddlers are more interested in fine tuning large motor skills or learning a new word than with eating. Feeding your baby a healthy diet will no doubt promote healthy eating habits for life.
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Formulas:

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, babies under 12 months of age should be fed either breastmilk or infant formula. No other type of milk provides all of the nutrients in the right amounts to support optimal growth. Formula companies use human milk as a standard and produce a product, usually based on cows’ milk, which contains proteins, fats and carbohydrates in a proportion that is close to human milk. Then they add vitamins, minerals and other ingredients to bring the final product as close to human milk as possible. As ongoing research reveals factors in mothers’ milk that were previously not known, the drug companies that manufacture infant formula add them, and advertise the product as being “new” or “improved.” Some recent additions are ARA and DHA. Read labels carefully to know what is in the brand you purchase. When you choose a formula for your baby, it is usually best to start with one that is milk-based, since these are tolerated by most babies and are lower in cost than the specialized formulas. If your baby does not tolerate his formula, consult your pediatrician about which one to try next. While soy based formulas contain all of the nutrients needed to sustain growth, they also contain phytoestrogens that may affect a baby’s growth and development, and they hinder the absorption of zinc and calcium. According to an FDA paper, the AAP states “Healthy full-term infants should be given soy formula only when medically necessary.” (http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/596_baby.html) Specialized formulas for allergic babies are more expensive, and should be used on the recommendation of a pediatrician.
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