Babies are lovable little angels but when the time of feeding comes, they can give you sleepless nights. Many a times, baby feeding can be very difficult job especially if you don’t have appropriate information regarding it. One thing you don’t need to worry about is the bay fat as recent researchers have found a link between fattening up during childhood and infancy obesity. So the most important job as a mother is to help your baby put on some weight. However, cutting calories in the initial year may hamper both the brain development and physical growth. You need to keep in mind these guidelines in order to develop healthy and safe eating habits for your baby.
1. Know the symptoms of satiety
If the baby spits out the nipple, closes his/her eyes, or pulls away that is a sign that the baby has had enough. Don’t insist that the baby has to finish or nurse her bottle. However, if the baby is not showing any interest during two or three feedings continuously, doctor should be consulted.
2. Solids should be put into perspective
In the initial year, a child’s basic source of nutrition and calories is breast milk or formula. Even as babies generally start taking solid foods around six months, the main purpose of giving them solid food is to get the kid used to having it in the month and offer them with a chance of practicing it.
3. Prepare food that the child likes
This is an opportunity to prepare yummy and healthy food that a baby is not able to refuse. For a mother determining, which food is most liked by the baby is not a big deal. As the babies are at a stage of finding out the tastes that they like, it is the best time to introduce healthy taste. The number of times you will feed them with a particular taste more are the chances of them developing the taste for it. However, never over feed them with the same food or else they will grow tired of the repetitiveness.
4. Be equipped with the right tools
If you are armed with the right tools you can prepare home-made baby foods, so that it can cater to the specific needs of the baby. You should at least have these tools at your home; Electric blender, steamer, metal mesh strainer for elimination of food lumps, freezer bags and a marker, Ice cubes trays for storage of baby food. These should be in good numbers so that it covers the basic requirements of the healthy food for baby.
5. Include play in feeding time
Motherhood can be quite a test for ingenuity and creativity. How you can feed your baby can be pretty fun for both the mother as well as the baby. Babies just love story telling and music. Tempt them with activities like mime playing or hand puppets while you are feeding them. This is really helpful for those babies who are difficult to feed. If you are creative enough to catch your baby’s attention, then you will surely be able to feed them properly.
6. Note what delights the baby
You need to make a journal about those things that fancies your baby, whether it is the kind of food or the way you feed the baby. You will get a clear idea about the eating attitude of the baby, which will help you in giving him/her the best and the most healthy diet.
