Parenting Tips

In order for your child to grow up healthy they need to have the right amount of nutrients and vitamins in their diet. That is why you always need to know what your child can eat and what you need to wait on. The first year is very crucial when it comes to what they eat. That is why you need to take into account these certain facts before deciding on what you can give them. (Keep in mind that these our suggestions and you need to confer with your doctor before making a final decision)

- Should Rice Cereal Be Your Child’s First Food?

Not always. While rice cereal has traditionally been recommended as an ideal first food because it’s low-allergy and a good source of iron, it’s fine to offer other foods first. “You don’t have to do cereal, then vegetables, fruit, and meat last,” says Nancy Krebs, M.D., pro-fessor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.

In fact, the latest research shows you may want to consider meat for your baby’s first bites. It’s a particularly rich source of iron and zinc, both of which breast milk doesn’t provide enough of, and your baby’s stores of them become depleted by 6 months of age.

- Is Soy Formula Better That Milk-Based Formula?

This is not at all true. Cow’s-milk formula is the best alternative to breast milk because its protein is closer to that in breast milk. “Soy protein is completely different from animal protein, and human infants are made to grow on animal protein,” says Frank Greer, M.D., chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’s (AAP) nutrition committee.

Soy formula is safe, but usually not needed. For instance, parents often switch gassy babies to soy formula in the hope that they’ll be more tolerant of it, but soy isn’t easier to digest than cow’s milk. For babies who have a confirmed cow’s-milk allergy, soy is an alternative, but a better bet is hydrolysate formula, in which cow’s-milk proteins have been broken down so as not to cause a reaction. Soy formula is generally only advised for healthy, full-term babies who are being raised as vegans and aren’t breastfed, and babies with galactosemia, a metabolic disorder that makes them unable to digest a sugar in cow’s milk.

- Can Iron-Rich Formulas Cause Constipation.

They don’t. Infant formulas contain as much iron as they do because it’s not well absorbed. The amount babies get is not enough to cause constipation — and it’s sorely needed, since iron is crucial for your baby’s physical and mental growth. In fact, some formula companies have recently discon- tinued their low-iron formulas.

- Will Starting Solids Early Help Your Baby To Sleep Through The Night?

No. Despite what you may have heard, newborns don’t wake up throughout the night only because they’re hungry; they wake up because they’re not developmentally ready to sleep for longer stretches. “By four months, most babies are able to sleep for five to six hours or more,” says Laura Jana, M.D., coauthor of Food

Don’t rush solids. Experts recommend that you wait until 4 months at the earliest, and ideally until 6 months. And don’t be tempted to add rice cereal to the bottle at night. This will cause your baby to take in unnecessary calories and increase her risk for obesity — and it won’t help her sleep any longer.

- Can You Drastically Reduce The Amount Of Breast Milk Or Formula Your Baby Eats When They Start Solids?
You don’t want to. When babies first start eating solid food, they don’t tend to take in enough calories and nutrients to replace either type of milk just yet. Breast milk or formula should still be their most important source of nutrition throughout the first year. Even as your baby eats more solids, he’ll still need at least 20 ounces of breast milk or formula a day until he’s 1. If he isn’t drinking enough, offer the breast or bottle first at meal-times, when he’s hungriest.