Baby Diet: What You Need To Know About Feeding Your Baby

When it comes to the proper baby diet, there are different opinions from experts and parents as to how and what you should feed your baby. The first question that parents will encounter is whether they will be bottle-feeding or breast feeding their babies. Mothers are given three choices. They can exclusively breast feed their infant, exclusively formula-feed them, or simply a combination of the two.

Mothers who do not have work outside of their homes prefer to breast feed their infants. Notwithstanding, those who are working mothers may opt to just feed their babies milk formula or use a breast pump before they go off to work so that their babies will be able to drink breast milk even while they are at work. There are some mothers who just breast feed their babies for a few months and then little by little have them switch to instant milk formula.

As for the frequency of feeding, some paediatricians would recommend to breast feed the infants every 1 ½ to 3 hours. Some may suggest to feed upon demand. It may take 3 to 4 hours before a bottle fed baby go hungry again.

It is strongly recommended to exclusively feed the baby milk whether breast milk or instant formula for the first four to five months. After which, if you feel that your baby is ready to eat solid foods, it may be time to introduce him to rice or other cereals as an addition to his daily meals.

At six months of age, you can feed your baby fruits and veggies. You can also opt to give baby food that is thin in consistency. There are many bottled baby food available in the market although home-made and natural ones are more recommended.

Upon reaching eight months, infants may be ready to take in thicker and coarser foods. By his tenth month, you can already feed him table foods.

You have to take note that each baby is different. The pace of their development varies and you should make sure that they are already ready before going on to the next stage of feeding.

Are You Using Safe Baby Bath Products?

The largest organ in the body is the skin – it covers us from head to toe. You have to take note that your skin is sensitive to external organisms and whatever you put onto it may cause reactions. If mature individuals have sensitive skin, what more for infants? Not all baby bath products are safe for infant use. Some of them may contain harsh chemicals which can damage your baby’s extremely sensitive skin. Majority of the parents are not aware that they are putting their children’s health at risk by using baby bath products that contain toxins. Even those products which claim that they are gentle and safe for infant skin may have such dangerous chemicals.

You should always check the labels of your baby bath products – meaning read the list of ingredients! Diethanolamine is one of the ingredients that you should avoid. It is being widely used in many personal care products such as bubble baths, cosmetics, shampoos, and more. Prolonged use of products which contain diethanolamine can cause spleen, liver, brain, and even kidney damage. In different researches conducted, the laboratory rats which are exposed to diethanolamine developed cancer.

Other chemicals that you should watch out for are parabens, sodium lauryl sulphate, and triethnolamine. They are commonly used in bath products to create more foamy bubbles. All of them may cause harsh allergic reactions to your baby’s skin.

Before buying your supply of baby bath products, make sure that you have done enough research about whatever products you intend to buy. Read through their lists of ingredients and if you can avoid products that contain the mentioned chemicals, avoid it.

Tips On Putting Up Nursery Decor

There are different baby nursery decor ideas available everywhere so it is kind of making choosing the best nursery decor harder than it seems.

When you have a nursery room to build, you should put into priority the things that complement your personal preference and style. You will be spending a lot of time inside this room so make sure that you will enjoy your quality time with your baby here. It should be comfortable, stylish yet functional.

First and foremost, you should decide on designing your baby’s crib. There is a wide variety of beautiful crib beddings in the baby stores near your place. You should ensure that you will choose wisely because the rest of the decorations will be determined by the design of the crib itself. It is recommended that you refrain from buying a very expensive crib bedding set. Instead, you should design your own. Stores that specialize in fabrics can provide you with many choices for quilts. There are also online stores that showcase rare quilt styles.

You can also use cut-outs from the quilt and have the pasted or taped on the walls. You can put curtains on the windows to create a more homey and comfortable feel to your nursery room.

As for the color theme, you should choose bright colors such as red, blue, and yellow because it will stimulate your baby’s eyes. These colors aside from black are the first colors that are recognized by your baby.

There are many options to choose from in nursery decor – you just have to make sure that they go with your personal style and preference. Also, take note of your budget when planning to decorate your nursery room.

Benefits Of Infant Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is the term used to describe the direct feeding of an infant from a woman’s breast. When a woman gets pregnant, there are hormonal changes in her body that make her breasts produce milk. From birth, an infant already has sucking ability which allows them to get milk from his mother.

Medical experts recommend that babies up to one year of age should be breast fed. There are many benefits of infant breastfeeding. Breast milk is best for babies because it contains anti-bodies which boost their immune system.

Aside from the mentioned benefits of infant breastfeeding, it promotes better digestion and gives good bacteria that manufacture vitamins. While some babies get allergic reactions to instant formula, breast milk will never be the cause of allergies.

There are also studies and researches done that showed that the benefits of infant breastfeeding can be lifelong. It was found out that people who were breast-fed had lesser risk of diabetes, allergies, and tooth decay. They will also have lower cholesterol levels and have a lesser chance of becoming obese, hence, lesser chance of having heart diseases as well. Breast milk contains antibodies that will protect the person for a life time. Benefits of infant breastfeeding are not limited to the baby alone. The mother can also benefit from it because it reduces the chances of having post natal depression plus it develops an emotional bond between her and her child.

The benefits of infant breastfeeding are limitless. As much as possible, it is recommended to breast feed your baby rather than feeding him with instant milk formula.

When Should Start Introducing Solid Foods?

Different people have different advices as to when should you start introducing solid foods to your baby. Some would say that your baby can start eating solid food at two months while others recommend that you wait until your baby is four months old. However, majority of health experts suggest that when your child is six months old, you can start giving solid foods.

Actually, the perfect time to start introducing solid foods to your child will depend on the development of your baby. Some children cannot eat solids at six months because it will give them allergies. Now, how will you know if your baby is ready to take solid foods? Here are some tips.

First, your baby is starting to show interest on the foods that you are eating. They may try to grab your food at times. Second, your baby can already sit and hold his or her head up without your support. Third, your baby does not thrust food outwards when you try to give him or her small piece of food. Some say that if your child has doubled his or her weight at birth, he or she is ready for solid foods – but then this is still a case to case basis.

Moreover, if you think that your baby is showing signs of readiness, make sure that you introduce solid foods gradually. Try giving a little amount of food first and then increase over time. Let your child taste the food and observe if he or she likes the flavour.

Bottom line is do not panic if your child does not want solid foods even when he or she is already six months old. Eventually, your baby will start eating food as soon as their bodies are ready for it.