Well-fed babies are happy babies for the most part. For example, sleep is adversely affected when people don’t feed these infants properly. In essence, ensuring that babies eat as much as they should is a large part of child care. In light of this, your baby’s reaction should be the best judge of how much should be eaten. This is clearly because your child is unique in his/her own right and this applies to feeding.
This also means that you need to understand when your baby is famished, as well as satisfied. It will also help to use a chart as a guide for feeding your baby (both breast milk and infant formula food) for times when it is needed. To this end, this IST Health nutrition article will keep you updated with a chart that is recommended by a pediatrician.
We will also discuss signs (other than crying) that suggest your baby is hungry and needs to be fed breastmilk or that formula food prepared in your baby’s bottle. So, don’t stop reading as the information will help out.
Feeding Guide/Chart for Your Baby
As you may have noticed, feeding a child is a lot different from feeding grown children. This is not only in the kind of foods but the way they are fed. For starters, newborn babies are to be offered their meals more often and in little amounts.
Their developing bowel system is one reason for this. There are differences in infant digestion when compared to how adults digest food. As they keep growing, the amount of what they eat increases and you incorporate solid foods at some point. This is even as you continue breastfeeding them until you get to the point where they can eat solids only.
But before incorporating solid foods (baby formula), the recommended thing is exclusive breastfeeding. The details below are based on information from a pediatrician’s designed feeding chart for infants:
- Newborn babies – They should be fed every 3 – 4 hours and the amount of food (breast milk) should be between 2 – 3 ounces
- Four weeks to three months of age – The feeding time should be spaced slightly further at this age. They should be eating between 5 – 6 ounces of breast milk. This should happen every 4 – 6 hours
- Three to six months of age – you can still stick to the above feeding time. However, the baby can now eat as much as 8 ounces during the eating period each day
- Six to nine months of age – you can start feeding your baby formula (solid) food alongside breastmilk. Your baby can eat as many as 8 ounces at a go. However, you should increase the minimum to 6 ounces. Furthermore, you need to feed your baby more often since solids have just been introduced. So, this can be every 3 – 4 hours
- Nine months to one year of age – Still stick with the maximum ounces of food being 8 ounces at a go. However, make a slight increase in the minimum by making it 7 ounces. You should also do a massive spacing of the feeding time by making it between 6 – 8 hours
As mentioned earlier, your baby’s reaction should take precedence as this is just a guide. Weight is also a factor to consider in properly feeding your child. You may want to see your pediatrician for help with that.
How Do You Tell That Your Baby Is Hungry?
Crying is one of the signs that your baby may be hungry. Some of the other signs that suggest that your baby is asking for food include the following:
- Lips smacking
- Tongue sucking
- Fingers and hands sucking
- Nuzzling their head against your breast or chest (for a man)
- Rooting reflex – This is the opening of their mouth as they turn their head. This often happens when their cheeks are stroked
Other relevant articles can be accessed on the welfare section of the International Health Alliance website. For example, you can learn about how much water you should drink a day.