Infant Nutritional Needs. Every Mother Must Know.
What are Infant Nutritional Need?
When your kid is in its infant stage, he or she needs the right amount of nutrients to develop the body organs properly.
Remember that for proper growth of body organs, your child needs an adequate amount of proteins, vitamins, and antioxidants.
An infant nutritional need requirement for calories depends on the rate of growth, size, the amount of activity, and energy needed for metabolic activities.
Know The Calorie Needed
As a new parent, you need to know that the calorie needed in your infant is higher in the initial year of life than at any other time.
A range of recommended calorie intakes has been developed because of the variation difference among infants.
For the initial 4-6 months of life, breastfeeding or formula can provide sufficient calories.
Planning your child’s growth (weight and length) on a standardized grid can determine the adequacy of his/her calorie intake.
The following are stages and foods that you should feed you, infant.
Infant Nutritional Need: (Birth to 6 Months)
The Institute of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests that infants should only take breast milk for the first six months.
And can add both complementary foods and breast milk from 6 to 12 months of age.
For moms cannot breastfeed, they can give their child infant formula instead of breast milk.
For infants between the ages of 0 to 6 months should be fed with infant formula or breast milk after few hours, to assist meet nutritional requirements.
Infant Nutritional Need: (First Foods)
At the age of 6 months, your infant is anticipated to begin eating solid foods, but ensure that you ask your pediatrician to be certain.
The first solid food to be given to your baby is iron-fortified infant rice cereal with breast milk or infant formula mixed with a thin liquid solution.
Initially, give 1 to 2 tablespoons of rice cereal two times a day and rise four times per day.
When your infant has been used to eating whole rice cereal, you can feed him/her other kinds of iron-fortified baby cereals;
however infant formula or breast milk should still be his chief source of nutrition.
Infant Nutritional Need: Second Foods
When your infant has been used to eating cereals, he/she is apparently ready to start eating vegetables and strained fruits.
Many babies begin eating veggies and fruits at the age of 6 to 8 months of age.
Feed Baby Regularly
Feed you baby three tablespoons for four times per day.
The majority of pediatricians advise introducing one extra food each week, to assist recognize possible intolerances or food allergies.
Whole-milk infant yogurt is rich in protein and should be given to babies between the age of 6 and 12.
Infant formula or breast milk is still your baby’s primary source of nutrition at this age.
Infant Nutritional Need: Transitional Foods.
When you baby is at the age of 8 months, he/she ready to begin eating meat which is rich in iron in addition to infant cereals, breast milk or infant formula, strained vegetables and fruits, and whole-milk baby yogurt.
At the age of 10 months, you can give your baby infant formula or breast milk or four times per day.
Gradually you can start giving your baby soft finger foods which include soft meat sticks, bananas, egg yolks, oat ring cereal and soft cheese, tofu.
Avoid giving your baby cow’s milk until she/he achieves the age of one year.
Enquire from your pediatrician about feeding your infant a multi vitamin supplement, particularly if he is a picky eater.
Conclusion:
Ensure that the environment that the infant embraces all the nutritious foods and healthy behaviors that everyone is participating in.
This will likely show your infant how they should embrace these practices as well.
Do an analysis of the home you live in, and think to yourself what can be changed to modify the environment that the infant grows