Courtesy of the Department of Health and Community Services, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (Revised 1999)

Breastfeeding

Your breast milk is the most important food for your baby's first year. It is the best food to meet your baby's nutrition needs. It also helps protect your baby from some common childhood illnesses such as ear infections, and it may reduce your baby's risk of allergies.

Getting Started

Expect your baby to be hungry every 2 to 4 hours at first. Let her, not the clock, be your guide. Relax and enjoy this time together. You'll know your baby is getting enough to drink if there are 6 - 8 wet diapers each day. (The Breastfeeding Handbook will give you more information on breastfeeding.)

Vitamin D Supplement

Vitamin D is produced in our bodies when we are outdoors and our skin is exposed to daylight. However, with Canada's climate we are often indoors, or covered up outdoors. This is especially true for babies. Older children and adults get vitamin D from milk (added by law to fluid and powdered milk in Canada). However, for breastfed babies a daily supplement of 400 I.U. of vitamin D is recommended. Other vitamin supplements are not needed. D-Vi-Sol provides the vitamin D recommended. Check the label for the dosage that provides 400 I.U. of vitamin D. Starting at birth, give 400 l.U. of vitamin D every day until your baby is completely weaned. The D-Vi-Sol can go directly in your baby's mouth.

Formula Feeding

A commercial iron-fortified infant formula is recommended if your baby is not breastfed. Commercial infant formulas are nutritious, but don't protect your baby from common childhood illnesses the way breast milk does.

Evaporated milk formula is not recommended because it is not as nutritious as breast milk or commercial infant formula. Also, the protein and fat in evaporated milk formula are not as well suited to your baby's needs.

Supplements

Formula, and later solids, are the best sources of vitamins and minerals for your baby. Only the following supplements are needed.

For a Baby on Commercial Iron-Fortified Infant Formula - No supplement is needed.

For a Baby on Evaporated (Canned) Milk Formula - The Department of Health and Community Services does not support the use of this formula. However, if your baby is on this formula, you should give her an iron supplement starting at birth.

An iron supplement called Fer-In-Sol Infant Drops should be added to your baby's evaporated milk formula. The amount of this supplement to give is 0.5 ml per day (which provides 7.5 mg of elemental iron). It's a good idea to put the Fer-in-Sol Infant Drops in the first bottle of the day so you don't forget it. Continue the supplement until your baby is one year old.

Preparation

• Read can labels carefully for sterilizing, preparation and storage directions.
• Sterilize all equipment for the first 4 months.
• Follow mixing instructions closely!
• Keep open cans covered in the refrigerator. Once opened, use liquid formula within 48 hours and dry powdered formula within one month.
• Store prepared formula in the refrigerator and use within 24 hours.
• Cuddle, look at and talk to your baby while feeding.
• Discard formula left in the bottle after a feeding.
• Don't put your baby to bed with a bottle of milk, juice or any sweet liquid. This practice promotes tooth decay. For more information see the pamphlet Keep Baby's Teeth Healthy.

Formula Feeding Guide

These are guidelines to the amount your baby may drink, but let your baby's appetite be your guide. Don't coax your baby to finish a bottle. If she seems hungry, feed her more often.

*As your baby eats more solids, she may drink less formula.

Introducing Solid Foods

• Remember: these are general guidelines. No two babies are exactly alike. Don't compare your baby with others as to how much she eats, or when she accepts a new food.
• Babies don't need solid foods before 4-6 months.
• Offer only one new food every four to five days, so you can see if your baby is allergic to any new food.
• When introducing each new food, start with only 1-3 teaspoons, in case it doesn't agree with your baby. Gradually increase the amounts according to your baby's appetite.
• If your baby rejects a food, try it again a few days later.
• Serve foods separately (for example, don't stir meat and vegetables together) so your baby can learn to like different flavors and textures.

Feeding Tips

Why Wait Until 4-6 Months?

• Breast milk or commercial infant formula is far better for your baby than any solids during the first 4 to 6 months.

• Babies often go through growth spurts at around 2 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. Thus they may be hungrier than usual, but this isn't a sign they need solids. Simply breastfeed your baby more often, or if formula feeding, give more formula.

• Babies are now able to swallow solids. Don't add cereal to the bottle. If your baby can't take cereal on a spoon she is not ready for it.

• Solid foods do not affect the length of time your baby sleeps.

• Digestive system has matured.

• There is a lower risk of allergies.

• Stomach is larger so there is less chance of overfeeding.

What Should You Offer?

• A variety of foods so your baby can learn to enjoy many different tastes. Babies may even like foods you don't.

• Plain vegetables, fruits and meats without added salt or sugar. Single foods are recommended rather than mixtures. Babies do not need custards and desserts.

• Plain foods without sauces or gravies. Your baby should be able to taste the food and does not need those extra empty calories.

If you prepare your own baby food, remember ...

Homemade baby food is only as safe and nutritious as you make it!

• Baby foods are nutritious but most don't teach chewing skills, so move on to mashed table foods at 6 - 8 months.

• Read labels - ingredients are listed in order of quantity.

• The ingredient listed first is present in the largest amount. "Dinners" often contain less meat than filler.

• Choose foods without added sugar, fat and salt.

• Feed your baby from a dish, not the jar. Refrigerate the unused contents of the jar for up to 3 days. If there are leftovers in the dish, discard them.

What About Mealtimes?

• Your baby will best learn new eating skills in a happy atmosphere, so try to make mealtimes pleasant and unhurried.

• Your baby should eat with the family. Make sure hot tea, coffee and soup are out of your baby's reach. Set a good example by what you eat - children are great imitators! Children start to learn eating habits at an early age.

Menu Tip

Often a baby's appetite is best in the morning. If your baby will only accept meats at breakfast, serve them then. As long as your baby eats the variety and amount of foods suggested in the Solids Feeding Guide, foods can be served at any time of day.

What About Snacks?

Serve nutritious snacks to help your baby grow and develop. Items such as soft drinks, fruit-flavored drinks (Tang, Kool-Aid, etc.), cheese-flavored snacks, chips and bars should never be given to a baby.

For Healthy Teeth

• Offer plain water and keep teeth clean.

• If your baby uses a pacifier, do not dip it in anything sweet as this may cause tooth decay. Honey may contain bacteria spores harmful to an infant under one year of age.

• Never put your baby to bed with a bottle of milk, juice or any sweet liquid. This practice promotes tooth decay.

Teething Time

• Don't worry if teething upsets your baby's appetite. It should return to normal when the tooth comes through.

• Give your baby a teething ring or bread crusts - not teething biscuits which contain sugar and crumble easily (which may cause choking).

Caution - Choking

Small children can choke or suffocate easily since they do not have the teeth and chewing abilities of an older child or adult.

• Children should eat sitting upright with an adult present - never alone or while moving around.

• Certain foods can be dangerous for children before they reach 4 years of age. Choking hazards include foods that are:

• hard (such as nuts, seeds, raw carrot pieces)
• hard to chew (such as corn, popcorn, candy)
• the size and shape that could be inhaled or swallowed whole and block the airway (such as candy, grapes, wiener chunks). Cut grapes or wieners in quarter lengthwise before giving to a young child.

Solids Feeding Guide

Solid foods should supplement, not replace, breast milk or commercial infant formula, which are nutritionally superior for young babies.

Daily Servings in Metric Measures (ml) (See below for Imperial measures)

Daily Servings in Imperial Measures

*Mix with breast milk or formula or cooled boiled water.

Note: These guidelines refer to baby foods only and do not include finger foods, which may be added after 6-8 months.

Homemade Baby Foods

Both home-prepared foods and commercial baby foods are acceptable choices for babies.

Homemade Baby Food

• Is usually cheaper.
• Is convenient if you are preparing plain foods for your family.
• Allows you to control the texture and variety, when you do the rnashing and chopping.

Preparation Advice

• You will need a sieve, food mill, food processor or blender.
• If you use a processor or blender, note that vegetables puree best in large quantities and meats in small ones.
• Food, hands and equipment must be clean.
• Fresh foods should be cooked just until tender and processed quickly.
• Do not add salt, butter or margarine, sugar or sweeteners. If you feed your baby what you're feeding the family, separate out your baby's portion before you add sugar or seasonings.
• When cooking, don't put the tasting spoon back in the food.

Basic Recipe for Homemade Baby Foods

250 ml (1 cup) diced or chopped cooked food

30-60 ml (2-4 tbsp) liquid - water, breast milk, formula or unsweetened fruit juice (Do not use canned vegetable liquid, sugar syrup from canned fruits or sweetened fruit juice.)

(Adjust amount of liquid for proper puree consistency.)

For pureed food: strain, grind, process or blend until smooth (some food may require more liquid). As baby develops chewing skills, food may be mashed or more lumpy in texture.

Fish

250 g (1/2 lb.) fish fillets (sole, cod, halibut, haddock, salmon) - Be careful to remove all bones.

60 ml (1/4 cup) whole milk

1. Pour 60 ml (1/4 cup) of milk into a pan and heat gently.

2. Add the fish fillets. Cover and poach over low heat 5-10 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

3. Place half the cooked fish and cooking milk in the blender/food mill/processor. Puree, mash or grind as needed until smooth. Add more milk if needed. Repeat with the remaining fish.

4. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze.

Yield: 8 cubes

Storage life: 4-6 weeks

Tip: Once your baby has been introduced to all basic foods, you can add 30 ml (2 tbsp) of minced onion during poaching for extra flavour if you wish.

Recipe adapted ftom "Feeding Your Baby in the Nineties from Conception to Age Two" 1992, by Louise Lambert-Lagace. Stoddart Publishing Co. Limited, 34 Lesmill Road, Toronto, Ontario M3B 2T6

Selection

Vegetables

• Use fresh or frozen vegetables. (Don't use canned vegetables because they contain more salt than babies need, and many become "soupy" when blended.) Clean fresh vegetables. Cook fresh or frozen vegetables until just tender. Don't overcook them.
• Baking or steaming retains the most nutrients. If you boil, use as little water as possible.
• Choose a variety - carrots, turnips, broccoli, brussels sprouts, peas, squash, parsnip, green or yellow beans, cabbage, tomatoes (strained).

Fruit

• Use cooked or canned fruit or ripe bananas.
• If using canned fruit, the kind packed in water or fruit juice is the best choice for baby.
• When using fresh fruit, clean and remove skin, pits and seeds before cooking.

Meat, Fish and Poultry

• Choose lean cuts and him the fat before cooking. Take the skin off poultry.
• Do not give your baby salt fish, salt meat, bacon, or other processed or smoked meat. These are high in fat and/or salt.
• Roasted, broiled or stewed meat that has been prepared for the family can be used. Do not add sauces, salt or spices until your baby's portion has been taken out.
• Remove bones before cooking or choose pieces of meat away from the bone to process.
• Cook meat thoroughly, and process quickly. Do not let cooked food stand at room temperature for long periods of time. If storing, refrigerate immediately.

These steps help to keep food safe.

Storage

For Freezing

• Pour food into ice cube trays and chill in refrigerator.
• Cover tray and place in freezer until food is frozen hard.
• Remove food from tray and place in freezer bag. Remove air from bag with a straw, seal bag and label with type of food and preparation date.

Maximum storage times in freezer:

• foods mixed with milk - 4-6 weeks
• cooked meat, fish and poultry - 10 weeks
• fruits and vegetables -10weeks

Maximum storage in refrigerator: tightly covered, up to 3 days.

Thawing and Heating

• Frozen cubes should not be thawed at room temperature.
• Thaw in refrigerator, or over hot water or microwave.
• Heat only one meal portion at a time.
• Do not save leftovers for another meal.
• Do not refreeze.
• If using a microwave oven, stir food thoroughly to make sure that food reaches an even temperature throughout. Test that food is lukewarm before feeding your baby.

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Updated: 2003-08-28