Providing for the Infant’sDevelopmental Needs

Because babies develop so quickly in the first year, they have many needs. To meet their physical needs, adults must understand babies and respond to their signals. Adults must also meet baby’s mental needs with activities that help infants learn and develop. To meet their social-emotional needs, parents must touch, hold, and look at babies lovingly.

Physical Needs

• Babies need others to meet all their physical needs. Physical needs are the most basic needs of humans. These include the need for food and sleep babies who are hungry, tired, or sick suffer in physical, mental, social and emotional ways.

Feeding

The baby’s body is growing so quickly during the 1st year, it is important that the baby receives a healthful diet in order to grow, explore and develop. A healthful diet includes nutrients, the substances in food that give babies energy and help them grow.

Feeding During the First Year

How much food does a baby need? It all depends because each baby has unique needs. These needs depend on the baby’s size and how fast he or she is growing. The baby’s health, heredity, and level of activity also affect his or her food needs. Apediatrician or dietitian can help parents learn what and how much to feed a baby.

First FoodsMost babies begin eating an all-liquid diet of milk (either breast milk or formula). Between six months and one year, the baby begins to eat cereals, fruits, vegetables, meats, and breads. These foods are called solids. Solid foods for infant feeding are semiliquid, mushy foods, including commercially prepared baby foods and table foods that have been mashed, pureed, or strained. Many doctors advise parents to wait until their baby is at least six months old before starting solids. Doctors do not suggest solids for the first six months for the following reasons: • Babies are not born with the ability to swallow solids. • Their jaw and throat muscles must develop before

swallowing is easy and safe. • In the first six months, babies do not need solids for

nutritional reasons. Their immature digestive systems cannot process the complex nutrients found in solids.

• Basic Feeding Plan for Baby’s First Year• Step 1• Mother’s milk or formula only (often for the first half year)

• Step 2• Mother’s milk or formula, plus infant dry cereals mixed with strained juice, mother’s milk,• or formula

• Step 3• Mother’s milk or formula, cereals, and strained single-ingredient fruits, vegetables,• and meats (These are added gradually, with the baby’s doctor often suggesting which• to try fi rst.)• When the baby can eat a variety of cereals, fruits, vegetables, and meats, breast milk or• formula is cut to between a 16-ounce minimum and a 25-ounce to 30-ounce maximum• per day. Babies should take ½ of their calories from milk and ½ from solid foods

• Step 4• Mother’s milk or formula, cereals, and foods with two or more ingredients combined,• such as apple-banana juice or chicken and noodles• Step 5• Mother’s milk or formula, cereals, and foods with some texture• Foods have small pieces rather than a strained texture (Some companies call these• “junior foods.”)

Babies begin with a liquid diet and advance graduallyin a step-by-step pattern to eating many solids.

• See page 257 Basic Feeding Plan for Baby’s First Year

• Foods Babies Should Not Eat worksheet

Pros and cons of preparing baby foods

• See page 260 for Advantages of homemade vs. commercial baby food

• Activity: Look at baby food labels

Weaning

• Weaning is the process of taking a baby off of the bottle or breast. The process should be gradual because the baby must learn a new way to drink.

• When do you start? Depends on whether the baby is breast or formula fed.

• American Academy of Pediatrics recommends weaning from 18-24 months.

Weaning from the bottle

• Depending on what age the child is weaned at will determine what he/she will drink afterwards. Babies should receive iron-fortified infant formula up to 12 months. After 1 year babies should be offered cow’s milk.

• Children 1-2 years should drink whole milk, while children 2+ should drink 1% or 2% milk.

Weaning from the breast

• This process cannot be abrupt for the baby or the mother.

• Weaning the baby too abruptly has consequences for both baby and mother. Weaning is stressful to the baby and the mother’s milk ducts of the breast may become blocked if weaned too abruptly.

• Offer the new liquid and gradually increase the amount of liquid offered at each feeding until the baby is solely nourished from the new liquid.

Weaning to a cup

• Weaning from a bottle to a cup may begin as early as a baby can hold a cup. This is somewhere between 8-12 months. Cow’s milk can be given at 12 months and this is an ideal time to wean to a cup.

Parents teach babies to drink from a cup in the following ways:

• Give the baby a special cup (2 handles and can be weighted to prevent tipping. Some cups have special features that prevent liquid from spilling)

• Praise the baby when he/she tries to handle the cup.• Give the baby a few sips of liquid in the bottom of the

cup at about 6 months• Let the baby drink small amounts of milk at one feeding.• Gradually replace other bottle feedings in the same way.

The last bottle of the day is often the last to be replaced.

Spoon feeding• Parents are often eager to see their babies eat solids. Why?

Most pediatricians recommend the baby be 6 months before being introduced to solids. This recommendation is because:– Until babies are 4-5 months old they have an extrusion reflex.– Babies wont open their mouths for food until they are about 5

months old.– Babies do not need more nutrition than breast milk or formula

until they reach 13-15 pounds– Before 6 mos babies do not have the needed enzymes needed for

digesting solid foods.

First Feedings

• The AAP recommends the first solid be iron enriched cereal.

• The cereal should be very liquidy at first and should gradually be thickened each week until the baby learns to use his or her tongue and tolerate the texture.