Are you a new mom or dad? If so, you probably have a mountain of concerns regarding your new baby, and one of those concerns will be a healthy diet for newborn babies. What is the best thing to feed your new baby? What is the worst thing? Where can you get these answers? Don’t panic! The choices are actually quite simple, and very easy to understand.
The Absolute Healthiest Dietary Choice for Newborn Babies
The absolute healthiest dietary choice for a newborn baby is his or her mother’s breast milk. The second healthiest choice is someone else’s breast milk, but if someone else will be providing the breast milk for your baby, you need to be certain that the person is in good health. You can actually obtain breast milk that has been donated, for a variety of reasons, and you can get information concerning this through your doctor or local hospital.
Breast milk is the healthiest choice for a newborn because it not only has all of the vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that the child needs, but it also boosts the child’s immune system, and the child becomes immune to just about everything that the provider of the breast milk is immune to as well. Even if you don’t plan to breastfeed long term, you should still plan to breastfeed for at least the first two to three weeks of your child’s life.
Formula Choices for Newborn Babies
If for any reason you are not breastfeeding your baby, the third healthiest choice is formula. You should not start your baby on cow’s milk, goat’s milk, or any other type of animal milk including soy milk while they are under a year old, unless your doctor advises you to do so. In some cases, your doctor may make a recommendation for different forms of nutrition when the baby is about six months old.
There are essentially two different types of formula – those with iron and those without iron. Some are soy based, and others are milk based. All baby formulas, however, are fortified with essential nutrients and vitamins, and this is why it is the third healthiest nutrition choice for a baby.
Should Newborns have more than Breast Milk or Formula?
Newborn babies also need water, whether they are being breast fed or formula fed. Everyone needs water for good health. Some newborns are hungrier than others, and their doctor may suggest that you feed them more breast milk or formula more often.
In some cases, once a baby is about a month old, your doctor may recommend that you start mixing a little rice cereal in with the pumped breast milk or formula, in an effort to help the child gain weight faster, to stop weight loss, or to satisfy an especially hungry baby. Overall, newborns should never be given anything other than breast milk, formula, water, rice cereal, or Pedialite, which is often given when a baby or child has diarrhea.
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