Baby Feeding Guide - Best Options for Feeding Baby

Breast feeding...
Feeding your baby is the primary step in their lives. Baby feeding is an automatic response immediately following birth. The baby is placed at the mother’s breast and latches onto the nipple taking in the valuable colostrum that helps the new born with their immunity for the first years of their lives. Even if the baby is only fed once or twice on this wonderful food it will contribute to a healthy child. ‘Breast is best’ as the old saying goes and of course that is undisputed. Breast milk is free, there is no preparation required, no sterilizing bottles, no heating and is available at any time. The only thing that has to be done is to ensure the mother eats well, sleeps well and has no medication in her system that might affect the baby through her milk.

Some people may say that breast feeding excludes the husband, but in this day of super breast pumps and refrigeration this need not be true, expressing milk into bottles is an option if one has to be away from the baby for any length of time.

Bottle feeding...
Naturally some new mother’s may wish to bottle feed their baby and of course it is the right of the mother to choose the feeding method that best suits them. Bottle feeding is a great alternative to breast and there are many different brands of milk formula available on the market to suit all babies. A baby may be lactose intolerant and will therefore, thrive on goat’s milk formula or soya milk formula, though it is advised nowadays to restrict the intake of cow’s milk until the baby is at least one year old to help prevent an allergic reaction to the lactose present in the milk.

Real food...
Baby feeding is often a slightly controversial subject as people differ on the ways of feeding babies. 
Some parents prefer the organic, wholefood approach to baby feeding where the parent may produce their own organic food from a garden or allotment, grow it, pick it, take it home and cook it.  This of course gives the baby a wonderful healthy lifestyle (together with exercise) that may help to prevent the baby from overeating and becoming obese in later life. 
Other parents prefer to buy all their baby’s food directly from the supermarket in bottles, jars or cans.  This may be a good choice for working parents, as there are so many options available on the market.  Bottles, cans and jars are all sold in organic options or cheaper varieties.  What is important is to check the labels on all manufactured foods to ensure that your baby is getting no added extras. ie; salt, sugar, trans fats etc.

Preparing food for your baby can be exactly the same as preparing food for an adult. The main thing to remember is to avoid adding salt or sugar to the food. They are unnecessary additives and eaten in extremes are unhealthy. Salt may cause high blood pressure in later life and sugar may rot your teeth and be a cause of obesity.

Vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, courgettes, carrots, parsnip and potatoes) can be lightly boiled or preferably steamed until tender and then pureed to a creamy consistency. Pureed meat or fish may be added later to give a variety of tastes and textures. Pureed fruits of apple, pear, banana or plums provide a naturally sweet dessert that babies love. If it is necessary to sweeten the fruit then add a little natural honey. Most home-cooked meals can be frozen either in ice cube trays or small plastic containers so that there is a ready supply of nourishing meals available to you.

People often start with rice and gradually move onto other foods. Add different foods slowly one at a time do not rush your baby into experiencing too many different things all at once. They have a lifetime ahead of them to try everything.

Refusing to eat...
Some babies refuse to eat and there is very little you can do in that situation. Accept the fact that your baby will not starve. They will always eat enough to stay healthy. There is no point in forcing them to eat just because you think they need to. Offer them the food and make sure it is not too hot or too cold. Let them feed themselves, give them a spoon. Yes, most of it will end up on the floor, but they have to experiment and if they think they can use food as a weapon they will do exactly that.

Baby feeding is an acquired art that will be learned along the way, what suits one may not necessarily suit another. It is all trial and error, (without too many errors hopefully). It does not have to cost a fortune and everyone can feed their baby with good wholesome food.