How Much to Feed Your Baby

When you start introducing solid foods to your baby, it’s not easy to know how much you should give it to your child. They may not have the digestive dexterity to eat more than a few bites.

Most of the time, one tablespoon is enough for your baby to eat. When you have all this in mind, then you understand why it’s important to continue to provide baby formula as part of your baby’s diet.

 The World Health Organization recommends feeding babies 6-8 months old between two and three real food meals a day. After that, you should move to three or four meals for older babies (9 – 24 months).

Since I’ve been talking about babies first foods for the past few weeks, I wanted to discuss food allergies and intolerances. . Parents often delay food introduction of certain foods like eggs and nuts due to fear of allergy development. However, delaying foods for longer has actually been associated with the development of food allergies. . Research shows that an increased diversity of food within the first year of life might have a protective effect on asthma, food allergy, and food sensitization and is associated with increased expression of a marker for regulatory T cells (immune defense) . (1) . Research has pointed to a few other factors for suspected reasons for the development of food allergies 1➡️ Poor Intestinal Microbiota (poor ratio of good/bad bacteria found in the gut) 2➡️Early breastmilk cessation (cessation around 6 months) 3➡️Vitamin D deficiency (2) . Crazy as it may sound, introducing cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts (that contain aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligands) may actually suppress food allergies. (2) . During the food introduction period, variety is key! You can watch closely for these signs to see if they are intolerant to a food: . Vomiting/Spitting up after meal Diarrhea/Constipation/Bloating Colic in young babies Bloody stools/mucous in stools Reactive Airway problems Skin rashes; eczema Puffy eyes, dark circles under eyes Red ears, red cheeks, runny nose Failure to Thrive Headaches Chronic sinus or ear infections Neurological symptoms (distractability, poor attention, hyperactivity, sleep disturbances) . Most common food allergies are: Milk Eggs Fish Wheat Peanut Soy Shellfish Tree nuts . Resources👇 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24508301/ 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4909486/#!po=34.8958 3. Johanson, Nina. (MS, CCC-SLP). "The AEIOU Systematic Approach to Pediatric Feeding." October 2016.  Education Resources, Inc.  PowerPoint Presentation.

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If you are not sure about the number of your baby’s meals, you need to watch for things like turning their face away from the spoon or pushing it away (this means that your baby doesn’t want more food).

Picky Eater?

Maybe he’s just a picky eater you may think. Well, you are right and that is why you need to keep introducing new flavors to your baby. Research shows that children need to try a new flavor 10 – 20 times before they accept it.

What about Liquids?

When it comes to liquids, you need to be careful. WHO advises that you shouldn’t give your baby any water if she’s under six months old. Water can mess up baby’s electrolyte balance and cause water intoxication.

From our morning walk yesterday #latergram #strawberries #waterforbaby

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