Baby feeding charts

Baby feeding charts are useful to have when we are trying to get baby into a feeding routine, although it is important not to obsess too much about the exact time of each feed, or to take too much notice what it says in your baby care manual or what your paediatrician at your local health or baby care center says.

All babies are individual from birth, and just like adults, some babies like to eat fast, finishing a bottle in a matter of minutes, others are slow eater, fussy eaters, or prefer to eat a little many times a day, or a lot a few times a day.

None of the above should be considered as abnormal, and as long as your baby appears happy and healthy and is within the normal height and weight range for her age, do not become agitated.

Again, on visiting your paediatrician or baby care center, you will fond charts showing the normal weight of infants, allowing you to follow his growth curve. But do not panic if your baby is in the bottom 5 or top 5 percent, some babies are small, some are big, once again like adults.

What is most important is that baby is happy and healthy, that mother and father is relaxed, and that you can settle into a routine that is comfortable for all the family.
If you wish to mark or charts your babies feeds, feel free to do so. If you feed on schedule, every three hours being the recommended for new borns, then a chart is not necessary.
If we bottle feed our new born, on the formula there will be instructions as to how to properly prepare baby’s feeds, making sure you get the correct water to formula ratio, as well as a guideline chart as to how many feeds a day are required depending on the age of the baby.

The new born will take many, small feeds, if you bottle feed from birth , the first week of life, baby only taking 30ml, by the time baby reaches six months she should be taking 240ml, but will only require 4 feeds a day, plus at this stage the introduction of solid foods.

So if you are feeding on demand, you can chart how often your baby feeds, and you can also note down on the chart how much feed they took when bottle feeding baby.

Here, by using the chart, you will hopefully see your new born develop a pattern as to when she takes her feeds, and will see them gradually spread out as baby grows.

It is useful to know how much baby takes at each feed and how many feeds a day, for when you take baby to see her baby care visitor at your health center for her regular check ups. Then, if there is a wide variety in the amount of feeds you baby is taking from the recommended, or possibly that baby is not gaining enough weight, knowing how many feeds baby takes will help the paediatrician look for any underlying cause to the problem.

Many mothers stick a feeding chart to the fridge in the family home, and can be continued to be useful as baby grows into a toddler and starts to eat a varied diet. Baby feeding charts are also used in older babies to try and alleviate problem eaters, the infant having an active part in charting her diet, encouraging her to eat.

Baby feeding tips

When your baby is new born, the method you use to feed baby is entirely yours, as a mother you have the right to make the decision as to whether you will breast or bottle feed your new born, and as if to if you will stick to a strict feeding regime, with exact times, or if you prefer to feed on demand.

If you consult your baby care manual or any baby care magazine, it will always say that breastfeeding is better for baby, especially being vitally important in the first 48 to 72 hours of life, where the colostrum is passed from mother to baby, which helps to establish baby’s immune system.

However once you take baby home from hospital, you may choose to bottle feed baby if you wish. The advantages of bottle feeding baby do not outweigh those of breastfeeding or vice versa, both methods have their plus and minus sides.

Any paediatrician or baby care worker will tell you that whenever possible, to breastfeed your new born. As well as guaranteeing a supply of tailor made nutrients for baby, it helps in the bonding process between mother and her new baby, as baby is never more content than when she is on the breast, close to her mothers heart, the heart beat that she felt throughout the nine months she was in mothers womb.

Other obvious advantages of breast feeding are that it is ultimately free of charge, you can feed on demand in any quiet place, and there is no need for expensive sterilizing products, bottles, bottle brushes etc. The breast fed baby will also be less likely to become dependent on a soother or pacifier, this often being the case with the bottle fed baby.

Advantages to formula feeding baby are that baby will generally sleep for more hours between feeds, although we must remember that this must be due to the formula not being “natural” as many  claim to be. What me must not think when we formula feed our baby is that we can make up enough feeds for a whole day and have them left in the fridge ready to heat up. Read the instructions carefully on your formula powder, and you will generally see that a feed may only be good for a maximum of a few hours, and any left overs from a feed must never be saved.

When we talk of baby feeding as an aspect of everyday baby care of the infant and new born, whichever method we choose to use, due it be for personal reason, or purely for circumstances, the most important things to remember are to always find a comfortable place in which to feed baby, and to try as much as possible to get baby into a routine, so we know at what time she expects her next feed, and we can be prepared. For this, baby feeding charts can be useful, though be careful not to obsess over any chart you will find in a baby care book, as these are just guidelines, each and every baby is totally unique and different.

Baby positions for breastfeeding

Whether we breast feed or bottle feed our new born is entirely our own decision, although breastfeeding, especially in early months is always highly recommended by paediatricians, as it is the most natural bonding process in baby care, as well as passing on your immunity to your new born by giving her the goodness of your colostrum in the first few days of life, followed by the naturalness of your breast milk.

Super Foods for Baby

Every food is not a good or super food for a kid as many mothers give everything to a child though it’s good to introduce every taste to kid perhaps but good for his growth or nourishment. Super foods are foods that have roles other than supplying the basic components of the basic diet like vitamins, carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

This food carries the concept of being nutrient-dense rather than energy-dense.

Beginning Bottle Feeding

Of course, breast feeding is the first and foremost right of a new born, basically fulfills all the requirements of a baby, like water, vitamin D, iron etc.

Little one digests it easily and it also strengthens his or her immune system. Mostly, physicians suggest starting bottle after 3 or 4 weeks, after birth.

there is no such a thing exist like a mother feeding, but can be harmful for both a mother and a child as gastrointestinal disease and breast infection, especially working mother quit precious milk.

Though bottle milk are designed for ease, at start new born feel nibble confusion, mom try different nipples nothing is going to be just like mothers breast, baby may turn away from a synthetic nipple because sucking milk from a bottle requires different mouth and tongue movements but baby take a little time to get used to this alteration.

New mothers face minor difficulties in selecting bottle, try to find BPA free or gas reducing qualities and some parents due to chemicals prefers glass bottles. No matter it is either a plastic or glass is good for baby, but it is best to use the one recommended by a physician.

As well as preparation of milk is, which is always confounded for a new mother, she prepare bottle just to the estimation, no less nor more than that.  A  newborn generally takes small amount 2 to 3 ounces at a time, as the baby grows the amount also grows, well physically all are not alike, the quantity can be differs but cleanliness should not differs.

Firstly, hand should be clean either hands of mother or father. Then, cleanliness of bottle in which majority of mothers, mistakes.

Sometimes, baby does not finish his or her milk and little amount of milk remains. Cleaning a bottle means washing away all milk remnants, which is best with a washed bottle brush. Cleanliness of nipples is also compulsory because there are more germs in milk bottle than in around nipple surface.

Sterilization can be done through different methods but natural process is can be done in any home rich or poor is to immersing the bottle in boiling water for a minimum of five minutes to six minutes, to kill the germs, and then let it dry.

The electric version utilizes steam to sterilize bottles are also good, and Dishwasher is good too, do not reach a temperature sufficient to kill germs and bacteria. Little one immune system is very immature and can catch diseases like vomiting and gastrointestinal, rapidly.  Milk Bottle should be free from harmful bacteria and germs; otherwise it can be dangerous for both baby and parents.