Tips for Feeding Baby

How Often and How Much Should You Feed Your Baby?

At first, your newborn drinks very little-perhaps an ounce or two at each feeding. But she wants to eat as often as every two or three hours. Within several weeks, however, her appetite increases. Though she eats more at each feeding, she gets full enough to allow you to space feedings further apart.

Babies change from day to day, and their appetite does too. As your child grows, pay attention to feeding trends and alter the amount of formula you put in bottles accordingly. At the same time, be flexible and alert enough to respond to shifts in your baby's appetite.

Avoid the temptation to overfeed your baby. Don't insist that she finish everything you have prepared in her bottle. If you feed her too much, she will either hurl or get fat. (Some studies do suggest that formula-fed children are more likely to be overweight than breast-fed children.) When your infant stops drinking and no longer appears interested in the bottle, stop feeding her. Try to burp her and perhaps switch her to the other arm. Then see if she wants to finish the feeding. If she doesn't, don't force the issue.

By the same token, if your baby finishes an entire bottle and still seems hungry, don't stop there. Give her another two to four ounces until she seems full and satisfied. If this becomes a routine practice, start to make more formula in each bottle.

Just as you will need to adapt to your baby's appetite, you will have to adjust to her changing schedule as well. Few babies stick to the clock, eating every four hours on the dot. Feeding schedules may change from day to day. So don't automatically feed your baby just because she hasn't eaten in four hours. Don't worry: She'll let you know when she's hungry.

There is one exception to the go-with-the-flow rule: Until your baby sleeps through the night, you might want to wake her up to feed her right before you go to bed. That way you might be able to get at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep before the next feeding. But except for this bedtime feeding, try to avoid feeding your child until she asks for it.

For nighttime feedings, keep your supplies and an unopened can of ready-to-eat formula next to your bed. (Remember, room temperature is fine for your baby's bottle.) Or keep the powder and a sealed thermos of warm water next to your bed so that you can mix up a bottle without getting out of bed.

Common Feeding Problems

Feeding your baby-whether by breast or bottle-will not always go smoothly. But rest assured, both you and your baby will learn to cope as you go along.

Breast-feeding Woes

Many new mothers have some trouble breast-feeding. If you do, too, you might find the solution here. If you have any other problems or questions, consult your pediatrician or a lactation specialist. Or contact the La Leche League at 1-800-LALECHE (1-800-525-3243).

Your Baby Refuses Your Breast or Spits it Out

Try these solutions:

• Gently pull your breast back from your baby's face. Your breast may be covering his nostrils and making it difficult for him to breathe.
• Try to calm your baby by rocking or singing to him. After he has calmed down, try again. He may just be too fussy to feed at the moment.
• If he's a newborn, be patient and try again. He may still be trying to get the hang of feeding from the breast.

Your Baby Falls Asleep Soon After Beginning to Feed

Try these solutions:

• If he's a newborn, let him sleep. He'll wake again when he's hungry.
• If he's more than a few days old, let him sleep for half an hour or so, and then wake him and try again.

Your Nipples Are Sore

Try these solutions:

• Make sure your baby is taking the nipple and the areola fully into his mouth. He may be sucking solely on the nipple.
• Make sure you are holding your baby perpendicular to the breast. If you hold him too low, he will have difficulty taking in the areola.
• Keep your nipples dry between feedings.
• Try feeding your baby only from the pain-free breast for a day or so. Gently express milk from the sore breast for bottle feedings.

Your Baby's Sucking Causes a Sharp, Shooting Pain

If you're experiencing this problem, you probably have a cracked nipple. Stop feeding your baby from that breast until it has healed. You can still gently express milk from that breast.

Your Breasts Feel Too Full, Swollen, Hard, Tight, Hot, and/or Painful

Engorged breasts are not uncommon in the early weeks of breast-feeding, when your baby is still learning how to do it. Try these solutions:

• Consult your doctor, who may prescribe an ointment to prevent infection and speed healing.
• Try expressing some milk before feeding your baby. (Your baby will have difficulty latching on if your breasts are so full that they feel hard.)
• Take warm baths to stimulate the flow of milk.

You Have a Small, Hard, Painful Lump on Your Breast

If you have this symptom, you probably have a blocked milk duct. Try these techniques to solve the problem:

• Before feedings, apply warm washcloths to the breast and gently massage it.
• Encourage your baby to feed more often.
• Feed your baby from the blocked breast first.
• Make sure your baby empties your breast at feedings. If he doesn't, try expressing milk to empty the breast.
• Make sure your bra is not too tight.

You Have a Hard, Red, Painful, and Throbbing Area of the Breast. You May Also Have a Fever.

If you're experiencing these symptoms, you probably have a breast abscess (usually caused by an infection that entered the breast through an untreated crack). Immediately consult your doctor, who will prescribe antibiotics. If caught early enough, you can continue breast-feeding as usual. If you delay, however, the abscess will become extremely painful and you may need to feed your baby only from the uninfected breast.

Caring for Your Breasts

Taking proper care of your breasts will go a long way toward eliminating many feeding problems. Keep your breasts clean by washing them daily with water or baby lotion. You can use moisturizer if you like, but avoid soap. (Soap can make a sore or cracked nipple even worse.)

Support matters, too. Choose a supportive nursing bra that opens in the front. Washable (or disposable) breast pads or a soft handkerchief that fits inside your bra can protect your clothes from leaks of milk, but change pads often to keep your breast and nipple dry.

Bottle-feeding Problems

Bottle-feeding parents have their problems, too. If your baby has any trouble feeding from a bottle, try one of the solutions suggested here.

Your Baby Regularly Chokes on Too Much Formula

The hole in the nipple is probably too large. Buy nipples with smaller holes. To test the flow, turn a full bottle of formula or breast milk upside down. About one drop should fall every second.

Your Baby Never Drinks Much and Continues to Demand Frequent Feedings

The flow of formula is probably too slow, and your baby is getting too exhausted to finish eating. Slightly loosen the ring on the bottle to allow more air to flow into the bottle. If the hole of the nipple is too small, widen it by inserting a sterile, red-hot needle into the nipple. Or sterilize a small pair of scissors, insert one blade into the hole, and snip it open just a little. Test the flow and then, if necessary, snip a little more.

Your Baby Starts to Fuss a Minute or Two into Feeding

The bottle nipple may have become blocked. Check to see whether it still flows. Gently squeeze the bottle to try to unstop the clog. Or switch to a clean nipple.

If none of these feeding solutions work for you-or if you and your baby have feeding difficulties that aren't covered here-consult your pediatrician for further guidance.

'Scuse Me, I Burped (and Worse)

All babies burp, but you may not need to help your baby burp. Many babies don't seem to mind gas. Sometimes when you put your baby down after a feeding, she may seem quiet. But a minute or two later, an enormous belch threatens to bring the whole house down. Despite the gas that was in her stomach, though, she may have seemed quite content.

Regardless of whether you need to burp your baby, you may decide to make it part of your feeding routine. So after she has finished eating-or in mid-feeding if she suddenly seems upset-hold your baby close to you so that her head rests on your shoulder. (You may want to put a cloth diaper under her head to protect your clothes from any spit-up.) Then stroke upward on her back or gently pat her on the back. This action helps bring up any air bubbles. If she hasn't burped after two or three minutes, she probably doesn't have much gas.

Some babies spit up regularly due to a reflex action. Others spit up only when they are overfed. Whatever the cause, don't be overly concerned about it. If you worry that your baby spits up so much that she can't possibly be getting enough food, wait a minute and offer her some more. If she refuses it, she has probably eaten enough.

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bringing Up Baby © 1997 by Kevin Osborn. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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