What can you feed a 3 month old baby? Third month of baby's life

At three months old, the child has already grown noticeably and gained weight. How much should a 3 month old baby eat to continue to grow well? What to do if a child eats less than normal and constantly hangs on the chest? Read on for answers to these questions. The main thing is not to rush to implement all the advice at once. It is necessary to carefully analyze them and follow the most rational “way” of feeding the child.

Nutritional norms for a three-month-old baby

Children at this age should receive one of two types of nutrition: natural mother's milk or adapted milk formula. The use of cow, goat or mare's milk is not welcomed by pediatricians in our country. How much a baby should eat at 3 months depends on what he is fed.

Breastfed

By the age of three months, an individual diet has already been developed.

Feeding norm for a 3-month-old baby: 6-7 meals a day and consumption of 850-900 ml of mother's milk per day.

It is worth considering the peculiarities of feeding in the morning. At night, mom sleeps, which means she doesn’t eat. Therefore, breast milk in the morning does not have high energy value. And when mommy has breakfast, she will have nourishing milk by lunchtime.

During the night period, the baby should not take long breaks between meals, since the hormone prolactin is produced at night, which is responsible for high-quality lactation.

At three months, children drink about 180 ml of the mixture at a time. During the day you need to switch to five meals a day.

There is a simple way to calculate the required volume of formula for a child who is 3 months old. on artificial feeding. You need to multiply its weight by 1/7, and you get the daily volume of the mixture. Divide by the number of feedings and get a single dose. For example, a child’s weight is 5,460*1/7=780 ml, this is the amount of food for a day; further: 780/5=156 ml.

But in practice, preparing 156 ml of the mixture is extremely difficult, since it is prepared immediately before eating. If 150 ml of formula was enough for a child during the day, then in the evening, after active games, he may get hungry and the usual amount of food will not be enough for him. In this case, the addition of 25 ml will not exceed the daily norm.

There are exceptions, this applies to children born with high birth weight. For them, it is worth making a calculation based on calorie needs per kilogram of weight. At the age of three months, a child spends 115 kcal per 1 kg of weight.

First, we calculate the baby’s daily kcal requirement based on his weight. Then we calculate the volume of the mixture per day, based on its calorie content using the following formula: calorie requirement per day * 1000 ml, divide the result by the energy value of the mixture (it is indicated on the package).

For example, a child's weight is 6000 grams. The energy value of the mixture is 650 kcal/l. This means 115 * 6 = 690 kcal. Next (690*1000)/650=1062 ml of mixture per day. We divide this volume into 5 feedings: 1062/5 = 212 ml needed for one feeding.

Mixed feeding

First, the baby is always offered the breast, preferably both, so that while he is hungry he actively eats healthier food. If you see that he is not full, then feed him from a bottle.

The volume of the mixture can be different: from 25 ml to 120. Children on mixed feeding do not last long. This is because mother's milk is difficult to obtain, but formula flows from the bottle almost unhindered. The baby increasingly prefers food from a bottle and soon switches to artificial feeding.

How can you tell if your baby is full?

How often should a 3 month old baby eat? How long should feeding last?

With any type of feeding, if the baby receives enough food, he most often falls asleep. But not only sleep is an indicator of satiety. When the baby drinks all the liquid from the bottle or sucks the milk from the breast without a trace and does not sleep, but smiles, gurgles and wants to play, this means that he is full and happy.

The duration of feeding can vary between 15-35 minutes. The intervals between meals directly depend on the energy value of mother's milk or formula.

How to determine if a baby has enough milk? If, when feeding on one breast, the baby is not satisfied, then he begins to cry and does not stop sucking. Also, the mother should make sure that there is no more milk in the breast she was feeding and offer another. Is the baby still hungry? Then you need to bottle feed him.

Babies who receive enough milk gain weight. When there is not enough food, the increase will be insignificant. The average statistical increase for the third month is reflected in this table.

Deviations from the norm during breastfeeding

All children are individual from birth. In case of prematurity, pediatricians do not react at all to many deviations from the norm. And the norms for babies born with high weight differ significantly from those accepted for average children.

What to do if a child eats less than normal?

The main thing is not to panic! Poor appetite can be caused by anything.

Disease, for example, ARVI, stomatitis.
Changes in the environment, such as moving, staying away for a long time, lack of sleep.
Climate change, especially a sharp increase in temperature to high levels in the summer.
Change of diet, transition to a new mixture. Or maybe the mother ate something inappropriate and the baby doesn’t like the taste of the milk.

All these factors have a short-term effect on changes in appetite. But if the baby does not eat well for two days, then you need to consult a doctor.

A periodic decrease in lactation for natural reasons occurs 2 times a month, during hormonal surges - this is the period of menstruation and ovulation.

A decrease in lactation due to cyclical changes in a woman’s body is not critical and recovers on its own within a couple of days. But there are several tips that you can follow to improve your lactation process.

Change your diet

Increase the calorie content of your food intake. For example, increase the volume of dishes containing large amounts of carbohydrates, primarily cereals.

Analyze your water load

The amount of liquid you drink should be at least 2-2.5 liters. What can you use? Only natural products: tea, natural juices, plain water.

Drink tea for lactation

Don't forget about teas to improve lactation, which can be purchased at your nearest pharmacy.

Put your baby to your breast more often at night

The more he sucks, the more prolactin is produced by your body and the better your lactation will be the next day.

The baby is constantly “hanging” on the chest

Very often, a baby likes to sleep under the breast: he is already asleep, but does not let his mother go. Usually, this is not a sign of low milk supply. The baby just really likes to be close to his mother. But there are also more complex cases.

Ekaterina, 25 years old, mother of five-month-old Egor: “At about 3 months I encountered a problem: morning feeding was so long that it turned into an afternoon snack, and then lunch. He seems to have had enough, but he doesn’t let me go, he smacks me once or twice for 5 minutes, swallows a little milk and goes back to sleep. You put him in his crib, and he cries again, looking for me.”

Causes

This behavior in breastfed children can begin at any age. But most often this is observed at 1 and 3 months. This is due to the lactation crisis.

There is a decrease in the level of lactation against the backdrop of the baby’s ever-increasing need for milk. Not having eaten his fill, he continues to suck and little by little gets the food he needs.

It is necessary to understand that children must satisfy their sucking needs completely. Therefore, you should not use radical pedagogical techniques, for example, showing who is boss in the house by putting the baby in the crib to cry alone. There will be no positive result from such actions.

What to do?

The way out of this situation is simple: give the little man what he wants. Let him suck as much as he needs. To free up your mother's hands for household chores, buy a sling: your hands are free and your baby is busy.

You can arrange to sleep together throughout the day and night. In this case, the mother will have the opportunity to rest and recuperate. And then energy will appear to improve lactation. And it’s worth involving relatives in household chores, who love to give advice.

Karina, 22 years old, mother of a 4-month-old girl: “I’ve heard a lot about slings, about their incredible convenience and benefits. But I was skeptical about them until we started having “hanging” on our chests. I wasn’t in a hurry to buy it for myself personally; I took it from a friend to try. And literally the next day I ran to buy it. I, like a kangaroo, did everything with her on my chest: I cooked food, cleaned, started the washing machine, and even danced.”

Diet

When is the best time to feed a 3 month old baby? There is only one answer: it is strictly individual, especially for breastfed children. Some babies, thanks to their mother’s high-calorie milk, can withstand periods of 6-7 hours (especially at night), while others want to eat again after 4 hours.

Diet of a 3 month old baby during the day

Children at 3 months already sleep less. They spend their waking hours during the day learning about the world around them and communicating with loved ones, but eating most often occurs according to an individual schedule. The following table shows an approximate feeding regimen for children three months of age.

Feeding hours may change for various reasons: getting up late, high calorie food, and so on.

Diet at night

A 3-month-old baby's nightly meals should be three times a day. Approximate feeding times: 22:00, 1:30 and 3:30. These are average figures and cannot be considered as a strict rule.

It often happens that a child skips meals at night. It is not recommended to wake him up, hunger will make itself felt and the baby will wake up on his own, only later.

Fluid requirement

Breastfed

Parents often think about what their child’s fluid needs are. Modern pediatrics does not recommend giving water to infants under 6 months. The only exception is the hot season, when the volume of liquid per day for supplementary feeding of a 3-month-old child on average reaches 200 ml. But regular breastfeeding will easily replace this volume of “risky” liquid.

After conducting research, it was revealed that water washes away the protective mucus that the gastrointestinal tract produces throughout its entire length. Along with water, foreign microflora enters the intestines, since it is impossible to provide absolutely clean water at home.

The baby receives food from the mother from the mother’s clean breast directly into her little body, and the risk of unwanted microorganisms entering is minimal.

Artificially fed

For bottle-fed and mixed-fed babies, clean water is necessary. How to calculate the daily fluid intake? This can be done at the rate of 50 ml per 1 kg of weight. For example, a child weighing 5300 should receive 250 ml of clean water. This figure does not include liquid for preparing the mixture.

To be “complementary feeding” or not to be?

In 2009, the Union of Pediatricians of Russia, together with the National Association of Dietitians, State Universities of Child Health and Nutrition RAMP, developed the “National Program for Optimizing the Feeding of Children 1 Year of Life in the Russian Federation.”

It clearly states that you can start introducing complementary foods no earlier than 4 months. Until this time, the children's intestines will not be able to break down “adult” food. The small intestine absorbs everything: both useful and harmful.

At 3 months, the child’s gastrointestinal tract does not produce all enzymes, and intestinal immunity is not formed. The baby has a very pronounced reflex of pushing out the spoon.

The only reason for expanding the diet can be an urgent need for minerals, vitamins and an urgent increase in the energy value of its nutrition.

In practice, such cases are rare, so the diet of children at three months remains almost the same. Only the mode and amount of food consumed changes. If your baby is healthy, then all purees are postponed for at least a month.

Conclusion

Breastfed children at 3 months eat 6-7 times a day and consume about 900 ml of mother's milk. It is important to maintain breastfeeding during a lactation crisis. It is not recommended to supplement infants with water.

Formula-fed babies receive 180 ml of formula at a time. It is recommended to switch to 5 feedings a day. The recommended daily amount of water is 250 ml, excluding liquid for preparing the mixture.

A child’s body at the age of three months is not physiologically ready for the introduction of complementary foods. Children should remain breastfed or bottle-fed.

Video

Pediatricians advise feeding him exclusively breast milk for the first six months of a baby’s life. If the mother has difficulties with lactation or for other reasons has to switch to a different type of feeding, then you need to know some rules for feeding 3-month-old children.

By three months, the baby has already grown significantly; many parents assume that mother’s milk is not enough for him and wonder what else can be fed to a three-month-old baby. In fact, breast milk, with proper and complete nutrition of the mother, contains all the microelements and minerals that are necessary for the proper development of the child.

If possible, continue breastfeeding for as long as possible. The first 4-6 months of a baby’s life should ideally be “milk”. Otherwise, he may develop allergies or digestive system disorders.

If you have previously switched your daughter or son to artificial or mixed feeding, then it is possible to diversify his diet.

Nutrition for a 3-month-old bottle-fed baby

When feeding with formula milk at the age of three months, babies can already add fruit juices to their diet. You can start with a few drops before taking the mixture. The best option for starting complementary feeding is to introduce your baby to apple juice. You can buy special children's juice or make it yourself from yellow or green varieties of fruit.

It is recommended to give juice between feedings or after the main meal. Start with a few drops and by the end of the month increase the volume of juice to 2-3 teaspoons per day. To improve digestion, you can give your baby juices with pulp.

A little later, at the beginning of 4 months, fruit and vegetable purees from hypoallergenic fruits can be introduced using the same scheme.

In any case, the baby's main food remains formula. You need to take her choice seriously and consult a pediatrician. Some components of the mixture may not be tolerated by the baby or cause allergies or digestive difficulties.

Porridge for children three months of age

For three-month-old children, porridge is prescribed in exceptional cases when the baby is not gaining weight well or has even begun to lose it.

The best option would be rice and buckwheat cereals. For breastfed children, it is better to cook them in water to avoid allergic reactions. If the baby eats formula, then he should react normally to milk porridge.

Today, stores offer ready-made porridges that can simply be diluted with water. If you want to cook homemade food, then after cooking the cereal you need to grind it to a puree. You can first grind the cereal into flakes and then cook them.

On the first day of acquaintance, the child can be given a quarter of a teaspoon to try, on the second day - half, on the third - a whole spoon. After a week, the baby, with a normal reaction, can eat up to 30 grams. porridge, and by the end of the month 50 grams.

By three months, the baby has developed an approximate daily routine. The desire to maintain the correct alternation of wakefulness and sleep, feeding and bathing streamlines the life of the baby, contributing to its development and well-being. The daily routine of breastfed children has its own characteristics, but is practically no different from the routine of bottle-fed babies. Today we will look at the nuances of each option separately.

Approximate daily routine for a 3 month old baby

The three-month-old baby becomes calmer than in previous months, which pleases the parents. He practically does not confuse day and night, and wakes up less often at night. By this age of the baby, the mother already has time to understand how important it is to observe the daily routine by the hour and stick to it. Ignoring sleep standards and not following a meal schedule will not work - in this case, sooner or later, alarming consequences may occur in the form of whims, overexcitement of the child and deterioration of the baby’s health.

Breastfed children's regimen

Each mother can make certain adjustments to the selected schedule by the hour, taking into account the individual characteristics of her child and caring for him. But it is very important to follow the sequence of actions of the regime, as well as the duration of the procedures, in order to develop the baby’s habit of waking up and eating at the same time.

Time	Regime processes
6.30 – 7.00	Waking up, feeding, changing diaper
7.00 – 7.30	Light gymnastics, communication with mom
7.30 – 8.00	Air baths, morning massage
8.00 – 9.00	First nap
9.00 – 9.40	Waking up, feeding
9.40 – 11.30
11.30 – 12.30	Walk in the fresh air, second nap
12.30 – 14.00	Feeding, air baths, massage
14.00 – 15.00	Third nap
15.00 – 17.00	Wakefulness, play time, communication with mother
17.00 – 18.30	Walk in the fresh air, first evening sleep
18.30 – 20.30	Feeding, quiet games, evening bathing
20.30 – 21.30	Communication with mom, getting ready for bed, putting her to bed
21.30 – 22.00	Feeding
22.00 – 00.00	Second evening sleep
00.00 – 00.30	Feeding
00.30 – 6.30	Night sleep

Regimen of babies on artificial and mixed feeding

With alternative types of feeding, the baby may have longer intervals between meals. This is due to the fact that the mixture takes longer to digest, and the child’s feeling of hunger comes later on average by 1 hour than in children on breastfeeding.

A healthy baby on artificial and mixed feeding should sleep calmly and soundly at any time of the day. If the baby not only does not sleep, but also often cries, then the mother should suspect something is wrong and seek advice from a pediatrician.

Important! Although 3 months is precisely the period when the baby’s intestinal colic goes away and the teeth have not yet begun to cut, there may be many reasons for concern in the baby.

Sleep of a 3 month old baby

A three-month-old baby sleeps at least 15-16 hours a day. Of these, about 10 hours are spent sleeping at night, and the remaining 6 hours are spent sleeping during the day. After 12 weeks of life, sleep duration undergoes changes. The baby begins to sleep less during the day, spending more time awake. By six months of life, the duration of daily sleep will be reduced to 14 hours.

Baby's sleep at 3 months (video):

Basic sleep standards for a three-month-old baby

Night sleep	10 hours
Daytime nap	5 o'clock
Time to stay awake	9 o'clock
Time to sleep per day	15 hours

Basic rules for a comfortable baby's sleep

The air temperature in the room where the child sleeps should be 18-22 degrees. An influx of fresh air will help the baby fall asleep faster, so it is advisable to ventilate the room before rocking. Keep an eye on air humidity, especially during the heating season. A compact humidifier or a wet towel that needs to be hung indoors will help maintain optimal humidity.
Sometimes healthy, sound sleep can be interfered with by an unsatisfied sucking reflex. When putting your baby to bed, you can give him a pacifier, and he will soon fall asleep. If the baby does not recognize the pacifier, then you can lull the baby by rocking him in your arms or stroking his back. Breastfed babies usually get their mother's breasts to help them fall asleep.
It is better to place a crib for a three-month-old baby in the bright part of the room, but no closer than a meter from the windows and radiator. Do not place soft toys or other objects in your child's bed that he or she may bury his or her face in while sleeping.
Regardless of the time of year, carry out daily wet cleaning in your child’s nursery. If your sleeping room is cool, avoid using heaters with open coils or models with fans. They are unsafe and burn oxygen, which will affect the baby's quality of sleep. Give preference to convection heaters.

What can affect the strength and duration of sleep?

Mom's habits	If the mother is used to going to bed late and getting up early, then the child will unconsciously inherit this rhythm. Although this is not physiological. The optimal time for putting a child to bed at night is from 8 to 10 pm, this is the only way to keep the entire daytime routine at the right level.
Natural biorhythms	The sleep pattern of three-month-old infants is also associated with the length of daylight hours. It has been noticed that children in spring and summer wake up an hour or two earlier than in autumn and winter.
Ecological background	In the largest cities with high populations, due to inhalation of polluted air and lack of oxygen, babies sleep worse than their peers living in cleaner and more prosperous areas.

Breastfeeding and bottle feeding at 3 months

Taking into account the regime, a baby whose mother practices breastfeeding should receive breast milk 6 times a day. The daily intake of breast milk for a 3 month old baby is about 800 ml per day.

At three months of age, on-demand feeding should be gradually replaced by a daily routine, keeping intervals between feedings of three hours. During this time, breast milk is completely digested by the body.

Important!If applied too frequently, as in the first months of life, the baby runs the risk of oversaturating its fragile stomach. This will lead to the body not being able to cope with a large volume of milk and reacting to it with an allergic reaction.

If the baby is fed formula milk, then it is necessary to take care of his diet as early as possible.

At first, given that artificial feeding is established gradually, it is better to feed the child 7 times a day with an interval of three hours (it’s good if you can take a break of 6 hours at night). Mixed feeding also applies to this point, being equated to artificial feeding, and requires compliance with similar feeding intervals.
When the mother notices that the baby does not have time to get hungry in three hours, you can try to increase the interval between feedings to 3.5 hours. After 4 months, you can try to gradually reach a 4-hour break.

Baby's daily routine at three months - mother's experience (video):

Hygiene procedures for a three-month old

Caring for an infant includes a mandatory ritual of the following procedures:

morning wash,
washing when changing a diaper;
evening swimming.

Washing

Morning washing is carried out immediately after the baby wakes up. His face is wiped with a cotton pad soaked in warm water, cleaning the eyes, nose, cheeks and neck. Don't forget about the skin behind the ears - sometimes milk leaks there, and the skin there needs to be kept clean to prevent diaper rash.

Bathing

The bathing procedure is usually carried out in the evening, when the whole family is gathered. It is convenient to bathe a child using a baby bath with an inclination, or with a special hammock so that you can comfortably place the baby in it. It is also not forbidden to wash the baby in a large bathtub, putting a special circle around the child’s neck. It will allow the baby to float on the water without the help of mother’s hands, and be completely safe in the water.

Washing

When changing the diaper each time, you should wash the baby’s groin area under running water and thoroughly dry all the folds with a towel. Then you need to apply baby cream or powder under the new diaper. They will help avoid skin irritations or diaper rash on delicate skin.

Gymnastics and massage at three months

Massage

Massage for children at three months is performed by the mother or a special massage therapist as prescribed by the doctor. At this age, restorative massage is often prescribed to young patients by neurologists to relieve muscle tone and prepare the spine for the acquisition of upcoming skills - rolling over, sitting, crawling.

A massage is given to the baby after sleep. The child should be calm, in good spirits and well-fed.
Touches should be soft, almost weightless. Using stroking circular movements of your fingers, you need to massage the palms, feet, legs, back and tummy of the baby.
For a comfortable procedure, the hands of the adult performing the massage should be lubricated with baby oil during the process. During the massage, the child needs to remove the diaper and place him on the diaper.
The massage time is 10-15 minutes. Massage is combined with air baths. The room should be warm enough so that the baby does not freeze.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics for a three-month-old baby mainly includes exercises for alternating flexion and extension of the limbs.

An effective exercise is to spread the legs (knees) to the sides. It helps prevent hip dysplasia.
The child needs to take the arms, gently lift them up, then spread them wide apart and finally cross them in front of the chest.
After the procedure, be sure to place the child in a horizontal position lying on his stomach. If morning exercises bring pleasure to your child, you should devote 10-15 minutes to it every day.

Walking with a 3 month old baby

“Sun, air and water are our best friends!” It is these three faithful “comrades” that should surround the child as often as possible from the first days of life. The job of parents is to organize daily walks for their child. With a three-month-old baby in a stroller, you can go for a walk in the courtyard of a city high-rise building, a square or a park nearby. In summer, the list of walking places is replenished with trips to the country house, to the forest, to the river, the sea, etc. What rules of conduct should be followed when walking with a baby at different times of the year? We have displayed them in a table for your convenience.

When we walk	How we walk
Winter	Frost and snowfall are not a reason to refuse to walk outside. Winter sun exposure allows your baby's body to produce vitamin D, which is essential for healthy growth. In winter, during sudden cold weather, increase the walking time gradually - from 20-30 minutes to 1.5 hours twice a day. You can safely walk down to -10 degrees; babies tolerate this air temperature well.
Spring and autumn	In the off-season, it is better to choose the time for walking in the afternoon. It is quite often damp and windy outside in late autumn and early spring, so some of the morning walks can be replaced with “balcony” walks, or their duration can be reduced to half an hour.
Summer	During the warm season, it is advisable for the child to be in the fresh air as often as possible. If possible, take your baby for long walks for 2-3 hours twice a day. A baby in a stroller can be pampered with sun and air baths from 10 minutes to half an hour. But stay away from direct sunlight - the baby's delicate skin can burn, so cover your baby with a stroller hood or a canopy made of light fabric.

While observing your baby’s behavior, try to understand in what mode his body lives. This can be noticed by paying attention to the child’s activity when it is more pronounced - in the morning or in the evening. When thinking about your schedule by the hour, take these features into account.
If you don’t know where exactly to start establishing a routine, start with feedings. Orderly meals have a lot of benefits. Having gotten used to eating at the same time, the body begins to produce gastric juice and saliva, due to which milk is well absorbed and brings satiety to the baby, as well as good health.
For some babies, it turns out that they themselves develop their own sleep, wakefulness and feeding patterns thanks to their “internal clock”. Other children may, on the contrary, take a long time to get used to the new daily routine, confuse day and night and live in complete chaos. A stable framework and predictability of the regime can be established for more than one month, up to a year. Your task is to be patient parents, everything has its time.

After the next visit to the pediatrician, the development history of each three-month-old baby is updated with a record of the need to observe the correct daily routine, which boils down to alternating feeding, sleep, active wakefulness and hygiene procedures.

And here any mother has a logical question: “How to force an unintelligent baby to behave in accordance with the strict limits of this prescription?” We explain: We are not talking about minute-by-minute adherence to a routine, but only about the desire to adhere to certain temporary guidelines that organize the life of a 3-month-old child.

What should be the approximate daily routine of a three-month-old baby?

Sample daily routine:
6:00-7:00 Waking up, morning feeding of the baby, mandatory hygiene procedures (washing, changing a diaper), air baths, gymnastics, active wakefulness;

7:30-9:30 First dream;

9:30-11:00 Second feeding, communication with mother, educational games, preparation for a walk;

11:00-13:00 Sleeping in the fresh air;

13:10-13:30 Returning from a walk, third feeding;

13:30-15:00 A set of educational games, taking air baths, communicating with loved ones;

15:00-16:30 Second walk, getting to know the outside world, sleeping in the stroller;

16:30-18:00 Fourth feeding, staying awake, playing with family members;

18:00-19:30 Dream;

19:30-21:00 Fifth feeding, quiet games surrounded by household members;

21:00 Bathing the baby;

21:30-6:00 Feeding the baby, night rest.

More daily routine options for children from 1 to 3 months:
Taking care of her baby and taking into account his individual characteristics, each mother can make some adjustments to the proposed daily routine, while observing the sequence of actions indicated in it and the duration of the procedures performed.

In accordance with this, the actual daily routine of the baby may differ slightly in time from that recommended by the pediatrician: the intervals between sleep and wakefulness are not always uniform (some babies fall asleep soon after morning feeding, but then remain awake for almost three hours). For other children, the schedule may shift due to digestive problems and because of...

Despite all the nuances listed above, mothers should not completely give up following the correct daily routine by the hour. Having developed in your baby the habit of eating and falling asleep at certain hours, which contributes not only to his proper development and excellent well-being, but also takes care of the peace of other family members.

About sleep mode

The total sleep duration of a three-month-old baby should be approximately fifteen hours per day. The longest sleep (about eight hours) is night sleep. During the day, the baby needs periodic rest, so after two-hour periods of wakefulness, the child needs sleep (at least four times during the day), taking from one and a half to two hours.

In order for a child’s daytime sleep to be complete and deep, it is necessary to stimulate his activity during wakefulness, giving him the opportunity to move and express his emotions during the first half of this time period. About half an hour before bedtime, you should occupy your baby with something calm (sing a song, show a colorful picture, look at a toy).

Ways to make your baby fall asleep faster

There should be no problems with falling asleep for a baby receiving breast milk: if he falls asleep at the mother’s breast, he is simply transferred to the crib;
When laying down a bottle-fed baby, a pacifier is often used to help him calm down and satisfy the sucking reflex. It is somewhat more difficult to put down an artificial child who does not recognize a pacifier (): some children have to be carried in their arms or rocked for a long time, singing lullabies;
The influx of fresh air significantly speeds up the baby falling asleep and increases the duration of his sleep, so many mothers, having properly wrapped up their babies, put them to sleep in a stroller standing on the loggia;
Some babies are helped to fall asleep by soft classical music, birdsong and sounds of nature;
Rituals (for example, a toy or diaper placed nearby, a bathing procedure performed at the same hour) also help babies fall asleep well;
The simple presence of the mother can help prolong the rest of a restlessly sleeping baby flapping his arms in his sleep.

A brilliant trick - how to put your baby to sleep in 1 minute:

About feeding infants and artificial babies

According to the regime, a breastfed child of three months should receive mother's milk at least six times a day. The daily requirement of breast milk is at least 850 ml.

Already at the age of three months, it is necessary to gradually increase the intervals between feedings of children fed “on demand”, bringing them closer to the three-hour interval recommended by the regime.

The whole point is that an older baby who sucks more actively at his mother’s breast, if breastfeeding too frequently (every half hour), runs the risk of eating more milk than he needs. As a result, the body, which cannot cope with such a volume of food, reacts to it with an allergic reaction, manifested by a scattering of red spots on the delicate skin of the cheeks and the whole body.

Having noticed such a symptom in the baby, an inexperienced mother begins to think that the culprit is some new product introduced into her diet, and begins to deliberately deplete it, excluding everything. Meanwhile, this problem can be solved by reducing the number of breastfeedings and thereby normalizing the amount of milk supplied to the baby.

The number of feedings for a three-month-old baby who is bottle-fed should also be six times, but the intervals between feedings should be at least four hours: this is exactly the amount of time required to digest the milk formula, which is a substitute for mother's milk.

Unlike infants who do not need it (it is replaced by “foremilk”, which contains a large amount of liquid), artificial infants are given water from a bottle. From the last week of the third month of life, they can gradually introduce a few drops of apple juice into their drink ().

Note to moms!

Hello girls) I didn’t think that the problem of stretch marks would affect me too, and I’ll also write about it))) But there’s nowhere to go, so I’m writing here: How did I get rid of stretch marks after childbirth? I will be very glad if my method helps you too...

Read in detail about how much breast milk or formula a baby should eat -

How to walk with your baby

The daily routine that regulates the life of a three-month-old child includes at least two walks. Their frequency and duration continue to depend on weather conditions. An absolute contraindication for walking with a grown-up baby is frost below -15 degrees and heat above forty. You should also not go out with your baby during heavy rain and wind.

Since 3-month-old babies are quite inquisitive, they do not fall asleep immediately, but only after looking around. It is very useful to take them out of the stroller and, holding them in your arms, introduce them to the surroundings: pay attention to birds, flowers, animals, people passing by. Having satiated with new impressions, the baby will fall asleep faster.

Considering the fairly well-developed hearing of a three-month-old baby, it is better to choose a quiet square or a deserted street for walks with him. A steady hum coming from a distant highway will not disturb the baby, but he should be protected from sharp sounds. To do this, it is better to raise the stroller hood. If the walk takes place in the warm season, it is better to put on a mosquito net, protecting the baby from attack by blood-sucking insects.

About the peculiarities of wakefulness

The period of time required for a three-month-old child to be actively awake increases to 8-9 hours a day. A caring mother should make the most of it, managing to feed the baby on time, keep him busy with interesting games, go for a walk with him, introduce him to the world around him, do morning exercises and massage.

Most often, a child at 3 months is able to actively stay awake for two hours. During this period, he can communicate with his mother and loved ones, expressing intense joy from their presence with a wide smile, active movements of his arms and legs, and a loud voice.

A three-month-old baby can not only quickly turn his head in the direction of heard sounds and follow with his eyes moving objects that fall into his field of vision. He likes to lean on his palms and watch what is happening around him. The object of research for him is often his own hands: the baby can look at them for a long time and monitor the change in their position.

The arsenal of games used to develop a two-month-old baby can be replenished with new interesting activities for him:

The 3-month-old baby's favorite toys are still . By placing them in a row (twenty centimeters from the baby), you can see that the child will certainly reach for the one he likes the most. He tenaciously holds the rattle placed in the handle, completely focusing on the connection that has arisen between the sound it makes and the movement of his own hand;
If you bring a three-month-old baby to the mirror, you can make him smile and want to look at his own reflection (). The same delight is caused by watching the facial expressions of an adult, demonstrating to the baby the change of various emotions on his face;
Three-month-old babies love the game “peek-a-boo,” when one of the family members covers their face with their palms and then shows it, imitating the cuckoo’s cuckoo;
At this age, you can already read books to your baby, showing illustrations;
When demonstrating the world around the baby, it is necessary to point to various objects and name them;
To develop tactile sensations, it is necessary to give the baby scraps of fabric of different textures;
An educational mat equipped with all kinds of bells, soft vibrating toys, squeakers and a lot of other interesting effects will be an excellent entertainment for your baby.

About hygiene procedures and gymnastics

Hygiene procedures when caring for an infant include the mandatory ritual of morning washing, washing when changing a diaper and bathing. Morning washing is carried out immediately after the child wakes up. After moistening a cotton pad with warm boiled water, wipe his face (using a separate cotton pad for each eye), not forgetting to go behind the ears. They take special care of the skin of the cheeks, ridding it of traces of breast milk and saliva.

When changing the diaper, you should wash the baby, and then apply a thick layer to the delicate skin, which helps to avoid the development of diaper rash and skin irritations.

After washing, they immediately move on to morning exercises. It must include exercises for flexion and extension of the limbs. An exercise consisting of spreading your knees to the sides will help prevent hip dysplasia.

Taking the baby by the arms, lift them up, spread them wide apart, and cross them in front of the chest. An excellent end to your morning exercises would be a light massage consisting of stroking the torso and limbs. It definitely should. If the procedure gives him pleasure, you can devote at least twenty minutes to it.

Note to moms!

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The first year of a baby's life is characterized by rapid rates of development. News appears literally weekly. This applies most of all to the 3rd month. During this time, the child has already learned a lot. After the baby has adapted to the new conditions of existence, he actively explores the surrounding space and society.

The formation of his body is gaining momentum. Mothers highlight the key achievements that the child achieved at 3 months: development and nutrition proceed rhythmically and interdependently, the baby becomes stronger, rounder, his movements and some skills improve. The baby's daily routine is stabilized: he eats, sleeps and is awake at approximately the same time, which makes it easier for the mother to plan her affairs.

During the 3rd month, the baby gains about a quarter of its original weight, and its height increases by about a tenth of its previous size. This only happens in a fairy tale, where they talk about a hero who grows by leaps and bounds. All internal organs and systems of the baby are actively developing. Such rapid growth of the baby requires a proper supply of energy to the body. And the sources of energy necessary for the baby are long sleep and adequate nutrition, which will ensure an extraordinary speed of development of the baby.

A baby's proper sleep during the day lasts 18-20 hours, and during the same time he eats mother's milk equal to a fifth of his weight. Of course, this is an average. All children are different and they grow differently. Mothers should not worry if the baby eats a little more or less. He himself knows how much he needs, and will be able to convey this to his mother in his own ways. If in the 3rd month the baby’s sleep and feeding patterns are not established, the baby sleeps and eats less than normal, and his weight and height are insufficient, it is necessary to urgently consult a doctor.

Height and weight depend on:

height and birth weight indicators;
genetics;
gender;
method of feeding.

During the 3rd month, a boy usually gains about 800 g, and a girl 750 g.

Energy for growth is in nutrition

Feeding a 3 month old baby is the main goal and joy in his life. The baby acquires his initial concepts of reality from the conditions in which he grows, and his first ideas about people - from the mother who feeds him. The instinct of hunger is familiar to all living beings, and especially to infants. A chronically malnourished baby will not allow himself to be left hungry; he will scream to demand the required portion of food. Usually the baby wakes up from hunger and cries most often because she wants to eat. This can be easily determined by how greedily he catches a nipple or pacifier.

The sucking process is a difficult task for a baby. He puffs, doing a difficult task, even sweats from zeal. It will not be possible to take away his source of food before he is completely satisfied, otherwise an indignant cry will tell about his appetite. Only after receiving exactly the volume of milk that is required does he quickly fall asleep. Even while sleeping, he continues to smack, as if he is dreaming of continued feeding, and you can see a manifestation of bliss on his face.

You should not force your baby to eat more milk than necessary. For this reason, he may lose his appetite. Trying to avoid excess food, he will try to fall asleep early or stubbornly refuse to breastfeed. By this he instinctively protects himself from excesses. But such a situation is fraught with loss of interest in the feeding process itself and loss of pleasure from it. Receiving food should remain bliss for the baby, and the mother should be his best friend and nurse. This is an essential factor for the baby’s confidence in the trustworthiness of others, which is established by the child’s diet at 3 months.

How to establish a feeding routine

A three-month-old baby will feel more comfortable once he gets used to sleeping and eating at certain hours. Adaptation to the regime occurs faster with the help of mom. As the baby's weight increases, the time intervals between feedings increase. Supporting the mother in establishing regularity of feedings and reducing their daily amount is of great importance. A long wait for food makes an impatient baby suffer, but he will not resist, but, on the contrary, will be very happy if he is gently woken up 3 or 4 hours after the previous feeding.

Children weighing up to three kilograms at birth usually require a 3-hour interval between receiving food, and with a weight of about 4.5 kg, 4 hours is enough. A mother can reinforce the stereotype of a 4-hour break between feedings by feeding the baby after 4 hours. Thus, the child’s nutrition at 3 months will become stable, in accordance with the regime. If the baby tries to disrupt the regularity of feeding, crying after 2 hours, you can overcome this difficulty by not approaching him for some time and giving him a chance to fall asleep again. If the crying continues, you can give him some water to drink. In this way, the baby will adapt to regular breaks in meals.

A mother who feeds her baby as soon as he moves, even if she fed him less than 2 hours ago, develops the child’s habit of eating small portions at short intervals. Different babies get used to the regimen in different ways, although most of them already switch to a 4-hour interval with skipping night feedings after a month.

Learning to follow a routine is not easy; it requires patience and effort.

Age diet

The powerful progress that occurs in the development of a three-month-old baby requires a change in the feeding process. The basis, as before, is liquid food: the consumption of breast milk or artificial formula continues. No complementary foods are allowed into the diet from 3 months onwards. Accelerated growth and physical activity cause an increase in appetite. Because of this, a regimen that has been so laboriously established, or even one that has not yet been established, may collapse in order to resume breastfeeding on demand, which most likely will have to be increased. This is not a reason for disappointment; the incentive will be closer contact with the baby and his smile.

Observing the reaction of a 3-month-old baby gives the mother the opportunity to pay attention to signs of satiety or, conversely, lack of food. A well-fed baby slows down sucking and turns away from the breast or bottle.

By the end of 3 months, most infants begin to experience increased growth. Appetite also grows. Mothers may have the impression that she does not have enough milk, and the baby wants to eat more and more often. Some, on the contrary, turn away from the breast and become capricious. Breastfeeding is sometimes hindered by the baby's interest in the world around him, when he spins around, looking at everything around and being distracted from the breast.

Not realizing such situations, mothers turn to complementary feeding in a panic, which should not be done. The smart little one, realizing that it is much easier to get food from a bottle, completely refuses to breastfeed. This is a fairly common reason that three-month-old children switch first to mixed, and later to artificial nutrition.

In reality, there was no less milk, the baby simply increased his nutritional needs. This phenomenon is called a lactation crisis. It does not last long and goes away after a few days.

Premature supplementary feeding

Transferring the baby to supplementary feeding will not solve the problem; on the contrary, it will worsen it. Formulas take much longer to digest and are absorbed worse than mother's milk. A sharp transition to a different food composition changes the microflora in the infant’s intestines. Going back to breast milk will not bring her back to her previous condition. The child’s intestines are filled with anaerobic microbes, and their reproduction begins. Just one feeding of the formula per day can cause irreversible consequences.

When introducing supplementary food into baby food from 3 months, its range should not be diluted by using goat's milk or kefir, which are not adapted nutrition. These products are not suitable for children aged 3 months; they are harmful to children under one year of age, increasing the load on the kidneys and pancreas.

There are situations when breastfeeding is not feasible (medication, illness). In such cases, the child is transferred to formula feeding. Not being able to breastfeed should not make a mother feel guilty. When artificial feeding, pediatricians advise using partially free feeding - a method in which the amount of food is given at the baby's request, but within limited limits, and is fed at a fixed time. At the same time, a little more mixture is poured into the bottle than is required to find out how much food the baby needs. You shouldn’t force him and feed him extra food if he doesn’t want to.

give the child water;
strictly follow the method of preparing the mixture;
do not recommend increasing or decreasing the dose;
It is strictly forbidden to combine different mixtures;
It is advisable to pour out the contents of the bottle that the baby has not finished;
It is not recommended to force feed your baby.

By the age of three months, the child grows up, gains weight and develops. This period is conducive to establishing the baby’s diet and sleep patterns. Mother's milk continues to be the only source of nutrients. Due to the baby's increased need for breast milk, it is advisable to increase the intervals between feedings. Breastfed babies receive breast milk on demand and are not limited in the time they spend at the breast. Doctors advise not to rush into introducing supplementary feeding, so as not to harm the baby’s health.