Choosing a formula-feeding diet for your baby is not just about deciding on your favorite brand of infant formula. For bottle-fed babies, everything is different, from the frequency of their meals to the color of the contents of their diaper. What do young parents need to know in order to correctly create a formula-fed baby’s regimen?

The regimen of a bottle-fed baby is different from that of an infant.
breastfed. Strictly speaking, the everyday life of the “artificialist” is largely
degrees are subject to an hourly schedule, while the days of true
the baby is formed more by the will of his instincts and natural
his mother's desire to put the baby to her breast...

Babies digest breast milk and formula differently

Differences in the regimens of bottle-fed babies and breastfed babies are primarily due to the way in which newborns and older babies absorb breast milk and formula.

A question that young mothers often ask when planning a bottle-fed regimen for their baby: is it true that babies accustomed to infant formula can be fed less frequently than breastfed babies. The short and to the point answer is yes.

If suspicions of an allergy to formula are confirmed, your doctor may recommend a soy-based formula. Or the solution to the problem may be to switch to an extra-hydrolyzed mixture, in which the casein protein is broken down into a more digestible form.

Another important “problem” is infant colic. They occur in children who are bottle-fed no less often, and perhaps even more often, than in those children who are fed breast milk. Of course, the constant crying of a child does not mean that he has colic - any experienced parent will confirm this to you. But if you see that the baby constantly feels discomfort after feeding, it is likely that the reason lies precisely in colic.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, by changing in any way the formula-fed baby's regimen, you are unlikely to get rid of painful infant colic. You just need to survive this “attack” - in most cases, infant colic disappears on its own at the age of 3-4 months.

Some babies eat more, others eat less.

One day, while visiting your friend, you suddenly notice that her child, who is also on artificial feeding, barely drinks 100 milliliters of formula at a time. And your baby can easily cope with a double portion at the same time. Is there really a glutton in your family?

Not at all. Children's diet is a purely individual matter. Different babies on artificial feeding require different amounts of calories, and if one baby needs 100 milliliters of formula, the other will remain hungry.

There is one absolute advantage in artificial feeding mode -
can fully care for a newborn baby
not only mom, but also dad...

Additionally, formula intake may vary from one meal to the next. Just like you: in the morning you can eat a vegetable salad, but at lunch you want something more serious. In general, don’t be surprised if your baby eats 120 milliliters of formula, and three hours later he eats 200.

General rules for a bottle-fed baby's regime

How much food should there be? In general, “artificial” children who have not yet received their first complementary foods should eat approximately 150-155 milliliters of ready-made formula per kilogram of weight during the day. So if your baby weighs, say, 3.7 kilograms, count on about 550 milliliters of artificial nutrition. If a child weighs 6 kg, he needs to be given up to 900 milliliters of formula per day.

Feeding frequency. The frequency of meals, as well as the quantity, changes as your baby grows. After the first few days, the newborn will eat 60 to 90 milliliters of formula per meal. The frequency of meals can also vary, but on average newborns eat every three to four hours for the first few weeks. It is believed that if during the first month your baby sleeps for more than four to five hours, starting to skip feedings, you should wake him up (but very kindly, gently and delicately!) and offer him a bottle of formula.

By the end of the first month, the child is ready to eat up to 120 milliliters per dose. By this time, the meal schedule usually has already stabilized, the baby eats on average every four hours.

All families are individual, and so are all the children in them. Often, the parent’s daily routine is no less subordinate to the newborn baby’s routine than the child’s routine is subordinate to your lifestyle. Moreover, regardless of what type of nutrition the baby is on.

And even if you feed your baby formula, the baby’s formula-fed regimen is by no means a strict medical regulation - it’s not so important how strictly you adhere to the hourly feeding schedule. It is much more important that both you and your baby feel harmonious together, so that feeding moments bring not only physiological saturation, but also the joy of joint emotional communication.

A formula-fed baby cannot be fed with formula alone for a long time. Within a few months after birth, the baby will begin to reach for the plates of adults, which means that it is time to introduce new products into his diet.

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Sometimes a child is forced to be bottle-fed instead of mother's milk. Of course, such a diet will not have a beneficial effect on the baby’s health, because store-bought formulas do not contain many elements and vitamins that strengthen the immune system. So, let's try to figure out how breastfeeding differs from artificial feeding? And how to properly feed an artificial baby?

A formula-fed baby cannot be fed with formula alone for a long time. Within a few months after birth, the baby will begin to reach for the plates of adults, which means that it is time to introduce new products into his diet. How to correctly calculate the daily intake of the mixture and when should you start the first artificial complementary feeding?

Artificial feeding from birth to 3 months

Whether or not to breastfeed a baby is a personal matter for each mother, but there are also cases when indications for artificial feeding are given by a specialist. Typically these include:

1. Prematurity of the child.
2. Difficult birth (requires time to recover).
3. Insufficient lactation or its complete absence.
4. Inability to breastfeed the baby (mother works a lot) and lack of expressed milk.
5. Chronic or infectious diseases in the mother.

The composition of store-bought formulas is as close as possible to breast milk, but they still lack the antibodies produced in the body of a nursing woman. Therefore, you will have to monitor the health of the artificial child until his immunity is fully strengthened.

Approximate diet for a baby from birth to 3 months:

• For a baby up to ten days old, it is recommended to prepare a mixture, the daily norm of which is calculated by the formula: 70 ml (80 ml if the birth weight was more than 3200 g) * P (baby’s age in days). For example, the baby is 6 days old, which means the daily amount of formula for him will be 480 ml (80 * 6).
• After ten days of life, up to 2 months of age, the amount of formula per day will depend on the baby’s weight (1/5th of body weight or 600-850 ml).
• From two to four months, the rate of formula feeding per day will be 1/6th of the child’s body weight (or 750-900 ml).

Also, do not forget to give your baby boiled water.

It's time to introduce complementary foods. Nutrition from 3 to 6 months

If the first complementary foods during breastfeeding are introduced when the baby is six months old, then the artificial baby will need additional food already at 3 months. Such an early change in the baby’s diet occurs because mother’s milk differs greatly in composition from store-bought milk. So, What is the difference between breast milk and formula?

• Breast milk is produced exactly in the amount that the baby needs.
• Biologically active water is the main component of mother's milk (88%). Thanks to this component, a breastfeeding baby does not need to be given additional water.
• Carbohydrates (7%), fats (4%), proteins (1%), iron, minerals, vitamins, growth hormones, white blood cells and antibodies for immune protection (0.2%) are presented in the ideal ratio necessary for the baby. Such a composition is difficult to find in mixtures.

But your baby artificial, so your diet will have to be balanced on your own. It's time to introduce complementary foods, where to start? Doctors usually recommend giving your baby fruit juice as a new product. First, it is better to offer him half a teaspoon so that the baby gets a taste. Then the portion can be gradually increased, of course, if the child does not develop an allergy and he willingly drinks a new drink.

A good helper in how to introduce baby's first complementary foods, tables for calculating portions and products according to the baby's age. There are quite a lot of them on the Internet, but they are all different. Therefore, it is better to draw up a menu for an artificial baby with the help of a doctor or take a complementary feeding table from your pediatrician.

If the child is gaining weight well, then the next new product in the diet may be vegetable puree. The main rule is not to add salt. his. Spices, salt and sugar are not recommended for a baby at this age, but this does not mean that boiled vegetables will seem tasteless to the baby. The child’s receptors have not yet been spoiled by adult food, and he will happily eat everything that is given to him. As the first vegetables, you can give your baby zucchini, pumpkin, cauliflower and broccoli.

Another good product for first complementary feeding can be cereal porridges, for example, buckwheat or rice. They are recommended for those children who are not gaining weight well.

Diet for 6 to 8 months

Products for artificial babies at 6-8 months are not very different from the same diet for infants, so the daily regimen will look something like this:

• 6 a.m. 180-200 ml of mixture with milk or water.
• 10 hours. 150 g of milk porridge, 4 g of butter (can be added to the porridge) and 60 g of fruit puree.
• 14 hours. 150 g vegetable puree, 0.5 tsp. olive or sunflower oil (can be added to puree), one fourth of the yolk and 30 ml of fruit juice.
• 18 hours. 150 g of milk mixture, 40 g of cottage cheese, 30 ml of fruit juice and 3 g of crushed biscuits.
• 22 hours. 180-200 g of mixture with water or fermented milk products.

If parents introduce complementary foods from 6 months, you can already select recipes for dishes for the baby yourself.

Approximate menu for a year old

At this age, babies should switch to more solid foods, which means that the one-year-old’s menu will become much more varied.

• Breakfast. Any milk porridge at the discretion of the parents (oatmeal, rice, semolina), cottage cheese casserole or omelet.
• Dinner. The first and second courses must be present. This could be meat soup and vegetable puree with a cutlet (steamed), borscht and fish (boneless) with cauliflower and much more.
• Afternoon snack. Time to please your baby with something tasty. Offer him cookies with kefir or yogurt. Don't forget about fruits.
• Dinner. This is the easiest meal, so it is best to feed him porridge with milk or vegetable puree.

Regardless of whether the baby is artificial or is on breastfeeding, do not rush to give him adult food (sausages or exotic fruits), because such products can only cause allergies and poisoning.

Breast milk is the optimal nutrition for a one-month-old baby and older. Together with this product, the baby can receive the most important and useful substances, as well as initial communication skills and, of course, maternal love.

However, due to certain circumstances, some mothers are unable to breastfeed, and the newborn is transferred to an alternative feeding regimen.

Artificial feeding of an infant poses many problems for the new mother: what formula to choose, how it should be prepared and given, how much the baby should eat in the first month of life.

Artificial feeding should not be introduced just like that, at the request of the nursing mother. Not a single high-quality formula is capable of transferring to a newborn baby all the necessary substances that breast milk provides.

Experts have identified several compelling reasons when adapted nutrition for newborns is necessary and even desirable.

First of all, you should try to restore breast milk with the help of folk remedies and medications that enhance lactation.

Adaptive nutrition of newborns is carried out only if such medications do not bring the required results.

Experts do not advise completely switching to artificial feeding if a woman has breast milk, even in minimal quantities. A few drops of a natural product will bring invaluable benefits to an infant.

Before switching to artificial feeding of newborns, every mother needs to know all the advantages and disadvantages of adapted nutrition.

Quite often, new parents switch to formula because of some far-fetched principles, thereby depriving their children of important vitamins and minerals.

The advantages of IV are as follows:

• The newborn can be fed by the father and other close relatives. The woman is freed from being next to the child every minute and is now able to go away for quite a long time, without worrying that the baby will remain hungry (it is better, of course, not to stay long).
• While breastfeeding, the mother cannot always control the amount of portion, so the baby sometimes remains hungry or, on the contrary, overeats and then burps. In addition, bottle feeding allows you to monitor deterioration in health, which is manifested by a decrease in appetite (you can see this by the volume of the remaining formula).

• If newborns who eat formula begin to have an allergic reaction, the mother always has a specific “suspect.” If breastfeeding, a woman will have to seriously reconsider her diet and give up many foods.
• Artificial nutrition takes a long time to digest (much longer than breast milk), which is why the number of meals a baby can eat can be reduced.

These are the advantages of adapted feeding, however, in the opinion of many experts, the disadvantages of artificial feeding are much more significant and serious.

• Children on IV are more likely to experience colds, infectious diseases, and allergic reactions during the first month of life and in early childhood. Doctors explain this phenomenon by the fact that the formulas lack the most important antibodies that the mother must pass on to the infant along with the milk.
• The use of feeding containers requires regular washing and even sterilization. If such conditions are not met, the newborn may develop an intestinal disorder or other dyspeptic factor.
• It is quite difficult for an infant on IV to digest a product that is not typical for his gastrointestinal tract. This is why artificial babies often suffer from colic due to swallowing air.
• When traveling long distances with a baby, the mother needs to prepare and take with her a large number of things, including the dry formula itself, clean bottles, and a suitable sterilizing device. That is, you will have to pack a whole bag and prepare food somewhere else.
• It is not always possible to immediately select the ideal formula for newborns, so new mothers are often forced to change different types of food in order to choose the most suitable one for a particular child.
• Adapted nutrition for children requires certain monetary expenditures from the mother. A balanced and complete product cannot be cheap, especially since an older infant will need a much larger amount of formula.

Thus, there are still advantages from artificial feeding, but this diet has more disadvantages. That is why it is extremely undesirable to give up breastfeeding for the sake of your own principles, the opinion of the media and the desire to feel “freedom” in the first months of a child’s life.

Pediatrician Komarovsky, who is an indisputable authority among many mothers, is convinced that breast milk is an irreplaceable product, despite the latest scientific and technical achievements.

Breast milk contains so many essential components (antibodies, hormonal substances, digestive enzymes) that its composition cannot be surpassed for a long time. Komarovsky never tires of repeating that under any circumstances, breast milk is preferable to formula.

Artificial feeding of a child is a problem that worries many young mothers who, due to various circumstances, are not able to breastfeed their newborn.

Komarovsky suggests focusing on 2 most important axioms:

1. No formula, even adapted, can completely replace breast milk.
2. Cow's or goat's milk is not as good a product for an infant as a balanced formula.

Komarovsky notes an interesting pattern: over the past three decades, the number of cases of food allergies or intestinal disorders in children of the first month has decreased many times (a thousand or more times), as mothers switched from animal milk to industrial formulas.

Dr. Komarovsky convinces new mothers who cannot breastfeed that feeding their babies with diluted or whole milk from a cow or goat is a huge mistake. And you shouldn’t listen to grandmothers who call mixtures a set of chemical reagents.

Komarovsky cites data that newborns under one year old should not be fed cow's or goat's milk. After 12 months and up to three years, the volume of this product should be minimal, and from preschool age the child can consume this milk in reasonable quantities.

Such restrictions are associated with the increased content of phosphorus and calcium compounds in animal milk. Such an excess of the norm of these minerals is fraught with kidney disease and pathological development of the musculoskeletal system.

So, you have weighed all the pros and cons and decided that your baby needs artificial feeding. It is important to follow certain principles and take into account certain conditions. Among them:

• choice of adapted nutrition;
• feeding mode and portion size;
• baby feeding technique.

To choose quality products for children, you need to follow the advice of an experienced doctor. Parents are offered formulas for complete feeding of healthy newborns, babies with digestive disorders, allergies and premature newborns. Let's take a closer look at them.

Adapted mixtures

These products are made from cow's milk, but the volume of protein components in it is significantly reduced by introducing demineralized whey.

For children in the first month, you need to purchase products with primary or initial formulas. On the box with the mixture this is indicated by the number 1, for example, “Nutrilak 1”.

By 6 months, the infant should be given products with the so-called follow-up formula. They are also called less adapted mixtures. They contain higher amounts of milk proteins and carbohydrate components to meet increased energy needs.

They differ from the previous product not in quantity, but in the quality of protein elements.

Milk protein is subjected to a special enzymatic action, which means it is brought to a curdled state. As a result, the composition of the mixture approaches breast milk.

Due to this technological process, the mixture is better digested in the newborn’s gastrointestinal tract and is absorbed more quickly. Curd ingredients form optimal intestinal microflora, introducing beneficial bacteria into the body.

Such products are indicated for feeding newborns with dysbiosis, stool disorders, and a predisposition to allergies.

Also, such artificial feeding is prescribed for a weak and premature infant.

Unadapted mixtures

They are made from fresh or dried animal milk. The volume of protein components in their composition is significantly higher than in human milk.

Since the main element of such products is casein, which is unnatural for newborn babies, the development of some unsafe conditions is possible:

• disturbance of intestinal microflora;
• digestive disorders;
• small in an infant;
• delayed development.

IV experts do not recommend giving this product to an infant under 12 months of age. It does not meet the needs of babies and even threatens their well-being. Also, experts do not allow the use of cow or goat milk for cooking porridge.

Selection rules

If you cannot breastfeed your baby and it is the turn of an alternative product, it is better to coordinate the choice of formula with a specialist. The pediatrician, knowing the characteristics of the child’s body, will recommend the most gentle nutrition.

To choose the optimal product, it is necessary to take into account certain nuances and important criteria.

When introducing a child to a dairy product for the first time, you need to constantly monitor his reactions and behavior: see how alert he is, monitor the color of his skin, the frequency and nature of feces.

It should be understood that regardless of whether you are breastfeeding your baby or he is bottle-fed, you need to serve the “dish” correctly.

Before production, you should definitely study the packaging to understand how to prepare the purchased mixture. The standard requirements for the preparation of a dry milk product are as follows:

In some situations, you may want to cook multiple servings at once. To prevent the mixture from disappearing, it should be placed in the refrigerator (for a day) or in a special one (for up to 4 hours). Of course, if you stored the product in the refrigerator, the mixture needs to be warmed up before feeding the baby.

Stores sell special heaters; hot water (or tap water) is also suitable for heating. Warming up is not recommended, since the product heats up too unevenly, which means the child can get burned.

Experts identify two main ways to feed a bottle-fed newborn: clockwise and free-feeding.

Hourly mode

Artificial feeding must be precise. Experts often advise new mothers to follow a routine, maintaining certain intervals between feedings and following dosage standards.

How many times should newborns be fed formula? The number of meals by month looks like this:

• From 0 to 3 months. You cook and feed the child every 3 hours, at night the break is 6 hours. There are about 7 feedings per day.
• From 3 to 6 months. After 3.5 hours during the day, break for about 6 hours at night. That is, during the day, an infant will need to be fed 6 times.
• From six months. By 6 months, an artificial baby begins to be introduced to complementary feeding. At approximately the same age, complementary foods are also introduced to breastfed children. As the baby grows up, one feeding should be replaced with porridge or pureed vegetables. Now the number of meals is 5 every 4 hours, night sleep is approximately 8 hours.

Free feeding

Human milk and artificial formula differ in composition. If a natural product does not lead to heaviness even with frequent breastfeeding, then diluted milk powder is not considered a “light” dish.

However, other experts suggest using partially free feeding - a method characterized by a certain feeding time. The volume of the mixture in this case depends on the child’s wishes, but is within specific limits.

You prepare and pour the mixture into a container about 25 milliliters larger, but the food should be given at a strictly fixed time. This will allow you to more accurately determine the optimal portion size needed by the child. If he leaves milk in the bottle, you should not force feed him.

Breastfeeding a baby is not so easy, let alone an artificial baby. In some situations, the child does not gain weight well, in others they talk about overfeeding. That is why mothers should follow certain rules for artificial feeding.

Do not think that an artificial child needs less mother's care than a natural child. It seems that his father or other relative can give him a bottle, and a pacifier can comfort him. However, experts recommend that mothers ensure the closest contact with the baby, holding him close to her and laying him side by side.

Ideally, a one-month-old baby should be fed only by the mother. You should not entrust artificial feeding to other family members. Let him suck the bottle only in his mother's arms, turning to face her. As soon as he falls asleep, the pacifier is removed from his mouth and placed in bed.

How much formula does a newborn eat?

In a simplified diagram, the nutritional norms for an artificial diet are as follows:

• in the first 10 days, the daily volume of the formula can be calculated based on the number of days of the child’s life, multiplied by 70 or 80 (depending on body weight, 80 - if birth weight is more than 3200 g);
• from 10 days to 60 days – the child eats up to 800 milliliters of adapted nutrition 7 or 8 times;
• from 2 to 4 months – the maximum volume of milk increases to 900 milliliters (or a sixth of the child’s weight).

When should the mixture be changed?

Feeding must correspond to the characteristics of the baby. However, not all artificial products are suitable for children, so each mixture is given at first in a small volume and not for very long, carefully monitoring any reaction.

Experts advise changing the product in the following situations:

• the child cannot tolerate the mixture, a rash, redness, regurgitation, constipation or diarrhea appears;
• the baby has reached a certain age limit when it is necessary to switch to a less adapted formula (in this case, it is recommended to change the product to a mush of the same brand);
• there is a need to switch to a special therapeutic food (an allergic reaction, for example), and then return back to the usual product.

You should proceed sequentially, observing some nuances. First, a new product is introduced, mixing it with the old one (two-thirds of the old mixture and one-third of the introduced one). Then proportionality begins to be observed, and by the end of the week the child completely switches to a previously unfamiliar product.

If a mother feeds her child with formula, her pediatrician can tell her everything about artificial feeding. Expert advice is especially valuable when choosing the first product and when replacing adaptive nutrition. Although the formula is not capable of becoming an absolute copy of breast milk, if all the basic rules are followed, the artificial baby will definitely grow up strong and healthy.

It is not for nothing that nature has laid down the wise principle of breastfeeding - together with mother’s milk, the baby receives not only all the microelements necessary for proper growth and development, but also the first communication skills, emotions, and learns to trust and love. However, what to do if the new mother does not have milk or doctors have prohibited breastfeeding for health reasons?

Artificial feeding of a newborn comes to the rescue. How to choose the right formula, how much should your baby eat, how to create an emotional connection when feeding from a bottle? Read the answers to these and many other questions below.

From this article you will learn:

By definition, artificial feeding is a type of child nutrition in which breast milk in the diet is less than 20% or not at all. Doctors do not recommend it - breast milk contains many essential substances that are not found in cow's milk, from which most formulas are made.

In addition, caring mothers often overfeed their children, which creates a certain risk of obesity, but this is impossible when breastfeeding. Even complementary foods are introduced to artificially-fed babies earlier in order to somehow compensate for the lack of certain substances.

Of course, artificial feeding of a baby has its advantages: not only the mother, but also the rest of the family can feed the baby. You can easily control the amount of food you eat, there are no pain or allergy problems - you can eat whatever you want. But if your decision to stop breastfeeding is due to one of the following reasons, it’s worth considering:

• It seems to you that the child is not gaining much weight - if the doctor does not give any recommendations on this matter, then everything is in order;
• It seems to you that there is not enough milk - the same thing;
• You go to school or work - if breastfeeding is completely impossible, at least practice mixed feeding;
• You just don’t want to - perhaps you should be patient a little for the sake of your child’s physical and mental health?

Objective reasons for refusing breastfeeding are:

• lack of milk;
• baby's refusal to breastfeed;
• difficult childbirth, after which it is necessary to restore strength;
• maternal infectious diseases;
• medical indications;
• the birth of twins or triplets.

If this is your case, don't panic or blame yourself. Modern conditions for artificially feeding a baby are optimal and can minimize the consequences for the child, but this will require some effort.

First step - choose a mixture

First, and most importantly, do not under any circumstances use regular cow's milk or other dairy products instead of the mixture. They are completely unsuitable for a newborn and can cause a lot of problems. Put them off until at least eight months of age.

When choosing a mixture, be sure to study all the information written on the packaging. Usually it contains information about the composition, the age of the children for whom it is intended, the recommended method of preparation and expiration date. Please note that the packaging must not be damaged or opened.

Pediatricians usually use the following classification of products:

• adapted;
• partially adapted;
• physiological;
• medicinal.

This means the following:

• Adapted variations are recommended for use from the first days of life. They are as close to natural as possible and adapted to the needs of babies - hence the name. Partially adapted mixtures can be called “transitional”. They are used from 12 months, and in their composition they are already moving a little away from breast milk towards regular food.
• Physiological the mixtures are suitable only for completely healthy children over one year old and cost an order of magnitude less than the previous ones.
• Medicinal analogues should not be used without consulting a doctor.

Another, more well-known classification is classification by child's age. It has 3 categories, and it is very easy to determine whether the mixture belongs to one of them - the number on the packaging will tell you.

Digit 1 corresponds to a mixture that can be used from the first days of life, 2 - for children from six months of age, 3 - for children from one year old.

How to artificially feed a newborn?

Just like with breastfeeding, there are two options: on demand and on schedule. . At first, you can feed the baby on demand until a feeding regime that is convenient for him is established. But under no circumstances overfeed - in this case, underfeeding is even safer, because the baby will not get an upset stomach.

If you want to adhere to an exact schedule from the first days of life, feed your baby every 3-3.5 hours 6-7 times a day. A one-month-old baby needs no more than 90 grams. sweep one at a time. In the first week, the required amount of food is calculated as follows: the child’s age in days is multiplied by 10. Thus, a 4-day-old baby needs 40 grams of formula at a time.

After a week They calculate differently: The baby's weight is divided by 5 and then by the number of feedings. That is, if a child weighs 4000, he needs 800 grams of formula per day, which corresponds to approximately 120 grams of formula at a time.

There is another way to calculate the required amount of food - use the table of recommended calorie content, which is given below. All information about the content of calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the mixture is indicated on the packaging. Remember that you cannot exceed the calorie content by more than 50 kcal and the norm of proteins, fats and carbohydrates by more than 1.5 grams.

Age	Energy kcal/kg	Proteins g/kg	Fat g/kg	Carbohydrates g/kg
0-3 months	120	2,3	6,5	13
4-6 months	115	2,5	6,0	13
7-12 months	110	3,0	5,5	13

Wash your hands with hot water before feeding. It is advisable to give the mixture at the same temperature each time so that the child gets used to it. Also, you shouldn’t save what he hasn’t finished eating - throw it away immediately or store it in the refrigerator (in the refrigerator, not in the door) for no more than six hours. Otherwise, consuming the product may lead to poisoning, because the product is not absolutely sterile, and microbes may begin to multiply in it.

Make sure that the child does not receive air instead of formula - this will create a false feeling of fullness. Holding the baby in the classic position in which mothers sit during breastfeeding, tilt the bottle, making sure that there is always food in the nipple. After feeding, to allow the air to leave the ventricle, hold the baby in an upright position for several minutes.

Under no circumstances should you leave your newborn alone with a bottle - at this age it is important for him to have contact with you, this will lay the foundation for his behavior for the rest of his life. In addition, the baby may lose the bottle or choke. From 4-5 months you can already let your baby hold a bottle, but you must carefully monitor the feeding process:

• You cannot feed a sleeping baby.
• You cannot force feed, even if the child has not eaten the required amount, but if he is not full of this amount, it is permissible to give another 30-50 ml if he has normal body weight.

Preparing to bottle-feed a newborn

When preparing food, follow the instructions completely and follow the dosage exactly. If you overdo it, there may be problems with the digestive system; if you don’t give it enough, the child will be capricious and, possibly, disrupt the regime.

If you have problems with this, take a look at formulas specially packaged for one feeding. However, as practice shows, for most parents, cooking becomes automatic after a month of daily practice.

Remember that the mixture is diluted directly in the bottle, after which it is shaken and checked to see if any lumps have formed in it. There are also liquid milk analogues, the preparation of which does not need to be bothered at all. Do not forget about sterility when preparing - the measuring spoon must be clean, the water must be boiled. It is also important to comply with all storage conditions of the product.

• Manifestation of allergic reactions in a child;
• The mixture causes problems with the digestive tract;
• The child has already left the age category for which the formula is intended;
• There was a need for a medicinal mixture.

The pacifier is an important detail

Much in artificial feeding of a newborn depends on how comfortable the nipple is for him. If the hole in it is too large, the baby will choke; if it is too small, it will be very difficult for him to drink, he will empty the bottle slowly and, most likely, will be nervous.

The convenient size is individual for each child, but if it is chosen correctly, one bottle is drunk in about 20 minutes, and the liquid pours out in drops, not a stream.

Did you buy the wrong pacifier? No problem! The hole size can be increased at home. Just use a heated needle. Nowadays you can find pacifiers on sale indicating the recommended age for which they are intended. In general, nipples wear out pretty quickly, so don't forget to buy new ones.

Hygiene rules, or how not to harm your health

Naturally, when artificially feeding a newborn from a bottle, you need to follow very strict hygiene rules, because the baby’s body is still very weak and fragile. Bottles must be sterilized using a special device - a sterilizer, or the old proven method - a water bath. Before sterilization, food residues are removed with a brush.

Particular attention should be paid to carvings and other parts where food can get stuck. For a child under one month old, the “dishes” need to be sterilized after each feeding. From a month - it is enough to sterilize no more than once a week, if you rinse both the bottle and the nipple with boiling water immediately before each feeding.

It is also necessary to sterilize a new bottle you just purchased. Of course, it’s better not to take risks and not to use unboiled water for feeding - even if it’s filtered, it’s better to play it safe, because the baby’s health depends on it.

Complementary feeding during artificial feeding

As already mentioned, with artificial feeding, complementary foods are introduced earlier than with breastfeeding - at 4.5-5 months (versus 5-6 months). This is due to a lack of some and an excess of other substances in mixtures. The given dates are approximate; to establish more precise ones, a consultation with a pediatrician is necessary. Complementary feeding begins with tiny portions of the product, gradually increasing them.

So, on the first day the child eats a teaspoon, and after a couple of weeks he eats a full portion. Complementary foods are given before formula feeding, usually from a spoon. The product must be crushed to a puree, making sure that there are no lumps or pieces - the child is not yet ready to eat them.

In addition, you should not introduce two products at the same time - this is difficult for the body, and if a negative reaction occurs, there will be problems determining which product it is.

Emotions during artificial feeding

You can create the right atmosphere when feeding your baby by following a few simple rules:

• First of all, you should feel comfortable, not feel inconvenienced, and have a good and calm mood. Relax, put away your mobile phone, and with it all your work. Now you are a mother, and this is the main thing.
• Choose a cozy and comfortable place for feeding.
• Take the baby in your arms, talk to him, smile, look into his eyes while feeding.
• To add realism to the process, it is sometimes recommended to heat the milk to human body temperature or a little more - about 37-38 degrees. If you don't have temperature measuring equipment, drop a little mixture on your shoulder - the drop should be neither cold nor hot.

Remember that your child requires more love and affection than a child on breastfeeding, so talk to him longer once again, play, give him a massage.

It’s good when other relatives help with feeding, but at first, when the newborn is still very small, constantly changing faces during feeding can cause stress. Therefore, either his mother or two people should feed him in turn.

To drink or not to drink?

It is not for nothing that most parents are concerned about the problem of supplementation - the child may actually need more water than he receives with the formula, especially in the summer. You can supplement your baby's food only in very small portions, in no case before feeding, so as not to create a feeling of false satiety. Use only boiled water. Water can also help if a child has constipation or fever.

Chair for bottle-fed baby

The stool of a bottle-fed baby is usually less frequent than that of a breastfed baby, but in a newborn it should not be less than once or twice a day, otherwise you should consult a doctor. To avoid constipation, which is also often a problem for children on IV, it is recommended to do exercises and abdominal massage.

In summary, we can highlight a list of basic rules for artificial feeding of a newborn:

• Choose a high-quality formula, taking into account the age and individual needs of the baby;
• Follow the instructions exactly when preparing the mixture and do not store the finished product;
• Watch how your baby eats;
• Keep track of how much he eats;
• Be responsible when choosing the right pacifier;
• Sterilization is the key to your child’s health;
• Topping up is a completely appropriate practice;
• Take care of the correct emotional development of your baby.

If these rules are followed, losses from the lack of breast milk will be minimal, the baby’s health and immunity will be strong, and development will be fast and correct. Isn't this the key to the happiness of any parent?

Artificial breastfeeding is preferable, but not all women have the opportunity to breastfeed. In such situations, it is necessary to consult a pediatrician in order to choose the most suitable milk formula for the baby, corresponding to his age and health status.

Advantages and disadvantages of artificial nutrition

Many babies are bottle-fed from the first days of life, and their number increases every year. The increase in the percentage of “artificial children” is directly related to the deterioration of the environment, poor nutrition of the adult population, which affects the health status, as well as the inability of mothers to be constantly close to their children. There is, perhaps, one single advantage in feeding a newborn baby with milk formulas - such a baby will not have to be transferred from breastfeeding to artificial feeding and his body will not need to adapt to a new nutritional composition. If a mother has a choice between artificial and natural feeding, before she starts feeding her baby with formula, she needs to become familiar with their positive and negative sides:

pros

• The ability to leave a child with relatives or a nanny due to work;
• In this case, it is enough to simply replace the milk formula with a more suitable one, rather than looking for the cause in your own diet;
• The ability to see the amount of formula your baby drinks from a bottle. A breastfeeding woman can find out about the missing amount of milk only if the baby is underweight;
• The frequency of feedings is less frequent than with natural feeding. The fact is that breast milk is digested by the baby’s body much faster than formula milk.

Minuses

• The absence of special enzymes in the formula that are found only in breast milk. In children who are bottle-fed, allergic reactions and colds are much more common than in infants;
• Frequent regurgitation and... When eating through a bottle, the baby swallows excess air, which causes bloating and discomfort;
• Disinfection of bottles and preparation of formula. It is customary for bottle-fed children to be fed according to a certain regimen, but each baby has an individual need for the quantity and frequency of meals, and this depends on many factors. A suddenly hungry baby can be fed much faster;
• Selection of mixture. It takes time to choose the right formula, and if it is not suitable, the child suffers;
• Financial expenses. Good quality formula is not cheap, and as the child gets older, more and more of it is needed.

Formula feeding table by month

The table data is approximate. A pediatrician who monitors your child’s weight gain will help you determine your baby’s individual daily need for formula milk.

Start of complementary feeding

The first feeding of a bottle-fed baby can be done when he reaches 3 months. The best product to start complementary feeding is apple juice. You need to start with 0.5 teaspoon per day, diluting it halfway with boiled water. If the baby feels normal, you can try other natural juices as complementary foods, but not from exotic fruits.

With normal digestibility of natural juices, fruit and vegetable purees can be introduced into complementary foods at 4-5 months. You need to start with 0.5 teaspoon per day, gradually increasing the amount.

3-4 weeks after the baby is introduced to purees, porridge (corn, buckwheat and rice) can be introduced into the diet. If you are not allergic to lactose, you can cook them with milk. After 6-7 months, the baby’s digestive system becomes strong enough, so oatmeal, semolina, wheat and barley can also be used to prepare porridge.

After 8 months, you can gradually introduce boiled meat into your baby’s complementary foods, first chicken and turkey, then beef.

After 9 months, the child’s menu can be diversified with boiled fish.

Complementary feeding scheme

Video: Doctor Komarovsky about artificial feeding

Menstruation during artificial feeding

Postpartum uterine discharge is natural for every woman who has given birth, and it lasts about 6 weeks. In women whose children are bottle-fed from the first days of life, periods may begin in the third month of the child’s life, but they will not become regular immediately. If after 5 months after giving birth your menstrual cycle has not started, or your periods are too heavy, seek immediate medical attention.