Your baby is going to experience an incredible growth spurt soon. By the time your child is a year old, their birth weight should have tripled and they should have doubled by the time they are five or six months old. They require a lot of nutrients to grow that much—more than they have ever needed.
Although formula can be a suitable substitute, experts agree that breast milk is the best source of nutrients for babies during the first six months of life.
Among the nutrients that infants require to develop and maintain their health are:
Calcium: Aids in developing healthy teeth and bones.
Fat: Produces energy, aids in brain development, maintains healthy skin and hair, and offers infection protection.
Folate: Facilitates cell division.
Iron: Aids in brain development and blood cell production. Iron supplements should be given to breastfed infants.
Carbohydrate and protein: They stimulate growth and supply energy.
Zinc: Promotes self-healing and cell growth.
Additionally, your child requires vitamins like:
Vitamin A: Maintains healthy skin, hair, eyesight, and immune system.
Thiamine or Vitamin B1: Aids the body’s energy production from food.
Riboflavin or Vitamin B2: Aids in the body’s conversion of food into energy and shields cells from harm.
Niacin or Vitamin B3: Aids in the body’s utilisation of lipids, proteins, and meals to produce energy.
Vitamin B6: Maintains the health of the immune system and brain.
Vitamin B12: Maintains the health of blood and nerve cells as well as creates DNA, which is every cell’s genetic material.
Vitamin C: Helps wounds heal, strengthens bones and muscles, and provides infection protection.
Vitamin D: Preserves teeth and bones healthy and aids in the body’s absorption of calcium from meals. Infants breastfed could require a vitamin D supplement.
Vitamin E: Fortifies the immune system and shields cells from harm.
Vitamin K: Promotes blood clotting.
Nutrients in Formula
Today, cow’s milk is used to make the majority of baby formulae. To make them as similar to breast milk as possible and to provide kids with all the nutrients they require for healthy growth, they are fortified.
Most cow’s milk formulae have:
Carbohydrates, in the form of the milk sugar “lactose”
Iron
Protein
Minerals, such as calcium and zinc
Vitamins, including A, C, D, E, and the B vitamins
To further resemble breast milk, several formulations contain additional nutrients, such as:
Essential Fatty acids: Fatty acids ARA and DHA are critical for the development of the baby’s brain and eyesight.
When a woman incorporates them into their own diet, they are naturally present in breast milk. They are added in many formulae. However, there’s little proof that fatty acid-supplemented formulas provide children with any meaningful developmental benefits.
Nucleotides: These RNA and DNA building blocks are also present in breast milk and are included in certain formulations.
They are believed to support the development of the baby’s digestive tract and immune system.
Probiotic and Probiotics: Probiotics are “good” bacteria that may offer some defence against the “bad” bacteria that can lead to illness. These beneficial bacteria in the stomach are encouraged to proliferate by prebiotics.
Probiotic-enriched formula appears to be ineffective in treating colic or diarrhoea, although it may shield infants against developing eczema.
Infants Requiring Particular Diet
In order to catch up on growth, babies who were delivered prematurely (before 37 weeks) or at a low birth weight (less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces) require special nourishment. For babies that are breastfed, the milk may have a fortifier added that includes:
Extra fat
Extra calories
Protein
Vitamins
Minerals
A special formula designed for preterm newborns is required for babies who are unable to breastfeed. There are more calories in these formulations. They also have higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and protein.
Things Not to Do
Whole cow’s milk is one item you should not offer your kid throughout the first twelve months of life. It lacks important fatty acids, iron, and vitamin E for your infant. It can also be harmful since it contains too much protein, salt, and potassium for your child’s body to absorb. Give your baby no cow’s milk till they are a year old.
Additionally, you should avoid giving your child homemade formula or soy milk. These alternatives could not provide the proper nutritional balance for a newborn at this time.