Making up infant formula bottle-feeds safely
Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative is firmly committed to the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding. However, in the UK bottle feeding remains very common and so we also work to ensure the best outcomes possible for babies when they are not breastfed. If you are bottle feeding you should be shown how to sterilise equipment and make up feeds as safely as possible. If you haven’t been shown – ask. Even if you think you know, check with a midwife or health visitor as some advice may have changed. You should also have had support with feeding technique to ensure that you and your baby have a pleasant feeding experience.
- Download the Unicef – Guide to infant formula
- Download the Start for Life – Guide to bottle feeding
- iHV Top Tips for Parents – How to make up Infant formula feeds
How to help if your baby has reflux
Reflux is when your baby effortlessly spits up whatever they’ve swallowed. We know that it’s natural to worry that there may be something wrong when your baby is bringing up their feeds or being sick. But reflux is very common often starting in the first eight weeks and will usually pass by the time your baby is a year old.
Colic
Colic is where a baby has excessive or frequent crying due to a pain in the tummy usually caused by wind. It’s a common problem that affects up to one in five babies. Colic tends to begin when a baby is a few weeks old. It normally stops by four months of age, or by six months at the latest. Looking after a colicky baby can be very frustrating and distressing, but the problem will eventually pass and is usually nothing to worry about.
- NHS Choices – Colic
- iHV Top Tips for Parents – When your baby cries during feeds or has colic
- NHS Choices – Soothing a crying baby
Introducing your baby to solid foods
Introducing your baby to solid foods – sometimes called weaning should start when your baby is around six months old. It’s a really important step in their development and it can be great fun to explore new flavours and textures together.
It’s essential that you introduce your baby to a healthy diet from the start:
- Remember that breast milk or first infant formula will still provide energy and important nutrients throughout your baby’s first year
- From six months, start to introduce a range of vegetables and fruit; starchy foods such as potato, bread, rice and pasta; protein foods such as meat, fish, well-cooked eggs, beans and pulses; and pasteurised dairy foods like plain full-fat yogurt
- Choose foods with no added sugar or sweetener and DON’T add them to your baby’s food
- Choose foods with no added salt and DON’T add salt to your baby’s food
- Remember your baby’s tummy is only small, so they only need small amounts of food at a time
- iHV Top Tips for Parents – Introducing your baby to solid foods
- DMBC Healthy Eating Guide – Introducing your baby to solid foods
- Start for Life – First foods
- iHV Top Tips for Parents – How can I encourage my child to eat fruit and vegetables
- Bliss – Weaning your premature baby
Weaning a baby with allergies
Download the Weaning a Baby With Alegries Leaflet
Drinks and cups for babies and toddlers
If you’re bottle feeding, it’s a good idea to introduce a cup rather than a bottle from about six months. By the time your baby is one, they should have stopped using bottles with teats. Otherwise, they may find it hard to break the habit of comfort sucking on a bottle.
Preventing obesity
Research shows children who achieve a healthy weight tend to be fitter, healthier, better able to learn, and are more self-confident. They’re also less likely to have low self-esteem or be bullied. They’re much less likely to have health problems in later life.
- iHV Top Tips for Parents – How to prevent your child being overweight
- Download the Start for Life – Building blocks for a better start in life Leaflet
- Start for Life – Foods for your growing baby
- Start for Life – Recipes
Your child grows and develops rapidly in their first years of life. But they also have relatively small tummies so their food and drink has to give them all the energy and nutrients they need in a modest amount, without lots of salt and sugar which can damage their health in short and long term.
Vitamins
Children, as well as adults, will benefit from additional vitamins for their wellbeing, growth and development. Although it’s still very important to have a healthy varied diet, babies from six months and young children may not be getting enough vitamins from food alone, especially vitamins A, C and D. The recommended daily vitamin drops from six months to five years of age and, for some babies, from birth.
iHV Top Tips for Parents – Vitamins for children