Many Parents are following the Wrong Feeding Guide, and they are Repeating the same Feeding Mistakes again and again. Introducing the Food in the Baby Life should be so smooth so that your child should always feel Happy, whenever she saw the Food. Make her Feeding Time, as a Most Lovable and Fun Time.
But unfortunately, Due to Less Awareness of the Feeding Guide, maximum Parents make the Most Common Mistakes and they tend to repeat the same every day. Check out the 10 Common Feeding Mistakes Parents Make in their Baby’s First Year.
Feeding Mistakes Parents Make in their Baby’s First Year
1 # Early Introduction to Solid Foods
Including Solid food too early may lead to overfeeding which may result in overweight babies. Like an old lady’s saying, if a Baby has her First Tooth at the time of 4 months, then it’s a sign that you can introduce her to Solid food early, which is actually not right. As per doctors and experts, Babies should only be given Mother Milk (Breastfeed) until they are 6 Months Old.
It has been seen that Babies who started taking Solids at the age of 4 or 5 Months, starts avoiding the Mothers Milk, as it requires more effort and energy to fill the stomach when compared to solid food items. When switching to solid food we need to make the proper menu on how to and what to feed your baby with the help of pediatricians.
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2 # Breastfeeding the Baby Before the Meal Time
We all know that breastfeeding is the only and a key source of nutrition for your baby during the first 6 months, but once you introduce your Baby to Solid Foods, you are always advised to have a variety of foods in a Baby’s Diet, so that no nutrition is missed in Baby’s Daily Meals.
Once the baby started having solid food, mothers are advised to reduce the frequencies and duration of breastfeeding. Baby’s have a very small stomach which can be filled very easily by mother’s milk, especially if given just before meals. So mothers are advised not to feed the baby before Meal Time so that the baby can enjoy and eat her food items.
Many moms make this mistake without realizing that they are actually making it. Breastfeeding is a natural process and most of the time ignored when finding reasons for low appetite in babies.
3 # Improper Milk Bottles and Nipples
Many babies are totally dependent on a milk bottle for their milk intakes, for them selecting the right bottles and nipples is the most important thing to care for their parents. Before Buying the correct bottles and nipples, there are many criteria that many parents ignore like the size of the bottle, the shape of a bottle, age group, flow type (drip/flow) material, size, and shape of the nipple.
Also, we should know all baby feeding items come with an expiry date and they should be replaced immediately once their life cycle is complete even if they look perfect from the outside.
Always prefer to buy baby feeding items from reputed brands and from reputed stores only as there has been always a chance to get expired or non-branded items from small /local stores. Also, check for a 100% BPA-free mark before buying.
Using bottles and nipples from an inferior/unknown brand may cause irritation or other issues, in babies, they may start refusing milk and water when given in these bottles. Also, these bottles are not made from approved material which may cause many health issues in the long run.
4 # By Not Sterilizing the Bottle after Every Feeding
Proper Sterilization of a baby’s bottle and feeding items after every meal is the first step that every mother should take in order to keep her baby out of health hazards, due to food-related infections. Sterilization kills almost all germs and bacteria which may make your baby sick.
5 # Missing Variety in Baby Meals
Many parents make the mistake of giving the same food again and again to their babies, as she had shown interest in that food item in the past. Parent forgets that they should not overdo anything as babies have taste buds just like us and feeding them the same thing again and again will make them hate that thing permanently. We should introduce different items in a different style so that babies keep exploring new food items and dishes and develop their own tastes and choices
Parents who did not help their babies develop a taste for new food, always complain about eating issues in babies like refusing food, not eating properly, not filling the full stomach, eating very little in one sitting, etc.
6 # Reheating the Baby Food More Than Twice
Feeding Reheated Food, is not a good idea for Kids/Babies, as it increases the chances of food poisoning. We all know this, but again due to our laziness, we ignore it. Small babies should always be fed with freshly made/cooked food. Babies’ stomach is very sensitive and not wise to take the pressure of extra processing while digesting leftovers/ reheated food which develops different enzymes and salts over the period of time.
7 # Including Junk Food in Baby’s Diet
Junk Foods like hot dogs, burgers, nuts, seeds, sweets, candies, popcorn, and peanut butter aren’t safe for Babies in their First Year, as these consist of many chemical artificial colors and preservatives which is not good for small Babies and Kids Health.
These junk foods are the main reasons for kids’ obesity, which is increasing these days, we need to set an example by restricting ourselves from eating these items, especially in front of our children.
Also, Food items like Nuts, Grapes, Corn (with small pieces) should be given under the elder’s supervision to avoid any chance of choking in kids/toddlers.
8 # Fix a Time Table of Snacks and Lunch/Dinner
I always use to complain that my little girl is a very fussy eater, but over a period of time, I realized that her small stomach is filled with snacks which she keeping eating all the time.
And whenever I tried to feed her main meal, she uses to refuse the same. So, I fixed the timing of snacks and midterms eating breaks so that she should learn discipline about eating habits and know when is the time of snacks and when she needs to eat her lunch/dinner.
We should make a timetable of snacks and main meals for our kids so that they also understand that they need to finish their main meals when it’s time. Try to avoid silly Feeding Mistakes.
9 # Introducing the Cereal too Early or Too Late
Cereal should be introduced at the age of 6 months and we should always mix different types of cereal, which will help babies get proper nutrition and develop a taste accordingly.
Cereal should be introduced before we introduce other solid food as once other solid food items are introduced to your baby will start refusing cereal as it tastes nothing in front of spicy and yummy items like chicken soup, bread, fried stuff.
10 # Too Much of Sweets, Salt, and Chocolate
Sweets, Honey, Salt, and Chocolates are the most dangerous food items for small babies when they are developing their taste buds, as once they get used to eating food items heavy with these things then other things will never taste as good as them.
These items should be given only once babies, develops their own taste bud which normally happens after 1 year as they can cause food allergy and infant botulism.
