3 min read
Your thoughts about baby food? Every parent worries about the hows, whens, and whys of baby nutrition. There is a lot of noise and contradictory information on infant feeding and we at Healthy Matters sourced trustworthy recommendations. We asked Hong Kong pediatrician Dr. Eddie Cheung 張蔚賢醫生 to share some easy-to-use feeding guidelines to your baby’s first 12 months.
Making the right feeding choices is important because more growth happens during the first year than at any other time in your child's life. Plus, starting good habits early helps you set healthy eating habits for life!
Routine growth monitoring is crucial to assess infant health and nutrition. Serial physical growth data should be plotted against a standard growth chart, like those from the World Health Organization.
References: Hong Kong Family Health Service; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
For breastfeeding information, read Breastfeeding Guide: How Much & How Often at Every Age | From Birth to Toddlerhood
Milk, ideally breast milk, should be the only diet for babies below 6-month-old; solid foods like baby cereals, bananas, apples, sweet potatoes, carrots and peas can be introduced from 6 to 12 months.
Generally speaking, babies above the age of 6 months can start eating solid baby food. An important sign to look for is whether the baby can sit comfortably in a chair on their own, so as to minimize the risk of choking.
The ideal situation is the majority of a baby’s nutrition relies on breast milk before 6 months of age. If your baby has learned to sit comfortably unassisted and can swallow food smoothly, it may be the right timing to start feeding baby food.
Dr. Eddie Cheung 張蔚賢醫生 is a specialist in paediatrics. He received his paediatric training in Queen Mary Hospital and post-fellow paediatric cardiology training in Grantham Hospital/ Queen Mary Hospital. He is a Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology, the Vice President of Hong Kong Society of Paediatric Cardiology and Consultant of Hong Kong Association of Cleft Lip and Palate. He is currently working as Director of Paediatric Centre of HK Medical Consultants and serves as Infection Control Officer at the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital.
This article was independently written by Healthy Matters. It is informative only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be relied upon for specific medical advice.
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