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The Bottle and Beyond
Decoding an Older Baby's Diet
By Teri Brown
Figuring out the optimum baby diet is almost as difficult as figuring out the da Vinci code. When can they move from breastmilk or formula to cow's milk? What kind of foods should you introduce first and what kind of nutritional needs do they have at this time?
Nicole Brooks of Regina, SK, Canada, knew that the Canadian guidelines suggest that children be 1 year of age or eating a cup of solids a day, but because Brooks' son had acid reflux, the transition was a bit muddied. By the time he was 6 months old the condition had worsened to the point that the doctor suggested feeding him more solids and less formula.
"The pediatrician also prescribed two medications – a stomach acid stabilizer and an antacid – and told me he should grow out of it by the time he's 14 months old," Brooks says. "I started feeding him a lot of solid foods right away, but because he didn't have a liking for the pureed food in the jars, I started giving him small bits of food off my plate ... I determined that he was eating over a cup of solid foods per day, so I started to wean him off the formula."
Gale Steffy, a registered nurse and the Health Education Coordinator for Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I., says that while a baby should have only breastmilk or formula for the first four to six months, there are exceptions.
"There are some babies that do need a little cereal mixed with their formula early on, but that is only by their pediatrician's recommendation and is often used for medical conditions such as reflux," Steffy says.
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