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Publication #FAR8033

Keeping Baby Healthy: Nutrition Help for the First Twelve Months1

Elizabeth Goddard and Linda Bobroff2

Babies deserve the best we can give them. As we learn to properly care for our babies both emotionally and physically, they get the healthiest start possible.

During their first twelve months, babies grow at a faster rate than at any other time. They need a high-fat diet with adequate cholesterol and carbohydrates. Breast milk provides this perfect balance, as well as essential amino acids, fluid, vitamins, and minerals. Moms who choose not to breastfeed should use iron-fortified infant formula. Breastmilk or formula is all the nourishment babies need for their first 4 to 6 months.

Begin spoon-feeding baby rice cereal when your baby is sitting up unaided without wobbling his or her head, and when he or she seems interested in food. This will occur at about four to six months of age. Once your baby is up to two or three cereal feedings, begin to introduce one new food a week, starting with mashed vegetables and fruits. Be alert for signs of allergy and report symptoms to your pediatrician right away.

Babies usually are ready for self-feeding by about eight months of age. Babies feel proud when they begin to feed themselves, but be prepared for a mess. Soon your baby will be eating table food with the rest of the family, reminding us how fast that first year goes by.

Listening, learning, and living together: it's the science of life. "Family Album" is a co-production of University of Florida IFAS Extension, the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences and of WUFT-FM. If you'd like to learn more, please visit our Web site at http://www.familyalbumradio.org.

To listen to the radio broadcast:

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/bn.mp3

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/bn.wav

References

Bright Beginnings. (2006). Baby nutrition at Bright Beginnings. Retrieved May 7, 2007, from http://www.brightbeginnings.com/babynutrition

Insel, P., Turner, R. E., & Ross, D. (2001). Nutrition. Boston: Jones and Bartlett.

Keep Kids Healthy. (2007). Newborn nutrition. Retrieved May 7, 2007, from www.keepkidshealthy.com/newborn/newbornnutrition.html

Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR8033, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published February 2008. In the interest of time or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Elizabeth Goddard, undergraduate student, and Linda Bobroff, professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Reviewed by Suzanna Smith, associate professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, University of Florida, and Executive Producer, Family Album Radio.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.