Do you feed your infant not with Breast milk? | Artificial feeding for infants

Bottle feeding

It so familiar now a days, people are started to feed their infants with foods other than breast milk, even though breast feeding is better and good for an infant in early weeks. Artificial feeding is considered as feeding of an infant with other foods in the absence of breast milk. Breast milk is often substitute by cow's milk. The cow's milk is substitute by dried milk, evaporated milk.

Cow's milk can be humanised by diluting, boiling and adding sugar. It is not desirable to give whole milk to infant in the first few weeks, because the protein in the cow's milk is not in a easily digestible form. By 6 to 8 months, the baby can have undiluted milk.

Preparation of formula

The milk formula should be planned to meet the nutritional requirements of the infant which is based on his age and weight.

Caloric requirement - 110 calories per kg of body weight.

Fluid requirement - 165 ml per kg of body weight.

Milk requirement - 110 to 130 ml per kg of body weight.

Number of feeds in 24 hours - 7.

Intervals - 3 hourly.

To prepare the milk formula for a day

Take 460 ml of milk, 140 ml of water and add 9 teaspoon of sugar and boil it and keep it in the refrigerator. For each feed take 85 ml of milk, warm it and feed the baby.

Different ways of feeding an infant.

• By using the feeding bottle and teat.
• By belcroy feeder.
• By dropper.
• By using spoon.

Important points to remember when artificial feeds are given

1. Plan the formula according to the nutritional requirement of the baby.
2. The feeding bottle, eat and other articles used for the feeding should be sterile.
3. The milk feed should be warm. Test the temperature of the milk on your inner aspect of the wrist.
4. The mother and the child should be in a comfortable position. the bottle should be held at 45 degree so that the teat is filled with milk.
5. Ensure a slow and steady flow of milk by making a hole in the teat neither too big nor too small. This is done with a red hot needle.
6. Burp the child in between and at the end of every feed.
7. The mother should show no hurry or tension.
8. The feed should be given at regular intervals.
9. The mother should wash her hands thoroughly before preparing the feed and feeding the child.
10. Offer a small quantity of water after every feed.
11. Never pinch the baby's nose to make him to open his mouth; instead press his cheeks.
12. Add vitamin A in the form of liver oil, vitamin C in the form of orange juice and iron in the form of egg yolk from the first month itself.