Mom-to-be 

Diet with a mixture at 2 months. All children eat differently. Optimal food consistency

Feeding a baby is a very responsible process. And it all starts with the choice of the mixture. How to feed a newborn or one month old baby? For babies in the first six months of life, it should be highly adaptable, that is, as similar as possible to breast milk.

This mixture is called "initial", and the packaging will show one. For children over six months, there are “follow-up” mixtures, the composition of which meets the needs of the grown body.

They are more protein, fat and trace elements. The packages are marked with a “2”.

If the child spits up often and more than he should, an antireflux mixture will help. In case of a violation of the digestion of food, fermented milk mixtures, mixtures containing beneficial bacteria will come to the rescue.

When choosing a mixture, it is advisable to consult a doctor. When buying a mixture, you need to pay attention to the expiration date and the integrity of the package.

There are also mixtures that include special components that have a specific therapeutic effect. So, if someone in the family suffers from allergies, it is advisable to start with a hypoallergenic mixture.

Specially prepared dishes

Feeding bottles must be cleaned and sterilized beforehand. This can be done by boiling them for 5-10 minutes or using a special sterilizer. The bottle in which the mixture is diluted must be dry.

The nipple should be selected with the expectation that the mixture will not flow out of it in a trickle, but drop by drop. This will ensure active sucking, and not just swallowing the pouring mixture. What is important for the development of the maxillofacial apparatus.

Diet and routine

This is a very important point. The baby gets her food on demand. How many times does a child need to eat on IV? The schedule depends on the age. So, a newborn eats 7 - 9 times a day, a child 2 - 5 months old - 6 - 7 times, a six months old child needs to eat 5 - 6 times a day.

To do this, you first need to determine the daily amount of food. How much a baby should eat depends on his weight and age. So, up to two months, a child needs a volume of food in the amount of 1 ̸ 5 of its weight, at 2 - 4 months - 1 ̸ 6, at 4 - 6 months 1 ̸ 7 of body weight, over six months - 1 ̸ 8.

For example, a child at 1 month weighs 4.5 kilograms, then he needs 900 milliliters of the mixture per day. It must be remembered that this volume should not exceed 1 liter.

To determine the amount of formula needed for one feeding, divide the daily allowance by the required number of feedings. This will be 100 to 130 milliliters of the mixture.

It happens that the child eats a little less or more. A slight breakdown is possible. Systematic overfeeding or underfeeding should not be allowed. For a child, this is fraught with obesity or malnutrition.

The volumetric method described above is the simplest and most convenient to use. If necessary or in the presence of weight problems, the doctor can calculate for a particular child the volume of a certain mixture by the calorie method and taking into account the age-related need for proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

How to prepare the mixture?

Only boiled water should be used. The volume of water required for one feeding at a temperature of 50˚C is poured into the bottle and the prescribed amount of the mixture is poured (indicated in detail on the package). Everything is thoroughly shaken and mixed.

How to feed with formula?

How to feed your baby correctly? Before feeding, you need to make sure that the prepared mixture is at the optimum temperature. To do this, drop it on the wrist (on the palmar surface). Its temperature should not be felt by the skin.

Wash your hands with soap and water. Get into a comfortable position. Special pillows will help with this, with the use of which you can comfortably position both yourself and the child. In this case, feeding will become a pleasant rest for the nursing and a source of necessary tactile contact for the baby.

Therefore, it is better to take him in your arms. If the child is prone to excessive spitting up, it is better to keep him upright. In other cases, it is semi-vertical.

Turn the bottle upside down so that the mixture completely fills the nipple and neck, and the air rushes to the bottom. This will prevent the baby from swallowing air and developing colic.

Care should be taken to ensure that the mixture drips from the nipple, not pours out. Over time, the nipples wear out and need replacing.

If there is a ready mixture left

According to the rules, the mixture remaining after feeding must be poured out. But it can still be stored a little. At room temperature, one to two hours and no more than half a day in the refrigerator. Before feeding this mixture, it must be heated to an acceptable temperature.

Supplementing

Artificial nutrition of the child must be supplemented with liquid - water, weak broths of rose hips and tea (not the usual one, which we drink every day, but children's, herbal tea).

In hot weather and in a room with dry air, the amount drunk must be increased by 50 - 100 ml. It is also worth monitoring the health of the child.

Babies who were fed with a mixture begin to introduce complementary foods earlier than infants. From 4 to 4.5 months, they are already beginning to be given vegetable puree, from 5 - porridge.

How do you know if a formula is not suitable for a child?

Often it is impossible to pick up the mixture the first time. What will testify to this?

  • indigestion;

If, after eating, the child spits up a lot and ̸ or diarrhea or constipation begins, the mixture is not suitable. When there are violations, but they are insignificant, it can be left for a week. If nothing changes during this time, the food must be changed;

  • allergic manifestations.

The very first sign of an allergy is a rash (dermatitis). It can be both single elements of it, and merging spots all over the body.

Reactions to mixtures based on cow's milk develop more often. You can replace them with a mixture based on protein waterproofing and soy isolate or on a mixture that is prepared on the basis of goat's milk;

  • deficiency conditions.

The development in a child of iron deficiency anemia, malnutrition or other disease associated with a lack of certain substances requires the selection of a special mixture with a therapeutic effect.

Full and adequate nutrition is the key to harmonious growth and development of your baby!

Indications related to infants

  • Metabolic disorder - galactosemia or phenylketonuria.
  • The baby is not full of breast milk and needs to be supplemented with a formula.
  • The baby spits up a lot and often or is tormented by colic.
  • Poor sleep and constant breast demand.
  • The baby is too lazy to suckle or does not want to, and expressing breast milk is difficult.

Advantages and disadvantages

The obvious benefits of IoT include:

  1. Increase of mother's free time, increase of her mobility. After all, one of the relatives can feed a 2-month-old baby from a bottle instead of a mother.
  2. Fewer feedings because formula takes longer to digest than breast milk.
  3. More accurate control of the amount of food consumed by the child.
  4. The appearance of allergies in infants is always associated with the mixture, and not with some components of the mother's diet.

    Attention! It is enough to change the mixture to solve the allergy problem.

The disadvantages of IOT include:

How to organize IW correctly?

Diet for a 2-month-old baby

Let us clarify right away that the principle of free feeding "on demand", which is practiced when feeding on breast milk, is not recommended to be applied to a child on IV. The most suitable regimen would be partially free feeding.... Its essence lies in the fact that the volume of the mixture depends on the desire of the baby, but does not exceed a strictly defined norm.

To exclude overeating, pediatricians do not advise putting in a bottle a mixture that is more than 30 ml higher than a one-time norm. Artificial children drink milk faster and do not always have time to satisfy their sucking instincts. And some parents cry of a child when the bottle is taken away from him, mistaken for hunger and give the mixture more than it should be.

Reference! Even the most adapted formula takes longer to digest and absorb than human breast milk.

A two month old baby should be fed according to this regimen.:

  • number of feedings: 6-7 times a day;
  • the interval between feedings is at least 3.5-4 hours;
  • night break - 5-6 hours.

Practical advice

Simple rules for feeding with IV are as follows:

Important! The remaining mixture must not be reused. It will be full of multiplying bacteria.

It is advisable to purchase such additional accessories:

  • 4-6 bottles;
  • 4-6 nipples with small holes;
  • bottle brush;
  • 4-6 ironed kitchen towels;
  • bottle warmer;
  • some gauze diapers to cover your clothes.

Optimal food consistency

If you strictly adhere to the instructions when preparing the mixture, then it will turn out to be the desired consistency: not too liquid for the baby to work hard, sucking it, and not too thick to pass through the small opening of the nipple. Same it is important to stir the mixture thoroughly while cooking... It should be smooth and lump-free.

How much should a baby eat?

The daily nutritional requirement for a two month old baby should be 1/6 of the actual body weight. For example, with a baby weighing about 5 kg, the daily nutritional intake is 800-850 ml. With 6-7 single feedings per day, a one-time portion will be 120-150 ml.

If the baby does not eat the recommended amount of food in one feeding, then there is no need to force him. Better to try suggesting the mixture later. Perhaps your baby's personality is such that he needs more frequent feedings, but in smaller portions. But the total daily amount of food consumed should not exceed the recommended rate.

Diet composition

What can you feed?

A child at 2 months who is on IV should be fed with adapted milk formula for children of his age.

There are mixtures of the first formula on sale - from birth to 6 months. It is easy to get confused in the wide variety of brands presented.

The advice of your pediatrician will help you choose the right formula for your baby. An important point in the diet of a baby on IV is supplementation with water.

Babies who drink breast milk do not need extra fluids, as everyone knows. But artificial people are advised to offer boiled water, because with IV the need for additional liquid is high.

Additional water promotes better absorption of the mixture and solves some problems of the gastrointestinal tract. Children often suffer from constipation, especially when switching from breastfeeding to formula feeding. Additional supplementation removes this problem. The daily rate is 120-150 ml.

Is complementary feeding allowed?

A two-month-old baby on IV does not need additional products... If a child has a good appetite and regularly gains weight, does not suffer from rickets and has a normal level of hemoglobin in the blood, then there is no need for early feeding until 4.5-5 months.

Feeding Hours Schedule

There is no hard and fast rule as to the number and importance of feedings; we reiterate that each infant has its own rhythm and nutritional needs. The role of the mother and health visitor is to identify them and adjust the regime accordingly.

By 4-6 weeks, most babies are accustomed to 6 (or even 5) feedings a day. If a baby is breastfed, he gradually increases his milk supply (with each feed) because he suckles more and more vigorously.

The weaned baby also needs gradually large quantities of milk. Many babies do not yet have regular feeding hours. This is often the mother's fault.

It is not necessary that the intervals between feedings be exactly the same, but there should be a pattern and some regularity in relation to the hours of feeding, at least after 5-6 weeks.

Feeding at night

Many mothers ask when a baby should sleep uninterrupted at night without feeding. It is impossible to give a general answer to this question and it cannot be stated with certainty that this can be achieved before the second month. Most babies get used to it, and by 6-8 weeks they no longer wake up at night. Some of them first refuse to feed at 11-12 am and only after that they refuse to feed at 2 am.

How can you eliminate night feeding?

Most infants refuse to feed themselves at night. The mother should make sure that the evening feeds are satisfying. If the baby is breastfeeding, he should be allowed to suck from both breasts. If the mother thinks that with a given feeding, the baby could suck more, she should seek advice from the local doctor, who will determine whether the baby needs an increase.

What does it mean if a baby sucks while feeding for only a few minutes, and then starts crying again after 2-3 hours

Maybe he swallowed a lot of air while sucking (and felt temporary satiety), or he was not satiated when feeding. If the baby continues to suckle firmly, it should be applied to the other breast as well. The next time you feed, let the breasts suck in reverse order.

If, along with these manifestations, during the weekly weighing it is ascertained that the child is not gaining or even losing weight, the pediatrician and the visiting nurse should be notified in order to accurately establish the amount of milk sucked in 24 hours. The increase is given on the advice of a doctor.

How can you prevent your child from swallowing too much air?

When the baby begins to suckle more slowly, the mother should wean him from the breast and let him regurgitate, and then attach him to the breast again. Sucking can be interrupted 2-3 times to regurgitate, if the child does not protest and then continues to suck.

Both breasts must be emptied at every feed

Until milk secretion is normalized, it is recommended that the breasts empty several times a day. Thus, the mammary gland is stimulated due to good secretion. If, contrary to expectations, the breast does not empty during one feeding, the remaining milk should be expressed either by hand or with a suction bulb.

What to do if the mother is not at home

In the second month of life, an exclusively breastfed baby, if the mother is ever away from home, can be given either tea or breast milk expressed in absolute purity, refrigerated and boiled before giving it to the baby instead of breastfeeding. ...

Appetite variations

The amount of milk your baby takes with each feed may vary. The first two feedings, the baby is hungrier. The variability of appetite is not only normal, but indicates that the child has his own personal dietary rhythm.

Diet

The diets prescribed by your pediatrician or listed here are for guidance only; the mother should not try to impose them on the child. Therefore, if the child is hungry after taking the prescribed portion, there is no reason not to give him the required increase; if, on the other hand, he does not want to accept the amount offered to him, it is useless to contradict him.

If a mother is breastfeeding her baby, she already knows what to do. In the event that she does not have enough milk, she realizes which of the feedings was insufficient, without having to weigh the baby before and after each feed.

Usually, the mother has less milk during III and IV feedings, in the middle of the day, when, due to morning loads, she is tired or loses her composure. During these daily feedings, it may become necessary to make small but incremental incremental increases.

A baby who is accustomed to the taste of breast milk and has the power to suckle does not give in to weaning, even if he receives 1-2 milk increases through the bottle. In turn, the mother is obliged to let him suckle at the breast, even if this milk does not make more than one third of the portion.

In addition to its biological value, the milk obtained in this way also has a psychological value. You can refuse breastfeeding only on the advice of a doctor and according to his instructions, how to proceed in this case.

The child should eat with appetite and pleasure. Breastfeeding and, later, nursing hours are the moments when the baby begins to feel and enjoy the closeness and care of the mother. Knowing that with each latch on to the breast, several of his desires are fulfilled, he learns to trust his mother.

Anxiety or tension from the mother or other family members prevents the child from developing this sense of security and trust.

Feeding your baby should take place in optimal conditions

The mother must wait until the baby is fully awake to begin feeding. Starting from the second month, he shows a desire to eat: he turns his head to the right and left, as if looking for something, moves and stretches his lips, as if trying to suck, and only then begins to cry.

By waiting for the child to ask for food himself, the mother prevents his appetite disorders. If a child is fed half asleep, he will suck, but only automatically and "passively", without feeling hungry, without pleasure, without all the uplift that causes this extremely pleasant moment spent by the child beside his mother.

Thus, there is a risk of interfering with the progressive awakening of appetite, which only occurs as a result of repeated experiences of pleasant feedings and satisfied hunger.

During breastfeeding, the mother should try to be calm, detached from other worries. She should retire to a quiet corner so that the baby feels safe and perceives the feeding and presence of the mother as a joyful moment.

The family should try to create favorable material and mental conditions for the appropriate mental balance of the mother. In the second month of life, the baby sucks much more energetically and faster.

After feeding, while the mother holds the baby in her arms, pressing the head on her shoulder to her breast to regurgitate, she should speak to him in a quiet, gentle voice.

After belching, caress, the warmth of the mother's body, her soft voice quickly soothe the child, and he falls asleep in a few minutes, after which he is gently laid on his side, or better on his tummy. For a breastfed baby who is developing normally, it is not necessary to supplement the diet with fruit juices.

So the second month of the baby's life has begun. He has grown noticeably, learned a lot, and very soon he will be able to please his mother with his first smile and sweet babbling. So far, for a happy life, he needs a little - parental attention, a feeling of dryness, security and satiety.

The last point allows you to fully provide breast milk, which is the only important food item for a 2 month old baby.

In this article, you will learn:

Happy are those mothers who can feed their baby with breast milk. They do not have to spend money on the purchase of a mixture, fiddle with its preparation, calculate the optimal portion size, and also experience other inconveniences that parents of artificial children regularly face.

All that a baby needs when breastfeeding is mother's breast. It is she who develops the ideal nutrition for his healthy growth and development.

2 months after giving birth, some nursing mothers notice a certain reduction in lactation. Experts explain this situation from two positions:

  • Hormonal background changes... At this time, the body is preparing to restore the menstrual cycle, so it is quite possible that menstruation may return to your life soon, and with them the risk of an unplanned pregnancy will increase;
  • The first lactation crisis arrives... This problem is cyclical, and is due to the fact that the baby begins to eat a little more than before.

As a rule, lactation "jumps" are observed every 1.5-2 months, but, in fact, the child does not notice them, so there is no cause for concern for mommy.

To provide a full-fledged diet for a 2-month-old baby, 800-900 ml is enough. milk. At a time, he overpowers about 140 ml. precious liquid. It is often applied to the breast at this age - every 2 hours, although there are babies who freely wait out intervals of 3-4 hours.

The number of night feedings at 2 months is equal to two or three, if 8-9 hours a day fall asleep.

Such a food scheme can give mom some discomfort, because she practically cannot find time for herself. But, no matter how difficult it was, this difficult period associated with lack of sleep, mood swings, the lack of a banal opportunity to eat deliciously, the manifestation of postpartum depression must be experienced.

Very soon, all the joys of life will become available, and the little one will be able to let his mother go for a while, remaining under the supervision of his other close relatives.

If the food of a 2 month old baby is "artificial"

Unfortunately, breastfeeding is not available to every baby. For certain reasons, a tiny creature is forced to eat a mixture almost from the first days of life, which, of course, is not good, but not so bad either.

Modern formulas are as close as possible in their composition to breast milk. They have everything you need:

  • proteins;
  • fats;
  • carbohydrates;
  • vitamins;
  • minerals.

Each component of baby food is balanced, optimized and calculated with "jewelry" precision, that is, the finished product is absorbed by the growing body in full.

Important: artificial nutrition allows you to avoid an unbearable load on the baby's kidneys, while the safety of breast milk largely depends on the diet of the nursing mother.

The daily intake of the mixture during the entire second month of a child's life is 700 grams. At a time, he will eat about 120-150 ml., While the intervals between feedings will be 3-4 hours. Simple arithmetic allows you to subtract the number of meals per day. It is equal to 5.

Speaking about the mixture, we cannot but dwell on the technique of its preparation. Despite the fact that the instructions on the bank are extremely informative, the kids now and then "turn back" their wonderful noses from her. Perhaps this is due to the excessively high water temperature. Here are some tips for doing this:

  • Boiled water of 40-50 degrees is suitable for cooking;
  • Dissolving the powder in water, the temperature of which is above 50, and below 40 degrees, you will get a sticky mass, it will be almost impossible to shake it up to a homogeneous consistency;
  • You can calculate the "optimal" water temperature without a kitchen thermometer by touch - the bottle in your hand should not burn, a pleasant warmth should come from it.

Should you follow the nutritional technique for 2 month old babies from previous years?

Not so long ago, about 20-30 years ago, starting from the age of one month, children began to be given juices. Are the parents of the time right?

The answer to this question lies on the surface. The digestive organs of babies up to 4-6 months, in principle, are not ready for complex foods. In nature, until the teeth appear, the young representatives of the fauna do not even approach adult food, but patiently wait for their wet nurse.

So why do we, representatives of humanity, neglect the laws of nature, every now and then, trying to disrupt the natural course of events.

The conclusion is obvious, until the child is 6 months old, there can be nothing in his menu except:

  • breast milk;
  • adapted mixture;
  • milk and formula, with a mixed diet.

Walking with an artificial child for a long distance, which takes two or more hours of time, requires careful preparation. Otherwise, you may be faced with the need to quickly return home under the heart-rending cry of a baby. After all, whatever you say, but nutrition is one of the most important components of the correct development of the baby.

How to feed a bottle-fed baby two months old?

There is only one answer - an age-adapted mixture. Manufacturers now indicate the age directly on the packaging of baby food. And, if you picked up the mixture earlier, in one month, and the crumb tolerates it perfectly, there is no point in changing the diet.

Some pediatricians in the old-fashioned way prescribe apple juice drop by drop from two months, ostensibly in order to avoid anemia. Should not be doing that. Recent studies show that such an early introduction of juices only harms the digestion of the crumbs, which means it can aggravate the symptoms of age-related anemia.

When and how much should the formula be given to a two-month-old child?

Usually the dosage is indicated on the package of the mixture. It is calculated based on the recommended number of calories and other ingredients for a child by age.

You can also use the volumetric method, considering the required daily amount of food according to the formula: v / 5.

Where v is the weight of the child in grams.

For instance: the weight of the child at 1.5 months is 4.0 kg. So v / 5 = 4000/5 = 800 ml of the mixture he needs per day.

To calculate the amount of food per feed, divide 800 by the number of feeds per day. In the second month of life, the baby is recommended to feed 7-8 times a day. That is, 800/8 - 100 grams.

How do you know if the formula is right for your child?

The adapted formula is suitable for the child if he eats it with pleasure, gains weight in accordance with the recommended norms, his skin is clean (without rash, dryness and roughness), the stool is yellow gruel or "sausage" without impurities.

The mixture is not suitable if the child has:

  • the tummy is constantly swollen;
  • loose stools, frothy, green and mucus;
  • dry skin or rashes on it are determined.

Closer to two months, due to an increase in the volume of the mixture consumed, children may show signs of lactase deficiency, which requires nutritional correction.

How to transfer a baby to a different mixture?

The principle of gradualism is at work here. The baby is fed from two bottles: first with a new mixture, then with the usual one.

  • On the first day, only ten milliliters of new formula is given per feeding. 10 ml is two teaspoons. You can give them to the crumb and from the spoon. Then - to full volume - the usual mixture.
  • On the second day, the same 10 ml is given, only three times a day.
  • On the third day, the child will receive 20 ml of the new mixture three times a day.
  • In the fourth - 20 ml in each feeding.
  • Further, the volume of the new mixture is doubled daily, and the volume of the usual is proportionally reduced.
  • After 6-7 days, the baby completely switches to feeding with a new mixture.

The reaction to the introduction of a new mixture usually appears on the 3-4th day. If it is mild, you can continue to introduce a new mixture. All troubles by 5-6 days will pass by themselves. If the reaction to the introduction of a new mixture is pronounced, then it is necessary to consult a doctor.

How to sterilize bottles and teats?

Bottles and nipples for a two-month-old baby should be thoroughly washed, to a shine, avoiding even the slightest residue of the mixture on the walls or bottom. After half of the bottles and the nipple have collected in the sterilizer, they are sterilized:

  • in a microwave oven - 5-7 minutes at maximum power;
  • in an enamel pot - 20 minutes after boiling water;
  • in a separate special electric sterilizer - in accordance with the instructions.

The baby's digestive tract is still very delicate and vulnerable, so the cleanliness of the bottles and nipple is very important to prevent intestinal infections.

How much water to give a baby a day?

Bottle-fed babies need to be supplemented with water. For a two-month-old baby, we calculate the required amount of water using the formula: 10n, where n is the weight of the crumbs in kilograms. That is, a baby weighing 4 kg only needs 40 grams of water per day. However, this is on average. In hot summer weather or in a hot room at any time of the year, the baby needs more water. Usually double the amount.

We offer water to babies between feedings.

Important: if a child wakes up from hunger at night - feed him!

What mixture was your baby on at two months old and how did he tolerate it?