Baby Formula

If you’re new mother, you already know that breastfeeding is best for your baby. But not everyone can successfully breastfeed. What’s important is that your baby gets the nourishment they need to develop and thrive.

If your baby isn’t thriving on breast milk, then you need to switch to formula. There are many different options to choose from.

The brand you choose isn’t important. All formulas are prepared according to FDA regulations which specify minimum and, in some cases, maximum nutrient level requirements for infant formulas, based on recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition.

These regulations and the Infant Formula Act help to make sure that all infant formulas are nutritionally complete and safe for your baby.

The American Academy of Pediatrics does not endorse or recommend that your infant drink any specific brand of formula if you choose not to breastfeed, except they do say that a low iron formula should not be used.

Baby formulas mostly differ in the type of sugar and protein that they have. Regular iron fortified infant formulas, such as Similac Advance, Enfamil Lipil, and Nestle Good Start Supreme are made with lactose and cow's milk based proteins.

Most infants who are not breastfeeding exclusively should be given a cow's milk based iron fortified formula.

Soy formulas are made with soy protein and are lactose free. They are good for children who can't tolerate lactose or milk proteins.

Elemental formulas are also lactose free and are made with hydrolysate proteins, which are easy to digest for infants with protein allergies. If you have a family history of food allergies or formula intolerances, you might choose to start your baby off with a soy or elemental formula if you do not want to breastfeed.

Avoid Stimulating Your Baby during Night-time Feedings

As your newborn baby grows, it is slowly acclimating to sleeping at night and being awake during the day. Also, as baby's stomach is growing and holding more breast milk or formula, it will be able to go for longer periods between feedings at night.

At approximately three months of age your baby will likely sleep about 15 hours out of each 24-hour period, and two thirds of that sleep will take place during the night. Most babies will have settled into a daily sleep routine of two or three sleep periods during the day, followed by "sleeping through the night" for 6 to 7 hours after a late-night feeding.

You can help adjust your baby's body clock toward sleeping at night by avoiding stimulation during nighttime feedings and diaper changes. The act of breastfeeding itself provides frequent eye and voice contact, so try to keep the lights low and resist the urge to play or talk with your baby. This will reinforce the message that nighttime is for sleeping.

Keeping the door closed to keep out well-meaning but vocal older children, spouses and pet will also keep reduce stimulating your infant. Avoid the use of musical mobiles or toys as a way to lull your infant back to sleep after night-time feedings.  This will also help to reinforce that nighttime is for sleeping.   And, as with adults, overly tired infants often have more trouble sleeping than those who've had an appropriate amount of sleep during the day.

So, keeping your baby up thinking that he or she will sleep better at night may not work. You may find that when your infant sleeps at regular intervals during the day, it will be easier to put them back down to sleep after night-time feedings.

Taking Care of Baby with a New Schedule

There will be days when you bring the new baby home that you think you’ll never get to sleep again. In the meantime, try to get some rest and sleep whenever you can. The baby won’t be sleeping through the night for several weeks, perhaps months. While she’s adjusting to the schedule of night and day, you won’t be able to sleep through the night until she does.

Until she’s sleeping through the night, try to sleep when she sleeps. Many new mothers try to do everything at once, and start cleaning or doing the laundry once the baby goes down for a nap. You’ll only make yourself more tired if you try to be supermom.

If you can get some help in those first weeks with the cleaning and laundry, by all means, do so. If you can have a friend or relative in to watch the baby for an afternoon while you catch some much-needed sleep, try to take advantage of that whenever you can.

When you’ve been so busy all day with new baby chores and everything else you have to do to maintain a household, and possibly take care of older siblings as well, it can be hard to wind down just because everyone else is asleep.

Make some routines to help yourself unwind at night. Take a warm bath – not too hot, hot water can be stimulating – and play some relaxing music. Even if you’re not breastfeeding, avoid caffeine throughout the day and especially at night. Drink water or decaffeinated or herbal tea. If foods that have a lot of preservatives or sodium can make you jumpy, try to avoid those as much as possible.  Try to eat very natural foods, such as salads, green vegetables, fruits, and warm healthy soups.

As soon as you’re able, try to get out and walk for a little bit each day. The fresh air and moderate exercise will help you and your baby feel relaxed and can help you get to sleep at night.

Getting Use to Taking Care of Baby

Bringing home a new baby brings with it an exhausting array of new responsibilities and challenges. Is there such a thing as a typical day and night for new parents? Probably not!

Remember, the baby has just gone through an enormous change too, so part of the process when you first bring your baby home is the transition from the womb to the outside world. Keep your baby close to you, keep your baby wrapped and warm. If you’re breastfeeding, this will take some time for both of you to adjust to as well.

If you’re new baby is formula fed, your baby needs to feed every 3 to 5 hours. If you’re breastfeeding, then you'll need to feed your baby more frequently. Sometimes you will feel that all you do all day and night is breastfeed.  And there will be a lot of diapers to change, especially until you get familiar with baby's schedule. Your baby's diaper will probably need to be changed shortly after feeding, about once an hour in the very beginning.  Be sure to check frequently.

Until the umbilical cord has fallen off, you’ll want to keep to sponge baths every few days, but you will want to wash the baby’s bottom every day. You can wipe the baby’s hands, face, neck and bottom every day with a soft washcloth with warm water. When the baby’s ready for full baths, in a few weeks, every day is a good idea to prevent diaper rashes. But keep in mind that too much bathing can dry out your baby's sensitive skin.  So see what works for your baby.

Those little finger and toenails will grow quickly, and they’ll need to be trimmed regularly so the baby doesn’t scratch himself/herself. The baby’s nails can be long, even at birth and attached high on the nail bed. You’ll need to gently press the fingerpad away from the nail and clip it with a baby nail clipper. You might want to do this when the baby’s sleeping to ensure that he doesn’t jerk those little fingers and toes away!

Get used to being busy 24/7 during the first month, at least.  You will be feeding and changing diapers around the clock so get as much help as you can so you can have some peace too.