What knowledge do you have about artificial feeding of infants?

Artificial feeding is a way of feeding babies when the mother is unable to breastfeed after childbirth. The baby is fed with artificial milk powder. There are many things to pay attention to during artificial feeding. You should pay attention to the baby's feeding method and the baby's milk powder formula. You should feed the baby scientifically. It is not advisable to feed too much milk powder, which will easily increase the digestive burden of the baby's gastrointestinal tract and easily cause diarrhea or abdominal pain in the baby.

Precautions for artificial feeding

1. Choose good milk substitute. Babies under 4 months old can choose infant formula with lower protein content, while babies aged 6-8 months can choose formula with higher protein content. Children who are allergic to milk protein can choose formula milk with soy protein. Fresh milk must be boiled, sterilized, diluted and sweetened before consumption.

2. The amount of milk is calculated based on the baby's weight. 100 ml of milk is needed for every kilogram of body weight per day. For example, if the baby weighs 6 kilograms, he should drink 600 ml of milk every day, about 3 bottles of milk, and be fed once every 3-4 hours.

3. Concentration of milk powder. It should be noted that the concentration of milk powder should not be too thick or too thin. If the milk is too thick, the baby will suffer from indigestion and there will be curds in the stool; if the milk is too thin, the baby will suffer from malnutrition.

4. The mother should test the milk temperature before each feeding. You can drop a few drops of breast milk on the back of your hand or wrist to test the temperature of the milk, and make sure it is not too hot.

5. When feeding, the bottle should be tilted so that the nipple is always filled with milk to prevent the baby from inhaling air. After breastfeeding, the baby should be held upright and patted.

6. Drink water appropriately. Breast milk contains sufficient water, so breastfed babies generally do not need to be fed water before 6 months old, while formula-fed babies must supplement with an appropriate amount of water between meals.

7. Pay attention to the disinfection of milk utensils. Baby bottles and nipples must be sterilized every day. They can be washed and steamed at high temperature for about 10 minutes.

8. Infants under 4 months old should not use rice porridge as their staple food to avoid malnutrition caused by protein and nutrient deficiency.

9. Supplementary foods should be added early, such as baby rice flour and wheat flour, which are nutritionally balanced and comprehensive, with high protein and fat content. They also contain a variety of protein substances and vitamins, are easy to digest and absorb, and can meet the growth and development needs of infants.

Principles of mixed feeding for babies

1. It is not allowed to feed breast milk and milk together in one meal : It is inappropriate to feed both breast milk and milk in one meal. Feed your baby breast milk throughout the meal. Even if your baby is not full, do not feed him/her milk immediately. You can advance the next feeding time.

2. Don’t give up breastfeeding : The most likely situation in mixed feeding is giving up breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is not only good for the physical health of mother and baby, but also has great benefits for mental health. Breastfeeding can give children great maternal love.

3. The basis for adding milk : whether breast milk is insufficient is best analyzed based on the baby’s weight gain. If the weight gain is less than 200 grams per week, it may be that the amount of breast milk is insufficient. You can add milk once, usually at four or five o'clock in the afternoon. The amount of milk added can be based on the baby's needs.

4. Specific method of adding milk : Take 2-3 month old babies as an example. Prepare 150 ml first. If you drink it all at once and still feel unfulfilled, prepare 180 ml next time, but do not exceed 180 ml at most.