Infants are born to depend on their Mothers for proper care and nutrition for the first few months after birth. This would include their dependency for their food, or in earlier stages, their milk supply. Just as Mothers have provided them the most nutritious by-products while they were still inside the womb, it is a continuous obligation, perhaps, until Mothers can, to ensure that their children are given only the best nutritional sources to help them grow well and healthily.
Proper baby feeding has very important implications to an infant’s growth and development. First of all, breast milk or other formula milks have the necessary nutrients to nourish the growing baby. While they cannot digest solid food at the moment because of a weak digestive system that will not develop until later, milk is the only feeding option. Secondly, proper baby feeding has a very important effect on the psychological and emotional development of the baby in terms of proper scheduling and immediate feeding response from the Mother. It imbues upon them a certain sense of security, care and love, which result from attentive feeding responses. It may not be very apparent at this time of their age, but it will certainly show in their future, when their personality has developed accordingly because of a nurtured feeding environment in their infant years. Hereon, we can conclude the important reasons why we should not take baby feeding schedules for granted.
Baby Feeding can be done in a two ways:
Breastfeeding – A Mother and Baby Connection
If you would ask any pediatrician or medical expert, they will always suggest that breastfeeding is the best way to feed a baby. Scientifically, it is so because the colostrum's found in breast milk is believed to provide babies with antibodies that ensure immunity against pathologic organisms in their earlier stages of growth. Moreso, it is cheaper and most convenient for any financially-challenged Mother because it is readily available anytime.
But perhaps, the most important reason why breast milk is recommended for babies, is that a certain psychological connection is created between a Mother and her child because of this practice. According to Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory, the baby builds a sense of self-confidence, and that of the people around him, especially his Mother.
Some modern Mothers may not be able to attend to their babies all day and deliver to this important demand because they have to work outside the home. This is oftentimes remedied by the bottling of fresh breast milk for refrigeration. This makes feeding the baby with breast milk, possible anytime, and any day, by someone else.
There are also times when a Mother may not produce enough milk for the baby, or the baby might have problems with drinking breast milk. A pediatrician, can then, suggest proper formula milks for the baby.
Bottle Feeding Your Baby – An Alternative Way of Baby Feeding
For working Mothers, this can be a convenient type of baby feeding, since they can assign someone to feed their most loved baby anytime with specialty milks that can be bought in various supermarkets and groceries. The baby’s pediatrician may suggest the best milk supplement for the child.
This type of baby feeding allows the other members of the household, even your husband, to take part in the early years of your baby’s development. Even when it may not be as natural as breast milk, the formula milks made today have been made with the proper nutrients to aid in your child’s growth and development.
