The old adage, "the breast is best" is true. Breast milk is the perfect food for newborns, and children up to four months old. Breast milk is always available, is the right temperature, and breastfeeding can be an important bonding time for mother and baby. Discuss breastfeeding with your obstetrician and your baby’s pediatrician, and follow these feeding guidelines to give your baby proper nutrition during the first year.

• Birth-4 months – Only breast milk or formula – no water supplements, no juices, no solids. Do not add cereals to thicken the formula unless directed by your baby’s doctor.
• 4-6 months – Begin solid foods. Any younger than this, babies are not ready for solids. They cannot control their heads well enough to prevent choking and aspiration, and their stomachs are not ready to digest and absorb the nutrients from the solid foods. Solids started too early may also put your baby at increased risk for allergies.
• 8-10 months – Add solid foods with texture, but still soft enough to be mashed by baby’s gums.
• 12 months – You can replace breast milk or formula with whole milk. Your baby’s brain needs fat for normal growth.

Remember: Do not give more than 8 ounces of juice per day; do not give chips, nuts, seeds, raisins, popcorn or anything that is small and hard until your child is three years old. These foods are too easy to swallow whole and may be sucked into the lungs.

For additional healthy kids tips, log onto baymed.org, scroll over "Health Checks & You" and join our "E-List." For more information about childhood diseases or development, contact Inez Balinska, MD or Darek Balinski, MD, Bay Regional Pediatrics, Medical Mall, 1456 W. Center Road, Essexville. (989) 895-4840.