You can be filled with confusion and worry during the first year of your baby’s life, and you are never too sure how frequently to feed the baby or if your baby is eating enough. Obviously, a baby can’t say “hey, mom I’m full” or “mommy, I’m hungry.” However, he will hint you when he feels either hungry or full. Moreover, making an age-appropriate diet plan during the first year is crucial to your baby because this diet plan will supply sufficient nutrition required for physical and mental development and prevent your baby from unneeded weight gain. Following guidelines will tell you how frequently baby needs to be fed and ounces baby should eat by age.

0-1 Year Olds

1. Feeding Guideline

2. Feeding Tip for 0-1Year Olds

• Recommended veggies and fruits for babies under 1 year old are beets, beans, squashes, sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes and peas, melons, peaches, pears, apricots, apple and bananas. But, they all should be made in puree.
• Avoid giving honey to your baby since it contains spores which result in botulism. The immune system of the baby isn’t well developed to fight against it.
• Your babymay not wake up at the middle of the night out of hunger, so make sure to wake him up and feed him if he’s not getting enough feed during the day or he’s underweight for his age.
• When the baby reaches 4-6 months of age, you may introduce iron-fortified baby rice cereals by mixing the formula or breast milk in it.
• When it’s time for bed, make sure the baby doesn’t have a bottle in his mouth since it may cause tooth decay in the future.
• Finger foods are good for 6-8 months old babies. However, don’t give hard pieces of foods to them, such as uncooked veggies, round candies, nuts, apple slices or chunks. Avoid sugary or salty foods. Teething food like crackers and teething biscuit may be given.
• Make sure your baby only uses bottle with water after he’s 1 year old.
• Continue feeding breast milk for the first year and overas long as it’s desired by you and the baby.
• If you weans before the baby reaches 12 months of age, then iron-fortified baby formula should be given.

1-2 Years Olds

1. Feeding Guideline

• Milk. Once the baby crosses his first year, you may replace breast/formula milk with whole milk. Avoid giving low fat milk or skim milk as your baby at this age requires extra calories for proper development and growth.
• Solids. Yogurt, cottage cheese and cheese may be given in a little quantity. The nutritional sources for your baby include whole milk, dairy products, grains and breads, veggies and fruits, and meat.

2. Feeding Tip for 1-2 Years Olds

• Don’t start the solids soon since you may overfeed the baby.
• Introduce one single new food at a time and keep an open eye for allergic response.
• Don’t bottle-feed the solids.
• If the baby disapproves the new food, try it again later.
• Feed either directly from the container or pour the desired quantity into a dish to keep from food-borne illness.
• Content in opened food jars must be kept covered in the refrigerator for not more than 2 days.
• You can use a small spoon to feed your baby.
• Foods that may induce choking in the baby must not be given,such as berries, popcorns and nuts, etc.
• You may give water during feedings.
• Avoid giving strongly spiced foods and caffeine products.

2 Years Olds and Above

1. Feeding Guideline

• For proper growth and development, range of different foods is essential. After your child reaches the age of 2, keep the fat in his diet moderately low because a diet with high fats may promote obesity, heart diseasesand other conditions.
• If the water you drink is not fluoridated, then additional fluoride supplements are necessary. Nutritional deficiencies may be prevented by taking foods of different classes, such as dairy, veggies and fruits, meats, grains and breads.
• It is recommended that nutrients must be taken from the foods not the vitamin supplements. Actually healthy normal children do not require supplementationon routine basis.
• Not eating dairy products may elevate the chances of your child to become calcium deficient which may cause problems in bone development andgrowth. Cheese, yogurt, non-fat or low fat milk are good calcium sources. Canned salmon, cooked green veggies and broccoli may also serve as calcium sources.
• Amount of iron may differ by absorption rate from the food, elevating volume of blood, stores of iron, growth rate and age. Iron can be obtained from peas, dried beans, spinach greens, iron-fortified cereals, poultry, fish and meat.

2. Feeding Tip for 2 Years Olds and Above

• According to American Academy of Pediatrics, there’s no evidence to support that peanut, fish and egg products induce any allergy in young children. However, be extra cautious while introducing any new food to your child.
• Don’t give foods that may cause choking to your child, including dry flake cereals, raisins, raw veggies, hot dogs, grapes, berries, whole kernel corn, potato chips, nuts and popcorn.
• At this age, the food intake of your child may lessen up to some extent. Don’t worry, it’s quite normal. To ensure that your child gets sufficient calories, refer to the recommendation of The American Academy of Pediatrics that a child should get about 40 calories per day for each inch of height.
• Well-structured vegan and vegetarian diets are okay for 2 years olds and above. Just be sure that your kid gets the nutrients, like vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, iron, protein and fiber.