for the sick baby • Breast feeding is the best pacifier to the sick baby • Breast milk satisfies the nutritional and fluid demands • Breast milk offers anti-infective and immunological factors. WORLD ALLIANCE FOR BREAST FEEDING ACTION (WABA) insists exclusive breast feeding for months. Artificial feeding Though no milk can be real substitute for mother’s milk, sometimes it is necessary to give artificial feeding. Circumstances under which artificial feeding is essential are • The mother is suffering from serious illness, fever or infection, • Another pregnancy intervenes during lactation UNIT.
- - Nutrition in pregnancy, lactation and infancy • The child is too weak to nurse or cannot because of harelip for cleft palate • Breast milk has completely stopped or insufficient for the child • Mother is not available to feed the child • The mother is on anticoagulants, steroids and radioactive drugs, • Death of the mother. . . Weaning Weaning begins from the moment supplementary food started and continue still the child is taken off the breast completely.
The ideal time to start semi solid food is when a baby is ready to sit up, swallow and eat taste other foods, the baby’s stomach is ready to digest food and the baby has good appetite and accepts food readily and there is no more activity in the child. . . Types of supplementary foods a) Liquid supplements i.
Milk At about the sixth month of life the frequency of breastfeeding is reduced to three or four times per day and animal milk is substituted. Since the proportion of nutrients in animal milk differs from the human milk, the cow’s milk is diluted with boiled and cooled water in the proportion of : for the first feeds. The amount of water is gradually reduced so that in the course of a few weeks the baby receives undiluted animal milk. Two feeds, with ml of milk per feed is an ideal replacement.
Sugar can be added for taste and it to increase calories. ii. Juice of fresh fruits Oranges, tomatoes, sweet lime, grapes, serve