Is Bottle Feeds The Right Choice for Babies ?

Milk is an established basic food, especially for children. This is because it contains all nutrients in a nearly balanced proportion to meet the demand for human nutrition. It is rich in high-quality protein, calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin, and other B-vitamins. The ratio in which calcium and phosphorus are present in milk is well utilizable by the body. Milk also contains fat-soluble vitamins like A and E. Milk contains trace elements like copper, zinc, iodine, etc. and many other nutrients.  Milk proteins are of the highest quality and comparable to meat proteins in nutritional efficiency. The fats, proteins, sugars present in the milk are easily digestible.

All these factors make milk one of the most economically nutritious food available to humans, especially children. Milk is, therefore, an integral part of a child’s diet not only when the child depends on milk as the only source to meet the nutritional needs but much later also when the child starts eating all other solid foods available to him.

However, for an infant, a mother’s milk or breastmilk has been tailor-made by nature to meet the necessary health requirements. It is a well-documented fact that infants grow well on exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. It not only provides all the nutrients but also antibodies that are required by the infant’s developing body and digestive system. It is a food that is most easily digestible, easily absorbed and utilized by the infant’s body. In fact, the composition of breastmilk continually changes to meet the growing baby’s needs.

What If Top Feeding The Infant Along with Breastmilk

At times a mother may consider top feeding an infant. Only if the mother is unable to lactate sufficiently, which in turn is affecting the child’s growth, then top feeding or mixed feeding is advised by the pediatrician. Following are the factors to keep in mind if you are top feeding the infant along with breastmilk –

• A combination of mother’s milk and any other milk dilutes the overall beneficial effects of exclusive breastfeeding. Breast milk is nutritionally superior to any other milk, liquid or solid foods.
• When you give your child top feed, the intake of breast milk is reduced, which in turn decreases the mother’s supply of milk.
• Also, feeding young infants with top feeds, liquids, and solid foods increase their exposure to pathogens, putting them at greater risk of contracting diarrheal diseases.

Top Infant Milk Feeding Options 

In case a breastfeeding mother is unable to lactate sufficiently or unable to lactate at all, there are other options of milk which can be fed to the infant. These are -

Formula Milk

Formula milk is easily available in the market. There are various brands that prepare these formula milk from animal milk. It is then modified to closely match the nutrient content of the breast milk. These are iron-fortified, as animal milk lacks iron, from which the formula milk is prepared.

Fresh Animal Milk

Animal milk of goat, buffalo, etc can be used for infant feeding. The fat content of buffalo milk may be too high and the infant may take some time to digest it. In that case, the milk could be diluted in the ratio of 3 parts milk with 1 part boiled water. If starting with animal milk, then iron and vitamin C supplements are to be given on the advice of the pediatrician, as animal milk lacks in these two nutrients.

Packaged Milk

Pasteurized milk is also animal milk, but since it has been pasteurized, you are sure of the hygiene. Again if you consider giving this to your child, then supplements of iron and vitamin C are important on the advice of a pediatrician.

What Is Recommended: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months, followed by breastfeeding along with complementary foods for up to two years of age. In its true definition, an infant is considered to be exclusively breastfed when the infant receives only breast milk without mixing it with water, other liquids, herbal preparations or food in the first six months of life, with the exception of vitamins, mineral supplements or medicines.