How much do babies eat?
[mme_highlight] Children demonstrate an innate capacity to self-regulate the dietary intake. There are some factors that can affect this self-regulation diminishing the drive that leads one to eat, like coercive feeding, intake restriction or environmental factors. The dietary reference values are different for every nutrient and vary during the first year.[mme_highlight]
At a microscopic level, your baby’s body is, like yours, composed of tissues and cells, where processes that are essential to life and to growth take place at every instant. So, the major determiners of your baby’s dietary needs are:
- keeping the body’s tissues (depends on the body mass)
- new tissues construction (depends on the growth velocity)
- individual variety.
The right time for every food…
Breastfeeding is the preferable primary source of nutrition for healthy full term infants during the first year of life; if human milk is not available, infant formulas enriched with iron can be an acceptable substitute. Solid foods can be added between the four and six months of age and as the infant acceptance and motor skills develop, more complex foods and textures can be gradually introduced.
After the completion of 12 months of age, an infant can usually share the familiar’s diet, if it is healthy and well balanced.
Breastfed infants: how much do they eat?
Basically, let your baby determine the frequency of breastfeeding. Breastfeed whenever your baby shows signs of being hungry, like awakening, searching for the breast or sucking on hands. Note that usually babies only cry when they get very hungry, so you should not wait till your baby cries to breastfeed.
Typically, an exclusively breastfeeding infant nurses every two to three hours if awake – about 8 to 12 times per day. All babies on exclusive breastfeeding should be given vitamin D supplementation. Your baby will gain 15 to 30 g per day during the first 6 months.
Energy requirements of your baby
The nutritional needs vary with age, being approximately:
- 0 to 2 months: 100-110 Kcal/Kg/day
- 3 to 5 months: 85-95 Kcal/Kg/day
- 6 to 8 months: 80-85 Kcal/Kg/day
- 9 to 11 months: 80 Kcal/Kg/day
The variables that influence the dietary energetic intake per day are the number of times the child eats, the energetic content of the foods and the portion size.
Children demonstrate an innate capacity to self-regulate the dietary intake. There are some factors that can affect this self-regulation diminishing the drive that leads one to eat, like coercive feeding, intake restriction or environmental factors.
Dietary reference intakes
The dietary reference values are different for every nutrient and vary during the first year. The approximate percentages are shown below and the approximate absolute values in the table.
- Carbohydrates: 35% at birth increasing to 60% of the total energetic value at first year.
- Fat: 55% at birth decreasing to 35% of the total energetic value at first year.
- Proteins: 7% at birth increasing to 15% of the total energetic value at first year.
[mme_databox]
| Nutrient | 0 to 6 months | 7 to 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| Carbohydrate | 60 g/day | 95 g/day |
| Fat | 31 g/day | 20 g/day |
| Protein | 1,5g /Kg/day | 1,0 g/Kg/day |
| Calcium | 200 mg/day | 260 mg/day |
| Iron | 0,27 mg/day | 11 mg/day |
| Zinc | 2 mg/day | 3 mg/day |
Data adapted from: Committee on Nutrition American Academy of Pediatrics. Appendix J. Dietary Reference Intakes: Recommended Intakes for Individuals, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. In: Pediatric Nutrition Handbook, 6th ed, Kleinman RE (Ed), American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, IL 2009. p.1293.
[/mme_databox]
How should I use the data above?
The purpose of the above data is purely informative. The key point is to understand that overfeeding can induce an excessive weight gain, which can lead to later complications. Allow your infant to stop eating if they seem to be full – you can notice, for instance, a lack of attention or turning away. Oppositely to what common sense believes, there is no evidence that giving cereals before bedtime allows a better sleep.
There is no need to monitor or keep a record of the diary intakes of every nutrient if your child is healthy and shows a good weight progression. The main points are to take your infant to the doctor if you notice a fail to increase weight (except during the first days of life, in which it is a normal occurrence) and to provide your child with a healthy feeding environment:
- Recognize your child’s progresses in terms of feeding skills;
- Respond adequately to hunger and fullness signs;
- Provide a relaxed setting, preferably at home.
Summary and Recommendations
- The frequency of breastfeeding is usually 8 to 12 times per day.
- Nutritional needs vary with age.
- Children have a ccity to self regulate the adequate intake of food, which can be disrupted by coercive feeding, restrictive feeding or other environmental factors.
- Overfeeding translates into overweight children, which leads t health problems.
- If you notice your child is not gaining weight, take her/him to see a doctor.
[mme_references]
References
- Section on Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics 2012; 129:e827.
- World Health Organization. The World Health Organization’s infant feeding recommendation.http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding_recommendation/en/ (accessed on April 10, 2013).
- Guthie HA. Introduction of solid foods – Part 2. Consequences of early and late timing. In-Touch 1998; 15:1.
- Kleinman RE. Learning about dietary variety: The first steps. Pediatric Basics 1994; 68:2.
[/mme_references]