Other Foods While Breast Feeding

Breast milk is the only food your baby will need until 4 months of age, although most

babies do well on breast milk alone for 6 months or better. There is really no advantage to adding other foods or milk before 4 - 6 months, except under unusual circumstances.

Water

Breast milk is over 90% water. Even on the hottest days of summer, a baby won't require any extra water. If a baby isn't feeding well, they still don't require any extra water – although they will need the breastfeeding problems to be fixed.

Vitamin D

Although breast milk doesn't contain much vitamin D, it does have a little. The baby will store up vitamin D during pregnancy, and remain healthy without any vitamin D supplementation unless you yourself had a problem with vitamin D deficiency when pregnant.

Exposure to the outside will give your baby vitamin D, even in winter and when the sky is covered. An hour or more exposure during the week will give your baby more than enough vitamin D.

Iron

Breast milk contains less iron than formulas do, especially those that are iron enriched. Iron will give the baby added protection against infections, as many bacteria need iron to multiply.

The iron found in breast milk is utilized well by the baby, while not being available to bacteria. The introduction of iron should never be delayed beyond the age of 6 months.

Generally, if you can, breast milk is the best that you can feed your baby, as it provides everything, they will need for probably the first 6 months. After the first 6 months, you can introduce solid foods to your baby if he is taking an interest in them.