How to understand that the mixture is not suitable for the child

Everyone knows that the best nutrition for a baby of the first year of life is breast milk. This is especially true for the first six months, when the baby can not eat any other food. However, a woman does not always have the opportunity to breastfeed her baby. Health problems in which you need to take medications that are incompatible with lactation, the absence of the mother next to the baby, and the banal lack of milk leads to the fact that breast milk needs to be replaced with something.

It is a great happiness that we live in times when there are special adapted infant formulas that are as close as possible to breast milk. They also contain vitamins and minerals necessary for the baby. But sometimes the mixture may not be suitable for the baby, because it is, after all, not mother’s breast milk. Some components of the mixture can cause an allergic reaction in the child, indigestion, or unprecedented colic. How to understand that the mixture is not suitable for the child?

How to choose a mixture for a child

If for some reason you decide to transfer the child to artificial feeding, do not rush to do it yourself. First you need to contact your pediatrician. He, knowing the features of your child’s body, will select the most optimal baby food that is right for you. At the same time, I want to note that it is rarely possible to choose the right mixture the first time. We have to try the products of more than one manufacturer to find the best. So, how to choose a mixture for a child?

1. Mixtures can be physiological or therapeutic. The physiological mixture is intended only for nutrition and satiety of the child. But the treatment is able to correct some malfunctions in the child's body.
2. If after using this or that mixture a child develops a rash on the child’s body, the baby may be prone to allergies. In this case, you should try to use the mixture marked "ON", which means hypoallergenic product.
3. Some babies suffer from lactose intolerance, such crumbs need a lactose-free or low-lactose mixture. Lactose intolerance is the absence in the child's body of a certain enzyme that helps process lactose. As a result, the baby appears bloated, gas, colic, stool can become very liquid, dysbiosis is diagnosed. However, the big mistake is to completely transfer the child to lactose-free food. In this case, in his intestines, enzymes for digesting lactose are completely refused to work. To stabilize the condition of the child and accustom him to lactose, you can replace the mixture with low-lactose or a mixture with lactase - it is much easier to digest it.
4. It happens that the child’s body does not tolerate cow protein, in this case, you need to find the manufacturer of the infant formula, the products of which will say “Soya”.
5. When choosing a mixture for a child, pay attention to the criterion of age. Usually the infant formula is divided into food for up to six months, up to a year and after the first year of a child's life. The first formula or mixture intended for feeding babies of the first six months of life is repeatedly saturated with vitamins and minerals that are involved in the formation of the child’s immunity. In the first six months, the child’s kidneys do not work at full capacity, giving the excess moisture to the baby is not worth it. That is why the mixture is quite concentrated in nutrients. But the mixture, designed for babies after 6 months, helps them make up for the lack of energy due to an increase in motor activity. After a year, you need to drink the third formula of the mixture, which helps strengthen the immune system and normalize the intestines. When choosing a mixture for your child, be sure to consider his age.
6. If the child suffers from constipation or diarrhea, you need to choose fermented milk mixtures that colonize the intestines with beneficial bacteria and normalize its work. You do not need to use them constantly - this can provoke frequent child regurgitation. But you can alternate nutrition or mix sour-milk mixtures with fresh nutrition.
7. Children who often spit up a lot are shown antireflux mixtures. They include components that, getting into the stomach, increase their viscosity and density. This complicates the process of regurgitation, so the child will finally be able to get all the nutritional properties.
8. There are special mixtures for premature babies. If your baby was born prematurely, use just such products - they are aimed at the early formation and development of the body, at gaining body weight.
9. When choosing a mixture, do not forget to pay attention to the shelf life of the product - in no case give your baby an expired diet. In addition, the pack of each mixture indicates the period during which the product is safe for use after opening. Do not neglect this date. On the expired mixture, you can cook pancakes, but you can not give it to the child in any case.
10. Equally important in the selection of the mixture is its cost. Usually a mixture in the budget of a young family is one of the main items of expenditure. The fact is that the child eats a lot, you will need to stock up on the mixture often, so when choosing baby food, pay attention to this item.

Breastfeeding counselors say you don’t need to immediately give up breast milk. If you are afraid that the baby is not eating up and remains hungry, try organizing mixed feeding. That is, first of all, give the baby the breasts - let him empty it as much as possible. After the baby begins to turn his head and often break away from his chest, you can offer to feed him out of the bottle. Firstly, you can feed your baby at least a little breast milk (which is very important for his health). Secondly, this approach is more practical, because the mixture is consumed more economically. Thirdly, you can establish close contact with the baby during short breastfeeds.

How to understand that the mixture does not fit the baby

Start with a small dose of a new product. That is, dilute one spoon of the new mixture, according to the dosage. Dilute two spoons the next day and so on. If nothing bothers you, you can feed the baby with this mixture. However, there are some signs that suggest that the mixture is not suitable for the baby.

1. If there are problems in the intestines - gas, bloating, constipation, loose stools of unusual color. It is very important to distinguish physiological colic from those that occurred as a result of the use of the product. Everyone knows that because of the imperfection of the digestive system in babies, colic appears even on breastfeeding. Usually they appear at a certain time of day. Colic from the mixture will be regardless of the time of day, often an hour after a meal.
2. If the child becomes unusually capricious, tearful, if he cries when pressing on his stomach, then his tummy hurts. Sometimes this happens when you get used to the new mixture. However, if such a condition persists in the child for more than three days, this nutrition did not fit the baby.
3. I would also like to say about the color of the feces of the child. Some mothers worry that after eating a new mixture, the baby's feces become greenish. Pediatricians say that the feces of an artificial child can be of any color. It is important to pay attention to other factors - the child’s mood and well-being, lack of colic and bloating. If only green stool bothers you, but otherwise the baby feels well - do not worry, this is a normal option.
4. Physiologically, the child dares the right to regurgitate.To reduce the number of regurgitation, you need to keep the baby upright after eating for some time. However, if the baby spits up after eating more than three times and the volume of the released product is close to the volume of the drunk mixture, this should alert you. This behavior is also a sign of intolerance to a particular mixture.
5. If earlier the child’s stool was without white blotches, and after eating a new product, these blotches appeared, this may be a sign of indigestion.
6. Any allergic rash is the first and most obvious sign that the mixture did not fit the baby. However, be careful at the same time - at this age, contact allergy may appear - for detergent, synthetics, etc.
7. If the child has not gained due weight gain in the last month, if the baby has stopped in the development of growth - this is a sign of non-assimilation of the product. Perhaps the nutrients that are in the mixture are not absorbed or absorbed by the body. In this case, the mixture must be changed as quickly as possible.

In this case, it is very important to understand how the child looks and behaves, to whom the mixture came up. He sleeps well and for a long time, does not suffer from gas jets, his skin is clean and even. The child's stool is homogeneous, happens at approximately equal intervals. If after the next acceptance of the mixture in front of you just such a picture - rejoice, you have found a mixture that finally came to your crumbs.

When a child appears in the family, mom and dad are ready to do everything so that he does not get sick, feels good, grows and develops. However, not always nature provides us with this opportunity. Lack of breast milk in the mother is not a tragedy. It is possible to feed a child and saturate his body with vitamins using a mixture. The brand or brand is not important here. You need to choose the mixture that your child will like. And you can understand his feelings by the reaction of the child's body.

Video: which mixture to choose for your baby