The Life of an Infant

The life of an infant

During the first year of a child's life, the rate of growth and development is more rapid than any other time in their life. They will double their weight during the first 4-5 months and maybe triple their weight by the end of their first year. The most important thing though for infants is what we might call "a little Tender Loving Care." Without TLC, an infant's growth and development could have some serious consequences, even if they're receiving all the nutrients they need. In this paper I will discuss meeting infants nutritional needs, preparation of formulas, what to do and not do at feeding time, the developmental and physiological readiness of a child when introduced to semi-solid foods, and some feeding concerns.

The Health, Safety, and Nutrition for the Young Child textbook mentions that infants nutritional needs during the first year are high, while the volume capacity of an infant's stomach is small. According to the textbook, new born needs 45-55 calories/pound daily, but by 6 months they only need 40-45. Prenatal care also needs to be considered when discussing nutritional needs of an infant. The book mentions that infants at high risk for Low Birth Weight and problems tend to come from teenage mothers. They mention Women Infant Child (WIC), which is a program that provides food supplies for pregnant mothers, infants, and children up to the age of 5. The program was designed to reduce prenatal problems, and seems to be achieving their goal. The last thing that the textbook mentions in nutritional needs of an infant is the preparation of the formula. The first thing they say to do is to sanitize the bottles by using aseptic procedures, so that there won't be any serious illnesses that might result from bacteria introduced into the formula. Secondly, they say that the formulas should be accurately measures and mixed. If there is too much water added to the formula it could dilute the formula, and if too little, it could "over...