An Alternative to Breastfeeding

 There is agreement among healthcare professionals, infant food manufacturers and mothers that breastfeeding is the best choice for feeding infants during their first four to six months of life.

But, there are several reasons why a mother may not breastfeed her baby:

• • Medical or other health reasons may prevent a mother from breastfeeding.
• • Working outside the home makes it more difficult to breastfeed exclusively, especially if there is no support at her workplace for her to either bring her baby or to express and store her milk.
• • Choosing not to breastfeed for personal reasons, either from the birth of the baby or after breastfeeding for a short while, which is a mother's prerogative.

If you cannot, or choose not to, breastfeed your baby, you need to find a safe alternative to breast milk. Infant formulas are an ideal choice because they are manufactured to strict standards of hygiene and formulated according to recognized international nutritional standards.

But infant formula is the safest alternative only if the mother or care giver is educated on the importance of using sterile utensils, boiling the water, washing their hands, and using the exact proportions of water and formula. Proper preparation and storage can make the difference between a healthy or sick baby and even saving a baby's life.

To ensure that infant formula prepared at home is safe, follow these precautions:

• • Choose a clean area to prepare the formula.
• • Always wash your hands thoroughly with clean water and soap before handling the items required for formula preparation and when mixing formula.
• • When preparing formula, always use safe, clean drinking water as well as clean and boiled bottles and utensils.
• • Cool boiled water to body temperature before mixing. Prepare one bottle at a time-accordingly to label instructions-and feed immediately.
• • Always start each feeding with a freshly prepared bottle of formula. Do not save unfinished bottle feeds.

In summary, you need to be consistently and meticulously careful or your baby may become ill from dirty water, bottles, nipples or unsanitary conditions in the preparation area.

Here are a few other "don'ts":

• • Do not give ordinary cow or goat's milk to your baby for the entire first year. This milk does not meet your baby's vitamin and mineral needs and has a high level of protein that is hard for your baby to digest, straining your baby's immature kidneys.
• • Take into consideration that evaporated, condensed and sweetened condensed milks are too strong for infant's and need to be diluted. Also, that ordinary milks or milk powders are nutritionally unbalanced for an infant's needs and should be mixed carefully according to your health care professional's recommendations. * Avoid gruels made from cassava, rice, maize or other plants, which are totally unsuitable breast-milk substitutes for infants less than 4 months old. They don't have the proper nutrition and can cause choking if there are any solids in them.

Note: These feeding tips are general in nature. Be sure to check with your health care provider concerning any questions you may have about feeding your infant.