Articles and Advice: Your Baby 6-12 Months

Month-by-Month: Your Baby’s First Year

We’ve created this guide to help you keep up with the enormous changes your newborn baby will be going through in the first months of childhood development. Use the Baby’s First Year section to learn about the stages of baby development, as well as what may be happening to your body after childbirth.

Diaper Decoder

Who knew baby poop could be so shocking? With so many different colours and consistencies, you might be wondering what’s normal and what’s not.

Supplementing Breastfeeding

Parents may have many reasons to choose to supplement breastfeeding with baby formula and bottle feeding.

Introducing Baby Formula

You have chosen to introduce your baby to bottle feeding but, as parents, want to be sure you are providing excellent baby nutrition. Similac Advance with omega-3 and omega-6 is our most advanced infant formula, closer than ever to breast milk.

Weaning baby off breast milk and introducing formula

Like all stages in child development, – and motherhood – weaning age varies from one baby to another. Whether it’s the mother or child who begins the process, various factors affect weaning: the child’s age and temperament, the mother’s feelings and the approach used.

Which Form of Baby Formula Should I Use?

Parents can find Similac baby formulas sold in 3 forms: Concentrated liquid, Powder, Ready-to-Use.

How to Prepare Baby Formula

General Information. 1. Wash your hands before preparing the baby formula.

Sterilization and Types of Water

Water used in the feeding of infants, in the preparation of infant formulas or other infant foods, or for drinking, must be safe (i.e. clean and free of microbiological and chemical contamination).

Warming the Milk

There is no nutritional reason to heat milk, but most babies prefer it lukewarm, the same as from the breast milk. But if your child doesn’t like cold milk, you can continue warming it up.

Storing Formula

RECOMMENDED STORAGE GUIDELINES FOR ABBOTT NUTRITION PEDIATRIC PRODUCTS.

When should I feed my baby?

Whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding, be sure to feed your baby on demand and not according to the clock.

How much should I feed my baby?

Parents may not always know about how much to feed their baby, since the amount of milk consumed varies widely from one baby to the next and from one day to another. At first your newborn baby will drink a small amount because his stomach is still very small. The amount will increase gradually.

Introducing Solid Foods

Your baby's doctor, nurse, or nutritionist will advise you about when you should begin offering infant cereals and strained baby foods and which foods to introduce, according to the individual needs of your baby.

Cereals

Iron-enriched baby cereals provide extra calories, starch, some vitamins, and minerals including iron, which helps prevent anemia. They are a preferred food until 24 months.

Fruits and Vegetables

You can start serving vegetables to your baby a few days after giving her cereal. Start on fruit next.

Meat

As with milk, meat provides protein, along with certain vitamins and minerals, particularly iron and zinc. The body easily absorbs iron from meat. Your baby needs a small amount of meat in her first year.

Flavours and Textures

Now that your baby has tasted food from all of the food groups, learning about the flavours and textures will be an important part of mealtime.

Solid Food Chart

Suggested schedule for introducing complementary food.

Milestone Chart: 7 to 12 Months

What to expect from your baby at this stage.

Why formula instead of cow's milk?

Whether you are breastfeeding or using formula, it is important to know that switching to cow's milk before the age of one year can put your baby at risk of developing iron deficiency anemia. Your baby's brain development is most rapid in the first two years of life and iron plays a key role as a nutrient.

Learning to Use a Cup

The transition to cup feeding is like most other developmental milestones, it takes time. We hope the information in this article will help you make the change more smoothly.

Fever

Fever is a symptom and not a diagnosis or a medical condition. The most common cause of a fever in children is an infection, mostly viral but in some cases bacterial.

Similac Advance Step 1 with Omega-3 and Omega-6

With Similac Advance enriched with Omega-3 (DHA) and Omega-6 (ARA), you can feel confident that you're providing a formula scientifically designed to support the healthy development of your little one, so you can enjoy the journey of life together.

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