Learning at the Table: Meal Time and Motor Skills

Learning at the Table: Meal Time and Motor Skills

March 4th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

From the very first time your baby starts to eat solid baby food, a new opportunity is created to learn and practice new and important motor skills. Meal time isn’t just about eating! It’s also an important part of your child’s development.

Starting Early

Even though your baby is nowhere near ready to feed himself when he first starts on solid foods, there is no reason you can’t let him have his own spoon right from the start. Bring two spoons to each feeding, one for baby to hold and one for you to feed him. Soon he will start trying to imitate what you are doing with the spoon, dipping it into the food and bringing it to his mouth. It will be messy, but your baby is laying the foundation for feeding himself while learning new motor skills.

Finger Foods

Somewhere around 8 months old on average, your baby will be ready to start self-feeding in earnest. The right place to start is with finger foods that dissolve easily in the mouth but are fairly easy to pick up. Small chunks of banana or the classic baby snack, Cheerios cereal, are great choices for first finger foods. Using the thumb and forefinger to pick up small items, also known as the “pincer grasp” is an important milestone and finger foods will help to develop the fine motor skills required.

The Right Tools for the Job

When your baby is ready to really use utensils, she will need her own fork and spoon. Look for utensils with thick, easy to grasp handles made of a non-slip material. Plastic forks are good for early practice, but they will soon frustrate your little one as they don’t work very well. Instead, look for a metal fork with rounded tines to avoid potential injury, but enough of a point to allow easy spearing of food. When choosing a spoon, try to find one that is not too flat and won’t spill easily. Utensils should be short, as anything too long will be difficult for little arms to maneuver.

Getting Started with Utensils

Learning to use a fork and spoon are a great chance to work on manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Although the spoon is the first utensil a baby encounters, most children will learn to use a fork faster, mainly because the food stays on the fork more easily than on a spoon. Start with an easy to spear food like small pieces of melon or pear. Place the fork in your child’s hand and guide her through the motions of spearing the food, and bringing it up to her mouth. You’ll be rewarded by the sight of her face lighting up with joy as she realizes she can eat just like you do!

Using a spoon requires even more skill than a fork. Learning the scooping and lifting motion to get food onto the spoon, and then the careful balance required to get the food all the way to the mouth are difficult tasks. Thick foods like oatmeal and yogurt are a great choice for learning this skill, as they will be less likely to spill off the spoon. Encourage your child to lean forward, towards the dish so that the spoon doesn’t need to travel so far.

The process of teaching your baby to self-feed can be messy, but remember that you are developing motor skills and life skills too!

Three Steps to Potty Success!

Three Steps to Potty Success!

March 3rd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Are you ready to take on potty training? Is your toddler ready to learn? If you can answer these two questions with a resounding yes, then it’s potty time!

Not sure if you should answer yes? Well, you are ready to go if you are prepared to be patient, stick with it, and deal with a few messes along the way. More important than your readiness, you need to be sure your little one has the ability to use the potty. Your toddler should be capable of recognizing when she has soiled her diaper, and should ask to be changed. She should also be able to pull her own pants down and up again, and should understand what the potty is for and how it works. Finally, it’s important that she is able to stay dry for a few hours at a time.

When you are sure it’s the right time to give it a try, there are a few easy steps you can follow to maximize your chances of success.

Step One: Get Ready!

Take your prospective big kid out with you to select the tools you will need. Let her have a say in choosing a potty. Start out with a potty chair rather than a training seat that fits over the toilet, as toddlers are more comfortable when their feet can touch the ground. You will want a potty that is easy to clean, offers a large splash guard if you have a boy, and is sturdy and comfortable. You can also let your toddler pick out her first big kid underwear. Use the shopping trip as a chance to get her excited about using the potty! Talk it up, and show her you are excited too!

Step Two: Let the Diapers Go

While it may seem like a good idea to let your toddler wear a diaper for long outings to avoid accidents, it unfortunately won’t be good for the learning process. Unless he sees the results of an accident, your toddler won’t learn anything from it. The best way to achieve faster potty success is to go cold turkey on the diapers and let him learn from each mistake, no matter how many there may be at first. The same rule applies to training pants. They are useful at naps and overnight as night training often takes longer, but don’t be tempted to use them during the day. By holding in those accidents, they will hold your child back from progress. Put the big kid underwear on right away from day one, and don’t look back.

Step Three: Try, Try Again!

It will take a while for your child to start recognizing the signs of needing to go, and telling you about it in time to make it to the potty. The best way for him to learn is to spend as much time on the potty as possible. This may mean putting him on the potty every 15-20 minutes the first day, and letting him sit there as long as he is willing. Try reading books or singing songs to keep him occupied. Every time you have a success, celebrate! Let him know what he did was a very good thing indeed, and you are proud of him. Eventually, he will make the connection, and start using the potty on command. When he has mastered this, you are in the home stretch.

These three simple steps are the keys to potty training success. Remember, it might take a while for your toddler to catch on, but it will happen if you are consistent and keep at it. And the trade-off for cleaning up a few accidents is a big one – never having to change a diaper again!

The Basics of Potty Training

The Basics of Potty Training

March 2nd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Every mother looks forward to the day when she will be free of diapers, but the thought of taking on potty training can scare even the bravest mother into grabbing another box of Pampers instead. Teaching your toddler to use the potty doesn’t have to be a scary proposition; just be sure your little one is ready, and have the right tools at your disposal.

Is Your Toddler Ready?

No matter how ready you are to ditch the diapers, potty training will only frustrate you both if your child isn’t ready to learn. These are some of the signs your toddler is ready:

  • Tells you when her diaper needs changing and shows discomfort with being wet
  • Stays dry for a few hours at a time during the day, wakes up from naps dry
  • Able to pull her pants up and down
  • Shows interest in using the potty, and understands what it is for
  • Can recognize the need to go

Choosing a Potty

Ready to train? Then it’s time to choose a potty. There are two potty options: small potty chairs that sit on the floor, and potty seats that fit over the toilet. Most experts recommend the potty chair to start. Toddlers learning to use the potty will be more comfortable if their feet can touch the floor, especially for bowel movements.

Potties offer many different features. Look for one with an easily removable container for waste that is also easy to clean. If you are training a boy, look for a large enough guard to keep urine from going over the seat and onto the floor. Some potties have a seat that comes off and can be used on the toilet. Others convert to step stools for hand washing. If possible, narrow down your choices and then let your child have a say in the final pick to help get her excited about using it.

The Final Touches

Before you sit your big kid down on the potty for the first time, there are a few more things you will need. Pick up some big kid underwear (again, you’ll find your little one more willing and excited if he can choose), some flushable wipes, and some potty-time entertainment such as new books. The day before you are ready to start, talk to your toddler about it, and explain what is going to happen and what your expectations are.

There are a number of different schools of thought on how to get a toddler to use the potty. Some parents use rewards such as small treats or a sticker chart. Others use heaps of praise. What all successful parents have in common are persistence, patience, and consistency.

It’s Potty Time!

When you are armed and ready, it’s time to sit your little one down on the potty. Don’t expect results right away. Give him a few minutes, and if there is nothing, try again soon. Set a short interval between attempts, fifteen to twenty minutes. If you are consistent and stick to the plan, it won’t be long before you are celebrating your first success! When he has an accident, express mild disappointment and move on. Remember that toddlers learn as much from accidents as they do from successes.

Potty training doesn’t happen overnight, and every child is a little different in how quickly they will catch on. Some kids will get it in a few days, and others may take a week or more. Don’t give up! Soon, your diaper days will be only a memory.

Talking to Your Baby: An Important Learning Tool

Talking to Your Baby: An Important Learning Tool

March 1st, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

The first sound that a baby recognizes is his mother’s voice. In the womb, it is the sound that is most frequently and easily heard. From birth, a newborn will respond readily to this familiar sound, and it has the power to soothe, comfort, and calm. As the baby grows, both parents’ voices also have the power to teach. Talking to your baby is the best and easiest way to encourage his language development.

Why Talking Matters

For most parents, talking to their baby comes naturally. Greeting him in the morning, encouraging him at new tasks, and even holding one-sided conversations are all things parents do without thinking. Eventually, the baby starts to talk back, first with simple sounds and then with more complex vowels and consonant combinations that will eventually become words. What most parents don’t realize is just how much impact they are having on baby’s language development, just by talking to him every day.

The Truth about Baby Talk

While you might feel a little silly using baby talk with your infant, it actually helps your child to learn language if it’s done the right way. You may have heard that using baby talk can be detrimental to language development. The truth is that it really depends on what you mean by the term “baby talk”. Some parts of what we know as baby talk are good for language development, and others are not.

It’s important when talking to your baby to use the proper words for things, so that he can learn them. Your baby may call his bottle a “baba”, but although it may be cute, you should continue to respond with the correct word to encourage him to learn it. It isn’t necessary to correct the improper pronunciation, but be sure that your child hears it pronounced correctly. When it comes to sentences, keep it simple or it will be difficult for an infant to pick up the words. Use short sentences with fewer words, and don’t say more than you need to at once.

When you hear the term baby talk, you probably think of speaking in a very sing-song cadence with a pitch that rises and falls. It may seem instinctive, but there’s good science behind it. Research shows that babies respond well to this tone, much better than monotone speech, and learn to recognize words better.

Labeling and Learning

The concept of pointing out and labeling objects when talking to babies isn’t a new one. Parents have been doing it since the birth of language. But recent research shows that there is a new dimension that can really help your child to pick up new words. In their recent bestseller NutureShock authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman reveal the concept of “motionese”. It’s a simple idea – just move each object around in the air while you name it, drawing her attention and keeping her focused on that object. This easy to use tip will help your baby pick up new words faster.

The authors of NutureShock also share research supporting the theory that how much you talk to your baby is just as important as what you say. The more you speak to her, the quicker language will develop. Furthermore, how much you respond to your baby’s vocalizations is important too! Respond to her attempts to communicate with you as much as you possibly can, and you will see, or rather hear, the results.

Talking to your baby is the most important tool any parent has to teach language and improve communication. With a basic understanding of what works and why, parents can maximize the effect of every spoken word.

Choosing the Right Books for Your Child

Choosing the Right Books for Your Child

February 28th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Reading books with your child is crucial to his development of language skills, and of course, literacy. But the children’s section at a bookstore or library can be daunting, with thousands of books to choose from. Luckily, there are a few simple things to look for based on your child’s developmental stage.

From Birth to Twelve Months

In the early months of life, babies are drawn to high contrast images and more than anything to human faces. Eyesight is still developing, and babies focus best at a distance of about a foot. Choose books with simple, large images with contrasting colors, especially black and white, and simple patterns. Books with a lot of close-ups of faces are a wonderful choice at this age.

After about 6 months old, your baby will start to interact a lot more with toys, people, and books too. In addition to wanting to touch books and turn pages, you will probably catch him chewing on books as well, as babies at this age explore the world with their mouths. Because your little one is now so hands – and mouth – on, look for sturdy board books that can withstand baby’s attention.

This age of learning by touch is the perfect time to introduce books with tactile features, such as a book about animals that offers fuzzy patches of fur for little hands to feel. Your baby will also start to recognize familiar images of things that are a part of his daily life, so books that include simple images of these things are a great choice.

With baby learning to sit up in the tub, this is also the age to check out bath books. Books made of waterproof materials, with simple stories and colorful images will make bath time as much about learning as it is about fun.

The Second Year

Around the time your baby smashes his first birthday cake, you will be noticing great strides in language and communication skills. At this age, the words in the book will start to become more important. Look for repetitive, rhythmic and rhyming text, and simple stories involving everyday things. Images are still important too! Look for colorful illustrations that help to tell the story, and that she can start to associate with the text.

As the second year of your child’s life unfolds, she will be learning at a very fast pace, and books are an important part of improving vocabulary skills. Books that have only a few words related to what is on the page will help her to recognize and learn the names for the objects pictured. It’s a great time to start a dialogue about the book by having her point out what she sees on the page.

Toddlers and Beyond

Further into the toddler years, your child will start to enjoy the story as much as the images. Understanding the text and being able to ask questions, point things out and even read along as familiar books are committed to memory, children at this age become truly active participants in reading. You will even start to catch her repeating the words to the story aloud while thumbing through the pages without your help. This is a great time to choose books with more involving stories. Books that address common childhood hurdles and fears are a good choice, and as her sense of humor develops, funny stories will be a hit.

Choosing the right books is not hard when you are aware of how age and development play a role in reading. With the wide selection available in bookstores and libraries, the possible choices are endless, and so is the fun you can have reading with your child. Still need a little help deciding? Take a look at this comprehensive list of the best books by age from Parents magazine.

How Reading Aloud Benefits Your Child

How Reading Aloud Benefits Your Child

February 27th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Reading is one of the most important things you can do with your child, and the list of benefits is long. By reading to your baby from early on, you will give him a head start on literacy and language skills as well as expose him to whole new worlds of knowledge. And on top of all this important learning, reading is also a wonderful chance to enjoy quality time together.

A Time for Bonding

Holding your child in your lap to read a book is important bonding time for both of you, and it will help to encourage a love of books and reading. Your baby will learn to connect reading with love and comfort, and he will look forward to the quiet time spent cuddled with you while enjoying a good story. Reading offers a one on one experience with your child that he will come to treasure, and develops a deep connection that will last a lifetime.

Developing Language Skills and Vocabulary

Reading aloud to your child introduces him to all the basics he needs in order to learn how to talk. Your child will hear new sounds, which will help him figure out how to pronounce these sounds and form them into words. While it might be a long time before you hear complete sentences from him, your baby is already picking up the concepts of sentence structure and grammar both from your speech and from the books you read aloud to him. Children who are read to are more likely to begin reading at a younger age, as they have developed a familiarity with and love for the written word, and have more advanced language skills.

Expanding Knowledge

You may not be able to take your child to visit a farm, to another country, on a cross-country journey by train, or sailing on the ocean. But with books, she can experience and learn all about these things right at home. Reading about a variety of topics gives her a wider knowledge base, which will serve her well later in life. Choosing the right books will also offer you the opportunity to teach your child about different cultures and places; this in turn sets the stage for teaching opportunities about diversity. This is one of the many ways in which books can help you to instill values and ethics in your child.

Preparing for School

Learning to read is a basic and necessary skill in school, and the better prepared your child is the stronger her chances of success. Reading to your child helps her to learn the most basic concepts of literacy, like being able to tell words from images on the page and knowing that the words go from left to right. Not only will she already have a good foundation for learning to read on her own, but she will also have learned to listen, as well as to sit still and pay attention. These abilities are all vital to your child’s academic success. Research has shown that children who are read to early do better not just in reading, but in all their studies.

Reading to your child is so important to her intellectual development that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends you read to your child daily from 6 months of age. However, there is no reason to wait until 6 months; you can start reading to your newborn right away. Even if your baby falls asleep, or is more interested in playing with the book or chewing on it than in reading it, making books a part of her day will set her up for a lifetime of literacy.

Great Ways to Encourage Your Toddler’s Independence

Great Ways to Encourage Your Toddler’s Independence

February 26th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

The toddler years are filled with many challenges for parents, and one of the toughest to deal with is often your toddler’s newfound sense of independence. The more a toddler grows, learns and accomplishes, the more he will develop his own opinions and a desire to do things his own way. While parents want to encourage self-sufficiency, toddlers are not always quite as ready for the world as they may think.

I Can Do It by Myself!

You might start to hear this phrase, or something quite similar, a lot from your toddler. Learning to do things for yourself is an important part of development, but toddlers are unable to understand the difference between what they can successfully (and safely) do without help, and what they still need assistance to accomplish.

Avoid the meltdown that will surely follow a flat out denial by trying to find some small portion of the task that is more manageable. Does your little one want to pour his own milk from a heavy jug? Suggest that he hold the cup steady on the table for you while you pour. Does he want to climb in and out of the tub on his own? Explain that the tub is slippery and you don’t want him to fall, but allow him to step in and out while holding onto you for support, rather than lifting him in and out. Small concessions will allow toddlers to feel they are doing things on their own, while still keeping it under control.

Learning Responsibility

Toddlers aren’t too young to have a few jobs around the house, and giving them tasks to accomplish will encourage independence and teach responsibility too. There are plenty of simple tasks a child as young as two can handle. Have your toddler carry his own dishes from the table to the sink. Teach him to throw his own clothes into the laundry hamper. If you have a family pet, make feeding the pet together a daily routine. Tasks like these will not only help your toddler feel like a big kid, they will also make him feel like he is an important part of the family.

Offering Choices

One of the most common ways toddlers assert their independence is through food, clothing and activities. A child who previously ate everything set in front of her will suddenly become a picky eater. She might refuse to wear her coat or shoes, and express strong opinions about the rest of her wardrobe as well. Convincing her to take a bath or get in the car takes a monumental effort. All of these things are common results of a toddler’s desire to gain some control over her environment.

Fortunately, many toddlers will respond to being offered a choice. It gives a feeling of control, and prevents power struggles. Keep the options to only a few, however, to prevent the decision making process from taking all day! Lay out two possible outfits for the day, and let your toddler choose between them. Before you make lunch, ask if she would prefer grilled cheese or chicken noodle soup. Taking a bath may not be optional, but you can still let your toddler feel she is involved in the decision making process by asking her if she would like bubbles or no bubbles, the blue towel or the red. The same goes for getting an unwilling toddler out the door. You could offer a choice of toys to take on the ride, or a choice of snacks to bring along.

It takes a little creativity and some understanding of what is going on in your toddler’s mind to find solutions that both allow your toddler to gain independence as well as keep parents sane. Remember that giving a little can go a long way, and you will be teaching your little one to make wise choices, recognize her limits, and also take on a little responsibility!

Healthy Diets Start Young

Healthy Diets Start Young

February 22nd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

If you want your child to grow up with optimum health and be eating a healthy diet as an adult, you must start early – even before he is born. Children are amazing to watch – they are tiny mirrors of their parents in many regards and often food is reflected through your children. If you are a healthy eater and your household contains healthy food items and mealtimes, it is likely your child will grow up in that environment and mimic it in his own home. On the contrary, if you feed your child fruits and vegetables while gorging on fast food yourself, you can count on him doing as you do – not as you say.

The Healthy Home

Rather than focusing on your child’s diet, focus on the diet of the home. In an ideal situation, your baby will make the transition to baby foods and then straight onto the foods you prepare for your family. If these are French fries and chicken nuggets, you’ll struggle substantially to meet the healthy diet goals you’d like to reach. Correct failings in your own diet first and your child will naturally benefit.

Infancy

During infancy, your child has limited options as to what foods to eat. Breast milk from a mother eating a healthy, balanced diet is best, but if that is not the right choice for a baby, a milk-based formula contains all necessary nutrients and supplements a baby needs for optimum growth. Other options such as soy-based formula and elemental formula might be the right option for children raised as vegetarians or with digestive and allergy troubles.

Solids

When your baby moves to solids, you have the first opportunity to truly affect his tastes and food choices later in life. Introduce solids slowly and then, as they are introduced, feed your baby a variety of foods from all food groups. As he is able to handle textures, move quickly to the table-food variety of fruits, vegetables and starches. Lentils and legumes are easily mashed and eventually make terrific finger foods.

Be sure your child is getting the right amount of formula up to his first birthday or beyond if warranted and full-fat milk is suitable for the dairy in his diet following formula. By one your child should be drinking plenty of milk, eating protein foods, consuming other sources of calcium, eating at least two or three servings of fruits and vegetables a day and eating plenty of whole grain carbohydrates. As your child will be eating table food at this point, it means you also should be eating this balanced diet on a daily basis.

Snacks and Sweets

The most trouble to a healthy diet comes not at mealtime, but at snack time. You’d have a hard time putting cookies beside broccoli on the dinner plate, but somehow it’s easy to hand a child a cookie for a snack. The cookie can reduce his appetite for healthy foods at mealtime and, with the limited appetites of young children, can reduce your opportunity for healthier options.

Children need snacks throughout the day, but they should be the same quality of food that you’d put on their plate at mealtime. Whole grain crackers, cookies made with oatmeal and raisins, and fruit or vegetable slices are all good choices – they will help you reach the nutritional requirements for your child each day instead of working against you.

Baby Food: Safe Food-handling Practice

Baby Food: Safe Food-handling Practice

February 22nd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Your baby has a very sensitive digestive tract and is not used to even the smallest amount of bacteria that might be lingering in your household. To protect your baby’s health, it is important to handle all food items and food stuff carefully.

Cleanse and Sterilize Feeding Equipment

All feeding equipment such as new spoons, cups, bottles and especially nipples, should be placed in boiling water for 3-5 minutes before use. You should also wash the items carefully, preferably in a high heat dishwasher setting to add additional sterilization. There are also ways to steam sterilize bottle components and other feeding utensils or breast pump parts in the microwave – look for special bags for exactly this purpose. In the case of latex components, such as bottle nipples, read the manufacturer’s instructions. It may very well be that you should be replacing those every three to six months to keep them safe for baby.

Keeping Formula Safe

Formula can be stored in an unopened container for long periods of time – look for the expiration date on the container to determine exactly how long. Once the formula is opened, however, ready-to-eat or condensed formula should be kept cold and used within 48 hours. Powdered formula can be opened at kept at room temperature, but be sure to keep the container’s lid on when it is not in use.

Always mix formula according to the instructions and measure carefully as estimating amounts can make the formula to thin or too thick. While not especially harmful to baby, thick formula can cause constipation and thin formula might not provide the adequate amounts of nutrition required.

After mixing a bottle, it can only be used for about an hour after baby has started eating. Waiting longer allows bacteria to grow and can be harmful. If the bottle is made and not actually fed to your baby, you can store it covered in the refrigerator for up to forty-eight hours. Do not store a bottle, even in the refrigerator that has been partially drunk.

Breast milk

If you pump breast milk, it can be stored at room temperature for up to six or eight hours, but four hours is a safe limit as room temperature can vary. Breast milk can be refrigerated for up to eight days, but for the best temperature settings, avoid storing the milk in the door of the fridge which experiences the most temperature fluctuations. Breast milk can be frozen in the top compartment of a refrigerator/freezer for three or four months and can last up to six months in a deep freezer. Again, avoid storing the milk in the freezer door. Once a bottle of breast milk has been started by your baby, it should be discarded in an hour or two.

Solids

When feeding solid baby foods, you can only use each container for two days once it has been opened. If you “double-dip” meaning you use a spoon in the container and then give it to your baby before returning it to the container, you’ve introduced bacteria to the food and should not use it for more than an hour. Throwing away every container you open after just an hour can be extremely wasteful, especially with younger babies who are just learning to feed. Prevent this by scooping out food from the container into a small cup and then storing the uncontaminated remainders of the container for a later feeding. You can then feed baby from the cup and not have to waste.

The Amount of Liquids Your Baby Should Be Drinking at Each Age

The Amount of Liquids Your Baby Should Be Drinking at Each Age

February 22nd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Babies begin life with a liquid diet of either breast milk, formula or a combination of the two. They should remain on an entirely liquid diet until around six months when solid solid foods are introduced gradually. By a year, your baby should be eating three meals and two snacks a day of table food and drinking milk as a supplement – not a meal. It’s a fast transition for both mother and child, and the most important part of ensuring a smooth transition is determining how much your child should be drinking over that first year.

Birth to Six Months

Breastfeeding

When you breastfeed your baby, you normally don’t have a gauge of how much your baby is actually eating other than the amount of time he spends on each breast. A session of breastfeeding, once established for both mother and child, should take ten to thirty minutes, but can be longer for any number of reasons. As a newborn, your baby might nurse eight to twelve times a day at any interval and this pattern can last up to six months of age.

Bottle Feeding

Formula takes a bit longer to digest, so babies typically wait a bit longer between feedings, and the amounts consumed can vary widely among babies. There is no average amount, but before the introduction of solids, your baby is likely drinking 16 to 32 ounces, or 460 to 940 mL, a day. Some babies drink more or less, and the best way to gauge if the amount is correct is to check your baby’s weight gain and growth over time. Your doctor will be doing this at every appointment.

A more numerical approach to the amount a child should be eating is offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics, -On average, your baby should take in about 2 1/2 ounces of formula a day for every pound of body weight.- This translates to 24 to 36 ounces of formula after four months for most babies.

Six Months to One Year

Around six months you will start introducing solid foods. During this period of introduction, the solid foods are a supplement to the milk-based diet, but over the remaining months, solid food will become the basis of your baby’s diet and he will be supplemented first by breast milk or formula and then by cow’s milk (unless you continue to nurse after this point.)

At six months your child will be nursing on demand or drinking close to 36 ounces of formula per day. This requirement should hold steady over the next few months as you increase his diet in solid foods. As solids become more proficient, milk will actually decrease until he is drinking only about two cups at his first birthday per day. The two cup requirement is an average and is the same for toddlers and young children of all ages.

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