Feeding Your Baby

Settling into a routine with a new baby can be difficult for all parents, and decisions on how best to feed a new baby are important. At Blossom we support the advice that, where possible, breastfeeding should be your first choice when it comes to feeding your baby.

Research shows that although any amount of time spent breastfeeding is good for your baby, breastfeeding for six months may be protective against some allergies developing, although this has not yet been proved conclusively.

It is thought that breastfeeding offers such protection because, as well as containing all the nutrients a baby needs, breast milk also contains antibodies from your immune system. Since the immune system plays a central part in allergy, by breastfeeding your baby, you may not only be protecting him or her from illness but from allergy development as well.

Breastfeeding is known to be such an important part of preventative healthcare that it is generally promoted by midwives and other organisations concerned with baby health. The National Childbirth Trust can give advice about breastfeeding and can support you in continuing to breastfeed for as long as you decide is right for you and your baby.

Your midwife and health visitor will also be able to help and they can refer you to lactation specialists. If you wish to breastfeed your baby but experience difficulty it is important to use all of this support while you try to establish a breastfeeding routine that works for you and your baby.

The goal of breastfeeding for six months is ideal, but only a minority of children (20 to 30% in many studies), will attain this. For some women, and their babies, breastfeeding is not a viable option.

Some women choose not to breastfeed, and some cannot breastfeed successfully. Some women who find that either the baby is not satisfied with being solely breastfed, or cannot breastfeed exclusively due to lifestyle restrictions, find that partially breastfeeding and supplementing with top-up formula feeds works for them.

If you are not breastfeeding your baby, and your family is at a high risk of allergy, then there are steps you can take to try to reduce the risk of your baby developing an allergy even while using formula feeds.

The Pregnancy and the First Year booklet provides comprehensive information on the different types of formula milk available, plus what to do when your child needs weaning, and a feeding plan of when to introduce the different solid foods. For more information on how to receive this and subsequent booklets click here.