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New parent information

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General nutrition guidelines

Children’s eating habits
Based on research and experience, here are some facts about children’s eating:

Children will eat
They are capable of regulating their food intake
They generally react negatively to new food but will usually accept them with time and experience
Parents influence their child’s eating habits

How often to eat
Babies need to feed on demand. Toddlers and preschoolers [...]

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Food for baby’s first year

Suggested times for adding new foods. For more information, talk with your nutritionist, nurse or doctor.

Newborn
Feed child breast milk or iron-fortified formula; do not feed juice, water, pop, etc.

4 – 6 Months
Provide child with infant cereal (choices are rice, oat or barley)

5 – 7 Months
Feed vegetables and fruits either strained or blended, and fruit juice

6 [...]

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Information about breast and bottle feeding

Breast milk is the best milk for your baby. Pediatricians recommend breastfeeding until you baby is a year old. Breast milk, iron-fortified infant formula or a combination of both should make up the main food for your baby for the first year.
Advantages of breast feeding:

Human breast milk is the perfect food for your baby. [...]

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Infant Brain Development: How parents and caregivers can nurture positive brain development

Give consistent loving care.
If a child is raised in a loving setting, they will learn to love. Children who are ignored or not nurtured will not fully develop all areas of their brains.
Touch infants.
In research with infants, it was shown that gently massaging premature infants three times per day for 15 minuts helped them gain [...]

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The first 6 weeks

0-6 Weeks
General Infant Behavior

Sleeps about 16 hours/day, in small increments, at one month
Lack of mobility; movements are reflexive
Sucking ability
Frequent eating
Pattern of repeated crying at a certain time every day may indicate colic (contact doctor)
Draw attention by crying
Can see objects that are about 10 inches away; vision is not fully developed yet

Positive Parenting Practices

Handle infant often [...]

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6 Weeks to 5 Months

6 Weeks – 3 Months
General Behavior

Awake for longer periods, and sleeps 4-10 hours/night
Easier and more frequent smiling
Beings to notice own hands
Attracted to objects of bright colors and distinctive patterns, and is now able to grasp items
Shorter periods of fussiness (crying) can be expected
Begins to smile at people, coos
Follows moving objects with eyes
Turns head towards sound
Sucks [...]

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5-14 Months

5 – 8 Months
General Behavior

Sits up
Reaches for objects
Responds to sounds
Some children may sleep through night, but varies greatly
Fear of strangers
Fascinated with faces, preferably parents’
Feels, shakes, and bangs things
Repeats actions that have interesting results
Development of vision peaks at 8 months
May take 2-3 naps a day
May be getting first teeth (drooling and biting everything)

Positive Parenting Practices

Continue to [...]

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14 Months – 3 Years

14 Months – 2 years
General Behavior

Beginning to use spoon; may have difficulting inserting spoon into mouth
Beginning to speak, putting words together
Solves problems
Shows pride in accomplishments, likes to help
Begins to play with others
May have temper tantrums
Asserts independence but strongly prefers familiar people; may be shy around unfamiliar people
Recognizes ownership of objects (i.e. “mine”)
Begins to understand what [...]

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3-5 Years

3 – 5 years
General Behavior

Active and curious explorer
Gains independence (likes to feed and dress self but may need assistance)
Unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy (enjoys make-believe, dressing up and imaginary playmates)
Develops some fears (dark, storms, animals); child needs comfort and reassurance, and should not be ridiculed
Concept of time is limited; difficulty understanding “wait for [...]

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