Things You Can Do

Tips for Bottlefeeding
• Hold your baby closely, look at her and talk lovingly.
• Hold the bottle, don’t prop it.
• Use only breastmilk or a formula recommended by your doctor.
• You can also put water in the bottle, but don’t use carbonated soft drinks or juice. They can cause tooth decay.
• Always follow the directions to make formula.
• Don’t microwave the bottle. The liquid can get too hot and burn your baby. Warm the bottle in hot water. Test the temperature of the liquid on your wrist.
• Don’t put cereal in the bottle. It can choke your baby.
• Don’t let your baby sleep with a bottle in her mouth. The dripping liquid can cause choking, tooth decay and ear infections.
• At about 6 months, begin offering liquids from a cup. Begin weaning your baby from the bottle at about a year.

Feeding Your Baby Safely
• Don’t give honey to babies less than a year old. It can cause infant botulism poisoning.
• To help prevent food allergies, don’t give cow’s milk, goat’s milk, egg whites or nuts until your baby is a year old.
• Wash fruits, vegetables and containers carefully to protect your baby from germs and pesticides.

To Prevent Choking
• Cut food into small pieces and remove bones, seeds and pits.
• Avoid food in round shapes. Cut hot dogs in strips and grapes into fourths.
• Avoid hard or chewy foods, like raw carrots, nuts, popcorn, dried fruit or tough meat.
• Make sure your baby is seated before you feed him.
• If your baby chokes, he can’t make noise to get your attention. So watch him while he is eating.

To Get Extra Food
The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program provides coupons for healthy food for you and your baby. See if you qualify. Call WIC Works or Mother and Infant Health. Visit www.wicworks.ca.gov.