A baby is born! An event in the life of a mother and a father, not to mention grand parents! The little thing sleeps, eats, sleeps, eats. Allowing the new born child to sleep is easy, however, often a mother may not be sure what to feed him. Any mom will often ask herself: “how can my baby receive the best nutriton?”

According to the Manual of Clinical Dietetics¹, a new born baby should be breastfed as soon as possible after delivery up until he is 6 months old. No food or water other than breastmilk should be given to a young infant. When the baby is 6 months old or a month or two sooner depending on his developmental readiness, foods can then be introduced while breastfeeding continues. Breastmilk is supperior to infant formula and is highly recommended since it is uniquely designed for the baby. In an ideal scenario, a baby is breastfed up until he is 2 years old.

Mothers can also wonder; “what should the first foods given to my 6 months old baby be like?” Since the infant’s iron stores start to deplete around 6 months old, a high in iron food is recommended, for example, an iron fortified rice infant cereal. Pureed or mashed single vegetables or fruits can then be given. Introduction of diced food such as fish, poultry, cooked egg yolk should gradually follow between the ages of 6 to 9 months old. Since egg white can potentially be allergenic, its introduction should be delayed after the baby is one year old. Also, due to the infant’s sensitive and prone to infection digestive system, raw foods are to be avoided.

However, are these feeding practices maintained in Lebanon? What are the practices held in our mediterranean country? The American University of Beirut’s Department of Nutriton and Food Sciences conducted two studies^2,3 on the Lebanese breastfeeding practices. In a study conducted on 830 mothers², 18% of the mothers reported breastfeeding their infant within half an hour of delivery, 56% stated that they initiated breastfeeding within one hour and 21% stated that they initiated breastfeeding a few days after delivery. Around 5% of Lebanese mothers reported never breastfeeding their baby. The hospital policies seem to also influence breastfeeding practices³: when an infant was brought to the mother every 3 hours or less as well as at night, the mother was found 2.5 to 3 times more likely to initiate breasfeeding within a few hours after delivery. Knowing that breastmilk has numerous immunological and physiological benefits to the infant and the mother, these results are positive. Unfortunately, mothers in Lebanon were found in these studies to start introducing foods too early! 48% of the mothers interviewed had already introduced foods other than breastmilk while the infant was still 1 month old! The duration of breastfeeding was also found to be short. Some of the factors associated with exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding were the mother’s level of education, whether she had a job and whether she resides in an urban or a rural area. For example, rural mothers in Lebanon were found to breastfeed for a longer duration.

As a conclusion, most Lebanese mothers initiate breastfeeding shortly after delivery, however, it seems that complementary foods are given to the babies too soon! More studies are needed to shed a light on the exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding. Professors, the floor is yours!