Is It Safe To Give Supplementary Diet For A 2 Month Old. Any Suggestion?

Posted on Thu, 6 Dec 2012

Question: My baby is 2 months and 3 weeks old. I will be joining back work from Monday, I would like to introduce a supplementary food apart from breast milk. I would be able to feed him breastmilk during the working hours too, but I would like to have a supplementary diet in case of an emergency. What is the suggestion?

Answered by Dr. Jasvinder Singh (1 hour later)

Hello,
Thanks for posting this query.

I can understand your concern. Breast feeding is the best feed for your baby and till 6 months of age, no supplementation other than breast milk is required for a baby. Breastfeeding to your baby is very essential at least for six months and it becomes more beneficial if mother can feed her baby up to one year. So even if you are working and are able to breast feed then you should breast feed the baby.

However for emergency, first option would be to extract breast milk with a breast pump and store it for emergency use. You should take enough care to store your breast milk in insulated container. Normally, breast milk can keep in good condition at room temperature for four to six hours. If you keep in refrigerator, then you can use it for three to five days.

You need to worry about storing milk at-least for six months. When your baby gets six months old, you can start formula milk as supplements to your milk. At daytime you can give him formula milk and during night you can give him breast milk.

Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.

Wishing you good health.

Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar