What goes in

Whether you nurse your baby or use formula, feeding time is one of the most pleasant experiences of an infant's early life. Both of you should be in a comfortable chair in a calm, relaxed setting. Your baby should be warm and dry so that he or she is comfortable. Hold your baby close to you. Reclining on your lap with his or her head slightly raised and resting in the bend of your elbow is the most common position.

Babies eat more and sleep better afterward if they are fed when they are really hungry. But unlike adults, infants are not always hungry to the same degree at each feeding. As it turns out, most babies are hungry from two to five hours after the last feeding, at least for the first few weeks. Understanding this, parents are wise to avoid the practice of offering a baby an ounce or two of milk, or five minutes or so at a breast, every hour or two through the day and night or every time he or she cries. If this is done, it usually results in a baby who is never really hungry or satisfied. To break this cycle, it may be necessary to put off a feeding until at least two to three hours after the last one.