6 Week Milestone
6 WEEKS and smiling!
VITAMIN D
Current CDC recommendations are for all infants to receive 400 IU of vitamin D unless they are consistently drinking at least 32 oz of formula per day. It is the only supplemental vitamin babies need.
In fact, “vitamin D” is not really a vitamin; it’s a hormone that our bodies can make with enough daily direct sunlight exposure on bare skin. However, we should protect ourselves (and especially our babies) from direct sunlight to prevent burns and increased risk of skin cancer. Especially at northern latitudes, and especially for dark-skinned infants who have higher levels of melanin to block UV light absorption, Vitamin D supplements are necessary to ensure healthy bone and teeth formation. You can learn more on our post about Vitamin D and other vitamins while breastfeeding (including information about how maternal levels of Vitamin D transfer through breast milk) on our Tips & Tools page.
GROWTH
Your baby should be growing consistently; the following guidelines are a good reference, but remember your baby didn’t read the guidelines and may be following their own growth track.
Baby boys older than one month usually gain 1/3–2/3 lbs (5–11 oz) per week and double their birth weight between 3 and 5 months.
Baby girls older than one month usually gain 1/4–1/2 lbs (4–8 oz) per week and double their birth weight between 4 and 6 months.
POOP
After about a month of age, we use a baby’s growth, not output, as evidence of adequate nutrition. Your baby’s digestive tract and gut flora mature rapidly in the first month of life. Many babies start pooping less frequently after one month of age…in fact, some older exclusively breastfed babies poop only 1-2 times a week! This demonstrates how thoroughly digestible human milk is for your baby. Read more here.
BOTTLE FEEDING
If your baby is exclusively breastfed and you want them to take a bottle, now is the time to introduce it. Read more here about timing and strategies for introducing a bottle to a breastfed baby.
If your baby is formula fed, they probably have bottle feeding down. Here are a few reminders about bottle feeding:
Always hold your baby while bottle feeding
Don’t prop the bottle, lay your baby down to sleep with the bottle, or put anything other than formula (mixed by the instructions on the can) or human milk in the bottle.
Maintain eye contact with your baby while they are feeding. For a baby, eating isn’t just about getting fed—it’s about bonding, too.
Babies have meals and snacks just like we do, and they won’t always take the same amount each time.
Hold the bottle in a “gravity-neutral” position so your baby can eat at their own pace, take breaks, and take as much or as little as they need. Check out our bottle feeding blog post and downloadable bottle feeding guide for more information.
DISCLAIMER: We know when you surf the web for information, you can get conflicting results, and it’s not easy to know whether you are finding evidence-based, high quality recommendations. That’s part of our job here at Kodiak KINDNESS; we are here to support your informed decisions about infant feeding through your baby’s first year. We’ve done some background work, and to the best of our knowledge, this post reflects current best practices. However, the information contained in this post and any links contained herein is for your informational use only; it is not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Furthermore, Kodiak KINDNESS is not responsible for the accuracy of any information contained in this post or links contained herein; it is for you to review at your own risk and discuss, as needed, with your health care professional in order to make a plan that suits your individual circumstances.