Nutrients every newborn needs.
Just like other babies, your baby also goes through many periods of growth and changes in the first year of life. In fact, they are developing at such a fast pace, that they require more nutrients as compared with a full grown person.
To support brain health, strong bones, and a healthy immune system, they’ll need plenty of nutrients. While most parents are aware of vitamins and minerals like calcium, iron, and vitamin C that are very important for your baby, most parents are not aware about the role of these nutrients in the development of the baby.
Here are some very surprising facts about nutrients your newborn needs, and how you can make them a part of your baby’s diet).
Essential nutrients required by every newborn – A simple Checklist.
Iron and Hemoglobin F
Hemoglobin is an important part of red blood cells because it transports oxygen throughout our body. While adult people have hemoglobin A, most of the newborns are born with hemoglobin F.
As compared with Hemoglobin A, Hemoglobin F can carry and transfer higher amounts of oxygen when a baby is developing inside a mother’s womb, because of Hemoglobin F the developing fetus gets enough oxygen that is required for their proper growth.
Even after the birth of the baby, Hemoglobin F lasts in the baby’s body for around another six months, after six months the baby has more hemoglobin A in their body, and the reliance on Hemoglobin F ends.
To make iron the baby’s body makes use of a lot of hemoglobin, including hemoglobin A. This is one of the main reasons why a baby’s iron quantity in their body can sometimes drop after entering into seventh month.
To get rid of this deficiency, babies need plenty of iron for a proper growth, in many cases it is impossible for them to get that their mother’s through breast milk.
Sometimes, doctors will recommend iron supplements, eating iron-fortified cereal, or some kind of formula supplement to ensure the baby gets enough of this important mineral.
Babies also need optimum iron quantity in their body to prevent the symptoms like weakness, fatigue, and irritability.
Vitamin K
When your baby is born, the doctors will provide them with a shot of vitamin K. While this may seem unusual to the parents, vitamin K is an important nutrient because it prevents the likelihood for any kind of brain bleeding.
The main purpose of this nutrient is to promote blood clotting in the body of a infant, making it a very important nutrient. As your baby gets older, vitamin K-rich foods like spinach, soybeans, blueberries, and raspberries can provide the required amounts of vitamin K.
Zinc’s Link to Iron
From the information provided above, now you already know why your little one needs iron to grow. But zinc is another important mineral your baby needs.
First, zinc helps into the prevention of diarrhea in the baby, and all the parents who had to deal with a Poo-Splosion can appreciate zinc for that.
Zinc also helps in building the much needed immune system cells. The good news about zinc is that most iron-containing foods include good amount of zinc too.
That’s a bonus for you when you’re trying to find foods for your little one.
Vitamin D and Calcium
Vitamin D and calcium are two nutrients that go together very well in the development of the baby, and the body of a growing child absorbs these minerals very easily, and in high quantities.
Your newborn needs calcium to build strong bones, and teeth when it is the right time to come out.
Vitamin D also promotes bone growth and prevents the baby from rickets, a medical condition that causes the bones to become weak.
The good news is that both breast milk (in most cases) and formula foods always contain the required amount of these much needed nutrients.
However some breastfed babies may not get enough vitamin D.
In such cases, the parents should consult with their child’s pediatrician immediately; they will recommend the right liquid supplement that can be easily mixed into a bottle of breast milk.