What Else Do You Feed a Newborn When Breastfeeding?

If you're nursing a newborn, breast milk should be the only thing on his menu. Actually, when you're breastfeeding a newborn, you really don't have time to feed him anything else. Breast milk provides all the nutrition your baby needs; anything else simply decreases his appetite for nursing, which can hinder your milk supply. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding -- and nothing else -- for around the first six months of life.

The Importance of Frequent Nursing

Breast milk follows the laws of supply and demand: whatever your baby removes, your breasts will make the next day. To get your newborn baby to take more milk out, you need to give him many opportunities to nurse and stimulate your breasts. Nursing your newborn between eight and 12 times each day helps build up your milk supply. Giving him anything else to eat or drink decreases his interest in frequent nursing.

Formula

It's rarely a good idea to supplement breast milk with formula, unless your doctor or lactation consultant specifically suggests it. In the newborn period, giving your baby bottles -- which require much less effort from your baby -- can lead to refusal to nurse, because he doesn't want to have to work harder for his food. If you do have to supplement with formula, talk to a lactation consultant about using methods other than a bottle, such as using an eyedropper, a spoon, a medicine cup or other method that won't cause nipple confusion and decrease your baby's sucking drive. Wait at least one month before giving your baby a bottle or even a pacifier, Kids Health suggests.

Water

Newborns don't need supplemental water, despite what your mother or grandmother might tell you. There's plenty of water in breast milk -- water makes up around 88 percent of breast milk, according to international board-certified lactation consultant Kelly Bonyata. Drinking water can fill your baby up so he doesn't want to nurse. Too much water can also cause oral water intoxication, a potentially serious condition that dilutes your baby's sodium levels and can cause seizures, the St. Louis Children's Hospital warns. If you do offer your baby water, give him no more than two to three ounces at a time and only after he's nursed first.

Solid Foods

It's tempting to listen to friends or relatives who suggest giving your newborn cereal or other solid foods to help him sleep through the night. But this logic is flawed on several levels. Solids won't help your baby sleep longer; he has a tiny stomach and needs to eat every two to four hours to grow. Studies such as one conducted by the Cleveland Clinic and published in 1998 in the "American Journal of Diseases of Children" show babies as young as four weeks old given cereal don't sleep any longer when cereal is added to their diet. Cereal in a bottle can present a choking hazard.