weighed and measured on a regular basis. It is ideal to weigh a child once a month during the first year of life, older children do not need to be weighed as frequently. A steady weight gain each month indicates that a child is growing normally and healthily, and probably getting an adequate diet.

Your doctor or the Health Clinic, will record your child's height and weight on a growth chart to determine if he is at an appropriate height and weight for his age. If your child's growth curve on the chart follows an upward direction, he is gaining weight and growing well. If the curve is flat he is not gaining weight and if the curve slopes downward your child is losing weight. When your child is not growing well, he may not be getting an adequate diet or he may be ill.

So keep a check on your child's weight. A baby will gain between five to eight ounces a week up until six months of age, at which time he will have doubled his birth weight -- weight gain then slows to about a pound per month until one year, reducing to half a pound per month in the second year of life. If you are concerned about his weight discuss it with your doctor and ask to see the nutritionist if you have any feeding concerns.

As we mentioned last week, breastmilk is the ideal for an infant and and provides the sole source of nourishment for the first six months of life.

Breastmilk or formula will provide all the nourishment your baby needs until he weighs 13 to 16 pounds. There is no rush to introduce solid food to his diet -- in fact the longer you can wait the better.

No matter what you have heard, feeding cereal or introducing solids early have little effect on whether your infant will sleep through the night.

Infants have small stomachs and need to be feed often. Once an infant weighs 10 to 12 pounds he can usually consume enough milk at one feed so he can sleep for up to six hours at a time.

By six months of age baby's iron stores have run out, consequently, iron fortified infant cereal is the first solid food to be introduced. Start with one teaspoon and gradually increase to two to four tablespoons over the next few weeks. Learning to eat from the spoon is an important part of an infant's development so DO NOT PUT CEREAL IN THE BOTTLE. Putting cereal in the bottle may also overload his kidneys, cause baby to choke and encourage overeating.

After a month on cereal start to introduce other foods. Introduce a new type of food each month: vegetables one month, fruits and fruit juices the next and finally meat. By introducing new foods one at a time and for four to five days you will know if a food causes an allergic reaction. Certain foods tend to be more allergic than others, this includes: wheat, orange juice, eggs and fish, so it is wise to wait as long as possible before introducing these foods.

It takes time and patience to get baby to accept some foods -- it is a learning process and your child might not like a food when it is first offered -- so try it again at a later time.

As your child gets closer to a year of age he will want coarser foods to eat.

By one year, your child should be consuming a variety of foods from the four food groups, in small child size portions. He will also be interested in joining the family at mealtime, eating their type of foods and eventually feeding himself. Be patient, put an old shower curtain under his high chair and be prepared for a mess! But don't let this stop you developing happy, healthy mealtime.

If you would like an infant feeding guide or have any questions about feeding baby, call Nutrition Services at the Department of Health -- Telephone No.

236-0224.

BETSY BAILLIE Nutritionist Department of Health.