If your infant is not breast-feeding or you wish to supplement breast milk, always use an iron-fortified infant formula. All formulas in the U.S. are required to have certain standards, including all essential vitamins. So if you infant is on formula, he or she requires no supplemental vitamins.

Do not start cereals or baby foods for you infant unless they are at least 4-6 months of age. They do not absorb all of the nutrients in cereals before this age, they have a higher incidents of developing allergy problems later in life if started before this age, and they do not sleep any better with solids in their stomach (formula actually bulks up in the stomach after a number of minutes and fills them up just fine).

Most infants get all of their required calories with less than 36 ounces of formula per day; if your infant drinks more than 36 ounces per day, you should consider offering water or juices.

Limit juice amounts to 12 ounces per day; you may dilute 12 ounces of juice with 12 ounces of water to offer 24 ounces if you wish - just no more than 12 ounces of pure juice per day.

Never bottle-prop; when feeding an infant, always observe and hold the bottle for them (unless they are old enough to hold it themselves).

A good goal is to work your infant off of the bottle by the time they are about 12 months. Most are able to easily learn use of a sippy cup. Either cut off completely (they will not dehydrate or go hungry, but they may be a bit irritated for no more than 48 hours; or you can try weaning them off by putting ONLY water in bottles and the "good stuff" (milk and juice) ONLY in sippy cups - then after 1-2 weeks of this, they won't mind you removing the bottle so much).

Avoid putting cereal in a bottle for infants to drink - they are more likely to choke. Spoon feed them solids, no earlier than 4-6 months.

Children's diets change considerably after the first year; they often do not eat as much as you think they should and become "finicky". Be happy with one decent, well-rounded meal per day.

Make sure those between-meal snacks are healthy snacks and not junk food; kids this age tend to "graze" with snacks all day and often are just not hungry to eat at mealtime. This is fine, as long as those snacks are healthy snacks (like yogurt, cheeses, crackers, breads, fresh fruits).

Do not expect your young child to gain weight as quickly as they did in the first year; they typically double their birth weight at 6 months of age, but won't double again until they are probably at least 3 years old! Three to five pounds per year are adequate.

Avoid excessively salty foods or adding any salt to your child's diet; excess salt in the typical American diet probably plays a pretty significant role in high blood pressure, heart disease, and kidney disease.

Remember that dietary habits (and other habits) learned during this period often stick with a person their whole life!