How to introduce complementary foods? Sooner or later, this issue begins to worry all mothers of newborn babies. The Internet is full of various information, but not always correct. Therefore, it is not surprising that young parents are even more confused in trying to deal with this topic. And “experienced” grandmothers, meanwhile, are advised to start giving “a little juice” from almost the first month of their life. Is that familiar? We suggest that you consider the basic rules of feeding a child, which guide all modern pediatricians.
When to introduce complementary foods?
The first thing to do is to forget about all the rules that were established at the time of our mothers and grandmothers. About any fruit juice at 2 months of age and cereals at 3 months can not even be discussed. Such complementary foods can only harm the baby's immature digestive system.
Modern experts are of the opinion that giving a baby new food is possible only when he reaches 6 months of age. In some cases, the pediatrician may recommend starting feeding a little earlier - at about 4-5 months. This usually happens in cases where the child is not gaining weight well or other medical conditions exist.
What is the danger of early feeding?
In order to process new food in the gastrointestinal tract, special enzymes must be developed. Due to the immaturity of the digestive system of the crumbs, this does not happen. What can this lead to? In the best case, what the child ate will come out undigested. At worst, it provokes disturbances in the intestinal microflora, the appearance of allergic reactions, and so on.
How to find out that the baby is ready for feeding?
To study the question of how to introduce complementary foods, you can start after the child:
- started to hold the head well;
- learned to sit;
- doubled birth weight;
- opens his mouth at the sight of a spoon;
- can demonstrate a refusal of food: turn your head away, move the spoon away with your hand, and so on;
- shows interest in parents' food;
- does not perform reflex pushing movements.
As a rule, all this happens at the age of about 5-6 months.
Basic rules of feeding
In addition to age restrictions, in considering how to introduce complementary foods, there are several important nuances. They are also very important to consider before introducing a child to adult food. So:
- The tactics of feeding does not depend on what type of feeding the baby (breast or artificial).
- You can give new products only at a time when the baby is completely healthy.
- Nutrition is offered before breast-feeding or mixture.
- It is best to give a new product in the morning so that you can control the further reaction of the body.
- If the child refuses any product, then do not force him. You can retry only after 1-2 weeks.
- New products must be introduced at intervals of 5 days.
- Monocomponent products are used for the first feeding.
- It is always necessary to start with a small amount of new food. At the same time, it will need to be gradually increased to completely replace feeding.
- The introduction of a new type of product is allowed only after one feeding has been replaced. For example, don’t add porridge to the child’s diet if he doesn’t eat the age-appropriate portion of vegetables.
- It is forbidden to introduce new products 3 days before and the same after preventive vaccinations.
Mom can either cook all the mashed potatoes on her own or buy in a store. In the first case, you need to remember that for the time being, the baby does not need to add sugar, salt, oil, and so on. The maximum that can be done is to dilute the puree with your own breast milk. The baby will feel a familiar taste and will eat with great pleasure. Mashed potatoes need to be directly before feeding. Its storage is strictly prohibited.
If the parents decided to start complementary foods with mashed potatoes in jars, special attention should be paid to the composition. It is necessary that the product consisted only of their puree of the selected vegetable. A small amount of water is also allowed. But other additives (rice starch, preservatives, etc.) will not bring benefits to the baby.
Next, we will learn how to introduce complementary foods to a baby at 6 months and what sequence of products to keep.
Vegetables
In most cases, pediatricians recommend starting foods with vegetables. These products are rich in trace elements necessary for a growing organism, vitamins, fiber, pectins.
The best mashed potatoes for the first feeding - squash. It is not allergenic, and the consistency of the vegetable is very delicate. Then you can add cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots.
You need to be especially careful with vegetables with a bright color, as they can provoke the appearance of an allergy. Carrots also deserve special attention. Due to the high carotene content, it is better not to give it to the child more often 2-3 times a week.
Porridge
At the age of seven months, you can offer your baby dairy-free cereals, cooked on water. Please note that when deciding what kind of porridge to start complementary foods, it is important to consider that while the baby is allowed only cereals that do not contain gluten. These include: oats, barley and wheat. It will be possible to introduce them into the child’s diet no earlier than eight months of age. This list also includes semolina, which caring grandmothers will probably advise to give the child in the first place.
Then with what kind of porridge do lure start? Rice and buckwheat are best, and a little later - corn grits. Parents can buy ready-made baby cereals in the store, which is simple enough to pour boiling water, or else grind groats in a coffee grinder.
Fruit
Expert advice on the timing of the introduction of fruit puree may vary slightly. Some are of the opinion that they can begin to be given to a child at 7 months in parallel with cereals. Others believe that there is no need to burden the baby's digestive system, and recommend waiting until 8 months. Still others are convinced that fruits must be introduced into the baby’s diet at the very end, after he has managed to try all other types of products (including meat, fish, and so on).
Parents are best guided by the recommendations of their local pediatrician. The most important thing is that you do not need to start feeding your baby with exotic fruits. The only exceptions are banana and a bit later kiwi. In other cases, it is better to give preference to domestic apples, pears, prunes. Acquaintance with fruits is carried out according to the same scheme as with vegetables. At the same time, you should not replace whole feeding with sweet mashed potatoes. It is best to give the baby fruit along with cereals or as a snack.
Egg yolk
The next thing that will be introduced into the lactation of a baby while breastfeeding is a boiled egg yolk. The product contains many vitamins, minerals and amino acids. It is important to remember some nuances. The first time the amount of egg yolk given to a child should be the size of a match head. Then there is a gradual increase in servings. By the age of one, a baby can only eat half a yolk no more than twice a week. You can cook quail eggs. In this case, it is allowed to give one whole yolk up to two times a week.
Meat
Just like the yolk, it is necessary to start giving meat to the child when he reaches the age of eight months. The product contains iron, zinc, B vitamins and minerals.
How to introduce meat into lure? Everything is very simple. It is enough to start gradually adding it to the vegetable purees that the baby eats. It is best to choose low-fat turkey, rabbit, veal, beef, chicken breast for the first lures.
Milk products
Next, we find out at what age dairy products are introduced into the baby's food. It is easy to guess that this will happen after the introduction of meat, which means - in 9 months. It's time to offer your child kefir, cottage cheese, milk. Just like all other products, you need to introduce them into the diet gradually.
Complementary feeding
The famous doctor in the CIS countries, Dr. Komarovsky, has his own opinion on how to introduce complementary foods to a child. He is convinced that it is best to start with fermented milk products, and only then give the baby cereals, vegetables and so on. Komarovsky explains his position by the fact that kefir and cottage cheese contain useful bacteria that will help the baby’s body adapt to new food faster.
Trust or not the recommendations of this doctor - parents decide. But it is worth noting that most experts still disagree with his opinion and are advised to adhere to the standard feeding scheme approved by the Ministry of Health.