In a huge variety of milk, dairy-free, gluten-free and gluten-free food for babies it is very easy to get confused if the mother has her first child. She feels like an amateur in the field of baby food and first feeding. What to do? In special departments there are so many types of cereals that the eyes run wide. Not only do you not know which producer to give preference to, but you also don’t understand with what kind of porridge it is best to start complementary foods. But if you ask experienced mothers and doctors, then for the most part they recommend buckwheat as the first food. Why is she given preference?
Where does it all start?
When the baby reaches a certain age, parents ask themselves the question: "What kind of porridge is better to choose for the first feeding?" Bringing your baby to adult food is a very important process. It is necessary to prepare for the fact that the period of acquaintance with new food will be long. The fact is that absolutely all products new to the child that supplement mother's milk are obliged to bring exclusively benefits. It is important to prevent the negative reaction of the child's body to a new product: allergies and digestive disorders.
It is believed that buckwheat porridge for the first feeding is the most optimal choice. But in any case, parents should be well aware of their baby’s health status. It is important to know whether he is allergic or not, whether he has intolerance to gluten, lactose and the like. Of course, many negative reactions of the child's body are detected in the process of growing up
Modern children, with rare exceptions, cannot boast of strong immunity. The body of the child, especially the baby, is very vulnerable. Therefore, it is necessary to act slowly and carefully. All complementary foods need to be introduced, starting with small doses, and gradually brought to the required amount.
Why is buckwheat porridge for the first feeding considered the best choice?
First of all, this cereal is the only one among others that contains in its composition all the necessary substances for the full development of the body. Buckwheat is the main porridge introduced into the feeding of infants. According to laboratory tests, there is no protein that causes allergies. Other cereals do not have this advantage. Gluten is almost always poorly absorbed by babies and causes many undesirable consequences. The most common are colic, gas, bloating, and abdominal pain.
Such a product as buckwheat porridge is best suited for the first feeding of infants. After all, only at first glance does it seem that all cereals are useful in their own way. But even for an adult you need to choose products wisely, and not just for the baby. Moreover, it is impossible to introduce all kinds of cereals into lure at the same time. Everything should happen gradually. For each age its own complementary foods. As for gluten, it turned out that in the body of infants there are still no special enzymes capable of its complete breakdown.
Experienced mothers know that buckwheat porridge for the first feeding is the right choice. But even this cereal needs to be entered correctly, starting with small portions and carefully observing the children's body.
Buckwheat Benefits
The indispensable and popular cereal enriches the body of babies with calcium, phosphorus, zinc, potassium, iodine, boron, cobalt and iron. It also has many other positive properties and incorporates very necessary and useful compounds:
- Protein, which is considered to be a competitor of meat. It is quickly absorbed, completely absorbed and does not create discomfort in the form of heaviness and bloating. Therefore, you can’t even think of a better option, you can safely enter the first lure. Buckwheat porridge is an alternative to meat.
- Carbohydrates, which buckwheat supplies the human body. This is a very satisfying product with slow digestibility. Therefore, after using it, a person has a feeling of satiety for a very long period of time.
- Iron, which is recommended for use in anemia. Buckwheat is very rich in them. Thanks to the use of this product as a first feeding, buckwheat porridge will saturate the children's body with iron. It is so necessary for the formation of red blood cells, which are responsible for all organs of human activity and are carriers of oxygen in all of its systems and tissues.
- Vitamins of group B. It is nicotinic acid that keeps our blood vessels toned, strengthens their walls and protects against undesirable factors.
What else is the attractiveness of buckwheat?
In the fields where this priceless cereal ripens, it is difficult to find weeds. This is a product in the Eco category. It is arranged that buckwheat rhizome prevents the appearance of parasite plants. And this suggests that there is no need to treat buckwheat fields with pesticides. Therefore, buckwheat porridge is the best choice among others. They say that buckwheat modifiers have not yet been bred. Therefore, she can get to our table only in kind.
Age group
So, you firmly decided to introduce the first complementary foods with buckwheat porridge. What age is the best baby for this? Doctors recommend introducing the product closer to six months. But there are special mixtures for complementary foods from 4 months. As a rule, this is necessary in cases where the child is gaining weight poorly. Feeding can be entered as follows:
- on the first day, the child is given half a teaspoon of a five percent porridge;
- the second day - the dose is doubled, and so for one week;
- after seven days, if the baby took the product well, the daily dose should be no more than 150 grams.
As already mentioned in this article, the best choice is buckwheat porridge.
Cooking features
How to cook buckwheat porridge for the first feeding? Consider some points to start introducing the product into the diet of infants:
- It is important to start buckwheat complementary foods in the morning. Breakfast is the best option. This is worth considering, since buckwheat enriches the body with energy for the whole day.
- Having fed the baby in the morning, the mother will be able to watch the baby and its reaction to the new product all day. Most likely, everything will go smoothly, but there are rare cases of a negative body response to buckwheat. For example, even such a priceless and well-digestible porridge can cause allergies. This phenomenon is extremely rare. It occurs only when intolerance to albumin, prolamine and globulin is observed in children. Reason: biological and enzymatic activity of these proteins.
- You can learn how to cook buckwheat porridge for the first feeding directly on the packaging of the baby food manufacturer. If there is no confidence in the finished product, or for another reason there is a desire to do everything yourself, then to prepare the mixture, first of all, grind the grits into powder on a coffee grinder. It must be ensured that the machine is clean and free of coffee residues. This may harm the baby. After the grits are ground, they are simmered until cooked. Porridge is made dairy and dairy-free. Sugar is better not to sprinkle or add quite a bit for taste.
Some subtleties of the first feeding
What you should pay attention to:
- Among ready-made mixtures, those that do not require cooking are popular. Typically, the mixture is dissolved in boiled water, cooled to a temperature of 70 ° C, after which it is shaken so that there are no lumps, and cools down to normal temperature (no more than 40 ° C). Be sure to make sure that the porridge is not hot. Usually, mummies, before giving it to the baby, drip the mixture onto the outside of the brush, and if it is of pleasant warmth, then give it to the baby. These rules are universal, but in any case, you should read the instructions on each specific package and find out how to cook buckwheat porridge.
- The first lure is a completely new feeling for the baby. Therefore, rule number one - do not force! Some small foodies may not appreciate the taste of buckwheat for the first time. In this case, it is worth postponing the meeting for another time. In general, children eat well with various jokes and jokes coming from the breadwinners.
- You cannot enter multiple products at the same time. The shortest period is 1 week between new products. Everything should be gradual. In addition, at the time of feeding, the baby should not be bothered.
- It is believed that dairy-free buckwheat porridge for the first feeding will be the best option. In fact, this is not necessarily the case. If a child is accustomed to milk mixtures or accustomed to milk other than mother's milk, then milk porridge can be given calmly. If before this the baby received only breast milk, then you should not take risks and start better with dairy-free porridge. In principle, which buckwheat porridge is better for the first feeding is a controversial question. Therefore, when choosing an option, mom must weigh all the factors described in this article.
And another important detail is the hole in the nipple of the bottle. For porridge, it should be a little more. But not so that the child is choking! Measure in everything and everywhere - this is the main motto of the mother in relation to the child. The pharmacy sells various nipples, including for cereals.
It has already been said above, on the packaging, each manufacturer writes about how to breed buckwheat porridge. For the first feeding, half a teaspoon is always enough. Then a teaspoon, then three, and so gradually over 2-3 weeks, complementary foods are brought to the desired dosage by age. Better not to rush! As they say: you go quieter - you will continue.
Producers offer young mothers a wide range of instant buckwheat cereals. They are dairy-free and containing milk. Such products are sugar free and cooked in minutes. Be sure to follow the cooking technology. The finished product is eaten immediately and not left for later. Everything that the child has not finished eating cannot be used for the next feeding.
What to buy?
When choosing mixtures for a child, you need to carefully read the composition, for what age they are suitable, storage and preparation conditions. If everything is in order, then you can buy. The main thing is that the mixture should not contain additives and dyes, and in some cases sugar!
Of course, if a child is prone to various kinds of undesirable reactions, then it is better to start the first feeding with buckwheat dairy-free porridge and only after a certain time enter milk separately (milk mixture), and only then give it to try milk porridge. Now sold instant cereals. They can be used from 8-9 months (specifically you need to look at the packaging). You can take them only without any additives - pure porridge! The most popular brands of cereals: Nestle, Heinz, Mamako, Baby, Winnie.
Several cooking recipes
1) Ingredients: 100 ml of water, 15 grams of ground buckwheat, 1.5 scoops of milk mixture.
- Pour the cereal into the pan, fill it with water and cook for 10 minutes.
- Cool down.
The mixture is added to warm porridge, and the mass is whipped.
2) We dilute the milk mixture with boiled water according to the instructions on the packaging, then add instant porridge. If you take just boiling water instead of the milk mixture, you will get a useful dairy-free buckwheat porridge for the first feeding, prepared in a very cheap way.
3) This recipe is prepared only for children accustomed to juices and milk mixtures. He is a little exotic. We need: instant buckwheat, water, fruit juice, milk mixture.
- We dilute the dry milk mixture with warm water.
- Add buckwheat here and stir until the lumps leave.
- Add fruit juice or your favorite puree.
4) A simple and versatile recipe that can come in handy on the road: warm boiled water is poured into a sterile bottle, 4 measured spoons of the mixture and 5 tablespoons of buckwheat porridge are added there. Shake everything thoroughly.
Other cooking methods
If we take buckwheat flakes as a basis, then first we take half a tablespoon, put it in a bowl and pour 100 ml of clean drinking (preferably children's purified) water, put on fire. After everything boils, the porridge is cooked for another 10 minutes. After cooling, it can be tasted.
To make porridge from ground cereals, you need to take 50 ml of milk, the same amount of water and 1 teaspoon of ground buckwheat. Milk with water is poured onto the bottom of the pan and brought to a boil. Then the cereal is poured into the container and cooked with constant stirring until thickened. If the age of the child allows, you can add puree from fresh berries and fruits.
And this is a recipe from our grandmothers. Usually it is to the taste of little gourmets. It takes longer, but retains maximum nutrients. For this:
- carefully wash two large tablespoons of buckwheat with cold water;
- dry the kernels in the oven for 7 minutes;
- we shift the cereals into the bowl and pour it with one glass of boiling water;
- languish on low heat a little more than half an hour;
- when the cereal has softened, wipe it through a sieve;
- we dilute the wiped product with a liquid in which buckwheat was languishing.
These recipes will help you add variety to your baby’s diet.
Some More Things You Need to Know
Is buckwheat useful? This question worries many parents. As a rule, in such cereals, the composition is balanced, nutritious, enriched with mineral components. It has sustained energy value, calories and vitamins are strictly calculated.
By the way, if there is no coffee grinder in the house, then this is not a cause for concern. You can boil buckwheat in the classical way, and then bring to the consistency of mashed potatoes using a blender. If there is no blender, then the finished porridge is ground through a sieve to a puree state. This process will require some effort, but what can you do for your beloved child? Mashed potatoes can be thick, and then in a bottle it is diluted with boiled water or milk to the required consistency.
Important! Before cooking porridge, always wash cereals and choose different black grains and extraneous garbage. Porridge for the child should be perfect.
What do young mothers say about buckwheat as the first food?
If you carefully read the different reviews of young mothers, then basically they are all positive. There are even enthusiastic ones. Many mothers add their breast milk instead of purchased milk, which also responds well. The baby feels at the same time the taste of mother's milk and something new and interesting.
Enough positive reviews in the direction of instant porridges with a fruity taste or the addition of mashed potatoes. In general, everything is in the hands of a particular mother. Acting slowly, following the rules of preparation, she will cope with the introduction of new foods for her baby and, of course, will feel the joy of learning new things together with her precious child.