Kashi “Nestle” is one of the products of the famous Swiss company Nestle, which for more than a century has been leading in various fields of trade (baby food, chocolate, coffee, animal feed, cosmetics, etc.). The attitude of parents to this product is ambiguous, so we will consider in more detail the advantages and disadvantages of baby food.
General characteristics of cereals
For the growth and development of babies, manufacturers of the Nestle brand have developed special cereals in the form of dry powder, which are diluted with milk or water. Their peculiarity is not only in quick cooking, but also in a balanced composition of minerals, trace elements, vitamins, dietary fiber.
In addition, many Nestle cereals contain live bifidobacteria, which positively affect the intestines of the child. The benefit of these microorganisms is that the immune system is strengthened, the intestinal microflora improves and the risk of allergies is reduced.
In some varieties, along with bifidobacteria, micronutrients are also necessary for the full development and growth of children. This is especially suitable for those babies who are selective in food, switched to artificial feeding, do not receive a full complex of vitamins and minerals.
Porridge of this brand was made specifically for the characteristics of each age. Therefore, pay attention to the packaging where it is written for whom this food is suitable (allergy sufferers, a certain age, children with sensitivity to lactose or gluten, etc.).
Kashi "Nestle": assortment
The following types of baby food are sold in this brand:
- Dairy-free . The very first step in introducing a baby to adult food. Porridge contains the necessary vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and bifidobacteria. Buckwheat and rice products do not contain gluten and lactose. Vegetable protein and a small amount of gluten are present in oat baby food.
- Dairy This product can be diluted with milk. In this series there is buckwheat, rice, wheat, oatmeal in its pure form and with the addition of fruit.
- Dairy-free series "Help . " This is the "water" for the preparation of porridge "Nestle". Dairy-free in their composition contain bifidobacteria and prebiotics, which is especially suitable for children who constantly have a tummy. In this series, a collection of baby food for allergy sufferers is developed.
- Dairy series "Help". This product is represented by two yogurt cereals with banana-strawberry and apple-pear flavor. They contain immunonutrients and probiotics necessary to normalize the digestive system and strengthen immunity.
- Series "Shagayka" . These products are designed for children who take their first steps and learn to chew. Porridge is represented by three types of five cereals with strawberry-cherry, apple-berry and strawberry-fruit flavors.
Types of Nestle cereals for children
On the packaging you can see the baby’s icon with numbers or steps that indicate the optimal age for the introduction of complementary foods.
- 1 step. This is a series of milk and dairy-free cereals intended for initial feeding, when the first buckwheat and rice are introduced into the diet of a 4-5-month-old baby. The composition of baby food for this age has a lightened texture to make it easy to swallow.
- Stage 2 - from 6-7 months. Nestle cereals of this age have fruit and pumpkin supplements, a thicker consistency and teach the child to eat from a spoon. This product also has non-dairy and dairy categories.
- Stage 3 - from 8-11 months. These are multicomponent milk and dairy-free cereals with fruit pieces. This type of baby food was created specifically for the child to learn to chew food.
- 4 step from 12-18 months. Balanced milk nutrition with slices of fruits and berries.
Porridge "Nestle": dairy-free
Let us consider in more detail the composition of dairy-free cereals: oat, hypoallergenic rice, and buckwheat, buckwheat with prunes.
Oatmeal in its composition has the following components: 9 vitamins (A, E, B1,2,6, D, C, PP, folic acid), sugar, lecithin (emulsifier), 7 minerals (potassium, sodium, iodine, iron, calcium , zinc, phosphorus), dietary fiber, bifidobacteria BL, oatmeal. The advantage of oatmeal is the absence of dyes, flavors, preservatives and GMI. Numerous reviews of Nestle cereals highlight one drawback - the presence of sugar.
Hypoallergenic rice porridge is suitable for children with lactose and gluten intolerance. The composition of vitamins, minerals, bifidobacteria is the same as in oatmeal. Only their number is different and rice flour is added.
Hypoallergenic buckwheat is also distinguished by the presence of buckwheat flour in the composition. However, this type of porridge is unpopular in children who prefer rice and oatmeal. Baby food with prunes has the same composition as simple buckwheat, only prunes are added.
Assortment of milk porridge
If milk-free nutrition is designed for children with hypersensitivity to lactose and gluten, as well as healthy babies from four months, then Nestle milk porridges are suitable for all three age stages:
- For the first step, we offer oatmeal with an apple-apricot flavor, just buckwheat and with the addition of dried apricots, two types of wheat (with pumpkin, apple), rice with apple.
- From six months to a child you can buy wheat with a banana, rice with a banana flavor, porridge from five (apple-banana) and three (apple-pear) cereals, oatmeal with pear and banana.
- For eight-month-old kids, oatmeal with slices of pear, wheat of two types is offered: with apple-strawberry and apricot flavor.
If you decide to introduce complementary foods, then pay attention to the dairy-free baby cereals Nestle. Their assortment is not as diverse as in dairy products, but it eliminates the risk of allergies. Despite the fact that cereals of this brand do not contain genetically modified sources, preservatives, flavorings, some children may experience individual intolerance to the components of baby food.
The composition of milk porridge 1 step
- Gluten-free rice porridge consists of rice flour, sugar, skimmed milk powder, 10 vitamins ( pantothenic acid is added ), bifidobacteria, 7 minerals (the same ones), vegetable oils, apples, and dietary fiber.
- Gluten-free buckwheat adds buckwheat flour, maltodextrin, lecithin to its composition. All other components are the same as in the porridge described above. In the version with dried apricots, apricot and dried apricots are added.
- Oatmeal with apple-apricot flavor is most enriched with vitamin B and iodine. It contains components such as oatmeal, 10 vitamins (pantothenic acid is added), dietary fiber, sugar, bifidobacteria, skimmed milk powder, 7 minerals (the same), vegetable oils, apple and apricot.
- Wheat porridge adds wheat flour and additives - pumpkin or apple. All other ingredients are the same as in oatmeal or rice.
Please note that oatmeal porridge for children "Nestle" contains a small amount of gluten, so you can enter this porridge no earlier than 4 and no later than 7 months to eliminate the risk of gluten enteropathy.
What are cereals 2 steps
- Gluten-free rice porridge with a banana flavor consists of rice flour, sugar, vegetable oils, dietary fiber, banana, bifidobacteria, skimmed milk powder, 10 vitamins (the same as in the first step) and 7 minerals.
- Five-cereal porridge with apple and banana is enriched with phosphorus, calcium and vitamin D. It also includes wheat, rice, oat, barley, corn flour, a standard vitamin-mineral complex, bifidobacteria, apple, banana, sugar, dietary fiber, milk powder, vegetable oils.
- Three-cereal porridge has the same composition as the previous one, only consists of oat, wheat, barley flour, apple and pear.
- The oatmeal product is saturated with iodine and vitamin B. Oatmeal, banana and pear are added to the composition, the remaining components are standard.
- Wheat porridge differs only in a banana supplement and wheat flour.
Children are most fond of Nestle cereal. Reviews of mothers say that children are happy to eat rice and multi-cereal, but buckwheat and oatmeal - at will.
Components of cereals 3 steps. Parent reviews
- Oatmeal with pear includes skimmed milk powder, oatmeal, vegetable oils, a standard set of vitamins and minerals, dietary fiber, bifidobacteria, sugar, pear slices.
- Wheat porridge with apple and strawberries, in addition to wheat flour, slices of garden strawberries and apples, the composition is the same as in the first production.
- Wheat with apricot in comparison with the previous version has an apricot additive.
Now let's pay attention to the opinions of buyers who have tried Nestle porridge. Reviews are very diverse. In most cases, mothers are satisfied with the products, note a good appetite in the child, weight gain, good mood and energy.
However, parents whose children are prone to allergies, digestive system diseases, are dissatisfied with Nestlé products because of the sugary-sweet taste and the presence of milk in the composition. Such children have a rash on the skin, constipation, regurgitation.
Therefore, both parents, doctors, and the manufacturer of the products recommend starting complementary foods with dairy-free cereals: from 1 spoon without introducing other new products to see the child’s reaction to the components of baby food.
Ingredients porridge "Help"
Dairy-free cereals of the first stage are represented by hypoallergenic rice porridge with carob fruits and low-allergenic rice-corn product. In the first version, the composition excludes allergic ingredients: cow's milk protein, soy and wheat, as well as gluten. The first porridge consists of rice flour, carob flour, sucrose, citric acid, vitamins, vegetable oils, potassium iodide, sodium phosphate, calcium carbonate, zinc sulfate, iron lactate. In the second embodiment, the product consists of rice and corn flour, vanilla flavor, the remaining components comply with the standard.
Dairy-free cereals “Nestle” of the second stage are also represented by two types: 5-cereal with linden blossom and wheat-oatmeal with prunes. The first sugar-free product consists of wheat, corn, barley, oat and rye flour, probiotics, vitamins and minerals, oligofructose, dry extract of linden blossom, inulin, vanilla flavor, maltodextrin. In the second porridge, only flour for oat and wheat changes, prunes are added instead of linden, the remaining components remain the same.
Dairy-free products of the third stage are represented by 8-grain yogurt and just 8-grain cereal. They include rice, corn, wheat, rye, oat, millet and sorghum flour; lactobacilli, vanilla flavor, thermophilic culture, yogurt powder. Vitamin-mineral complex remains the same.
Milk 3-cereal cereals of 3 steps have a banana-strawberry and apple-pear taste. They include flour from barley, oats and rice, bifidobacteria, vitamins and minerals, vanilla flavor, low-fat powder yogurt and milk powder, vegetable oils (coconut, palm, rapeseed, sunflower), pieces of fruit and berries, sugar, beetroot juice, gluten, lactobacilli.
Kashka "Shagayka"
In this series, products of the third and fourth stages are presented. In the first case, it is a 5-cereal gluten porridge with a cherry-strawberry flavor, consisting of wheat, corn, barley, rice, oatmeal, oils (the same composition), milk powder, pieces of strawberry, apple, carrot, dried orange and pear, vanilla flavor, beetroot and passion fruit juice, lecithin, sugar, minerals and vitamins, bifidobacteria, maltodextrin, corn starch.
In the second case, more varied Nestle cereals for children. Their assortment is represented by a 5-cereal product with apple-berry and strawberry-fruit flavor. The composition is the same, only fruit additives are changing.
As you can see, the range of cereals is very diverse and suitable for different categories of children. If the child has an allergy, then pay attention to dairy-free, allergy-free products. The manufacturer warns that there may be an individual intolerance to the components of the porridge, so watch for the reaction of the child.