Nutrition is ... The concept, the definition of which products to start with and the timing of the introduction for the baby

Sooner or later, young parents are faced with the question of when and how to start introducing complementary foods into the diet of infants. As the baby grows and develops, it gains more and more motor activity, and breast milk gradually loses its ability to fully replenish the supply of vitamins, minerals and trace elements necessary for a growing body.

Quite naturally, the need arises to switch to food, which is characterized by a higher energy value and concentration of nutrients in comparison with mother's milk or an adapted mixture. In the article, we will consider how to properly administer complementary foods for months when breastfeeding.

What is the difference from feeding?

To understand what the difference is, it is necessary to determine the meaning of each of these concepts.

Feeding is the introduction of a new (thick) food into the diet of an infant with the exception of the milk mixture and milk, which is more diverse and concentrated. Such foods include: mashed vegetables and fruits, yolk, cottage cheese, meat and fish purees, milk porridge, kefir. With artificial, as well as with breastfeeding, complementary foods for months are introduced according to the scheme.

Dokorm is an addition to the main food for a child of the first year of life with a lack of mother's milk. As an additive, as a rule, dry mixes or products of plant origin are used. Additional feeding is given to the child one or several times a day as a separate meal, alternating with breastfeeding, or combined with application for one feeding.

The rules of complementary feeding if the baby is breast-fed

Despite the full value of human milk, as the child grows, it is necessary to expand his diet, preparing for adult food and saturating the growing body with nutrients and vitamins. Moreover, the timely introduction of complementary foods develops masticatory functions, stimulates intestinal motility, and promotes the development of digestion.

The following recommendations must be observed:

1. Any new product is allowed to be introduced only when the child is healthy.
2. Do not start feeding your baby in hot weather or during preventive vaccinations.
3. Adhere to the principle of non-violent, but urgent introduction of new food. Most babies refuse to take their first lactation while breastfeeding. Sometimes this process is delayed for more than one week, the baby continues to spit out the product again and again. It is important to be patient.
4. A new taste of the product should be introduced no earlier than three weeks after assimilation of the first.
5. It is allowed to give complementary foods before or after breastfeeding, but certainly from a spoon, not through a nipple. Most world-famous pediatricians say that it is better to give it before the main meal, when the baby is hungry. So more likely to accustom him. However, if the baby eagerly eats after breastfeeding, you can also feed later.
6. They begin to give complementary foods when breastfeeding at 6 months.
7. Each product introduced into the baby’s diet begins to give a few drops, gradually increasing the portion to the desired volume, carefully monitoring individual tolerance.
8. A new product is introduced in the morning to be able to observe the reaction of the child's body. In the case when there are negative manifestations in the form of colic, rash and other reactions, the product should be excluded from the menu crumbs for an indefinite period. If, with repeated administration, the body responds with a similar reaction, the product is replaced with a similar one.
9. Nutrient is introduced, starting with one-component products, with the passage of time moving to two-component from the same group. This is done to prepare the baby's digestive system and identify a product that can cause allergies. Then in the future it is not combined with other ingredients.
10. The consistency of the dishes offered to the child should be uniform, not cause difficulty in swallowing. By stages, by 12 months, coarser food is introduced into the lure.
11. Dishes for the baby should be warm or at room temperature, hot and cold foods are excluded. Before feeding, the dishes are cooled or, on the contrary, warmed in a water bath at a water temperature of +50 ° C or in a baby food heater up to +37 ° C.
12. The basis of complementary foods for babies should mainly include industrial products that are produced under strict quality control. Regardless of seasonality, the composition of such jars is optimally balanced by vitamins and minerals. When buying, pay attention to the release date. If the dishes are made on their own, vegetables and fruits should be fresh, seasonal, not imported. In the process of preparation, hygiene is observed, spices, seasonings and other additives are not added to food.

The rules of complementary feeding if the child is an artificial

If for any reason the baby eats milk mixtures, then artificial feeding is introduced a little earlier than with breast feeding.

The main recommendations are as follows:

1. Before starting the introduction of supplemental nutrition, consult your doctor.
2. The introduction of complementary foods does not mean that the child is transferred to adult food. It is still fed with an adapted mixture.
3. Artificial babies are given complementary foods from 4 months. In some cases, and at the age of three months.
4. New food is introduced to a completely healthy child. If his teeth are cut, he is stressed (due to moving, separation from his mother, etc.), the process should be postponed.
5. Start feeding with applesauce or juice. Artists begin to give fruits, and then vegetables, on natural feeding - on the contrary.
6. The first portion is 5-10 g, the daily dosage is increased by 10 g until the norm is reached.
7. If the baby does not like some taste, it should be excluded for a while and try to be introduced again after 2-3 weeks.
8. If a child is full, do not force him to eat up the entire portion.
9. Before introducing a new dish, you need to take a break for a week to determine the body's reaction to the previous ingredient.
10. If allergy symptoms are found, the product is excluded from the diet of the child. Again, it can be entered no earlier than after a couple of months and under the supervision of a specialist.
11. Dishes can be prepared independently and give only fresh. You can not feed the child food prepared more than 24 hours ago, with the addition of spices, salt or sugar.
12. Food for the baby should be subjected to heat treatment, to be liquid. When the child grows up (closer to the year), gradually introduce complementary foods with a thick consistency.
13. When buying ready-made food, it is important to take into account the age of the child, pay attention to the integrity of the packaging, composition and shelf life of the product.
14. If the baby flatly refuses to feed, for taste, you can add a little mixture to it. Vegetable or butter is added to the food of older children.
15. It is better to give complementary foods on an empty stomach and, if necessary, after feeding the baby with a mixture.
16. The dosage of a serving is calculated based on the needs of the baby, his age, weight and developmental features.

Types of Feeding

This is food that is introduced into the diet of a child of the first year of life as an addition to breast or artificial feeding. It is made from products of animal or vegetable origin, depending on the age and physiology of the child. Among them:

1. Dishes of complementary foods on a milk-grain or grain basis. They are made from flour of various types of cereals - this is a loose dairy-free or milk porridge, baby cookies.
2. Plant-based complementary foods. Food made from fruits, berries or vegetables can be offered in the form of canned juices, nectars, mashed potatoes.
3. Meat-based foods. This is a meal made from low-fat mutton and pork, veal, chicken, horse meat, rabbit meat, turkey.
4. Dishes for feeding on a milk basis. Liquid, loose, pasty food made on the basis of cow or goat milk. Sour-milk products - kefir, fermented baked milk, cottage cheese, yogurt.
5. Fish-based foods. Dishes made from sea, ocean or freshwater fish.

Scheme

Today, experts offer several feeding schemes, however, none of them is mandatory. Products should be selected based on the characteristics of the child’s health and development (weight loss, food allergies, diarrhea, impaired digestion, etc.). Before the introduction of the first feeding during breastfeeding or artificial feeding, it is necessary to consult a specialist. The pediatrician will talk about which product to start with and whether the child is ready.

Indicative schemes:

1. The beginning is vegetable complementary foods (zucchini, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, beets, etc.). This is the best option for introducing into the diet food other than milk. It is suitable for prematurely born children suffering from anemia, rickets, constipation, overweight or underweight.
2. The beginning of complementary foods with porridge. This option is more suitable for babies who are poorly gaining weight due to lack of nutrition or unstable stools, possibly due to the introduction of vegetable puree in the diet. In such cases, it is better to start with cereals.
3. Nutrition according to the method of Dr. Komarovsky. This food scheme was developed by the notorious pediatrician and is based on his own view. Komarovsky proposes to introduce kefir into the diet of a six-month-old baby. However, according to many experts, it should be given to the baby no earlier than reaching the age of eight months.
4. Start feeding with fruit puree or juice. The scheme, starting with the smallest servings of fruit puree or juice, was recommended by pediatricians more than a dozen years ago, and is still used by mothers around the world. In this case, the menu should not be citrus.

To determine what first feeding should be given to the baby, you need to analyze his condition, consult with a pediatrician.

The timing

WHO experts strongly recommend that babies be given complementary foods at 6 months. At the same time, this applies exclusively to healthy children, with a body weight corresponding to normal indicators, without pathologies of intrauterine development and malnutrition. Starting to give the first complementary feeding on breastfeeding, the mother of the crumbs should continue to fully eat, include components enriched with vitamins, minerals and nutrients in the diet. After all, the baby still needs milk.

Some experts, relying on the “Methodological Instructions of Modern Feeding Methods”, recommend that babies who are breast-fed are recommended to introduce complementary foods starting at the age of three months. However, scientific research and the experience of pediatricians still make it possible to not fully agree with these recommendations and make some adjustments to them.

Monthly feeding for breastfeeding can be represented as follows:

So, the minimum age for a baby who is being introduced to complementary foods should be at least four months. Before this period, a baby who is breastfeeding or eating an adapted milk mixture is not able to absorb other foods. Conversely, crumbs that are fed too late (after 6 months) will experience a lack of vitamins, trace elements and other nutrients necessary for normal development. In such children, there is a delay in growth, weight gain, the formation of chewing and swallowing skills for eating rough food. Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that the optimal time for the introduction of complementary foods is four and six months old.

What threatens early lure?

Many parents can’t wait to feed the baby tasty. However, it is worthwhile to understand that it is better to be a little late with the introduction of new food than to start this process prematurely. So, feeding earlier than four months of age is not best manifested on the part of the digestive tract, which is not adequately prepared for the adoption of a new product. Too early feeding is fraught with the following problems:

1. Lack of the necessary digestive enzymes in the body can provoke the occurrence of abdominal pain, regurgitation, intestinal colic, problems with stool. In other words, earlier feeding will be at least useless, since the food consumed will not be absorbed and may cause the child discomfort.
2. Allergic manifestations. Another negative consequence, which is caused by increased permeability of the intestinal wall for allergens and poorly formed protective system of the baby. This inevitably affects the immunity of the child, as a result, he is more susceptible to viral and infectious diseases, more often and longer sick.
3. Feeding up to four months of age is to some extent a danger to the crumbs, if he does not have swallowing skills for eating thicker foods. A poorly or completely undeveloped swallowing reflex in some cases leads to the refusal of such food or causes vomiting.
4. Excessive load on the internal organs. Since the liver, kidneys, and organs of the gastrointestinal tract have not formed sufficiently, early feeding may cause the development of chronic diseases.
5. Another possible consequence of the introduction of early feeding is a reduction in breastfeeding, as a result of which lactation may completely stop. If the child is an artificial person, this problem is excluded.

Thus, in order to avoid adverse effects, what will be the first month of complementary feeding should be agreed with the supervisor.

How to understand that the child is ready?

Many mothers are faced with the question of how to find out that the baby can already absorb new food for him?

Here you can focus on the following signs:

1. The age of the crumbs is more than four months and less than six.
2. There is a decline in the reflex of the expulsion of food by the tongue and, conversely, a well-developed reflex of the movement of food into the oral cavity and its ingestion.
3. The expressed readiness of the baby for chewing function - when the nipples, teether, spoon and other objects get into the mouth, he begins to actively nibble them.
4. The process of teething has begun or their presence has been ascertained.
5. The child can sit alone or with support, has neuromuscular coordination, confidently holds his head and neck.
6. The baby's ability to express his attitude to the food that is offered to him: he bends to the spoon, opens his mouth, tightens his lips, throws his head back or turns away if he is full.
7. The normal functioning of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract in order to gradually assimilate the proposed product - a denser consistency with respect to breast milk - without upset intestines or allergic manifestations of a particular product.

Is it possible to decoy

Moms and grandmothers say that semolina has been considered a good lure for a long time. She began to enter boiled in milk or water, a liquid consistency. Soviet pediatricians agreed and especially recommended semolina for children with low weight gain. Strictly disciplined parents in all obeyed doctors and fed such porridge to children from almost two months of age.

In turn, modern specialists hold a different opinion. For example, gastroenterologists believe that giving children up to a year of complementary foods in the form of semolina is contraindicated. They explain this by the fact that the enzyme system and the gastrointestinal tract of the child are not yet able to absorb it. For children with underweight, an exception is made and allowed to give decoy starting from 9 months.

It is not harmful to children, but it is worth knowing that porridge interferes with the natural absorption of calcium, which is so necessary for a growing body to form tooth, bone and muscle tissue. The best option is to give it to the child no more than three times a month until they reach the age of three. Modern doctors do not recommend children under 2.5 years of age to consume cow and goat milk, so semolina is prepared in water or with the addition of an adapted infant formula.

Lure problems

It happens that a child flatly refuses to try new food from a spoon and pushes everything out of his mouth with his tongue. In exceptional cases, complementary foods even cause a baby's gag reflex, which especially worries young parents. , . , .

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Sometimes the reason for refusing food is in the poor health of the child, his teeth may be cut or his stomach hurt. Very often with viral infectious diseases in children, poor appetite is observed. Symptoms include: cough, fever, runny nose. They, as a rule, develop later, and the pathology begins to manifest itself as a baby’s weakness and lack of appetite. In such cases, the beginning of complementary foods should be postponed until the child is fully recovered. An unobtrusive approach and patience on the part of parents will allow gradually in the diet of the baby all the products necessary for him.