How to properly introduce complementary foods to a child: WHO recommendations and manufacturer reviews

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The moment of introducing complementary foods to a baby is especially exciting for parents of the first child. So many questions swarm in their head: what to feed? From what dish? What if the child does not want to eat anything other than milk? And the main of these questions: how to introduce complementary foods correctly? At 4 months from the birth of the baby, it is already quite possible to start looking for answers to these questions.

When to introduce complementary foods

For the first six months of his life, the baby is quite capable of doing with breast milk alone or its substitute in the form of a water-soluble mixture. It should be clarified that supplementation with water, compotes, or especially juices up to 6 months is also not required. The baby will receive all the necessary fluid during breastfeeding. The best way to check if a baby is getting enough milk is to see how many times a day he pees. Must at least six times.

But at about six months, pediatricians and the World He alth Organization recommend introducing adult food into the diet. Of course, not immediately, but gradually, according to a verified scheme.

Why six months? Because in most cases, before the baby reaches this age, his intestines are not yet ready to digest anything other than mother's milk, and only formula for artificial feeding is as close as possible to it in composition.

How to introduce complementary foods to a child? You need to enter it when the baby is completely he althy and is not subject to the following risk factors:

• recently had a disease;
• the family had a move;
• the baby was "relocated" to his bed or even a room;
• there was a serious psychological stress on the parents;
• abrupt change in weather conditions;
• was vaccinated.

If such factors are present, it is recommended to wait with the introduction until they are eliminated for at least a week.

Signs your baby is ready

Sometimes it is correct to introduce complementary foods at 5 months, as soon as there are indications that the baby's body is ready to digest other foods. These signs are as follows:

• have at least one tooth;
• very strong food interest;
• child can sit up without falling over.

It happens that children develop faster or slower, and within 1-2 months this is usually the norm. Therefore, after examination, the pediatrician may give the go-ahead for complementary foods earlier than 6 months, or, conversely, advise “hold your horses.”

Which is correct: introduce complementary foods to a child at 5 months or at 6? This is up to the mother. But it’s definitely better to start complementary foods at 5 months (if advisedpediatrician) than to delay until seven, since the late start of complementary foods is fraught with the fact that the child will not receive the micronutrients he needs. And this lack can lead to serious diseases such as rickets or anemia.

In order to learn how to properly introduce complementary foods to a child of 4 months of age, you must definitely consult a pediatrician and have a good reason for this. Because introducing complementary foods before 4 months can even be dangerous for a child, since his intestines are probably not adapted to digest anything other than mother's milk or its analogues.

Pure or solid food?

How to introduce complementary foods at 6 months: with mashed potatoes or lumpy food? It is necessary to start feeding the baby with food ground to a puree state, otherwise the child may simply choke. To get food of this consistency, you can buy food in a ready-made form, fortunately, the choice is now very rich. But you can get confused and cook your own food for the child. This is done for the most part, in order to be sure of the natural composition of what exactly will be introduced to the baby for complementary foods.

How to cook additional food at home is easy to remember. To do this, fruits, vegetables or meat must first be boiled or steamed, and only then grind them with a blender. For the first time, you can even rub the puree through a sieve to get the most homogeneous consistency. For convenience, blenders are sold, combined with a double boiler. That is, everything is done at onceone more often.

But porridge for babies is cooked differently. Even at the stage of cereals, you need to grind it in a coffee grinder or blender. And already from the resulting flour to cook porridge for the baby. Cooking time is reduced to a few minutes.

But closer to 8 months it is worth grinding, leaving more and more large pieces, so that by the year the child can already eat almost the same as an adult. This is necessary in order for the jaw to develop correctly, and the muscles of the speech apparatus to be more developed.

Which products to start with

Hypoallergenic low starch vegetables are the best option. And these are cauliflower, broccoli and zucchini. But in order for the child to start eating them, there are often problems, since they do not taste very pleasant. It will save if the child does not know what other food can be tasty and sweet. Therefore, those who start complementary foods with fruits, biscuits, or sugary cereals are more likely to have trouble getting their baby to eat mashed vegetables.

For small babies, liquid porridge is an option. But the first porridge should be dairy-free and hypoallergenic. These are buckwheat, rice and corn porridge.

Starting complementary foods with meat and especially fish is not worth it, it's too aggressive food for dating.

Up to a year, the main task of introducing complementary foods is not to feed, but to instill proper eating behavior, teach how to chew food and, if possible, use a spoon. It is worth remembering this if the child eats almost nothing. The main thing is that he drinks enough and supplements with breast milk ormix.

Kashi

They are rightfully considered one of the most dietary dishes. But despite this, there are two important rules on how to properly introduce porridge into complementary foods.

The first rule is that not every kind of porridge is suitable for a baby. You need to start with the most hypoallergenic and monocomponent, no multi-cereal. Here you need rice, corn, buckwheat, a little later you can introduce corn. Such cereals as pearl barley, semolina, can be introduced by about a year, and already immediately in the form in which adults eat it. But it is precisely without semolina that you can do without semolina at all, despite the fact that many ate it in childhood. This porridge is almost useless in terms of the content of vitamins and minerals. For comparison, buckwheat is just a storehouse of nutrients, and there is no starch in it.

The second rule is no additives in the form of sugar and fruits, as well as milk. If the baby refuses porridge, then this means that it is worth trying again or replacing the porridge. It often happens that the baby refuses buckwheat, but eats rice on both cheeks or vice versa. It's never too late to introduce milk porridge. Therefore, you can start with dairy-free ones, since when using them, the risk of developing a tendency to allergies is much lower.

If the child does not gain weight at all, then it will be correct to introduce complementary foods from cereals both at 4 months, and at 5, and at 6.

Dairy

Dairy products should be introduced no earlier than 8 months, and it is better to let it be baby cottage cheese.

Under 3 years of age, do not eat dairy products for adultsrecommended. In the children's department, you can find adapted milk, kefir and other dairy products for sale. And this is not just a marketing ploy, they are actually more adapted.

Oddly enough, milk allergy is one of the most common among babies. Among all dairy products, whole milk is the hardest to digest. Fermented milk products are enriched with bifidobacteria that promote good digestion, and therefore are absorbed several times better. Now it’s clear why you need to start your acquaintance with dairy products with them.

Should sweeten and s alt food

There is an opinion that s alt and sugar are necessary for the body, and this is true. But the other truth is that they are already present in sufficient quantities in foods naturally. And the fact that the food seems bland is a consequence of the fact that the taste buds have already become dull from prolonged s alting and sweetening. If you stop adding s alt and sugar to food, then after a while the receptors will return to normal, and the real taste of the products will begin to be felt. Then it turns out that they are not at all tasteless.

With this information, it is easy to understand that if sugar and s alt are not added to the child’s food from birth, then he will be happy to eat such food, feeling its real taste and not suspecting that it can somehow “improve . But it is worth giving a child a sweet at least once, and he will always demand it. That is why it is better to introduce all the vegetables first, and only then start introducing sweet fruits. For those who have never tasted artificial sugar, the fruit will seem very sweet. Therefore, it is better to agree on this with grandmothers, aunts, nannies and everyone who will sit with the child, that he eats uns alted food, and he only has fruits from sweets.

Yes, in time he will probably have to get acquainted with artificial sugar and s alt, but the later this happens, the better. It is useful not only for children, but even for adults. There are families where, in principle, they do not eat s alt and sugar and feel great at the same time.

Allergy

Another factor that can interfere with the introduction of complementary foods is allergies. To know for sure that there is no allergy to a certain product, you need to introduce new types of food gradually. Start with one or two spoons, adding one more spoon every day, and bring it up to the norm recommended by age. At the same time, you should not introduce a new product more often than once a week. You should start with colorless cereals and vegetables, as they are the most hypoallergenic. Brightly colored vegetables such as pumpkin and carrots are the most common allergens.

Age age norms for feeding babies

In order to introduce complementary foods correctly, you need to follow the age norm for the amount of food consumed. An overdose of micronutrients is just as dangerous as its deficiency. For example, eating too much or too little of foods rich in calcium and vitamin D will lead to problems with bone formation. Below is a table for the introduction of complementary foods, according to WHO recommendations.

product name	age of insertion	to what daily volume to bring
cauliflower, zucchini, broccoli and other colored and green vegetables	4-6 months	100 - 200g
Hypoallergenic Dairy-Free Cereals	5-7 months	100 - 200g
fruits (apples, pears) and colorful vegetables (beets, pumpkins, carrots)	7-8 months	100 - 200g
quail eggs	8 months	starting with ¼ and no more than one
lean meat puree (turkey, rabbit, chicken)	8-9 months	100 - 200g
milk porridge	9 months	100 - 200g
cottage cheese	9 months	no more than 50g before one year and no more than 100g after
yogurt for children	9 months	no more than 200 ml
fruit juices	10 months	no more than 100 ml
baby cookies	10-12 months	3-5 pieces
fish	10-12 months	150-200g
bright fruits and berries	after a year	no more than 150g

Pedagogical complementary foods

There are two types of introduction of complementary foods: pediatric and pedagogical. Prior to this, a type of administration recognized by pediatricians, that is, pediatric, was described.

But there is also a pedagogical one, and it is necessary when there is a problem with food interest, and the child refuses to try new food, and it is time for him to do it. How to introduce complementary foods to this type of infant? The whole point of pedagogical complementary foods is to eat next to the child, thereby setting an example for him. The innate desire to imitate parents will force the baby to reach for the mother's or father's plate, and then it is worth sharing with him. Naturally, during the introduction of pedagogical complementary foods, the diet of parents should correspond to the age of the child, and not to the wishes of adults. During this period, fried, s alty, spicy foods and convenience foods are excluded from the plate. Diet puree soups, cereals and heavily boiled food without spices and onions are best suited.

Breastfeeding

It would seem that only the difficulties with establishing lactation have been left behind, as a new question arises before the mother: how to introduce complementary foods while breastfeeding? Despite the fact that at six months the child will begin to eat adult food, his main food at first remains mother's milk or infant formula.

A rather controversial issue is when to wean a baby. On theTo date, it has been proven that breastfeeding up to 2 years of age has a positive effect on the formation of immunity and intestinal flora in a child. But children are especially in need of breastfeeding only up to a year.

But these are just dry facts, and this issue should be decided individually. When exactly to stop breastfeeding is up to the mother and baby to decide. The main thing is that feeding is comfortable for them. And if it gives them both pleasure, then you can feed for more than two years. After all, this is not only food, but also a way to communicate and calm the child.

It happens that children themselves refuse to breastfeed quite early, or a woman's milk disappears. If, despite this, there is a desire to continue feeding, then you need to contact a specialist on this issue, and he will help restore lactation. But it happens that breastfeeding brings a lot of discomfort and inconvenience to the mother herself. You should not sacrifice yourself, because it is so short and project your discontent on the child. Breastfeeding is not the only way to strengthen immunity and prove your love to your child.

Artificial feeding

There are times when breastfeeding is not possible, then in the first months of a child's life it is necessary to feed with adapted infant formula. Cow's or goat's milk is quite different in composition from mother's milk and as its substitutes are not suitable. The same applies to liquid semolina porridge. Infant formula is not a way to cash in on mothers who cannot breastfeed, but the only adapted foodfor a baby under 6 months old and the best replacement for mother's milk when he is a little older.

How to introduce complementary foods to an artificial man? The principles of introduction are the same, but with the caveat that you can start introducing complementary foods a little earlier, at 4-5 months, depending on its readiness and the rate of weight gain. Usually, if the mixture is not enough for a full weight gain, it is recommended to introduce baby cereals from 4 months, but not earlier.

Another difference in the introduction of complementary foods to artificial babies is that after a year it is already desirable to completely replace the mixture with adult food, since it does not contribute to the development of immunity, and when feeding from a bottle, an abnormal bite can form. When breastfeeding, you can not be afraid for a long time for the incorrect formation of the jaw, because the nipple grip is different from the nipple grip. Here, nature has thought of everything, and when seizing the mother's nipple, the child makes the “correct” movements.