2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21
Starting at the age of six months, and sometimes even earlier, mothers of babies begin to introduce the first complementary foods into the diet (if the child is not breastfed, then you can try from four to five months). It can be vegetable or fruit puree and cereals. Porridges can be varied, modern baby food manufacturers offer a fairly wide range of such products, but let's take a closer look at semolina today. This porridge has been considered a proven complementary food for many generations and is most often used by mothers even today.
Why semolina
Semolina, which was considered by our mothers and grandmothers to be an ideal option for complementary foods for young children, is quite actively used to this day. This is explained not only by the liquid consistency of the finished product, which is suitable for a child, but also by the high content of useful components, which, when cooked properly,are saved. In addition to starch, proteins and vitamins, it contains a lot of fiber and allows not only to provide a tiny organism with everything necessary for full development, but also to normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
Controversial issue
Currently, experts talk a lot not only about the benefits, but also about the dangers of this porridge. We can say that the opinions of the past generation and modern mothers were divided. Grandmothers say that they have not yet come up with anything better than semolina for babies, and modern ready-made feeding options cannot be compared with it, and mothers, having studied the research of specialists, argue that it is impossible to give it to children up to a year old. Let's try to figure out who is right and who is wrong.
What is the harm of semolina
Research conducted by child development and nutrition experts has proven that semolina should be introduced into a baby's diet with great care. This is explained by the following reasons:
- Semolina for babies is definitely very difficult for his digestion. Porridge is not digested quickly enough and often causes problems with the gastrointestinal tract, which are already quite enough for crumbs.
- Due to the high content of phosphorus in semolina, the amount of calcium in the body is significantly reduced, which adversely affects the development of the child.
- Semolina porridge contains a very large amount of starch, and if the baby grows properly and develops fully, then with its frequent use, you can easily gain weight, which, in turn,can lead to various problems.
- An allergic reaction may occur due to the vegetable protein gluten present in semolina. In severe cases, the child may need to take medication.
- Poor absorption of vitamin D, calcium and iron suggests that there is phytin in semolina. An insufficient amount of the above vitamins causes the development of rickets and a decrease in immunity.
Undeniable benefits
Despite the negative aspects of this well-known product, there are undeniable benefits in the use of semolina porridge:
- Semolina contains numerous vitamins and minerals that help in the development of the baby's body. For example, potassium, magnesium, B vitamins, E, proteins.
- The big plus is that baby semolina cooks very quickly. Vitamins and useful mineral elements do not have time to change their composition, are not destroyed and enter the body in the required state.
- If the child is not gaining weight well and does not meet developmental parameters, then he can be fed semolina to ensure normal weight gain.
A prerequisite for the preservation of all useful substances in a ready-to-eat product is its proper preparation. If the porridge is undercooked, it will be too heavy for the crumbs, and if overcooked, the benefits will be significantly reduced.
Follow the rules
If after matching all positive and negativefactors you still decide to cook a dish such as semolina porridge for children, pay attention to the rules for its preparation. Follow them, and there will be no problems with cooking, but you won’t even remember that semolina was once difficult to cook after a short period of time.
It can be argued that only properly cooked porridge will benefit, which will be of a homogeneous mass, without lumps, without stickiness and always with grains. Only in this case the product will retain all its positive qualities and will not harm the small organism.
How to cook semolina for babies
Advice on making semolina porridge is passed down from generation to generation. Grandmothers and mothers can cook it with their eyes closed, but for those who have taken on this task for the first time, it is not always possible to cope with this.
Five percent porridge. In order to cook such porridge, you will need: two teas. tablespoons of cereals, half a glass of water and milk, a pinch of sugar and s alt. We are waiting for the water to boil, s alt and pour the cereal, stir constantly. You need to know one secret to get liquid semolina porridge in milk without lumps. To do this, you need to combine the cereal with sugar, and only then introduce them into boiling water. After the cereal with water boils a little, add milk and cook for another ten minutes. The result is liquid semolina for a bottle.
Ten percent porridge. Combine half a glass of water and milk, wait untilthe resulting mixture will boil, then add one table. a spoonful of semolina with sugar (do not forget about the secret told above) and, stirring, cook the porridge for fifteen minutes. When it's steamed enough, add another half cup of warm milk and bring to a boil.
Every mommy needs to know this
So, we got acquainted with the basic recipes for porridge, and now let's try to figure out when to give semolina to babies. At what age should a baby be introduced to her and what to do if the baby does not tolerate milk? Babies who are less than six months old need to boil liquid, the so-called 5% semolina. And for children older than six months, you can cook thicker semolina porridge - 10%. If the baby for some reason does not tolerate cow's milk, you should not leave him without semolina. Try cooking it with a special blend designed specifically for this purpose.
Popular question
Semolina is a fairly unpretentious product, but the question of how to cook semolina for babies remains popular, because someone gets porridge with lumps, very thick or, conversely, liquid, often burns. The tips above will help new moms learn how to cook the perfect porridge.
After analyzing all the advantages and disadvantages of semolina porridge, we can conclude that everything is good in moderation. You should not abuse semolina and eat it every day, but in order to diversify the diet, you can add it to the menu. Eating porridge several times a week will be enough, there is also a recommendation to introduce the child to semolina only afteryear.
But if semolina for babies is prepared infrequently, then it will not harm a small body. The rationed amount, frequency of consumption and proper preparation will help to extract all the beneficial properties from cereals and exclude possible harm to the growing organism.
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