Baby nutrition at 9 months: mode and menu

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

Your baby is growing rapidly, which means that mother's milk or formula is no longer enough for him. By the age of nine months, the child is likely to actively eat complementary foods during the day, but if this is not the case, then do not panic. All babies are different, so you just need to pull yourself together and develop your baby's interest in food. Nutrition at this age is complicated by the fact that the child begins to demonstrate his tastes and preferences in food. And it is quite possible that one fine morning, a mother may be horrified by the fact that her baby no longer wants to eat the usual porridge or vegetable puree. The nutrition of a child at 9 months must necessarily be balanced and strictly comply with the regime, it is important for parents to take this issue seriously, because the future eating habits of the little man depend on this.

Scheduled Feeding

When a child9 months, daily routine and nutrition are the key to the successful maturation of the baby, a guarantee of his good he alth. Despite the fact that mother's milk or formula is considered the basis of the diet of a nine-month-old baby, it is important to gradually transfer it to adult food. To do this, it is recommended to adhere to 5 feedings per day with equal intervals. Mother's breasts or a bottle of formula should only be offered to the child in the early morning and at night, and during the period of wakefulness and activity, introduce the child to new tastes and foods of different textures. The diet of a child at 9 months should coincide with the rhythm of the baby's life, which means that you should not feed him immediately before bedtime or offer heavy meals in the early morning. Just follow the schedule, this will allow you to avoid problems with sleep disturbance from overeating and problems with the gastrointestinal tract in the baby. Sample meal plan for a 9 month old baby:

6:00 - right after waking up	breast or adapted formula
10:00 - full breakfast	dairy or dairy-free cereals yolk, fruit puree cereal products (bread, biscuits, biscuits)
14:00 - main meal	soup, vegetable puree, meat or fish puree
18:00 - dinner	homemade yogurt, kefir or cottage cheese fruit puree
22:00 - closer to sleep	chest

Nature and amount of food

In the period from 6 to 12 months, babies experience a physiological decrease in hemoglobin in the blood, which is why it is extremely important that the child's nutrition at 9 months be balanced, include a varied set of foods rich in vitamins and microelements. The consistency of the food should be thicker, the inclusion of pieces is allowed, because the kids are excellent at chewing with their gums, and most already have their first teeth. The total amount of food that a child eats per day should be 12-15% of his weight. In terms of volume, complementary foods should not exceed the mark of one liter. It should be borne in mind that for one meal you need to give the child a strictly defined amount of certain products:

• formula or breast milk - 180-250 ml;
• porridge - 160-180 g;
• soup - 180-200 ml;
• fruit puree - 80-100g;
• vegetable puree - up to 200 g;
• meat or poultry puree - up to 70 g;
• fish puree - 45-50g;
• yolk - half;
• fruit juices (diluted), fruit drinks, compotes - 70-100 ml;
• cottage cheese - 45 -50 g;
• kefir or yogurt - up to 200 ml.

What should babies eat at nine months of age?

A baby's diet at 9 months must include fish, poultry and meat dishes, vegetables and fruits, as well as cottage cheese, kefir or homemade yogurt. Oils and fats play an important role in the formation of the immunity and nervous system of the baby. The nutrition of a child at 9 months on artificial feeding must necessarily combinecontains butter and vegetable fats. After all, the milk mixture does not contain all those components that are so rich in mother's milk. At the same time, when making up the diet of a child at 9 months of breastfeeding, it is necessary to take into account the lack of iron in mother's milk, and mixtures are usually specially enriched with this component.

Also, do not forget about the combination of foods in the diet. Vegetable oils are best added to meat or vegetables. Butter goes well with cereals, egg yolk and bread. With caution, it is worth introducing fermented milk products into complementary foods, especially kefir and cottage cheese. This rather protein-rich food can create a serious burden on the child's not yet strong kidneys, and a high acidic environment will adversely affect the functioning of the intestines. In order for fermented milk products to bring more benefits with minimal harm, it is better to cook them at home using special starter cultures or live bacteria. You should also be careful with milk, because cow's milk is the strongest and most common allergen.

Meat dishes

The diet of a child at 9 months must certainly include a meat component. Most of all, turkey, rabbit and veal are suitable for the children's menu, but you should be careful with chicken, as it can cause allergies. Small portions of meat are best boiled or steamed; baking in foil or a sleeve is also allowed, but without the use of oil. Children are rather reluctant to eat this new product, as they do not like the unfamiliar fibrous structure. There are a few tricks to solve this problem:you can mask the meat in vegetable puree, dilute in broth or soften the consistency with oil. Pay close attention to what foods you add to the menu. A 9-month-old baby's food should be safe a priori, so give preference to home-made meat, or purchase it in specialized stores that can confirm the good quality of products with certificates.

Introducing the baby to fish

At 9 months you can already add fish to your baby's diet. It is better to give preference to river fish, such as: pike, pike perch, hake, because they contain a large amount of easily digestible protein, but at the same time do not have a high fat content. From sea fish, you can choose cod, pollock and flounder. It contains the necessary amount of useful minerals and trace elements, as well as the most valuable for a growing organism - omega acids and iodine. Fish should be offered once or maximum twice a week, it is best to combine it with vegetables or cereals. Cooking is mainly steamed or boiled, you can also offer the baby a little fish broth. Many children are more willing to eat fish than meat, as it has a more tender and soft texture. If there are no negative reactions to this product, then closer to the year you can give the child meatballs or steamed fish cakes.

Cereals and cereals

The diet of a 9-month-old formula-fed or breastfed baby usually includes various cereals. During this period, buckwheat, rice, semolina, oatmeal, pearl barley and barley are useful for the baby.cereals. It is better to postpone millet and corn grits until an older age, as they are quite coarse, contain a lot of fiber and are too aggressive for children's intestines. In the diet of a child, cereals can appear not only in their pure form, they can be used to make soups, meatballs and puddings.

Vegetable oils and animal fats

For the normal functioning of a small organism, the nutrition of a child at 9 months should combine not only proteins and carbohydrates, but also fats. It is especially important to include various vegetable oils in the diet, because they are so rich in useful components that help maintain the body in good shape and can significantly strengthen the immune system. And for saturated acids and vitamins to enter the body, fats of animal origin, especially fish, must be present in the child’s menu. The main thing is to observe the daily dosage (no more than 1 teaspoon) and offer the child food enriched with fats in the morning: so as not to burden the digestive tract before bedtime.

Vegetables and fruits

Most often, vegetables are the first to appear in the baby's diet, the mother introduces the child to adult food, offering him various variations of mashed potatoes. At 9 months, the list of dishes for a child can be diversified by adding pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, legumes, corn, white cabbage, celery, beets and turnips. Also, from this age, you can add greens and some herbs to dishes. From fruits, an apple, prunes and plums, a pear and a pear, a banana, a peach will be useful to the baby.and apricot. It is better to wait a little with berries and exotic fruits, as they often cause interruptions in the work of the stomach or severe allergies. If you offer your baby juices, then let them be diluted and preferably homemade. All fruits and vegetables must be carefully processed before getting to the baby on the table, this will help to avoid poisoning and other troubles with the gastrointestinal tract.

Baby nutrition

A 9-month-old breastfed baby's diet may not be as varied. This is due to the fact that mother's milk meets almost all the needs of the baby in calories and nutrients. However, parents should not neglect complementary foods, because after the baby has crossed the threshold of 6 months, milk alone will not be enough for him. Meat, cereals, fruits, vegetables and dairy products must be present in his diet. However, it is worth adhering to a clear nutritional pattern, for this, offer the baby a breast only at night and early morning hours, and during the daytime feed the baby with regular food. This will help you develop good eating habits and will also make future weaning easier.

Complementary food

The nutrition of a child at 9 months on artificial feeding should be more varied than that of infants. After all, even the best premium formula cannot fully replace mother's milk, even though they have a highcalorie content and additionally enriched with vitamins and minerals. That is why babies who are fed artificially get acquainted with complementary foods much earlier, and by the year they are almost fully fed from the "common table". Particular attention should be paid to protein foods, it is very important that from the age of 6 months meat and sour-milk products in the form of cottage cheese or kefir are present in the diet of a child on artificial feeding. Other foods can be introduced gradually up to 12 months.

Universal baby menu

It's no secret for a smart and caring mother that the key to a good mood and well-being of a child is the right daily routine and nutrition. Your baby needs to clearly distinguish between the time allotted for meals and sleep. To do this, the mother needs to stop the chaotic feeding of the child and shift all meals to the daytime. At night and earlier in the morning, leave only the breast or mixture. A sample menu for a 9 month old baby might look like this:

• 6:00 - formula bottle or mother's breast;
• 10:00 - oatmeal porridge, buckwheat or rice with milk (160-200 g) + a quarter or half of the yolk + fruit (50 g);
• 14:00 - puree soup (for example, with pumpkin and carrots - 160-200 g) + meat / fish / poultry puree (50 g) + bread or biscuit (5-10 g) + fruit juice (50 ml);
• 20:00 - cottage cheese (50 g) + homemade kefir or yogurt (100-150 ml) + fruit (banana, peach or apricot - 50 g);
• 00:00 - formula bottle or mother's breast.

Common parenting mistakes

Baby nutrition is very important,but it's not an easy process. Some parents are addicted to the study of relevant literature or the advice of grandmothers to such an extent that the process of introducing a small family member to familiar food turns into a real test. How can this be avoided? Pay attention to the list of the most common parenting mistakes and try to avoid them:

1. Too persistent. Do not force the child to eat what he does not like, the baby already has his own tastes and preferences.
2. Overfeeding. All norms of daily consumption of products are given in the average version. You should not try to cram 200 g of porridge into a child if after 100 g he refuses to eat. All children are different, listen to your baby, otherwise it can lead to obesity and problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
3. Adding sugar. Do not try to make this or that food more attractive with sugar, children quickly get used to sweets.

General recommendations

Food culture is instilled from infancy, it is very important to properly organize this process from the very beginning. Here are a few tips to help you feed your baby at 9 months if you haven't already:

1. Feed the baby at the strictly allotted time, try to follow the regimen.
2. The baby should eat in the kitchen, sitting in a special chair. This will help form the right associations with the place and rules of eating from an early age.
3. Try to ensure that the feeding of the baby coincides with common family meals, by their own example, parents will be able to encourage the baby toindependence, he will quickly learn to eat with a spoon.
4. Develop your child's ability to chew, to do this, offer him mashed foods less often, give preference to soups with small pieces, or knead food with a fork to a non-uniform consistency.

These tips will help you organize proper nutrition for your child at an early age.