How many months can you feed a baby? Tips from pediatricians

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

Very often, young parents are concerned about the question of how many months you can feed a child. Some people think that a drop of juice will not harm a three-month-old baby, while others, on the contrary, are afraid to give something other than mother's milk even closer to a year. So when should you start feeding your baby?

Common misconceptions about when we introduce complementary foods

How to make sure that the child is already ready for the introduction of new products, from how many months can a child be fed? Sometimes you can hear such an opinion that it is possible to give juices, mashed potatoes, etc. to a baby when his first tooth comes out. However, this is a highly controversial figure. It happens that a child is born already with a tooth, and sometimes it appears only by the age of one. This does not mean that you need to feed from the cradle or, conversely, only by the year.

Babies start to actively salivate at the age of three months. Some believe that this is a clear sign that the child is ready for complementary foods. But at threemonth, he is not yet ready to eat anything other than mommy's milk or (if it is not available for some reason) special formulas.

When a child is ready for complementary foods, he has, as they say, an interest in food. He almost uncontrollably climbs into his mother's plate. As soon as the baby sees that an adult is eating, drinking, or even simply putting food on a plate, he also wants to participate in the process. Children tend to imitate and put food in their mouths. At the same time, the baby cannot be distracted by any toys and rattles. Perhaps the baby will not even take the breast, but will climb into the plate. So, interest in food is one of the most striking indicators of a child's readiness for complementary foods. But from how many months can you feed a baby? Most children begin to feel the need for complementary foods not earlier than they are six months old. Many babies develop an interest in food around the age of six months. Maybe later.

Main feeding patterns

There are two types of introducing new foods into your baby's diet.

Pedagogical complementary foods. Its goal is not so much to feed the child, but to teach how to chew and swallow, introduce new tastes, and adapt to a new type of food. Of course, the introduction of pedagogical complementary foods cannot go against the background of the abolition of breastfeeding. It should be done in parallel with breastfeeding. Only after a year, and sometimes later, this type of complementary foods begins to become energetic. The child can already eat enough food on his own, and breast milk serves himfor drinking only.

The second scheme is more familiar and common. This complementary food is energy or, in other words, pediatric. It lies in the fact that new products are introduced into the diet of crumbs instead of part of breast milk. Gradually, breastfeeding fades into the background, being replaced by cereals, mashed potatoes

What is the best way to start introducing your baby to new products?

Many grandmothers, when asked how many months to feed a child, answer: "The sooner the better." Some of them certainly try to pour a drop of juice into the mouth of a month-old baby. From the point of view of a huge number of doctors, there is no special benefit in juices for babies. Fruit purees, for example, are just as he althy, and sometimes more so. This happens if only because the big problem of children of the 1st year of life is a tendency to constipation, and fruit purees help this trouble. If parents still choose juice for the first feeding, then it is best to start with apple juice. You need to cook it yourself and to start with give only a small drop. Of course, parents themselves must decide on how many months you can feed the child. And yet it is better if up to six months (and possibly longer) the baby will receive only breast milk. And the mother herself can just eat an apple, but rather a few (for herself and for the crumbs).