How and what to feed a child? Simple and delicious recipes

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

For many parents, a he althy child is a child with a good appetite. And if the baby refuses to eat or eats little during the day, then this is a signal: something is wrong with him, he is sick. But is everything so clear? Is poor appetite always a sign of ill he alth? Let's figure it out.

Feeding a baby up to a year

The question of how to feed a child up to a year, as a rule, does not arise. Up to six months, the main food of the baby is breast milk or an adapted formula. After six months, the child begins to try new products that the parent offers. Someone starts with cereals, someone - with fruits or vegetables. The main rule of feeding is caution. A new product should be introduced gradually, observing the reaction of the baby. Some parents practice pedagogical complementary foods. The main essence of this direction can be stated in the following theses:

• Start trying new foods after 5, 5 or 6 months, when the baby shows interest in food.
• Give the baby to try all the he althy foods that parents eat, but only inmicrodoses, that is, very small pieces.
• One day, one product. This tactic will allow you to immediately understand what the child is allergic to.
• Increase from microdose to 1 teaspoon within 5 days.
• Food should be offered from a plate or given to a baby in the hand so that the child begins to learn the norms of eating at the table from the cradle. Allowing food to be grabbed from the table is not recommended.
• If the baby does not show curiosity, seeing a new product, you do not need to force him to eat.

Nutrition after the year

Many children have already tried basic foods by the age of one. How to feed a child is a question that should not confuse parents. Now it’s not difficult to come up with a menu for the crumbs for the day. The diet of the baby should be varied: meat, fish, cereals, pasta, sour-milk and dairy products, vegetables and fruits. The time that should pass between meals is 3.5-4 hours. The daily menu consists of 4-5 meals. In this case, before going to bed, it is better to give the child kefir or yogurt, milk formula. By the age of one and a half years, the "right" sweets can be added to the child's diet: honey, marshmallows, jam. With sweets and chocolates, it is better to wait until three years.

Who are the little ones?

Children who do not have a good appetite, and during the day rarely sit down at the table to eat the next portion, are called little kids. Many modern parents are faced with this problem. Someone refers to this as a stage in the development of the child, someone beginssound the alarm, believing that the child is sick. In order to be sure that the baby really does not receive the substances necessary for development, a special technique has been developed - a food diary. Every day for several weeks, the parent writes down in a notebook what the child ate. Be sure to indicate the number of grams of the product eaten, this is necessary for an accurate calculation of calories. For each age, there is a norm for the amount of energy that a child receives from food eaten:

• From six months to a year - 800 kcal.
• From one to three years - 1300-1500 kcal.
• From three years to six years - 1800-2000 kcal.
• From six to ten years - 2000-2400 kcal.
• From ten to thirteen years - 2900 kcal.

The above indicators are averages, you should not strictly focus on them, because each child is individual. But if, according to your calculations, the difference is large, then you need to think about it and contact a specialist.

Why is the baby not eating well

Non-he alth causes of poor appetite can be grouped into five groups:

• The child eats only those foods that he likes best in terms of taste. Often parents complain that children do not eat cereals, soups, meat dishes at all. But fruits, sweets, or, for example, sausages, they do not need to be forced to eat. In this case, we are not talking about the child's poor appetite, but about the selective one. If the parents are satisfied with this, then nothing can be changed. Otherwise, explainchild that for breakfast - porridge, for lunch - soup, for dinner - cottage cheese casserole. And there are no alternatives. If the baby refuses the proposed dish, then let him know that the next meal will be in 3-4 hours. Those who are especially worried that the child will suffer from hunger, we will reassure. If you stick to the planned tactics and do not offer your child other food, then soon he will be happy to eat what you have prepared.
• The second reason has a bit in common with the first - it's snacking. If the baby constantly interrupts his appetite with various snacks, then, of course, he will not want to touch the soup that his mother prepared with love. In this case, it is also recommended to limit the child in snacks between main meals.
• A child is an individual. He may have his own characteristics of digestion, his own growth rate, type of character. For example, one kid runs like a top all day, jumps, does not sit still for a second, and the other, on the contrary, loves quiet games, sit with a book, draw. The calorie content of the daily menu in the first case may be higher, but the first baby is thin, and the second is well-fed. Therefore, the child's appetite is directly dependent on physical activity. Also, the stage of development of the baby affects the desire to eat. Children in the active growth phase have an increased appetite. The main thing to focus on when deciding whether to enroll your child in the ranks of the little ones is to match the level of his development.
• The next point follows from the previous one. Children who are actively involved in sports usually do not sufferpoor appetite problem. After all, the energy spent on physical exercises must be replenished. And a sports kid will never turn down a meal.
• /cartoon". Such tactics of manipulation and threats do not lead to an appetite. Therefore, if a child refuses to eat, do not force him to get hungry - eat.

What to do

Partly the topic "how to help a child if he does not eat anything" is touched upon above. But still, a detailed analysis will not hurt. Here are a number of rules, under which the relationship between the child and he althy food will improve:

• If the baby refuses to eat, then it is not necessary to force it. He knows when he's hungry.
• Avoid unhe althy foods in your diet, including sweets, cookies, buns, cakes. They leave no room for he althy food.
• Snacks should not replace main meals and should therefore be limited.
• Provide your child with physical activity according to age.
• Spend more time outdoors.
• Systematic. If you decide to limit the number of snacks, not to replace the main meals with your child's favorite foods, then be consistent.
• A parent is an example for a child. In choosing food and favorite products, mom and dad are the main guidelines.
• Trychange the serving of food. Apply decoration, artistic cutting of vegetables and fruits. After all, it is much more interesting to eat porridge, on which a muzzle is depicted with the help of berries and jam, and soup - if "flowers" of carrots float in it.

What to feed the children for dinner

This question has been moved to a separate topic, because eating before bed is very important. After all, having eaten the wrong foods for dinner, a child may wake up at night from hunger, or vice versa - sleep poorly due to heaviness in the stomach. What to feed a child for dinner:

• Curd dishes - casseroles, cheesecakes, mixtures with dried fruits and berries.
• Egg dishes - scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs.
• Porridge.
• Dishes of boiled, baked, stewed vegetables - stews, casseroles, etc.
• Vegetable and fruit salads.
• Kefir, yogurt, fermented baked milk.

Parental Tricks

To solve the problem of how to feed a child if he refuses to eat, parents can use little tricks, or, as it is now fashionable to say, life hacks:

• Offer to eat liquid food - broths, kissels, compotes, vegetable broths - through a straw.
• Serve your next meal using bright candy-like packaging.
• Invite your child to participate in the process of cooking lunch, dinner, breakfast, as a rule, children do not refuse food prepared by him.
• Use bright dishes, forks, spoons.
• Use the original names of ordinary dishes: horse porridge, Winnie the Pooh soup, cutlets from Cat inboots.
• Sayings, funny rhymes will make the process of eating interesting.

Recipes: how to feed a baby

There are a lot of options for dishes that many children will appreciate. Today, many parents share their experience in preparing food for their crumbs. Below are a few recipes that will allow mothers to solve the problem of how to feed a child if he does not eat anything.

Recipe 1: Banana Cottage Cheese Casserole

What to feed a child in a year? The answer is cottage cheese casserole. There are many variations of this dish. One popular way is to combine cottage cheese and banana.

For cooking you will need:

• low-fat cottage cheese - 200 grams;
• 1 medium banana;
• 1 egg;
• 1 tablespoon sugar;
• 1 tablespoon semolina.

The cooking process begins with mixing all the ingredients. The order in which the ingredients are added is not important. To simplify, use a blender. After the products turn into a homogeneous mass, leave it for a couple of minutes so that the semolina swells. Then spread the mass into molds and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

Recipe 2: Flower Chicken Cutlets

Tender chicken cutlets can be a good option for feeding a child at 2 years old.

For cooking you will need:

• Chicken fillet - 900 grams.
• 2-3 slices of white bread.
• Crackers for breading (optional).
• Butter.
• Milk, s alt to taste.

First, soak the bread in milk. In the meantime, chop the fillet in a meat grinder, for a more delicate texture, repeat the process several times. After wringing out the bread and add to the resulting minced meat, s alt, add butter. Mark the meat well and form into small patties. Arrange them in flower-shaped baking dishes and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

Recipe 3: Chicken Soup Without Potatoes

This recipe will be included in the piggy bank of quick cooking methods. As a rule, chicken soups are one of the favorites of children. But it happens that kids do not eat potatoes. A solution to the problem of how to feed a child if he does not eat potatoes would be chicken soup with pasta.

For cooking you will need:

• 2 chicken drumsticks, skinned.
• 1 small onion.
• 1 carrot, which can be cut flower-shaped ahead of time.
• Curly pasta.

Put the chicken drumsticks to boil. After the first boil, drain the broth. Use secondary broth to prepare baby food. Once the chicken is cooked, take it out and let it cool. Since many children do not like boiled onions, throw the whole onion into the broth. Add shredded carrots. Let the broth boil for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into small pieces and throw it into the soup. The very last ingredient will be pasta. Alternatively, boil them separately and add tosoup.