At what age can children be given cottage cheese: how and when to introduce complementary foods

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

Cottage cheese is one of the most delicious and he althy fermented milk products that are introduced as complementary foods in the first year of life. At what age can children be given cottage cheese? It is recommended to do this not earlier than the second half of the year and in small quantities. Babies who are intolerant to cow's milk are not recommended to give cottage cheese. More details about the features of the introduction of complementary foods in the form of cottage cheese further.

About this delicious curd…

Extraordinarily useful cottage cheese is considered to be due to its content of folic acid, phosphorus, kefir fungi, calcium, vitamin B12. But it is very important for a growing child's body to absorb micro-, macroelements, basic nutrients, and various vitamins with food. He althy food plays an important role in the first year of a child's life. So that the baby can crawl quite actively, sit steadily, so that he gets up on his own and walks with the correct setting of the feet, henormal physical development and proper nutrition are required. Therefore, the question of whether it is possible to give cottage cheese to children does not arise even among young parents.

Those peanuts who eat cottage cheese in sufficient quantities will subsequently form strong bones, he althy teeth. Children will gain weight and height well. It is cottage cheese that is the main source of calcium, protein and phosphorus. In addition, cottage cheese can have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the liver, heart muscle, nervous system, and the metabolic processes of the baby's body.

At what age can you eat cottage cheese?

We have already figured out that this dairy product is very good for the he alth of the child. And at what age can children be given cottage cheese? The timing of the introduction of such complementary foods will primarily depend on the type of feeding of the little one.

Babies, who ate exclusively mother's milk for the first six months of their lives, can be given to taste cottage cheese as early as eight to nine months. But the artificial ones, who received various types of complementary foods from the age of four months, can get acquainted with cottage cheese a little earlier - already at six to seven months. But in both cases, curd complementary foods should be introduced only after the baby has mastered juices, dairy-free cereals, fruit and vegetable foods.

How to enter correctly?

So, cottage cheese. At what age can this product be given to a child? Of course, not earlier than six months (this was discussed a little higher). Moreover, at the very beginning, the baby can be offeredcottage cheese only in small portions, gradually. To begin with, mom offers only half a teaspoon and within a week increases the amount to the age norm.

As a rule, this product can be offered once a day, increasing the dose. By the age of one year, the baby should eat fifty grams of cottage cheese at once.

How often can I give my child cottage cheese? Everything will depend on how the baby feels. If he is he althy, his mother can feed him this fermented milk product twice or thrice a week. If there is a food intolerance to the product (diarrhea, allergic rash), complementary foods should be discontinued immediately.

Children who suffer from rickets or are underweight should eat cottage cheese every day. If the fontanel closes early, the mother needs to suspend the early introduction of this product.

Before the baby reaches the age of one, it is better to offer him industrial-made baby cottage cheese, in which there are no fillers. It will be absorbed quite easily and will not cause allergic reactions. But from a year to two years, it is quite possible to use cottage cheese for children with additives from fruits and berries.

Positive aspects of eating cottage cheese

From how many months you can give cottage cheese to a child, we have already figured it out. Now let's find out what are the advantages of using this fermented milk product for a baby:

• The proteins of cottage cheese have all the amino acids that are necessary for the body of a peanut.
• When a baby eats cottage cheese,strengthening his bone tissue.
• It is from this product that the baby receives folic acid, vitamins B 12, A, phosphorus, calcium, sodium and other no less valuable components.

Negative aspects of introducing cottage cheese into baby food

If cottage cheese is introduced into the menu too early for a small child, he may experience some digestive problems:

• Cottage cheese should not be given to children if they have kidney disease or intolerance to milk proteins.
• If the cottage cheese is industrially produced, fillers are added to it, which can cause allergies.
• If curd is stored in the wrong conditions, it can cause food infections.
• If the baby has an intolerance to this product, then diarrhea, a rash appears, and his behavior will be restless. The baby may complain of cramping abdominal pain and nausea.

What does Yevgeny Komarovsky think?

The doctor, known to millions of mothers, advises starting the introduction of cottage cheese when the baby is six months old. Moreover, it should be added to kefir. Komarovsky explains: one should start with this fermented milk product because this group of products is the “closest relative” of both breast milk and milk mixtures. Therefore, it will be much easier for the baby’s body to digest yogurt with cottage cheese than other complementary foods.

The pediatrician suggests adding cottage cheese one teaspoonful on the fourth or fifth day of introducing kefir into the child's menu. In his opinion, the best time for such a dish is from nineuntil eleven o'clock in the morning. If there is no reaction to this product, the dose can be doubled the next day. This is continued until the volume of the curd is approximately thirty to forty grams for a baby aged six to eight months.

Regular or with additives?

What cottage cheese can be given to children and in what form? This worries many mothers who are just starting to introduce complementary foods to their babies.

At the very beginning, when the little one is just getting acquainted with the curd, it is necessary to give him this product fresh, without any additives. While the baby will try only cottage cheese. It is possible that its taste will completely suit the child.

Is it possible to give homemade cottage cheese to a child? Yes, of course, yes! In addition, the right mother's decision would be to give the baby cottage cheese, which was only recently cooked, and stood in the open air for no more than two hours.

If the little one does not want to eat unsweetened cottage cheese, or the mother herself wants to somehow diversify the cottage cheese complementary foods, you can add any fruit to it. But dishes prepared on the basis of cottage cheese (cheesecakes, casseroles, etc.) should be introduced into the baby’s menu after he is one and a half years old.

Choose the right one…

Today, store shelves are lined with a large number of these baby food products. They are adapted to the needs of babies who are not yet a year old. Such a product differs from the rest in a rather delicate taste and texture, similar tosour cream.

When choosing such a curd, you should pay attention to the packaging, on which manufacturers note a short shelf life. In addition, the product must be within the expiration date, that is, be fresh. It is best that there are no additives in the selected cottage cheese. Also, you can not give the baby cottage cheese, which is intended for adults, and cheese curds, which have a variety of flavors.

He althy recipes

Along with the question of at what age children can be given cottage cheese, mothers are also interested in how to cook it at home. To do this, as it turns out, is not so difficult. There are some simple recipes:

Method one. Boil one liter of fresh milk, cool it to a temperature of +35 degrees. Then add about fifty grams of sourdough to it. It can serve as yogurt, sour cream or kefir. When the milk is sour, place the saucepan with it in a water bath and keep it on low heat for about 30-40 minutes. After the resulting homemade cottage cheese is squeezed out, it can also be beaten with a blender

• Method two. Curdling milk with calcium chloride. Boil milk (200-300 ml) and cool. Mix with two to three ml of calcium chloride. Bring all this to a boil, and then discard on a sieve. The curd that turned out should be rubbed with a blender.
• The third way. Cottage cheese can be prepared by heating kefir. Pour it into a small saucepan and hold thiscontainer over medium heat. Kefir should warm up, but not boil. After a very short time, you can notice that the kefir has separated into a denser mass, which turned out to be on top, and a more liquid one, which turned out to be at the bottom. If the resulting product is discarded on cheesecloth, it is easy to remove excess liquid and get a very tender curd.

Can a child give cottage cheese every day? Since children's cottage cheese is able to be absorbed completely and very easily, this is quite acceptable. In the first three to five years of life, the baby should get used to consuming cottage cheese daily. After all, it is at this time that the body is actively growing and forming.

For feeding the little ones

Babies at the age of six months are better off choosing cottage cheese prepared in a dairy kitchen. It differs from the one intended for adults: children's is softer in texture. And for babies who have not yet developed a sufficiently developed chewing reflex, this is quite important.

This product can be creamy or milky. Butter contains a lot of fat. Since it is quite nutritious, you should not offer other foods that contain a large number of calories to the little ones on this day. But in milk curd, the amount of fat is reduced. It is perfect for children who are overweight.

Some of the mothers are used to cooking cottage cheese for their crumbs on their own. This is also pretty good, just follow the rules of hygiene. It is quite possible to cook sour curd or fresh -from the kefir that was prepared especially for children It is not recommended to use market cottage cheese for feeding babies, as well as one that was prepared from sour milk. So, we found out at what age children can be given cottage cheese. It should be noted that only a pediatrician can determine when the time will come for eating this fermented milk product and how much it can be given to a baby. In some cases, the doctor may limit the amount of cottage cheese or completely exclude it from the baby's diet.