Almost all mothers are wondering at what age to begin to introduce complementary foods to the baby. In order for the child to be healthy, natural and fresh food is needed. If he eats properly, then in the future there will be no problems with the stomach. Otherwise, over time, gastritis, ulcer and other ailments may develop. It is these diseases that happen due to the fact that the child eats everything in a row.
It is very important not to leave the baby one step, and also not to leave him alone in the kitchen. Indeed, without parental supervision unpleasant misunderstandings can happen.
Undoubtedly, in the first minutes of the baby's life, his mother’s best food is his mother’s milk. After all, it contains all the vitamins and macronutrients necessary for it. In the case when the child refuses to breast, milk formulas come to the aid of parents . In the modern world there are many of them.
What should children eat?
The diet of the child for months should vary. So, gradually the baby in the first year of life is offered new products. However, the fact that the diet should include a lot of fresh and natural food remains unchanged. Be sure to include vegetables and fruits, milk porridges and broths, as well as meat.
Water or sweet compote?
With one voice, all pediatricians will choose water as an answer to this question. Why? The human body is 90% fluid. This means that water is the main source of nutrition. In order for it to be useful, you need to properly process it. Water can be boiled, passed through a filter, but in no case should you drink it from a tap. The most useful water is silicon. Its use helps to get rid of rickets and anemia. However, it is impossible to use it regularly in large quantities. It is very simple to make such water: in a glass with ordinary water, you need to add silicon stones, which are sold in any pharmacy. The longer they are in the liquid, the more useful the final product will be. Only the upper layers should be consumed, and the remainder at the bottom should be poured.
Now let's find out why the compote is not recommended for kids. Firstly, sweets are forbidden to children. Secondly, many babies become attached to the tasty. After all, this drink has a peculiar taste that children like. Because of this, various problems can arise in the future.
What you need to know when cooking
So, in order to not only make healthy food for your baby, but to ease your work, it is best to get a double boiler or a slow cooker. Here are some cooking tips for the youngest members of the family:
- It is very important that beneficial substances and moisture remain in the products. Therefore, vegetables and fruits should be added shortly before the readiness of the dish. They must also be boiled only in stainless steel or aluminum cookware.
- If you decide to cook potatoes, then you need to take only fresh. Do not keep it in cold water. Because of this, the vitamin value is reduced.
- Do not finely chop vegetables and cook them only over low heat.
- In order to preserve vitamin C, you must lower the fruits into a minimum amount of hot water.
2 months baby menu
A 2-month baby's diet includes infant formula and breast milk. Such food occurs at the request of the baby. At this age, the child sleeps almost all the time. He wakes up only to eat. Also, the baby is awakened for water procedures.
5 months baby menu
If a child at this age is still fully breastfed, then additional nutrition is not required. But there are times when mom has little or no milk. In this situation, you can’t do without feeding.
At this age, babies are allowed the following products:
- Freshly squeezed juice of fruits and vegetables with and without pulp. However, you can not prepare juice from citrus fruits.
- Grated apple.
- Fruit puree. For example, banana + apple + pear. All components must be wiped and mixed. You can make mashed potatoes yourself or buy them in a store.
Consider the approximate regimen and diet of a 5-month-old baby:
- Breakfast: breast milk or any milk mixture.
- Second breakfast: milk or mixture + 150 grams of fruit puree.
- Lunch: fruit puree or juice (200 grams).
- Snack: breast milk or mixture + mashed potatoes or juice in the amount of 50 grams.
- Dinner: feeding on request.
On average, after 5 months, children are ready to eat new food. The feeding of a child up to a year should be varied.
Six month baby menu
At this age, the baby becomes more and more curious. He wants to try and feel everything. Including he wants to test the taste and new products.
At the age of six months, the child's menu should include:
- Natural juices. Suitable fruits such as pear, apple, apricot, peach.
- Milk cereals: for example, rice, corn, semolina, pumpkin.
- Fresh fruits. They can be crushed in a blender and add a couple of tablespoons of cream.
- Boiled potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, zucchini, beets. You can make mashed vegetables from them.
- Kefir or cottage cheese. Calcium is good for baby bones.
Here is an approximate daily diet for a 6 month old baby:
- 06:00 - breast milk.
- Second breakfast - fruit juice + oatmeal with apple.
- 14:00 - breast milk or milk mixture + mashed meat (50-100 g).
- Afternoon snack - cottage cheese for children + juice.
- 18:00 - mashed broccoli (150 g) + natural apple juice.
- The second dinner is breast milk or a mixture.
Consider a couple of recipes for making mashed potatoes for six-month-old babies:
- Rinse thoroughly with 2-3 potatoes and peel. Cut the root vegetables into medium cubes or slices and set to simmer over low heat. After 20-25 minutes, remove the potatoes from the stove, crush and pour boiled milk.
- Boil carrots, broccoli and other vegetables in a blender. Get a thick mashed potatoes. If desired, you can dilute a little with water.
Baby at 7 months
As you know, children grow very fast. Accordingly, their need for food is increasing. The diet of a seven-month-old baby is replenished with each new day. When composing the menu, you need to carefully distribute all the products necessary for the baby.
It is very important that the egg yolk becomes the main component in the diet. It contains vitamins of groups B and A. It also contains phosphorus, which positively affects the entire body.
We offer you an approximate diet of a 7-month-old baby per day:
- 6:00 - breast milk or mixture.
- Second breakfast - breast or mixture + any milk porridge (150 g) + ¼ egg yolk.
- 14:00 - mashed vegetables (170 g) + meat puree (30 g) + fruit juice.
- Snack - a mixture or breast milk + cookies (1 pc.).
- 18:00 - fruit puree (70 g) + baby cookies (1 pc.).
- Dinner - breast milk or milk formula.
Please note that the number of products for children who are still breast milk can be reduced.
For the whole day, the child should eat no more than 6 times. The diet of a 7-month-old baby is so rich that it can be saturated with a small amount of food. The menu can include various vegetable soups. The main thing is that they are fresh. With natural feeding, the amount of food consumed should be less than that of artificers.
It happens that children are allergic to certain foods. In this case, it is better to consult with your pediatrician.
The diet of a baby of 7 months must necessarily contain various broths. We offer you a recipe for one of the types of this dish.
For cooking, we need the following products:
- Chicken drumsticks.
- Freshly grated carrots.
- Dill.
- Boiled water.
Rinse and boil the meat. The finished broth is better filtered through a strainer. This must be done in order to remove excess fat. After this, you need to slightly salt the broth and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 15 minutes.
Baby at 9 months and his nutrition
By the age of 9 months, the child had tasted a lot of new food. At this age, the following changes in nutrition occur:
- Change in eating habits. At this age, the baby is already sitting, so it must be taught to hold a spoon.
- The excess of solid food over liquid. The child already has at least 6 teeth. In order to develop chewing skills, less food is required to grind.
We list the products that should be included in the diet of a 9-month-old baby:
- Fish. It helps strengthen bones. It is better to use hake, zander, pollock, cod, as they contain less fat.
- Soups with meat or fish meatballs, chicken fillet.
- Porridge. Buckwheat, rice, and oat are considered useful.
- Cottage cheese, yogurt.
- Fruits and vegetables.
- Meat (beef, turkey).
We bring to your attention an approximate diet of a baby of 9 months:
- 6:00 - breast milk or mixture.
- Second breakfast - porridge (200 g) + fruit puree (50 g) + yolk (¼).
- 14:00 - vegetable or meat broth (200 g) + meat puree (50 g) + juice.
- 18:00 - cottage cheese (50 g) + kefir (100 g) + mashed pears and bananas (50 g) + cookies.
- The second dinner is breast milk or a mixture.
How to diversify a baby’s nutrition?
- Offer fruits and vegetables in small pieces.
- Be sure to add a pinch of sugar and butter to the porridge.
- At 9 months, children already have enough teeth. Therefore, do not give up meat.
The diet of a 9-month-old baby must contain stewed vegetables. We offer you one of the simplest recipes - vegetable stew.
For cooking, you need to take potatoes, carrots, cabbage or other vegetables at your discretion, as well as 150 grams of minced chicken and a little dill. Cut all the products and put in a multicooker bowl. Set the quenching function. In the process of cooking, you can also salt a little.
Nutrition for children in 1 year
For the first year of life, the baby makes a major breakthrough in nutrition. During this time, he learns the taste of many fruits, vegetables and other products. Breast milk or mixture is not enough for a child. He has a desire to chew something, to try everything on the “tooth”. But parents should not rush to accustom the child to adult food.
Please note that in no case should you offer your baby fried and smoked food. Indeed, in children the stomach is still very weak. This kind of food can cause abdominal pain.
It is worth remembering that it is better to feed the baby more often, but in small portions.
Find out what you can eat a one-year-old child. The diet of children at 1 year old includes new products that are enriched with vitamins, calcium and other macroelements:
- Milk porridge.
- Bread. Wheat is best. It is absorbed by children better than rye.
- Vegetables.
- Fruits (exception - exotic).
- Fruit juices, compotes, jelly.
- Meat. It is a source of B vitamins, as well as protein and iron. The baby can already be given beef, turkey, pork (not fatty), tongue, as well as children's canned meat in special jars.
- Fish dishes: soups, meatballs, boiled fish. Such food enriches the child's body with phosphorus, which is so necessary at this age.
- Dairy. For example, cottage cheese, children's yogurt, kefir.
Consider a sample menu for the day:
- 6:00 - breast milk or mixture.
- Second breakfast - buckwheat porridge (200 g) + fruit juice + bun with cheese.
- 14:00 - meat broth with vegetables + a slice of bread + compote.
- Snack - fruit puree (70 g) + juice + cookies if desired.
- 18:00 - potato in any form + vegetables + tea.
- The second dinner is breast milk or a mixture at the request of the child.
The diet of children in 1 year should not contain sweet and starchy foods. Many young mothers often indulge children with chocolate and sweets. These products are very harmful to health and teeth. Firstly, an allergy can occur, which is accompanied by severe redness of the skin, itching, and also a rash. At this stage of life, you need to limit the child in these products. Sugar can be given, but it can also be replaced with fruits: for example, apples, peaches, apricots and bananas. The diet of children in 1 year should be selected by parents very carefully. After all, a properly built diet and well-chosen foods will ensure the baby's digestive health.
Consider several recipes suitable for 1 year old babies:
- Steam cutlets. To cook them, you need to scroll 150 grams of any meat, add low-fat cottage cheese (2 tablespoons), 1 chicken egg and butter. Form and steam. They can be served with mashed potatoes.
- Vegetable salad. For cooking, you need to take cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots. All ingredients should be grinded. Dressing can be low-fat sour cream or olive oil. It is not necessary to use just such a set of vegetables in the preparation. So, for example, you can add a little cabbage or boiled potatoes to the salad.
After a year, the kids already eat 5 times a day. In the diet of children in 1 year includes food in which there is a lot of protein: milk, eggs, dairy and meat products. Up to 1.5 years, all cereals, soups, vegetables are cooked in mashed form. Before eating, you need to knead the food with a fork or a blender. All dishes can be steamed, stewed or just boiled. In no case add spices and mushrooms.
What is characterized by the diet of children after a year?
- A varied diet that includes proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and vitamins.
- Increasing the proportion of meat products.
- Boiled water, fruit drinks, compotes, weak tea.
- Lactic acid products: yogurt, baby curd, kefir.
- Different varieties of bread.
What needs to be done so that the child himself asks for food?
Firstly, a serving of food should always be present. Beautifully decorated food will distract the young kid. You can, for example, make a funny face from the same vegetables.
Secondly, cut large fruits. After all, part of the child’s gums itch due to erupting teeth.
Parents note
- No need to accustom a child to adult food. A gradual transition is best: first, liquid food, by 1 year semi-liquid, and after a year, children will want to chew on their own.
- No need to put all the products on the table. Confused, the child grabs everything in a row. As a result, he will be provided with an upset stomach.
- Feeding the baby is a variety of dishes, the taste of which is different in its own way.
- In order to force a child to eat, it is not necessary to scold him. Enough to captivate him with something. For example, buy a baby cup and plate with funny animals for food.
- The baby should only eat food while sitting at the table. This is by no means always the case, but in most cases this should happen this way.
- Do not overfeed the baby. Better less, but more often.
- Never force a child to eat. If the baby does not want and turns his head away, then you should postpone the meal for a while. He is probably just full, or he has no mood.
- Check the freshness of purchased products. Be sure to look at the period of implementation and storage.
- Before cooking, always wash your hands with soap and rinse the ingredients thoroughly.
- It is allowed to talk or show pictures in a book while eating.