Mother's milk and mixtures provide many useful substances for the baby and cover all the needs for minerals. However, with age, the proportion of nutrients should increase, and then baby puree comes to the aid of milk.
Where to start lure
Proponents of the old and new schools of pediatrics argue about how to give baby purees from 4 months or 6 months. But they unanimously say that it is best to start complementary foods with fruit and vegetable juices, since by their consistency this substance is liquid, like milk. Fruits contain a lot of vitamins and fiber, which a child needs for the proper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. As a rule, the baby’s complementary foods begin at four months, but opponents say that at this age the baby’s body is not yet ready for foreign food, except milk. Juice acids can cause allergic reactions that will be difficult to fight.
Adherents of the modern school of pediatrics hold wider views. In addition to juice, which is considered to be useful, the child can be given fruit and vegetable purees, as well as porridge, as additional food. There is no definite answer which baby puree from 4 months is better. It is important to choose the best taste and comply with the norm.
If you do not know exactly when to start complementary foods, some signs will help you:
- the child already holds the head independently;
- trying to put toys or any other objects that come across him in his mouth;
- if the baby with special attention watches the meal of adults and shows constant interest in adult food;
- if the baby opens his mouth himself when the spoon approaches the mouth;
- if you see that your child is hungry between feeding milk or infant formula.
Also, doctors and more experienced mothers who have already gone through torment with the beginning of feeding, are advised to introduce vegetable purees into the diet. If you start with fruit sweets, the child will get used to them and on no circumstances will agree to swallow the tasteless fresh porridge from vegetables. This turns into a real torment, not only for the child, but also for the parents. And vegetable puree is digested several times better. The composition of vegetables is as close as possible to the enzymes of gastric juice, and the assimilation of food will take place almost without bloating. This is especially important for parents who have suffered with childhood colic.
In any case, when introducing baby puree from 4 months into the menu, you must rely on your own observations of the baby's behavior and eating habits.
Early feeding rules
It is impossible to immediately determine which baby puree from 4 months is better. It is necessary to observe the baby and select tastes, focusing on the mood with which the child absorbs another spoonful of mashed potatoes. There are several rules that will make it easier for moms to introduce extra nutrition.
- It is not recommended to give two or more products at the same time. This is due to basic safety rules. If, for example, a baby has an allergy at first, it will be difficult to determine from which product it started. The assortment of baby purees from 4 months is huge, but it is best to start with a simple zucchini or pumpkin, and then introduce the sweet in the form of applesauce or apricot puree.
- It is best to give complementary foods a few minutes before breastfeeding. So small portions of additional nutrition will be better absorbed and gradually it will be possible to increase the dose.
- It is necessary to monitor the consistency of food. The softer, the better it passes through a narrow, gentle throat.
- Gradually, the amount of food should increase, it should become more diverse, as a growing body requires an increased number of calories.
Be sure to remember that introducing a new product is necessary only when you are fully confident in its health. If an allergy starts while using any products, get rid of it first. Then, after a few days, you can try a new one.
Start feeding
Almost every young mother wants to start feeding as soon as possible, because this means that the baby becomes adult and interesting, begins to try adult food and explore a new world. However, one should not rush in this matter, so as not to injure the child’s intestines that have not yet formed and not impair the function of fermentation.
At first, you should limit yourself to half a teaspoon of vegetable puree. It is better to choose zucchini or broccoli. These vegetables are neutral and suitable for almost all babies. Give preferably with a soft spoon. She, firstly, does not injure her mouth, and secondly, she looks like a warm chest. Further, most mothers face a big serious problem. Children either spit out food new to them, or swallow quite a bit, and the rest goes to the trash. Do not worry. Remember that each organism is individual in its development, someone needs more time to get used to new tastes and consistencies, and someone will take a spoon from mom’s hands and will require more. How to feed a baby puree at 4 months, no mother knows for sure. Do not give up, try more and more.
As a rule, pediatric doctors recommend mashed vegetables for children from 4 months old to start feeding, because most vegetables are green and have less sugar. The mashed potatoes from zucchini, broccoli or cauliflower, spinach or asparagus that we already mentioned are great. But no matter how good the rating of baby purees from 4 months is good, homemade food, even for the first feeding, will still be better and tastier. And all because mom prepares mashed potatoes with love and care.
Home cooking
You can make mashed potatoes for a child of 4 months at home. Moms on maternity leave and sufficient time can afford this. Before preparing the puree, the selected vegetables or fruits should be rinsed well with boiling water. Peel hard fruits and vegetables, peel. Doctors recommend using only simple vegetables, such as zucchini, pumpkin or carrots.
Selected vegetables or fruits must be cut into small pieces or slices and dipped in boiling water. It is better, of course, to use modern kitchen appliances such as a double boiler, which retain the maximum amount of useful elements. However, for lack of water, you can use ordinary boiling water. Boil vegetables well until completely softened. Drain the water, allow to cool. Then, without adding salt, sugar or spices, grind in a blender.
The following is a ranking of products as their popularity increases.
1. Mashed "Diaper"
The well-known company for the production of natural juices and fruit drinks "Gardens Pridonya" also produces baby formula for feeding babies up to a year under the brand name "Spelenok". The brand has its own gardens near the main production. This allows not only to produce products at the lowest cost, but also to preserve all the useful properties of vegetables and fruits, because there is a very short distance from the garden to the laboratories for the production of mixtures. "Diaper" is included in the ranking of the best baby purees from 4 months, not only in Russia but also in neighboring countries. The puree contains exclusively natural one-component products: zucchini, carrots, apples, pumpkin, cabbage. Without GMOs, without the addition of any spices, salt or sugar.
"Diaper" produces not only mashed potatoes, but also baby drinks, nectars and just water. Manufacturers strictly monitor the quality of products, indicators are monitored using computerized technology. For ease of use, all products are available in two types of packaging: in glass and cardboard. Glass with a convenient lid can be used at home, and you can take mashed potatoes in small cardboard packages with you for a walk or on the road.
All reviews of baby puree from 4 months "Diaper" are not artificially wound, only real reviews are satisfied with the product and the result of mothers. According to general surveys, almost 90 percent of parents prefer to use baby foods of domestic manufacturers. According to them, the quality is in no way inferior to European counterparts despite the fact that many are embarrassed by the rather low price of 25-30 rubles per unit at retail. But having tried, parents are convinced of the high quality of mashed potatoes and juices.
2. "Agusha"
There are no parents who have not heard about baby puree from 4 months old “Agusha”. The company "Wimm-Bill-Dann" registered a new brand back in 2001 and has since been one of the leading manufacturers of baby food. Products under the brand name "Agusha" are presented in three categories. The “first spoon” includes mashed potatoes for the first feeding of meat, vegetables and fruits, water, biokefir for good digestion of babies, as well as juices.
The second category is represented by yogurts, cereals and mashed potatoes with a more complex and dense texture. This is a transition to more solid nutrition. And finally, the third category includes dairy products and cottage cheese for children who have reached the age of two.
The Agusha brand collaborates with the Russian Union of Pediatricians and carefully monitors the quality of complementary foods. More than once the company won prizes at international competitions of manufacturers.
3. Baby food "Frutonyanya"
The rating of baby purees from 4 months would not be complete without the most famous and competitive brand of baby food Frutonyanya. The brand appeared about ten years ago in Russia and for several years has won the trust of mothers throughout the post-Soviet space.
The brand has a huge assortment of delicious products for babies: mashed potatoes, juices, specially soft cleaned water, yogurts and dairy products, smoothies and cereals. A children's menu is being developed together with the Union of Pediatricians of Russia, so on each package you can find the corresponding markings.
The domestic producer does not particularly fantasize with the composition and offers standard puree broccoli, carrots, squash, pumpkin or spinach with a small amount of water, without salt and sugar, to start complementary foods. In the composition of meat purees, of course, is used turkey, the lightest and meat rich in essential minerals.
Parents whose children have already tried the mixture offered by the Frutonyany are all satisfied. Especially a lot of reviews about convenient packaging. Each jar has a protective film that prevents dust from entering under the lid. The lid itself is sealed, closed under high pressure. It is interesting that on each jar you can find a special marking in grams. This makes it easier for mothers to count how many spoons in grams their baby ate today. This helps to keep a unique record and accurately calculate the time of complication of the menu.
4. Feeding "Heinz"
The American company Heinz is widely known throughout the world. The range of products on the market is focused on different areas of food consumption. Most often you can meet the brand when buying sauces and baby food.
Heinz baby foods are manufactured in Italy, even though the company is American. This is not surprising, since the Italian technology for the production of such a delicate product as baby foods is considered the best in the world.
The line of Heinz baby purees is quite standard. This is a puree of vegetables and fruits. The depth of the line is very wide. For the first feeding, you can buy one-component mashed potatoes made from green beans, apples, spinach, zucchini and carrots. With a gradual increase in the percentage of complementary foods in the diet, you can safely add multicomponent mixtures, both vegetable and fruit. All products are made from environmentally friendly raw materials, because Heinz has its own vast fields. High-tech computer equipment in the production clearly monitors all stages of production to give the child a clean and healthy product.
A modern mobile application is distributed among parents. The program will help to create an optimal schedule for the transition to complementary foods. The utility relies on the data of the child, which must be entered in special fields. Reviews about the application are positive, in Russia, mothers use this assistant and advise it to those who still doubt the use of the application.
5. Baby puree "Gerber"
The company Nestle, widely known throughout the world, in addition to its beloved chocolate, entered the market of baby food several years ago. The range of baby purees from 4 months is very wide:
- Meat puree. At "Gerber" it is represented by turkey meat. During this period, a growing children's body needs iron and sodium, which is found in large quantities in meat, and especially in turkey. Poultry meat is rich in fatty amino acids, zinc, iron, an excellent quality protein that is easily digested. In addition, turkey meat contains a high content of sodium. It is sodium that is involved in the creation of blood plasma and allows other vitamins to be quickly absorbed. Lure should start with one teaspoon. When opening, carefully monitor for a click to occur. Baby puree from 4 months "Gerber" is completely natural, does not contain salt and spices. Store no more than a day in the refrigerator.
- Vegetable smoothie. This line is represented by several items. You can choose mashed potatoes from cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, pumpkin. From 4 months, all baby purees undergo a high purification process and are produced without the addition of starch and any flavor enhancers. It is very important that all mashed potatoes are one-component, this means that there is nothing there except the same zucchini, ground with water. You can store jars after opening only a day, so do not regret if your child has eaten almost nothing. Feeding is a complicated matter, and if your baby is not yet ready to absorb a whole jar in a day, take your time.
- Fruit puree. Most beloved and delicious. In secret, mothers of babies often like to feast on these baby supplements themselves, because they bring nothing but benefit. Among the fruit species "Gerbera", you can choose both single-component varieties and double varieties, for example, an apple with a plum, an apricot with a rosehip, an apple and a banana. One-component mashed potatoes are presented with a wide range of tastes. At all, a child at 4 months old at the beginning is also best given in moderate amounts to everyone's favorite apple puree.
Parent reviews
Parents' feedback on Gerber puree (according to the results of our rating was recognized as the best) is extremely positive. For several years of its existence, there have been no scandals with the brand, its reputation as a producer of natural foods is absolutely fair. Moms who fed their babies mashed potatoes are talking about high quality. Neither salt nor spices, as indicated on the packaging, is completely gone. Many are pleased with the small packaging. According to mothers, at first feeding children eat very little and do not want to leave an almost full jar for later. I would like to give my child a fresh, freshly opened, but to throw out almost full packaging is a pity. Some experienced parents propose to subject the open baby puree to a sharp deep freeze. This method takes place. It is only important to observe the safety rules for eating foods and not to defrost mashed potatoes several times. The cost of a new jar is on average 35 rubles, and this is an incommensurable amount compared to the health of the child.