Cottage cheese is one of the most delicious and healthy sour-milk products that are introduced as complementary foods in the first year of life. At what age can cottage cheese be given to children? It is recommended to do this no earlier than the second half of the year and in small quantities. For children who have intolerance to cow's milk, it is not recommended to give the curd. In more detail about the features of the introduction of complementary foods in the form of cottage cheese further.
About this delicious curd ...
It is considered to be extremely useful because of the content of folic acid, phosphorus, kefir fungi, calcium, and vitamin B12 in it. But it’s very important for a growing child’s body to absorb micro-, macro-elements, basic nutrients, and various vitamins with food. Healthy eating plays an important role in the first year of a child’s life. So that the baby can crawl quite actively, steadily sit, so that he independently gets up and walks with the correct setting of the feet, he will need normal physical development and proper nutrition. Therefore, the question of whether it is possible to give cottage cheese to children does not arise even among young parents.
Those little ones who eat cottage cheese in sufficient quantities will subsequently form strong bones and healthy teeth. Children will gain weight and height well. Cottage cheese is the main source of calcium, protein and phosphorus. In addition, cottage cheese is able to beneficially affect the work of the liver, heart muscle, nervous system, metabolic processes of the baby's body.
At what age can curd be eaten?
We have already figured out that this dairy product is very beneficial for the health of the child. And from what age can cottage cheese be given to children? The timing of the introduction of such complementary foods will primarily depend on the type of feeding the peanut.
Breasts who ate their mother’s milk exclusively for the first six months of their life can be given the opportunity to try the cottage cheese as early as eight to nine months. But the artificers, who received various types of complementary foods from four months old, can get acquainted with the curd a little earlier - as early as six to seven months. But in both cases, curd feeding 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 offered cottage cheese only in small portions, gradually. To begin with, mom offers just half a teaspoon and within a week increases the amount to the age norm.
As a rule, this product is acceptable to offer once a day, increasing the dose. By the age of one, the baby should eat fifty grams of cottage cheese at once.
How often can a child be given cottage cheese? Everything will depend on how the baby feels. If he is healthy, his mother can feed him this sour-milk product twice or thrice a week. If there is food intolerance to the product (diarrhea, allergic rash), complementary foods should be immediately withdrawn.
Children who suffer from rickets or are underweight should eat cottage cheese every day. If the fontanel closes early, mother must suspend the early introduction of this product.
Before the baby reaches the age of one year, it is better to offer him industrial cottage cheese for children, 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 apply the curd for children with additives from fruits and berries.
The positive aspects of introducing cottage cheese
Since how many months you can give your child cottage cheese, we have already figured it out. Now we find out what are the pluses in the use of this fermented milk product by the baby:
- In the proteins of the cottage cheese there are all the amino acids that are necessary for the body to be sick.
- When the baby uses the curd, his bone tissue is strengthened.
- It is from this product that the baby receives folic acid, vitamins B 12, A, phosphorus, calcium, sodium and other less valuable components.
The negative sides of introducing the curd into the baby’s food
If you put the cottage cheese on the menu for a small child too early, it may have some digestive problems:
- Cottage cheese should not be given to children if they have kidney disease or intolerance to milk proteins.
- If the curd is industrially produced, fillers are added to it, which can cause allergies.
- When storing the curd in unsuitable conditions, it can cause foodborne infections.
- If the baby has intolerance to this product, then diarrhea, a rash appears, his behavior will be restless. The baby may complain of spasmodic abdominal pain and nausea.
What does Evgeny Komarovsky think?
A doctor known to millions of mothers advises to start introducing cottage cheese when the baby is six months old. And add it should be in kefir. Komarovsky explains: to start with this fermented milk product should be because this group of products is the “closest relative” to both breast milk and milk mixtures. Therefore, it will be much easier for the baby’s body to digest kefir and cottage cheese than other feeding groups.
The pediatrician suggests adding cottage cheese one teaspoon 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 nine to eleven in the morning. If no reaction to this product is noted, a serving the next day can be doubled. This continues until the volume of the curd is about thirty to forty grams for a baby aged six to eight months.
Normal or with additives?
What cottage cheese can be given to children and in what form? This excites many mummies who are just starting to give babies complementary foods.
At the very beginning, when the little one only gets acquainted with the curd, it is necessary to give it this product fresh, without any additives. While the baby will try only the curd. It is possible that his taste will completely suit the child.
Is it possible to give a child homemade cottage cheese? Yes, of course, yes! In addition, the right mom’s decision would be to give the baby a curd, which was only recently cooked, and stood in the open air for no more than two hours.
If the peanut doesn’t want to eat unsweetened cottage cheese, or the mom herself wants to somehow diversify the curd feeding, you can add any fruit to it. But dishes prepared on the basis of cottage cheese (cottage cheese pancakes, casseroles and the like) should be entered on the baby’s menu after he is one and a half years old.
Choosing the right one ...
Today, store shelves are laden with a large number of such products for baby food. 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 to sour 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 in 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, in which there are a variety of flavors.
Useful recipes
Along with the question of how old 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:
- The first way. Boil one liter of fresh milk, cool it to a temperature of +35 degrees. Then add about fifty grams of leaven to it. It can serve as yogurt, sour cream or kefir. When the milk is sour, put a saucepan with it in a water bath and keep on low heat for about 30-40 minutes. After the resulting homemade cottage cheese is squeezed, it can also be beaten with a blender.
- The second way. 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 this container over medium heat. Kefir should heat up, but not boil. After a very short time, you can notice that kefir is divided into a more dense mass, which turned out to be above, and more liquid, which turned out to be below. If the resulting product is discarded on gauze, it is easy to remove the excess liquid and get a very tender curd.
Can a child be given cottage cheese every day? Since the 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 consume cottage cheese daily. After all, it was at this time that the body actively grows and forms.
To feed the smallest
For kids at the age of six months, it is better to choose the curd, which is cooked in a dairy kitchen. It differs from that intended for adults: the child is softer in consistency. And for babies who have not yet developed a sufficiently chewing reflex, this is quite important.
This product can be creamy or dairy. In creamy there is a large amount of fats. Since it is quite nutritious, you should not offer other products that contain a large number of calories to the toddlers on this day. But in milk cottage cheese the amount of fat is reduced. It is perfect for children who are overweight.
Some of the mothers are used to cooking their own crumbs on their own. This is also quite good, only hygiene rules should be followed. It is possible to cook sour or fresh curd - from that kefir, which was specially prepared for children. It is not recommended to use market cottage cheese for babies, as well as one that is made 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 comes 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 nutrition.