Proper nutrition of the child in the first months and years of life lays the foundation of his future health and well-being.
Diet of the child in 0-6 months
During the first 6 months of life, the newborn should only eat mother's milk - this recommendation is given today by WHO, the European Pediatric Association and UNESCO. If you can not or do not want to breastfeed your baby, make sure that he gets all the nutrients he needs from milk formulas.
Mother's milk is the ideal nutrition for the newborn, as it is developed specifically to cover all of its needs. Children who are breastfed begin to eat solid foods faster than those children who have been artificially sated - because thanks to mother's milk they are used to a variety of smells and tastes.
Some of the other known benefits of breastfeeding are:
- fewer gastric disorders in the child;
- stronger immunity to infections in the first months of life;
- very rare allergy reactions;
- a low percentage of sudden deaths.
There is a general belief that from the introduction into the diet of a child of up to 4 months of additional food or liquids, there is much more harm than good. In other words, if the food ration of a child under 6 months of age includes additional food, it does not help the development of the baby.
Additional food can be introduced into the child's diet 4-6 months only in the following cases:
- the child does not gain weight;
- the child constantly seems hungry, despite the increased breastfeeding;
- the child is born on an artificial diet from birth.
Diet of a child in 6 months
After 6 months of age, the iron stores with which the baby is born begin to decrease. Mother's milk is poor in iron, and the type of iron that contains milk mixtures is not very easily absorbed by the newborn's body.
Simultaneously, approximately at the age of 6 months, there is an increase in the mobility of the child, which leads to an increase in its energy needs. Therefore, in the diet of a child who is 6 months old, we must include additional nutrition - in order to fill the void between the energy demands of the baby and the energy that gives him the mother's milk.
The introduction of solid food begins with some child product rich in iron, such as rice flour, which rarely causes allergies. Rice flour is divorced by mother's milk or its substitute, and is given to the child only with a spoon. Initially, the cream should be sufficiently liquid, then it can be made thicker.
A few days after the cream is added vegetable soup - that is, a mixture of vegetables in the form of mashed potatoes. At this age, such vegetables as potatoes, carrots, celery, radish, tomatoes, and endives will be good. When you remove the soup from the stove, add two teaspoons of olive oil and a few drops of freshly cut lemon. Vegetable soup is preferable to add to the diet to fruit, as a child of 6 months is accustomed to vegetables easier, unless previously tried fruit puree. Vegetable soup gradually replaces the lunch reception of milk.
After the child has got used to vegetable soup, it is possible to add fruit puree to his diet - replacing them completely or partially with the second morning feeding. Naturally, the mashed potatoes are made from fresh fruits.
The diet allows you to give the baby six months of apples, pears and ripe bananas. You enter one fruit each time. Between the different fruits a break is left about a week to control possible reactions of rejection, and for the child to get used to a new taste.
How does the child's diet change from the 7th month?
Diet allows you to give the baby at 7 months of water - both with food, and between feedings. However, in an amount that does not lead to a restriction of the child's appetite.
In addition, the child's diet from the beginning of the 7th month includes a grinded chicken breast without skin, in a volume of 50 grams at first, and 100 grams later. Chicken breast is cooked with vegetables.
At 7 months in the vegetable soup, you can also add spinach, beets, radish, fresh beans and turnips.
Diet of a child in 8 months
In the diet for a child of 8 months appears orange juice. The amount of juice that a child needs to cover his expenses in vitamin C is very small. Usually, orange juice is added to fruit puree or given as a separate drink. Note! Fruit juices do not replace milk, so it makes no sense to give the baby more than 100 ml (half a glass) of juice per day. In addition, in the diet of the child from the 8th month of life, in addition to the rubbed rice porridge, oatmeal or wheat flour is added. Porridges are always given to a child by a spoon, and not from a bottle.
Sour fruits (cherries, peaches, apricots) are also included in the baby's diet at 8 months.
At the same age, the meat of the baby is added to the baby's food (for example, from the scapula) - in the same amount as the chicken. He can also eat pork, lamb meat, kid or rabbit.
Child's diet in 9 months
Fruits that contain grains (such as strawberries, kiwi, figs) are best added to the diet when the baby turns 9 months old.
Child's diet for 10 months
Approximately during this period, the baby begins to chew. Therefore, in the diet of a child who is 10 months old, it is desirable to include granulated or chopped food - for example, mashed potatoes or baked potatoes, divided by a fork into small pieces.
Very good chewing training will be a crust of bread that a child can hold in his hands (but only when he sits steadily in front of you!)
Diet of the child in 11 months
The fish appears in the baby's diet after 11 months. Fish should be lean. It is given to the child as a fish soup cooked with vegetables. Be careful with fish bones!
Diet of a child in 12 months
In the diet of a child who is 12 months old, you can include an egg. Egg is allowed only in cooked form, and it should be cooked for at least 6-8 minutes. Grind the yolk with a fork, and give it to the baby, gradually increasing portions - until the baby has eaten the whole yolk.
Protein eggs can be given to a child only 15-20 days after the first time he ate the yolk. The protein should also be kneaded with a fork, and also gradually increase when feeding the portion. The baby's diet in 12 months can contain 3-4 eggs a week - for lunch,
Cucumbers, onions, cabbage, broccoli, legumes and artichokes are added to the baby's diet after he turns 12 months old. These vegetables are not easily digested and cause the formation of gases - which can torment the child of a younger age.
The daily amount of milk that a child must take at the age of one year, that is, when he receives other food, should equal 600 ml.
About a year, if you can see that the child is hungry, you can give him and dinner - which consists of the food that he ate for lunch, but in smaller quantities