Changing the baby’s nutritional status at 6 months brings a lot to his life. It is this period from the point of view of WHO that is optimal for the introduction of complementary foods. And that means - now not only mother's milk will be a diet of crumbs, but also cereals, vegetables and fruits.
Principles of feeding
Nutrition is introduced when the baby is 6 months old. This applies to babies who are breastfeeding.
In order to get acquainted with the food new for the crumbs was easy and pleasant, you need to follow a few rules:
• Nutrition is given from a spoon before giving the usual 6-month-old baby food - milk. Before this, the food must be warmed up and checked so that it is at a normal temperature - neither cold nor hot.
• A little new product is introduced - about half a teaspoon each. Over the week, this volume is gradually increasing. During this period, it is necessary to ensure that the baby does not begin skin reactions. The stool of the child is also controlled - constipation or intestinal upset should be a reason for a pause in complementary foods and consultation with a pediatrician.
• If you were the first to decide to introduce vegetable purees, then this product should be monocomponent, so that in case of allergies it is clear which product it developed on.
• The first sample of the product is carried out before lunch - this is also necessary to monitor the reactions of the crumbs.
• You should not introduce complementary foods or try a new product if the baby is not feeling well, is in a bad mood, or vaccination is due in the coming days.
What to feed?
You can start complementary foods with porridge or mashed vegetables. Fruits are not immediately recommended to be given - they are too sweet, so it will be difficult to persuade the baby then for another meal. If the child is underweight, it is better to start with cereals. They should be one-component, gluten-free. Buckwheat, rice or corn porridge is suitable. Start with milkless cereals.
It is convenient to use cereals that are sold specifically for babies - they are already prepared and they only need to be diluted with hot water. A big plus is that they are already shredded.
Buckwheat is a good option for introducing complementary foods. It contains many vitamins, it is nutritious and perfectly absorbed by the body.
By the end of 6 months, it will be possible to add fruit to the porridge to diversify the taste. Also at the end of this month, you can introduce the yolk of a hard-boiled egg. For the first time, you should take quite a bit - 1/8 part.
Babies who are prone to constipation are given vegetable purees first.
From vegetables, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli are first introduced, then potatoes are added. The first to introduce vegetables are green and white - they are rarely allergic to them. Later add stained: carrots, beets, pumpkin. Vegetables are boiled so that they are soft, then mashed with a blender.
After the child got acquainted with several vegetables, you can introduce soups into the diet, but you need to cook them taking into account age: they do not add frying, salt to the soup.
In addition to vegetables and fruits, fermented milk products are also introduced. They start, as a rule, with not very fat cottage cheese (9%) and kefir (2.5%). Sour-milk products have a beneficial effect on the work of the digestive system of the crumbs, normalizing the microflora and improving peristalsis.
Fruits are introduced last in the diet. They are mashed, like vegetables. The first introduced banana, apple, pear. Experimenting with exotic fruits is not recommended.
Sample menu
A baby’s nutrition at 6 months may look like this:
• 1 feeding - breast milk;
• 2 feeding - porridge;
• 3 feeding - mashed vegetables or fruits and feeding with milk;
• 4, 5 feeding - breast milk.
Recipes for Kids
Today you can buy ready-made cereals and mashed potatoes, adapted for 6-month crumbs. However, many mothers want to cook their own little ones. This is not so difficult.
• To prepare rice porridge, the grits are preliminarily ground in a blender. Then about 3 tablespoons of cereal are poured into boiling water (a glass). Cook until tender - about 10 minutes.
• For the preparation of corn porridge 3 tbsp. the cereals are poured into hot water and kept on medium heat for 5 minutes, then the fire is reduced and cooked until the cereal softens. It will take about half an hour. Then the porridge is brought to a puree condition in a blender and boiled again.
To cook vegetables, many mothers use a slow cooker.
Carrots, pumpkins or cauliflower are placed in a slow cooker for 15-20 minutes, and then chopped in a blender.
If there is no slow cooker, you can use a small saucepan, and when you chop the vegetables, add a little broth in which they were cooked.
To prepare mashed potatoes, potatoes must be peeled and soaked in water for 12-24 hours. This is necessary in order for starch to come out of it. Then the potatoes are boiled and rubbed through a sieve, adding hot milk, and boiled for a few more minutes.
When the baby gets acquainted with different vegetables, you can cook allsorts. For it, you need 100 g of zucchini pulp mixed with half a carrot and potato. Boil the vegetables until tender, place in a blender, add a little broth and olive oil.
There are tons of options for making fruit puree.
• You can start with a stewed apple. They wash the apple, peel it and grate it. The resulting mashed potatoes are stewed over a small fire (adding a little water) for 10 minutes.
• You can also make mashed apples and carrots.
• To make prune puree, pour dried fruit with boiling water and leave it in a bowl with a lid closed for 3-4 hours. When the prunes are steamed, they rub it through a fine sieve, add a few tablespoons of the broth in which it was located, and boil for several minutes.
• Similarly, you can make mashed apricots.
Soups are cooked in the same way.
One apple must be peeled, cut into slices. Peeled carrots in circles. Everything is mixed, poured with 1.5 glasses of water and boiled for 30 minutes, after which it is mashed in a blender.
It may seem that eating a child at age 6 is boring and monotonous. But for the baby - this is the moment of discoveries of new tastes, the knowledge of new sides of the world. Very soon, when he gets acquainted with the main ingredients, mother will be able to use all her imagination to surprise her beloved baby.
