Feeding from 5. Feeding a child of five months
Many pediatricians agree that feeding a baby at 5 months should be based on breast milk mothers or artificial mixtures. But if a very active baby does not eat up, then parents have a completely logical question, what can you feed a child at 5 months, so as not to harm his health.
We introduce complementary foods at 5 months
In the days of our mothers and grandmothers, it was believed that complementary foods for a 5-month-old baby should start with juices and fruits. This is not entirely true, because raw fruits and juices are very difficult for the child's body. In addition, they can cause allergies in a baby whose liver is not ripe for taking such products. Complementary foods in early age it is better to start with monocomponent vegetable purees, kefir or cereals.
Many parents find it difficult to decide which product to start complementary foods with. If the baby has a problem with weight, then it is better to first introduce cereals into complementary foods, they are rich in useful elements and contribute to good satiety of the baby. But also cereals can "strengthen" the child, so if you have problems with stools, start complementary foods with another product. Kefir is the closest in composition and taste to milk for babies, so many pediatricians recommend starting complementary foods with this product. Vegetable purees are very well absorbed by the body, rich in vitamins and microelements. If you decide to start complementary foods with vegetables, then pumpkin, zucchini and cauliflower are best suited for the first foods.
Sample menu for a 5 month old baby
The menu of a child at 5 months should not be varied, on the contrary, the slower you start introducing new foods, the less likely you are to develop allergies.
At this stage of development, the main food of the little man is still milk. The body develops rapidly, so it does not get enough nutrients from milk. It's time to diversify the child's menu at 5 months with vegetable and fruit purees, cereals. This time is optimal, because the body best perceives gastronomic innovations.
When can you start introducing complementary foods?
Up to 4-5 months, the child eats exclusively milk. A five-month-old man is completely ready to perceive and digest thicker food. Moreover, pediatricians recommend not to delay the introduction of new delicacies, because by 6 months the body has a deficiency of vitamins, minerals and other components.
Until the child is six months old, he must learn to chew, otherwise there is a delay in the development of chewing skills. Complementary foods develop the chewing skills of the baby.
General rules for introducing diversity into the diet:
- Since the process begins with a minimal amount of an unusual treat, it must be offered to the little one before feeding milk. Gradually, it will be completely replaced by the proposed delicacy.
- Acquaintance begins with approximately 0.5-1 tsp. The dose is increased every day. For 7-10 days, it is required to bring the amount of the introduced delicacy to the recommended rate for this age - 200 ml. Accustoming to unfamiliar products belonging to the same group is carried out within 5-7 days. Those. if the baby is already eating vegetables, then adding the next variety can be done faster, this principle applies to cereals and fruits.
- Getting used to unfamiliar food is made from single-component dishes.
- Since the reaction to the novelty is unfavorable, the baby has an allergy or a disorder of the stool, offer complementary foods in the morning so that conclusions can be drawn and actions taken during the day.
- You can not change the nutrition of the little one during the illness, also a few days before and after vaccination.
- It is important that the food is prepared from environmentally friendly ingredients. Therefore, it is safer to use products industrial production. Follow the information provided on the package, make a choice according to the age of the child. In this case, there is a guarantee that the food is harmless, has the required composition and degree of grinding, which is very important for five month old baby.
As for vegetable purees, the most complete in terms of nutrient diversity are mixtures of three types of vegetables. The fifth month of baby development requires caution. As already mentioned, the introduction of complementary foods always begins with monocomponent meals. Therefore, to begin with, offer your child mashed potatoes from one vegetable. Many parents start with zucchini, it is easily digestible and does not cause allergies. After 7-10 days, add a little cabbage to the zucchini puree. Let the baby get used to two-component food for another 7 days. Then add the next vegetable to the mixture. Bring the serving of complementary foods to 200 ml.
What foods can be included in the diet?
Caring parents are concerned about what the baby can eat.
Vegetables are the best food for a first acquaintance. After the child has already got used to them, it's time to accustom the body to thicker food - cereals. Vegetable dishes are introduced to the first children who have a tendency to constipation or accelerated weight gain.
The first dish can be porridge. It is she who should be offered to a baby who has developed anemia, an unstable stool is observed, he is not gaining enough weight. Factory-made cereals enriched with micronutrients will make up for the lack of essential substances. They saturate the baby for a longer period than vegetable and fruit dishes, give a burst of energy for the active phase.
Fruit purees are also suitable for expanding the menu of a 5 month old baby. But adults in this case are often faced with the fact that after tasting the sweetness of fruits, the child requires them, and reluctantly eats everything else.
Attention! When the menu expands, the baby's stool changes color, it may have orange, greenish or brownish hues. If there is no mucus in the contents and it is of the usual consistency, there is no cause for concern.
List of allowed products:
- Vegetables: zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, pumpkin.
- Fruits: banana, pear, apple.
- Kashi: buckwheat, rice, corn oat, etc.
Start with gluten- and milk-free cereals. Industrially made porridges are diluted with water. It is allowed to add breast milk, vegetable broth, a mixture for artificial people. Milk porridge contains powdered milk or adapted milk formula, so they are more suitable for artificial formulas.
You can cook this dish yourself, the main thing is that the food is crushed, for example, using a blender.
The menu of a five-month-old man may include juices. They are well absorbed and like children. But it should be borne in mind that they have few vitamins and minerals, so pediatricians recommend introducing this delicacy to a child after all other products, incl. meat. Juices that add variety to the diet of the little one teach him to eat sweets, which is undesirable. As a drink, you can offer the baby water, compote from fresh fruits or dried fruits, weak tea. Pour liquids not into a bottle, but into a cup, which it's time to learn how to use.
Attention! Feed the baby with a spoon patiently and carefully. Forced feeding is unacceptable! Get a plastic or silicone spoon that won't hurt your baby's delicate gums.
At the age of five months, the average volume of one meal is 200 ml.
Sample menu:
- Breakfast #1: Breast milk or infant formula.
- Breakfast number 2: dairy-free porridge 150 ml, supplemented with milk.
- Lunch: vegetable puree - 150 ml with milk supplement or 200 ml without supplement.
- Snack: fruit puree - 60 ml, breast milk or formula.
- Dinner: breast milk or formula.
Children should receive exclusively freshly prepared food!
Remember, many foods are allergenic, so carefully monitor the health of the child. If an adverse reaction occurs, the ingredient that caused it should be temporarily excluded.
Kefir is a controversial ingredient for a five-month-old baby due to the presence of calcium in it and the immaturity of the intestinal microflora of the crumbs.
You can add butter and vegetable oil to the diet - no more than 1 tsp. in a day.
Features of supplementary feeding of children on breast and artificial feeding
According to research by the World Health Organization, breastfed babies are recommended to introduce new ingredients into the diet after 6 months. But many pediatricians believe that this option is good if the baby was born on time, is completely healthy and develops normally. At the same time, the mother should also be healthy, receive good nutrition and vitamin and mineral supplements. Otherwise, by 5 months, the growing body will lack nutrients, anemia and other deficient conditions may develop. Therefore, the issue of complementary foods must be decided individually.
At this age, the little one is just getting to know the world. He may not like new dishes. But parents must be patient and diversify the food of the child, although sometimes it is difficult to do this. It happens that it takes 15 or more days to get used to new taste sensations. It is important to form taste habits correctly, because. only with a variety of food can a growing organism obtain the substances it needs.
Breast milk has unique properties that have been closely studied by medicine. Scientists have proven that the composition of mother's milk changes over time, continuing to correspond to how many different components the child needs for full development. It is recommended to refuse such nutrition to an infant only in exceptional cases related to the health of the woman in labor.
The benefits of breastfeeding are undeniable:
- breast milk is always fresh, sterile;
- mother's milk has protective properties: the immunity of the baby increases, diseases are more easily tolerated;
- it is difficult for them to overfeed, the child can eat as much as he wants;
- when sucking, the baby develops the muscles of the mouth, the jaw apparatus;
- in the process of feeding, the blood circulation of the brain is activated, which favorably affects the formation of the nervous system and the whole organism as a whole.
It's amazing how many things there are that talk about the benefits of breastfeeding babies for their subsequent development. At the same time, the child's need for various substances changes with age, so a healthy child at the age of five months should get used to new types of food. But at the beginning of this crucial stage, it is necessary to consult with the pediatrician who observed the baby.
The introduction of complementary foods
The World Health Organization promotes the value of mother's milk for the development of the child and strongly recommends keeping the baby completely on this product for up to six months.
The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in "Methodological recommendations" No. 225 adheres to the same positions regarding breastfeeding, while allowing the introduction of complementary foods from 4-5 months. The final decision to introduce complementary foods should be made on a case-by-case basis.
Watching the baby with the pediatrician, you can determine the level of development of his physical data. It is advisable to start feeding if:
- with the support of adults, the little one sits quietly;
- holds the head and turns without tension;
- the weight of the child has become about 2 times more than at the time of birth (about 6 kg);
- the baby eats at least 900 ml of mother's milk or after 8-10 feedings still asks for food.
Goals of introducing complementary foods into the diet:
- compensation of missing substances and trace elements;
- acquaintance with thick food;
- preparation for the transition to a new menu;
- development of the chewing skill that has begun to form.
What to feed a baby at 5 months
Lists of products acceptable for the introduction of complementary foods into the diet of infants of different ages are indicated in guidelines on the methods of feeding children of the first year of life, developed in the laboratory of the Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and approved by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
What can be given to children with full breastfeeding
Foods that can be used for a child's menu at 5 months:
- fruit juice and puree;
- vegetable puree;
- milk porridge;
- cottage cheese;
- whole milk for porridge, mashed potatoes;
- little vegetable;
- butter.
What can be given to children with artificial feeding
List of foods used to prepare complementary foods for infants-"artificial" five months:
- special milk mixtures;
- fruit juice and puree;
- vegetable puree;
- milk porridge;
- cottage cheese;
- whole milk for mashed potatoes and cereals;
- cookies with crackers;
- vegetable oil;
- butter.
The sequence of introduction of natural juices into complementary foods:
- Apple juice;
- peach, pear, apricot, plum;
- cherry, blackcurrant, etc.
- citrus, strawberry, tomato - by the 6th month and with great care due to potential allergenicity.
The sequence of introducing vegetables into complementary foods:
- zucchini, potatoes;
- carrots, pumpkin, cauliflower.
You always need to monitor the condition of the baby, if introduced the new kind food.
Catering at 5 months
During this period, it is important to properly organize the nutrition of the child. Most attention should be paid to the correct introduction of complementary foods and the feeding regimen, to how much the baby eats food.
Rules for the introduction of complementary foods
In order for innovations in nutrition not to affect the well-being of the baby, you must follow the advice of your pediatrician. General recommendations:
- Complementary foods can be started if the last vaccination was given to the child no later than a week before.
- The peanut must be completely healthy and examined by a doctor.
- You can offer one-component puree from a quality vegetable.
- Complementary foods are given in the amount of 0.5-1 teaspoon of warm puree before the start of regular feeding.
- No need to worry that the baby does not want to eat the food offered: this is a new taste for him and he will get used to it as long as it takes.
- If the child coped with the proposed portion, then the next day double the volume. All week you need to feed, gradually increasing the amount of puree to 150 grams. That is, one feeding will be completely replaced by complementary foods.
- It is important to observe how the child reacts to new foods. If the stool is disturbed, there is an allergic reaction in the form of a rash, then you need to temporarily stop giving complementary foods. After everything returns to normal, you can continue trying, but with a different product.
- The second component in the puree can be introduced after 2-3 weeks. This can last for as many days as you like, sometimes not even within a month.
Be sure to consult with the pediatrician, which vegetables and in what order to give. Especially when the baby begins to be fed with other foods (cottage cheese, cookies, etc.).
Diet
The diet is necessary for the normal functioning of the digestive system of the child. After the start of complementary foods, at about 5.5 months, the baby's daily diet should be as recommended by doctors:
06.00 - breast milk (mixture);
10.00 - 50 g vegetable puree, 3 tbsp. l. fruit puree;
14.00 - breast milk (mixture), 2 tsp. cottage cheese, up to 6 tsp. natural juice;
18.00 - breast milk (mixture), 5-6 tsp. natural juice;
22.00 - breast milk (mixture).
Another option for a baby's diet at the age of 5.5 to 6 months:
06.00 - breast milk (mixture);
10.00 - 50 g of porridge in milk, 2-3 tsp. cottage cheese for baby food, up to 6 tsp. natural fruit juice;
14.00 - breast milk (mixture), 50 g fruit puree;
18.00 - 150 g vegetable puree, 6 tsp. natural fruit juice (you can replace 3 tablespoons of fruit puree);
22.00 - breast milk.
If the baby sleeps peacefully and does not cry because of hunger, then he gets enough food.
Finally
American scientists have found that people who were given a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in infancy tend to actively consume them later, when they grow up. Therefore, it is necessary to offer the baby as much plant food as needed from different color groups. So he will be provided with minerals, vitamins and nutrients, he will gradually form a culture of healthy eating.
The statement that there is no need to feed a baby under six months old is familiar to many. This article is intended for those parents who have already introduced the child to food 1-1.5 months ago. It can also be useful to those who want to adjust the existing power scheme.
From this article you will learn:
The child has already become acquainted with pureed vegetables. If at first you gave vegetables in the morning, then you can gradually transfer them to lunchtime. The reaction of the baby to this product is already clear, which means that undesirable manifestations are already unlikely.
Due to the accelerated development of the child, he needs to meet new nutrient needs. Offer low-fiber vegetables such as carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, and turnips. Purees should be monocomponent in each of the feedings. Only after getting used to one type of vegetable, you need to introduce the child to another.
To a volume of 150 grams come gradually, starting with one or two teaspoons. Smoothly, vegetable complementary foods at 5 months displace breast milk or formula milk from lunch feeding. Mushy foods stay longer in the intestines than liquid foods. With a five-time regimen, two or three meals consist exclusively of complementary foods.
The diet of the baby
Time of receipt | Dish | Serving (g, ml) |
Breakfast | breast milk. | 200 |
Lunch | porridge (buckwheat, rice or corn). | 150 |
Dinner | vegetable puree with teaspoon vegetable oil; | 150 |
juice. | 50 | |
afternoon tea | fruit puree; | 60 |
compote; | 50 | |
breast milk. | 100 | |
Dinner | breast milk. | 200 |
The ration of the artificial
Time of receipt | Dish | Serving (g, ml) |
Breakfast | milk mixture. | 200 |
Lunch | porridge cooked in baby milk or mixture; | 150 |
juice. | 50 | |
Dinner | vegetable puree with a teaspoon of vegetable oil + ½ egg yolk; | 150+10 |
mors. | 50 | |
afternoon tea | fruit puree; | 60 |
compote. | 50 | |
Dinner | milk mixture. | 200 |
Vegetables in baby food at 5 months
Influence and addiction
The benefits of these fruits for the child's body are due to the presence of vitamins in them, biologically active elements and minerals. Improves bowel function due to the intake of vegetable fiber. Metabolism is improved, comes in tone nervous system. The respiratory system works better and excess water is excreted.
Thick puree, which contains small dense inclusions, prepares the pharynx for solid food. This happens during her irritation when swallowing such food. However, despite the usefulness, the baby can regularly spit out the offered vegetables.
Parental tolerance and gentleness helps, as well as an example that the baby will imitate. Eat mashed potatoes from the same plate that was placed in front of the baby. For hygiene reasons, it is better to take another spoon for yourself. As soon as the child expresses interest and tastes the dish, be sure to praise him and cheer him up with a smile.
Manufacturer's choice and delicate aspect
If you are concerned about how to introduce complementary foods at 5 months in the best way, then use commercially produced jars first. In them, vegetables are more tender, because they are highly homogenized. Choose from a variety of brands from both domestic and Western baby food manufacturers. Try different compositions: carrot, with spinach, cabbage and zucchini.
When eating vegetables, the baby's stool changes its color, acquiring an orange, brownish or green tint. With its usual consistency and the absence of mucus, there is nothing to worry about.
Fruit combinations
The baby already got acquainted with a small proportion of fruits when he began to drink juice. The most useful and sparing for the stomach is apple. Weak dried fruit compotes have a beneficial effect on the baby's heart. Berry fruit drinks also like crumbs. For the first time, dilute the contents half and half with water.
From fruit purees, children taste apple, pear and banana. As soon as the child tastes one fruit, start getting to know the new one. In the future, it will be possible to make puree from a couple of fruits at the same time. Prunes are too sweet and also have a laxative effect. It is more suitable for artificial people and children who have constipation.
When feeding a five-month-old baby, use a spoon, not a bottle. Purchase a long-handled plastic or silicone spoon for children. So it will be convenient for you to bring a treat to your baby. Unlike metal, such devices do not injure the oral cavity of a small fidget. In one sitting, a child can gobble up a whole jar of fruit puree from such a spoon. However, try not to indulge your sweet tooth too much.
Complementary food at 5 months
Porridge is able to saturate and calm the baby for a long time. Many mothers choose it, and not juices or vegetables, as the first food for the crumbs. The carbohydrate component gives an influx of energy for the active phase of the child, food is easily digested. Promotes weight gain in those who are underweight.
It is permissible to add a teaspoon to the finished porridge butter. For artificial people, half the yolk can be mixed with both vegetable puree and a cereal dish. How to cook porridge?
Children's dairy-free and milk porridges in packs
Very easy to prepare due to quick readiness, and also compact for storage. First, the indicated amount of water is diluted with boiling water. Different cereals require different water temperatures before breeding dry raw materials. Usually within 40-60˚С. Then spoons of dry porridge are slowly poured in, stirring in parallel with a fork. Start with dairy-free and gluten-free options.
Milk porridges are obtained by adding powdered milk or an adapted mixture. Formula-fed babies should be offered predominantly milk porridge. Be sure to choose the ones that match the age of your crumbs.
Homemade cereals from ground raw materials
They are obtained from those cereals that we use to prepare dishes for the common table. The beans are first ground in a coffee grinder. It turns out the so-called flour. Before introducing complementary foods to a five-month-old baby, it is necessary to conduct an allergy test.
To do this, you need to cook a small amount of porridge. Less allergic are rice with corn and buckwheat. Next, you can try oatmeal. Keep in mind that rice can fix a baby's stool.
The resulting flour is added to boiling water, stirring constantly. brewed on low fire. Shortly before readiness, a small amount of mixture, breast or baby milk is poured. Sugar is not added.
Porridge after blender or sieve
Prepared from ordinary cereals. The goal is to get a liquidy consistency. A cone-shaped nozzle of a blender is placed in a slightly cooled porridge. Blend content well. They give it to the baby for testing. Inferior to the previous options by the presence of grain grains. Not all children agree to eat such a dish.
Some mothers pass the cooled porridge through a sieve. This method is not quite convenient, since getting dirty in baby porridge, it is difficult to complete the process. During this processing, the product cools down a lot.
But what about sour milk?
Some pediatricians, including eminent ones, are only for the practice of serving kefir to babies. In their opinion, it is an ideal supplementary food for 5-month-old babies, since it is close in composition to milk. Represents its curdled form. Cottage cheese is famous for its high calcium content. It would seem that without fear you can treat the little one with sour milk.
However, other pediatricians do not recommend rushing with these products. It is suggested to wait until the intestinal microflora becomes more mature and prepared. Premature consumption of calcium-containing ingredients can delay the natural growth rate of the fontanel, accelerating it. The situation is similar with excessive bone strength. And they should be more elastic at this age.
Complementary foods contribute to the development of chewing skills. This prepares the gums for teething. The ability to eat improves fine motor skills. Each product takes 5-7 days to establish addiction. Already now, the correct formation of the order of food should begin: porridge for breakfast (it has been shifted to lunch for now), vegetables for lunch, and fruits for an afternoon snack. You can drink food at every meal.
Ensure sufficient fiber intake in the child's body: indulge your child with fortified vegetables and fruits. Find the right way to prepare a hearty breakfast for you. Weigh the benefits and risks of eating fermented milk foods.
First food for 5 month old baby
The care, attention and love of a mother is extremely important for any child, but especially significant in infancy. The health of the baby, his well-being in life, the development of abilities, mood, attitude to the world around him and many other things that are formed, developed and laid down in the process of daily communication and care depend on the mother. In order to do everything on time, it is important to properly organize the child’s daily routine. If such a thing as a “mode” still does not exist for you at the age of five months of a baby’s life, then it’s not too late to fix everything.
Approximate daily routine of a child at five months
The daily routine of a five-month-old baby is significantly different from a newborn. There is an increase in the time of wakefulness due to a decrease in the duration of sleep, the diet changes, it becomes possible to diversify the menu due to the introduction of complementary foods.
Approximate daily routine of a child of five months of life by the hour
How food is changing
The most important components of the five-month daily routine infant are feeding and sleeping. From what kind of food a child receives at this age and how fully he rests, his health in the future depends. Despite the fact that from the age of 4 months, a child can already be introduced to the menu of dairy-free cereals, some types of fruits and vegetables in the form of puree, breast milk or an adapted milk formula remains the basis of the diet. For one feeding, a five-month-old baby should eat up to 180-210 ml of milk or mixture - this is the amount that is considered the age norm that meets the physiological needs of the child's body. At the same time, the diet of children with different types of feeding at 5 months can differ significantly.
Daily routine of a five-month-old breastfed baby
Breastfed babies are usually just introduced to new foods at 5 months, as the Union of Pediatricians of Russia and the World Health Organization do not recommend introducing any foods or drinks before they reach six months of age. Earlier introduction of complementary foods may be indicated in the following cases:
- insufficient milk production in the mother;
- poor, irregular and malnutrition, which does not allow for the provision of quality chemical composition breast milk (low in vitamins, minerals, acids and nutrients);
- illness of the mother, requiring the use of potent toxic drugs and the cessation of lactation;
- signs iron deficiency anemia in a child (hemoglobin level is less than 100-120 g/l);
- signs of a child's readiness for the introduction of new foods.
Complementary foods at this age are also necessary because in the fifth or sixth month there is a natural decrease in the level of iron in breast milk, the lack of which can be compensated for by introducing applesauce and buckwheat porridge into the children's diet.
Day regimen of a child on artificial or mixed feeding
Children receiving artificial or mixed food, for the normal functioning of the digestive system and stimulating the work of the intestines, pediatricians recommend the introduction of complementary foods, starting from the age of four months. Usually it is applesauce, dairy-free buckwheat or oatmeal or zucchini puree. At 5 months, "artificial" children should already eat about 200-300 g of complementary foods per day, and one feeding can be completely replaced by porridge or vegetable puree (by the end of the sixth month).
How to introduce complementary foods to a child at 5 months
Parents should be aware that the period between the fifth and seventh month is one of the most important in a baby's life, since it is at this time that the baby begins to receive the first complementary foods and gets acquainted with new food antigens. Properly introduced first complementary foods play a big role in the formation immune system the baby and determines whether the baby will be prone to allergies in the future, so nutrition must be organized correctly. The main thing that must be followed when introducing a baby to new products is the principles of moderation and gradualness. Some babies, especially formula-fed babies, enjoy trying new foods and show signs of food interest. This is a good sign, but you should not rush, even if the baby has eaten his norm and requires more. It is necessary to start complementary foods with a very small amount of fruit or vegetable puree - no more than 1 spoon.
Important! For formula-fed children, the amount of vegetable oil should be reduced to 1-2 g, as they contain the required amount of fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids.
The norm for the amount of complementary foods at 5 months (how much the child should eat by the end of the sixth month)
Give a new product should be in the first morning feeding. Firstly, the child will be hungry, and the likelihood that he will try what is offered to him will be higher, and, secondly, parents will be able to carefully observe the baby during the day and note if there are any unpleasant reactions in response to new complementary foods (constipation, diarrhea, rash, pruritus, etc.). Previously, pediatricians advised not to increase the amount of the product for one week, but now the recommendations have changed a bit: if the baby eats the proposed dish with appetite, he does not have digestive disorders and allergy symptoms, you can increase the volume of the product after 3-4 days, gradually bringing it to the age norms.
What can you feed your baby
It is recommended to start introducing your baby to new products with vegetable purees or dairy-free cereals. Pediatricians used to recommend applesauce as the first complementary food, but now the recommendations have changed, and baby nutrition experts advise starting the introduction of new foods in the diet with vegetables so that the child does not get used to sweet foods. Even fruit puree without sugar has a pleasant sweet taste, after which the child may refuse to try unsalted and unsweetened vegetables.
An ideal product for a first acquaintance is zucchini. It very rarely causes food allergies, contains a lot of mineral salts, makes up for the lack of fluid (which is especially important for formula-fed babies) and has a sweetish taste that children really like. Gradually, broccoli, potatoes, cauliflower can be added to the diet. At the beginning of the sixth month of life, the child can also be offered vegetables and fruits that have a bright color, for example:
- pumpkin;
- carrot;
- sweet bell pepper;
- peaches.
Apples, pears, prunes can be introduced into the menu from 4 months. Bananas are allowed for consumption from the age of five months, but if the baby is prone to digestive disorders and constipation, it is better to postpone their introduction until 6 months. Tomatoes, peas can be given to children not earlier than 7 months.
As the first cereals for feeding, pediatricians advise giving buckwheat or oatmeal - they have increased hypoallergenic properties, are well tolerated and contain all the minerals and vitamins (especially iron) necessary for the child's body. In cereals, you can add fruit or vegetable puree, a little vegetable oil. It is necessary to increase the daily volume of porridge in the infant's diet to the recommended rate within 3-4 weeks. If the child does not have digestive problems, and he willingly eats porridge without milk, you can offer him milk porridge (no more than 20-30 g at a time).
Important! Babies who digest milk sugar well can be given low-fat yogurt or cream by the end of the sixth month of life. They are usually added in small quantities to fruit puree. Cottage cheese should be introduced into the menu no earlier than 6-8 months (the same applies to meat).
What can you give your child to drink
The main drink in the diet of children on breastfeeding remains breast milk. As complementary foods, you can give your baby a little apple or pear juice, rosehip broth or dried fruit compote, cooked without adding sugar. Some advise giving the baby jelly at this age, but experts advise waiting until the age of six months so that the body can produce enough digestive enzymes necessary for the absorption of starch. Drinking yoghurts, kefir, dairy drinks with the addition of cereals are not introduced into the diet before 6-7 months.
sample menu
- 6.00 - breast milk or adapted milk formula (180-210 ml);
- 10.00 - porridge with milk or dairy-free (100 g), milk or a mixture;
- 14.00 - vegetable puree (80-100 g), milk or mixture;
- 17.00 - baby biscuits (5 g), fruit juice (50 ml), milk or mixture;
- 19.00 - fruit puree (50 g), milk or mixture;
- 22.00-23.00 - breast milk or adapted milk formula (210 ml).
This menu can be adjusted taking into account the child's appetite, his physiological needs and other individual characteristics.