Compotes in a toddler's diet form an important part of baby food. Usually, parents introduce it after the first feeding with fruit, when it becomes clear whether the baby has an allergy and what the drink should not be made from. It’s interesting that children drink sweet and healthy dried fruit compote without whims. How to make a drink for a child, what fruits to add? We will answer all your questions!
Kompotiki for kids are cooked based on age. Toddlers up to one year old usually drink a drink without sugar and consisting of one fruit. Children over 1 year old can be offered a compote with a sweetener. You will find interesting recipes, unusual combinations and all the cooking secrets below.
Benefits of the drink
It’s no secret that with prolonged boiling, vitamin C almost completely disappears, so you don’t need to cook children’s vitamin compote for long, just a couple of minutes. The finished drink is valuable thanks to pectins and antioxidants, which are present in huge quantities.
What benefits do compotes bring, how hypoallergenic are they:
- Improving digestion, normalizing intestinal function, reducing the likelihood of constipation.
- Enriching the body with vitamins and minerals. And apple compote contains bifidobacteria that are beneficial for the intestines.
- Protecting the body from bacteria, infections, increasing immunity.
- In winter and spring, compotes help avoid vitamin deficiency.
Pediatricians prescribe the drink for diarrhea and vomiting to replenish the balance of lost fluid in the body. In addition, parents offer their baby compote as an alternative to regular water in the summer heat. You can prepare vitamin liquid from pears, apples, currants, dried apricots and prunes.
A little about dried fruit compote
Most often, dried fruits are harvested during the harvest year from apples, pears, plums, grapes and apricots. When dried, these products can be stored for not just one month, but several. Unlike freezing, drying preserves most of the vitamins and nutrients, allowing you to replenish them during the winter and spring months.
Dried apples and pears are most suitable for compote. Compote made from dried fruits is introduced into the child’s diet when he is not yet 1 year old. This product can be given to a bottle-fed baby after reaching 6 months of age. You can not be afraid of unforeseen situations and give your child as much compote as he wants only after reaching the age of 3 years.
Dried apples - beneficial properties and vitamins
Preparing the first compote
Experts recommend apple compote as your first drink. This option is considered hypoallergenic and safe for little ones. To prepare dried apple compote for your child, take:
- 1 medium apple;
- 500 ml. water.
For the first drink, it is better to choose a green or yellow fruit to avoid possible allergies. Step by step recipe:
- Wash the apple thoroughly.
- Cut it into quarters, first getting rid of the insides.
- Cut the quarters into slices and place in a saucepan. For these purposes, try not to use aluminum cookware.
- Pour boiling water over the apple slices and put on fire.
- Immediately after boiling, remove the pan from the stove, but do not open it.
- Wait until the drink cools down, only then will it be ready to drink.
This is how the first compote is prepared for a 6 month old baby. If you don't have an apple, you can make a drink from pear, which is also considered a hypoallergenic fruit. Pear compote is prepared in the same way as apple compote.
At what age can you give compote to children?
In the first few months of life, the baby does not need any other products in the diet, with the exception of breast milk or an adapted formula. After several months, you can begin to offer dried fruit compote to your baby. At what age should a child be given extra milk depends on the type of feeding the baby is fed. When breastfeeding, complementary foods should be introduced no earlier than 6 months. If the baby is on artificial or mixed feeding, then additional feeding is permissible after 3 months. Also, an indication for early consumption of a drink made from dried fruits is problems in the baby’s digestion.
In any case, before giving the drink, you should consult your pediatrician.
How to properly introduce compote into the diet: rules of administration and permissible dosage
If compote is brewed for a child for the first time, then only one component is used for it. This is necessary to monitor the body’s reaction to a new product: the possibility of allergies or digestive disorders. You need to drink only after feeding to avoid loss of appetite. If a health problem arises, the introduction of a new product is delayed.
For the first time, it is better to take local fruits with low allergenicity. As a rule, these are apples and pears. Dried fruits must be ripe, without external damage or signs of spoilage.
At 6 months, compote is administered, starting with 1 tsp, gradually increasing the dose by 10 ml, and by the end of the week it is increased to 70 ml. By the age of one year, the portion per day becomes 180-200 ml. This volume is sufficient for up to 3 years. Dried fruits themselves can be given to a child from the age of 11 months. The pediatrician will tell you which fruit is best to start with. As a rule, dry apples (pears and cherries) are the first to be tested. A little later they give dried apricots, prunes, raisins, figs, dates.
Currant recipe
Among the popular compotes for children under one year old is currant. This berry contains large amounts of vitamin C, which improves immunity by creating a protective barrier to the penetration of pathogens.
To prepare a miracle drink from currants you will need:
- 150 g of berries, fresh or frozen;
- 1 l. water.
Rinse the currants under running water and leave to drain. Boil water in a saucepan and add berries there. Boil them for 20 minutes over low heat. Remove the dishes from the stove and leave until completely cool. Strain the finished drink through a sieve or cheesecloth and offer it to your baby. Frozen berry compote should be cooked for half an hour.
The drink should be introduced into the toddler’s diet 6-7 months after the first feeding.
What proportions are needed?
To successfully prepare this wonderful drink, you need to follow all proportions and prepare it correctly.
Ingredients:
- Dried fruits – 2 cups
- Sugar – 6 tbsp. spoons
- Water – 4 liters.
Cooking method:
1. First, sort through and wash the dried fruits, then fill them with cold water and leave overnight.
2. In the morning, add another 2 liters to the pan, put it on the stove and bring to a boil.
3. Add sugar and let it simmer for another 2-4 minutes, remove from heat.
4. When the drink is ready, cover with a lid and let it brew for 3 hours. During this time, our main ingredient will finally soften and its taste will turn into compote.
Tandem of pear and apple
Another healthy drink that can be offered to a 6-month-old baby is compote made from a mixture of pear and apple. This drink is an ideal option for feeding a child. Compote has a positive effect on the digestive system, immunity and has general strengthening properties.
How to cook vitamin compote correctly and what you will need for this:
- 50 g of dried apples and pears (if you are brewing the drink for the first time, then take 20 g of fruit);
- half a liter of water.
Sort, rinse and pour boiling water over the dried fruits. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and fill with water. Please note that the liquid should be at room temperature. Leave the mixture for 12 hours or overnight if you decide to cook the compote in the evening. The next morning your vitamin drink will be ready.
How long does it take to cook dried fruit compote? Making apple and pear compote takes about 15-20 minutes. Plum and apricot drinks were boiled for 30 minutes until ready.
Recipe in a slow cooker
So, this recipe is for those who could not find it among their grandmother’s cooking notes. And for those who did not learn the technology of preparing such a wonderful amber drink with a rich taste in childhood. The cooking technique is suitable for various multicookers, such as Redmond, Polaris and other other models.
Ingredients:
- Dried fruits – 300 gr.
- Sugar - glass
- Water – 3 liters.
Cooking method.
Wash the dried fruits and soak them in cold water for 10-15 minutes, then rinse well again.
Add the washed fruits to the multicooker bowl.
Add sugar and fill everything with water to the maximum mark.
Select the stewing mode, type of meat product, set the time to 2 hours and press start.
Compote is very beneficial for the cardiovascular system. Use it as often as possible and you will be healthy!
Options with dried fruits
Usually parents prepare prune compote for constipation. The effectiveness of this remedy has already been proven by pediatricians, and you can offer the drink even to a six-month-old baby. The main thing is not to overdo the dosage of compote, otherwise you risk getting diarrhea.
To prepare compote from dried fruits, choose only shiny, fleshy specimens, since they contain the maximum number of useful microelements. The drink tastes aromatic and tasty, just like in kindergarten.
From prunes
Preparing a drink from dry plums will not take you much time. To do this you will need:
- 1 l. hot water;
- 200 g prunes;
- ¼ cup granulated sugar.
How to prepare a healthy compote:
- Pour hot water over the dry cream and leave for 5 minutes. Then rinse in warm water.
- Pour sugar into a saucepan, pour water and stir together.
- Add fruit.
- Cook healthy compotes for 15-20 minutes until completely softened.
- Strain the cooled compote and give it to your baby.
With dried apricots and prunes
You can also prepare a compote of dried apricots and prunes for your baby. To make it, stock up on:
- 50 g prunes;
- 50 g dried apricots;
- ½ l. water.
Let the fruit sit in warm water for a few minutes. After this, rinse them and pour boiling water over them. Place on the stove over low heat and bring to a boil. Cook for about 15 minutes until the fruit softens. Strain the cooked compote through a sieve and give to the little one.
Compote made from dried apricots for a child, as well as from prunes, dates and apples, is very useful because it has restorative, tonic and bactericidal properties.
From raisins
As a change, you can offer your baby raisin compote. The drink helps relieve the baby from constipation, cure ARVI and anemia. Children can be given compotes as early as seven months. Raisin compote is very healthy and recommended by pediatricians, and thanks to Dr. Komarovsky, we even managed to find out the recipes for the ideal compote.
- 1 tbsp. l. raisins;
- 1 tbsp. water.
First, rinse the raisins with cold water several times. Place the washed berries in a saucepan and pour boiling water over them. You need to cook the raisin compote for an hour until they are completely softened.
With dates
If your baby belongs to the category of sweet tooth, then offer him date compote. The advantage of the drink is that the fruits themselves are sweet, which means there is no need to put sugar in the compote.
The technology for preparing compote is similar to preparing other drinks. The ingredients are taken in the proportion of 50 g of fruit per 250 ml. water. The compote is cooked for 3 minutes after boiling, and then infused until cooked.
There are various recipes for drinks made from dried apricots and raisins, raisins and apples. All of them are prepared according to the same scheme, but some differences can be seen in the cooking time.
How to choose quality dried fruits
How to choose dried fruits
If at the end of summer and autumn you or your family prepared them yourself, then there will be no problems. But when buying at the market or in a store, you should know a few rules so as not to bring home something you don’t know.
- Dried fruits should not look too bright and should not feel fleshy to the touch. This is a sign that they were dried not in a natural way, but with the use of certain chemical elements (for example, there is a method - fumigation with sulfur, when fresh fruits are treated with smoke from a burning chemical so that they do not look too wrinkled). Dried fruits MUST BE WRINKLED!
- After touching the dried fruits, be sure to inspect your hands. There should be no traces left on them.
- It is better to buy dried fruits in factory packaging rather than in bulk.
As you can see, the rules are not complicated and remembering them is not difficult.
Sea buckthorn and rosehip drinks
Do you want to strengthen your child's immunity? Then pay attention to the rosehip and sea buckthorn compote. Frozen sea buckthorn compote is prepared very simply and quickly. To do this you will need:
- 500 g sea buckthorn;
- spoon of honey;
- 120 ml. water.
Take warm water and dissolve honey in it. Wash the sea buckthorn berries, pour the honey mixture and puree with a blender. Strain the pulp through a sieve and you can give it to your baby. By the way, you can prepare this drink with your children.
Rosehip drink for children is also rich in vitamins. Just prepare it with caution, since the child’s body may react to the new product with rashes. Take 4 berries, wash them and pour a glass of boiling water. Leave the mixture in a thermos overnight.
Freezing instead of drying
Instead of making dried fruit compote for your child, you can collect fresh berries and fruits in season and freeze them for the winter. It's best if the fruits were grown in your own garden, then you can be sure of their quality.
Berries need to be harvested in the summer, drying them under the sun. You can also prepare compotes from frozen fruits, which must first be collected, washed and dried on a towel.
Dried fruit compote can be introduced into the diet up to 1 year of age. Pediatricians consider the age of 6-9 months to be ideal for complementary feeding with compotes. To check for an allergy to a drink, offer your baby a teaspoon of compote diluted with boiled water.
Dried fruit compote is indispensable for a child, as it contains many useful microelements and vitamins. If your little one has constipation, indigestion and weak immunity, then a fruit drink will be an indispensable help in solving these problems.
