Proper feeding of a baby up to 1 year is one of the main tasks of a young mother, no matter what kind of feeding the baby grows up on - breast or formula. The child is growing, he is already 8 months old, and the dishes on his menu are becoming more and more diverse - in addition to cereals and purees, meat and fish are already being introduced into his diet. With such an abundance of products, mother can already experiment, prepare multi-ingredient dishes and delight her baby with new tastes.
The 8-month-old baby is already enthusiastically eating cereal porridge, pureed boiled fruits and vegetables. Its menu includes fermented milk products, egg yolk and meat. You can already supplement the menu of an 8-month-old child with low-fat fish and expand the list of vitamin components.
Baby nutrition at 8 months
You can diversify a child’s diet at 8 months with new foods, starting with small portions. Your little one is no longer a newborn, so you can safely expand its menu: cook soups in meat broth, combine fermented milk products with vegetables and fruits, gradually introduce fish and eggs. If he refuses to eat something new, it doesn't matter. After some time, you can offer your baby this dish again - perhaps he will like it the second time.
Diet
The child receives food approximately five times a day. This can be mother's breast milk, artificial formula and complementary foods. Recommendations for the daily diet of proper nutrition and menu for an infant at 8 months:
Product | Maximum allowed amount during breastfeeding, g | With artificial feeding, g |
Vegetables | 150 | 170 |
Porridge without milk | 180 | — |
Milk porridge | — | 200 |
Fruits | 60 | 70 |
Vegetable oil | 3 | 5 |
Butter | 1 | 5 |
Fruit juices | 30 | 50 |
Crackers, cookies | 5 | 5 |
Wheat bread | 5 | 5 |
Meat | 30 | 30 |
Cottage cheese | — | 40 |
Egg yolk | — | ½ pcs. |
Dairy products | 150 ml |
An approximate menu for a child depends on whether he or she is allergic to milk protein. If it is available, porridge is not cooked in milk, and mixtures are selected without allergens. The diet of a baby at 8 months looks like this:
Meal hour | Product | Amount of food, g/ml |
6.00 | Breast milk or infant formula | 200 |
10.00 | Porridge | 180 |
Butter | 1/2 tsp. | |
Boiled yolk | ½ pcs. | |
Fruits | 30 | |
14.00 | Vegetables | 170 |
Vegetable oil | 5 | |
Meat feeding | 50 | |
Fruit juice | 50 | |
18.00 | Cottage cheese | 40 |
Children's cookies | 1-2 pcs. | |
Fruits | 40 | |
Fermented milk products or breast milk | 100 | |
22.00 | Breast milk or formula | 200 |
Approximate daily diet for an 8 month old baby
Proper feeding of a baby up to 1 year is one of the main tasks of a young mother, no matter what kind of feeding the baby grows up on - breast or formula.
The child is growing, he is already 8 months old, and the dishes on his menu are becoming more and more diverse - in addition to cereals and purees, meat and fish are already being introduced into his diet.
With such an abundance of products, mother can already experiment, prepare multi-ingredient dishes and delight her baby with new tastes.
The 8-month-old baby is already enthusiastically eating cereal porridge, pureed boiled fruits and vegetables. Its menu includes fermented milk products, egg yolk and meat. You can already supplement the menu of an 8-month-old child with low-fat fish and expand the list of vitamin components.
How to incorporate new foods for an 8 month old baby
- Before feeding your baby an unknown product, you need to get clarification from your doctor, as he monitors its development. Each organism has its own uniqueness.
- Before the planned adjustment of the children's menu, the baby must be cheerful and healthy.
- Offer food unfamiliar to the baby, starting with 1 teaspoon - before serving the main course. It is better to introduce a new menu item no later than 2 p.m. in order to be able to monitor the response of the baby’s body throughout the day.
- Offer a dish with an ingredient unfamiliar to the baby for 7-10 days.
Only after the child’s body has unconditionally gotten used to it, move on to other intended combinations of components.
Dishes for an 8-month-old baby - approximate daily diet
In this section we will give the most suitable foods for all meals during the day. With our meal list, you can easily plan your daily and weekly meals for your growing baby.
Keep in mind that the total amount of food per meal is approximately 200 g, and at lunchtime - a little more. If the list contains products unfamiliar to your child, then follow our instructions above.
First breakfast: 06.00
- Breast milk
- Adapted milk formula – 180-200 ml
Second breakfast: 10.00
- Cottage cheese – 40 g
- Kefir for children – 100-150 ml
- Vegetable puree – 40 g
- Porridge with vegetables (in vegetable broth) – 40 g
- Natural yogurt – 100-150 ml
- Milk porridge (buckwheat, oatmeal, rice, barley) – 150 g
- Fruit puree – 60 g
Lunch 14.00
- Potato puree with butter – 150 g
- Vegetable puree with water or vegetable broth – 150 g
- Carrot and potato puree – 150 g
- Mashed cabbage (cauliflower or broccoli) and zucchini – 150 g
- Vegetable soup with potatoes and rice with 1 tsp. vegetable oil – 150 g
- Egg yolk – a quarter (every day)
- Puree from beef or veal, chicken, rabbit – 30 g
- Puree from meat by-products (tongue, liver, kidneys) – 30 g
- Fish puree – 30 g
- Vegetable or fruit juice – 40 ml
Dinner: 18.00
- Milk (oatmeal, wheat, buckwheat, rice) porridge – 170 g
- Milk porridge on semolina or rice with pumpkin – 170 g
- Vegetable or fruit puree or juice – 20-30 ml
Dinner before bed: 22.00
- Breast milk
- Adapted milk formula – 180-200 ml
Dairy dishes
Milk porridges for children under 1 year of age are prepared only with adapted milk formulas. Cow's (goat's) milk is not absorbed by the child's fragile body, it can cause metabolic failure and force the child's kidneys to work in extreme mode.
The cereals are first boiled until fluffy, rubbed and liquefied with a dry mixture dissolved in water and boiled again for a couple of minutes. No salt or sugar is added.
Fermented milk products, such as kefir, yogurt and cottage cheese, must be adapted to the physiology of children under 1 year of age.
Vegetable and fruit purees
We choose tender vegetables without coarse fibers. This could be zucchini, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, cauliflower, stalked celery, broccoli and others.
You need to be even more careful with fruits, since many of them can provoke allergic reactions in a child.
Meat dishes
It is advisable to prepare puree and soufflé from meat, which are combined with vegetable puree or vegetable broth. Meat used in dishes for an 8-month-old baby should be fresh and not fatty.
Prohibited: goose and duck meat, fatty pork.
Fish dishes
If a baby receives breast milk, then it is better to introduce fish into his diet not at the age of 8 months, but later - at 9-10 months. Fish contains many unsaturated fatty acids, mineral compounds and vitamins and often causes allergic reactions on the skin.
If the baby is bottle-fed, then you can carefully give him a taste of fish soufflé or puree, starting with 1/3 teaspoon. Your baby can eat fish food no more than 2 times a week, 30 g each, mixing it with mashed potatoes or vegetables.
Preference should be given to sea fish with white meat: pollock, hake, cod. It is better to abstain from red salmon fish. From river fish, carp and pike perch are suitable for dishes of an 8-month-old child.
You, as a mother of a growing baby, know more clearly than all other family members what your baby needs. You spend all your time with your baby, and there is an unbreakable bond between you. Your maternal intuition tells you the appropriate inclusion of any dish for an 8-month-old baby. May it never dry up in you!
Source: https://tvoi-povarenok.ru/menyu-rebenka-8-mesyacev.html
What foods can an 8 month old baby eat?
What to feed a baby at 8 months depends on individual characteristics and possible allergies. Pediatricians recommend including the following foods in your meals:
- Vegetables – up to 170 g per day. It is allowed to use canned food for children, including cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, and boiled onions.
- Vegetable oil – up to 5 ml, add to puree. It is better to use unrefined olive oil.
- Fruits – up to 60-70 g (if there are no allergies or digestive problems).
- Cottage cheese - 10-15 g per day or 50 g twice a week.
- Milk porridge - 100-200 g. Buckwheat, oatmeal, rice, corn cooked in cow's milk are allowed.
- Meat puree - it is better to buy canned meat, 30-50 g per day. Manufacturers of baby food offer hypoallergenic products - from turkey, lamb, veal, rabbit, beef, chicken. It is recommended to start introducing meat in minimal doses.
- Fermented milk products – 100-200 ml of kefir. If you are not allergic to milk, you can give 5 g of grated cheese with mashed potatoes. It is better not to consume sour cream for up to a year; instead, it is recommended to give low-fat homemade cream 1-2 times a week.
- Butter – 1-4 g with milk porridges.
- Egg yolk – babies try half a yolk twice a week.
- Fish – start with canned puree. Marine breeds are not as allergenic as river breeds. It is better to exclude fatty red fish.
- Bread, cookies - the first complementary foods are cookies or crackers that nourish the child's body and facilitate teething. The bread must be white.
Vegetables and fruits
For the first feeding at 8 months, choose green apples or pears. Then prunes, plums, peaches, and apricots are added in the form of puree. Formula-fed babies are already familiar with fruits; they are allowed to be given black currants, blueberries, cherries, and raspberries. Bananas are allowed in small quantities. Introduce red fruits a teaspoon a day to eliminate the risk of developing allergies in the baby’s body. Give preference to seasonal species.
By 8 months, babies are already eating zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower. You can add pumpkin and carrots to the menu - little by little. Pair them with an apple. Due to the large amount of starch in potatoes, use them sparingly and in small quantities. It is better to mix potatoes with other vegetables and add them to the soup along with dill. Before processing, soak root vegetables in water to remove starch.
Milk porridge
A common dish for an eight-month-old baby is porridge. It can be prepared from one grain or mixed several. Add fresh or dried fruits there, cook with homemade milk with a high percentage of fat content, diluted with water. For a uniform consistency, grind the cereals or buy crushed ones, which you can simply pour boiling water or hot water over. You can eat porridge up to 150 g.
Dairy products
Your pediatrician will tell you what you can give your child at 8 months. For the baby's health, fermented milk products are allowed - cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt. It is better to alternate them: one day, one product. Try to prepare them yourself, buy a homemade yogurt maker and sourdough starter . When purchasing products in a store, check the composition and expiration date. Kefir is given in 30 ml doses for 8-9 days, then the amount is increased to 150-200 ml. Add fruit to drinks, but not honey.
Meat and fish
As a separate product, meat is given in a puree state. It is good to mix with vegetable puree or porridge with water. Choose low-fat varieties - chicken, turkey, veal, rabbit, beef. Clean the meat from fat and films, cook, grind with a meat grinder or blender. Also choose low-fat fish - cod, pike perch, hake. Boil, strain the broth, chop the meat with a fork or blender. It is better to buy fillet than carcass. Calf liver is also included in the introduction of complementary foods if the baby is 8 months old.
Egg feeding
For brain development, an eight-month-old baby should receive chicken or quail eggs with food. Due to allergic properties, adult food can only be introduced with the approval of a doctor. At first, give your baby an egg yolk mashed with a fork in an amount of no more than half an egg yolk at a time and no more than 1-2 times a week. Carefully monitor your baby's reaction to eggs, this is the advice given by Dr. Komarovsky.
Legumes
What legumes can an 8-month-old baby eat: beans, peas, lentils. They contain a lot of protein, replace the amino acids of breast milk, maintaining the percentage of protein in the diet. Be careful with legumes - they cause bloating, so be careful not to overdo the serving size. You can give 20-30 g of ground beans at a time. It is better to choose canned food.
Bakery products
From 8 months of age, babies are allowed white bread; black bread causes bloating and fermentation in the intestines. The first time, give no more than 5 grams of crumb without crust. To satisfy your hunger or snack, choose special children's cookies or unsweetened crackers. It is good to soak them with porridge and fermented milk drinks. Let's chew large pieces carefully so that the child does not choke.
Juices and drinks
A healthy and tasty drink for an eight-month-old baby will be a full-fledged compote of fresh berries, fruits or dried fruits. You can cook it yourself or buy it at the store. Wash black currants, blueberries or raspberries and brew a fresh drink without sugar. Give your child 50-70 ml per day. You can drink apple, pumpkin, and carrot juices diluted with water.
How to cook porridge for an 8 month old baby
Children need to eat porridge.
Why? How is it useful? At what age should you give it to your baby? Finally, what should you pay attention to when buying specialized baby cereals in the store? The ingredients of porridge are cereals and milk - products that are very valuable in their properties.
Cereals are a source of carbohydrates (starch), which provide the body with energy, plant proteins, B vitamins, some minerals: magnesium, iron, as well as plant fibers necessary for the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Milk perfectly complements this composition with its more valuable proteins than in cereals, as well as vitamins and mineral salts.
As a rule, porridge becomes a product of the second feeding of an infant. It is given to the baby approximately 2-3 weeks after the introduction of the first complementary foods (vegetable puree), that is, approximately 5-6 months. But in cases where the child has unstable stools, does not gain weight well enough, or is prone to regurgitation, the doctor may recommend starting complementary feeding with porridge.
Porridge serves as a kind of bridge for a child between solid and liquid food, so you need to start giving it (like any other complementary food) with small portions.
The first day - a teaspoon, the second - no more than 30 g (3-4 teaspoons) and within a week increase the volume to 100-120 g. This portion should replace one breastfeeding or formula feeding.
You need to give porridge from a spoon, once a day, preferably in the morning for breakfast. Then you can give the baby the breast, wash down the porridge with juice, kefir.
If you cook the porridge yourself, then at the first stage of introduction, make it liquid (5%). This means 5 g of cereal or flour per 100 ml of water. After 1-2 weeks, the porridge can be cooked at 8-10 percent.
In order to free parents from the “horror” of calculating the number of grams of flour per certain amount of water, let us clarify that when preparing 5 percent porridge, one teaspoon of cereal flour is consumed per 100 ml of liquid, 7-8 percent porridge - one and a half teaspoons, and 10 percent - two.
Adding sugar and salt is not prohibited. According to “adult” taste sensations, it should be under-salted and low-sweet. Well, what would porridge be without oil, but no more than 5 g per serving.
There are several cooking methods. If you use cereal flour during the cooking process, then dilute it in cold water and pour boiling milk into it. Then boil for 5 minutes. When preparing porridge from cereals, it is recommended to first boil the cereal well in water, then add hot milk to it and cook until tender. Rub the finished porridge through a sieve.
Which cereal should you choose? Buckwheat and oatmeal are considered the most useful. They contain more protein than others, and in addition, they contain plant fibers that are beneficial for the gastrointestinal tract. Rice and corn are richest in starch, which is used for the body's energy needs.
In second place in terms of content is semolina. True, these cereals contain few vitamins and mineral salts. The exception is corn. It contains iron.
After 6 months, you can give porridge from other cereals: wheat, rye, barley and others that contain gluten, of course, if the child does not have a congenital intolerance.
When choosing cereals, also keep in mind that rice has enveloping and fixing properties; oatmeal and buckwheat contain a lot of fiber and can cause a laxative effect; corn is neutral. Considering these properties, try to alternate cereals and make mixed porridges. The so-called “pink” porridges, which are prepared with the addition of carrots, pumpkin, apples or carrot juice, are very useful.
Surprising as it may seem to many parents who advocate for the most healthy and proper nutrition, in the first year of a child’s life, pediatricians recommend using commercially produced cereals to feed children. “Factory” cereals are better processed and sterilized.
They are enriched, taking into account the age-related needs of children, with a wide range of vitamins and mineral salts, including iron and calcium. They do not contain preservatives, artificial colors, stabilizers or chemical additives.
Another plus is that you can introduce grains that are difficult to digest at home, such as barley, corn, and rye, into your child’s diet.
Most of the baby cereals used in our country are products of foreign companies. Domestic products, unfortunately, are not so well presented, although their nutritional and biological value is not inferior to their foreign counterparts, but, unfortunately, requires cooking. Most modern porridges from foreign companies are foreign prepared, that is, they do not require cooking.
They can be divided into 2 groups - dairy and non-dairy. To prepare the first, you only need water. There is no need to add salt, sugar, butter, and especially milk.
Only for special indications and on the advice of a doctor, children with decreased appetite and difficulty gaining weight can add 2-3 g of butter per serving of porridge to improve the taste and increase the energy value of the product.
Dairy-free porridges are reconstituted with specialized milk for baby food. It can also be diluted with water if, for example, the baby does not tolerate milk, but keep in mind that the nutritional value of the product will decrease.
The whole difficulty is that porridges come not only with or without milk, but also with additives. Many companies produce cereals with natural additives. These are fruits, vegetables, honey, hazelnuts and berries, banana, caramel and even chocolate.
There are such interesting combinations as buckwheat and quince, buckwheat-apricot, chocolate-nut, banana with honey and rice. Some companies also produce mixed porridges. For example, cereal-vegetable porridge made from rice, wheat, pumpkin, leek, spinach or porridge from 5 grains.
These porridges are often healthier and tastier than regular ones, however, when using them, one must remember about the possibility of allergic reactions.
When choosing porridge, be guided by your financial capabilities, your child’s preferences and, of course, the advice of your pediatrician.
However, when purchasing, the following nuances should be taken into account: the contents of cereals should be written on their packaging in Russian, so that buyers can find out the amount of all nutrients of the ingredients, and, therefore, evaluate the quality of the product; Manufacturers also indicate the detailed composition of ingredients per 100 g or 1 serving.
This detailed information will help you determine how complete and balanced a given product is; When purchasing, pay attention to the expiration date and storage conditions. And, of course, you should strictly follow all the cooking rules indicated on the label. Don’t make porridge by eye. Otherwise, your child will eat “approximately.”
Pediatricians recommend buying porridge in specialized baby food stores, pharmacies and clinics. You should not do this through advertisements, on the market or in other places not intended for this. You need to be wary not only of counterfeits, but also of improper storage conditions.
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Children aged 8 months are fed five times a day, with three meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner already consisting of complementary foods.
We recommend that from now on you accustom your baby to the fact that children eat porridge for breakfast and soup for lunch. This allows you to quickly establish a routine and make it easier to adapt to kindergarten later.
In addition to porridge for breakfast, you can offer your baby fruit puree and cottage cheese, purchased or made yourself. We'll talk about it a little later.
What to cook for an 8 month old baby for lunch: recipes may vary depending on the ingredients. Most often it is vegetable soup with meat or vegetables with a steam cutlet, well mashed.
For those babies who were introduced to complementary feeding from 4 to 5 months, meat can be gradually replaced with fish once or twice a week. At the same time, choose low-fat ocean varieties with white meat (cod, hake, pollock).
For dinner, you can also offer stewed vegetables, porridge or cottage cheese, depending on what the baby ate before.
Of course, feeding a baby at 8 months can consist exclusively of jarred purees, the range of which is now very large. But many mothers strive to cook on their own, because this way they can be responsible for the quality of the dishes.
In addition, some little picky children refuse children’s canned food, but they eat mother’s porridge and purees with pleasure.
In the following chapters we will talk about specific recipes for soups, porridges and making homemade cottage cheese.
Recipes for purees and porridges for an 8-month-old baby form the practical basis of his diet. In this chapter we will talk about tasty and healthy porridges.
At this age, children can eat both dairy-free and milk porridges prepared with mother’s milk or formula. If you are using cow's milk, cook the porridge using a 1:4 ratio, that is, one part milk and four parts water.
It is worth noting that pediatricians do not recommend introducing cow's milk into the diet before one year of age due to the high likelihood of allergies.
An eight-month-old toddler can be offered corn, rice and buckwheat porridge if there are no contraindications. If you have already introduced all these dishes into your diet, expand the range with oatmeal or barley.
Now let’s figure out how to cook porridge for an eight-month-old baby. Choose finely ground grains (corn, buckwheat), and grind the remaining grains in a coffee grinder until they become flour.
Any porridge should be cooked in water with the addition of a minimal amount of sugar, or better yet without sugar at all, until completely cooked.
Before turning off, add a little adapted formula or expressed breast milk (20 - 30 ml), as well as butter (3 - 5 g) to the porridge. At this age, porridge should be liquid, so take cereal at the rate of 5 g of cereal per 100 ml of water.
Gradually it can be made a little thicker. To diversify porridge recipes, a baby at this age can add fruit puree (apple, pear, pumpkin, prunes and even carrot) to the dish.
This way you don’t have to add sugar, and even the little picky eater will eat the finished dish with gusto.
For those parents who are interested in how to cook semolina for an 8-month-old child, we will give a little advice. You have the right to listen to him or do your own thing.
Despite the fact that at the end of the last century, children were fed semolina almost from birth, now the approach has changed dramatically. Pediatricians do not recommend semolina porridge for children under one year of age at all due to the high content of gluten and phytin (a substance that prevents calcium from being absorbed).
Soup is a desirable dish in a baby's diet starting from eight or nine months of age. It improves digestive processes, serves as a source of energy and nutrients. Therefore, you can give it to your baby for lunch every day.
The main thing is to know the features of preparing this dish. The first important point is what kind of soups a baby can eat at 8 months. These are vegetable soups with the addition of meat. In this case, the meat should be cooked separately from the first course and added to it already prepared.
Meat and fish broths are contraindicated for children under the age of one and a half years.
Let's talk about general recommendations from pediatricians. It is advisable to cook vegetable soup for an eight-month-old baby before eating and beat thoroughly with a blender. You can add cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, onions, broccoli and a little butter before serving.
In this case, there should be a minimum amount of salt in the soup, and it should be added a few minutes before removing from the stove. It is not recommended to cook such soups for too long, as the vitamins are destroyed.
Cooked and blended turkey, rabbit, veal or beef meat is added to the finished dish, depending on what kind of meat is already in your diet. Meat can be replaced with fish.
Here are some recipes for unusual delicious dishes:
- How to cook soup for an 8 month old baby with pumpkin. For the pumpkin puree soup you will need pumpkin, onions, carrots and vegetable broth. Boil the vegetables in water until fully cooked, remove them from the water and blend with a blender into a homogeneous mass. Add broth to achieve desired consistency. Add a little oil to the finished dish and serve.
- Vegetable soup with veal. For this dish you will need veal, zucchini and broccoli. Boil vegetables in water, boil meat separately. Grind them in a blender to the required consistency.
- Zucchini puree soup. Prepare zucchini, rice, butter and expressed milk or formula. Boil the zucchini and some rice until tender, rub through a sieve, add milk and butter. Delicious soup is ready.
Source: https://ay-ya.ru/mesyachnye/kak-gotovit-kashu-8-mesyachnomu-malyshu/
Menu for an 8-month-old breastfed baby
If the baby is still feeding on mother's milk, his digestive system can more easily accept new foods. It is useful for a child to give three complementary foods a day. Approximate daily portions will make up the menu:
- porridge – 180 g;
- butter – 1 g;
- vegetable soup – 150 grams;
- vegetable oil – 3 g;
- meat puree – 30 g;
- wheat bread - a piece;
- fruit juice – 30 ml;
- fruit puree – 60 g;
- cookies or crackers – 1 pc.;
- mother's milk - according to the need for nutrients and depending on the weight of the child.
Approximate weekly menu for a breastfed baby aged 8 months: Monday
- Mother's milk
- Oatmeal
- Zucchini with vegetable oil, turkey mousse, wheat bread, apple juice
- Plum, cookies, milk
- Milk
Tuesday
- Mother's milk
- Corn porridge
- Puree cauliflower with dill, beef, pumpkin juice
- Apricot, cracker
- Mother's milk
Wednesday
- Mother's milk
- Hercules
- Broccoli, rabbit, raspberry compote
- Pear from a jar, bagel
- Mother's milk
Thursday
- Mother's milk
- Rice porrige
- Carrot-apricot, rabbit half yolk, chamomile decoction
- Pumpkin-pear, cracker
- Mother's milk
Friday
- Mother's milk
- Oatmeal
- Pumpkin, veal, cranberry juice
- Apple, children's cookies
- Mother's milk
Saturday
- Mother's milk
- Rice porrige
- Pear juice, broccoli with green peas, chicken
- Peach, bagel
- Mother's milk
Sunday
- Mother's milk
- Buckwheat
- Cherry juice, half a yolk, rabbit, carrots and zucchini
- Cracker, apple, pear
- Mother's milk
Milk porridges for children under one year of age: types, recipes and cooking tips
By the age of one, the baby should have time to get acquainted with many dishes of the adult table, including porridge. It is recommended for your child to cook them for breakfast in order to charge the baby with energy for the whole day.
When preparing the diet of a baby who is already 1 year old, preference should be given to milk porridges made from various cereals: buckwheat, rice, corn, oatmeal, millet, wheat, semolina. When preparing them, you need to alternate them with each other, giving the baby a new dish every day.
Recipes for milk porridges for children under one year of age are offered in our article. Below we will figure out which of them is the healthiest and how to prepare them correctly.
When should you start feeding cereals?
Introducing a child to an adult table is a fairly lengthy and responsible process.
Complementary feeding for breastfed children usually begins at six months of age, and for formula-fed children - at 4.5 months.
First of all, the baby is introduced to vegetable purees, and if the child is underweight, to porridge. The main signs of readiness for complementary feeding are:
- the child sits confidently in the high chair;
- the baby's first teeth erupted;
- the baby does not get enough breast milk or formula;
- an interest in adult food appeared;
- he is able to lick liquid food from a spoon and swallow.
It is believed that the best porridges for first feeding are gluten-free (buckwheat, rice, corn). They are well absorbed by the body and do not cause allergic reactions in the baby. Your baby can cook milk and dairy-free porridges.
The second option is preferable for children suffering from lactase deficiency or infectious intestinal diseases. At the same time, healthy babies are more happy to eat milk porridge.
Over time, they can be served with various fruit or vegetable additives.
milk porridges for children under one year old
Each cereal has a unique composition and is beneficial in its own way for a growing body. But when introducing it into your baby’s diet, you should follow the recommendations of baby nutrition experts. It is important to take into account everything: in what order to give the porridge, in what volume and other nuances.
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The sequence of introducing cereal dishes into the diet is as follows:
- Buckwheat porridge. It has a balanced composition, including vitamins and minerals. Porridge is rich in complex carbohydrates and proteins necessary for gaining muscle mass. Buckwheat does not contain gluten, and a large amount of fiber helps to enhance intestinal motility.
- Rice porrige. This product is ideal for children with loose stools. The starchy-mucous texture of the porridge helps coat the intestinal walls and activate the enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract. It contains not only vitamins and minerals, but also amino acids.
- Corn. Like buckwheat and rice, corn milk porridge is ideal for children under one year old. This product can be introduced into the diet of babies from 7 months.
- Oatmeal. It contains gluten, which is contraindicated for children who are allergic to this protein. Oatmeal is rich in iodine, iron, and B vitamins. The substances contained in it help strengthen the musculoskeletal system. But this product can be introduced into the baby’s menu no earlier than 8 months.
- Wheat porridge. This product helps strengthen the child's immunity due to the high content of vitamins and other beneficial substances. Due to gluten, it is introduced into the diet closer to the year.
- Semolina. This childhood dish is no longer considered healthy today. Semolina contains a large amount of gluten. At the same time, children really like this porridge because it has a pleasant taste and delicate consistency.
What is better to cook yourself or buy?
According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, a special instant porridge is ideal for the first complementary feeding.
Baby food manufacturers usually offer a whole line of such products. The main advantage of instant porridge is that it does not need to be cooked for a long time.
In addition, it has a uniform consistency, is easy to swallow and is completely absorbed by the growing body.
At the same time, according to reviews, milk porridges for children under one year old from baby food manufacturers have one big drawback. It lies in the fact that after them, kids are reluctant to switch to cereals for an adult table, because they are used to eating homogenized food.
It is for this reason that most mothers prefer to cook porridge at home. At the same time, they can be confident in the naturalness of the product and that no problems will arise in the future with the transition to an adult diet.
Recommendations for preparing porridge for a child
The following tips will help you cook the perfect first meal:
- Measure out the required amount of cereal and grind in a coffee grinder. This will make the dish homogeneous and without lumps, which small children will definitely not approve of.
- Porridge for the first feeding is cooked from 5 g of cereal and 100 ml of water. Over time, the consistency of the dish becomes thicker (10 g of cereal per 100 ml of water).
- You should start complementary feeding with 1 teaspoon of porridge. Gradually the portion increases to 150 g per day. This is exactly the amount a six month old baby should eat. A serving for a one-year-old baby is 200 g.
- Complementary feeding begins with gluten-free cereals: rice or buckwheat. After the first introduction to a new food, the baby is offered breast milk or formula.
Buckwheat milk porridge for a 1 year old child
At the stage of getting acquainted with a new product, the cereal must first be ground in a coffee grinder. Buckwheat is used only with a high degree of purification, light and high quality. Pour a teaspoon of ground cereal into a saucepan and add 100 ml of hot water.
The porridge brought to a boil is cooked over low heat for 15 minutes with constant stirring. If desired, you can add formula or breast milk to the finished dish. This is how porridge is cooked for the first feeding. It must be gluten-free and dairy-free.
As soon as the child grows up a little, after 1-2 months he can be offered milk porridge. For children under one year old, it should be prepared from ground cereal. This makes it easy to digest and swallow.
A one-year-old baby can be offered porridge from unground cereals, but only if he already has a sufficient number of teeth for chewing:
- Sort out half a glass of buckwheat, rinse, pour into a saucepan with thick walls and add water (1-1.5 tbsp.).
- Bring to a boil and drain the liquid to remove the bitter taste.
- Pour the cereal again, but with milk in the same ratio, let it boil and cook over low heat under the lid for 25 minutes.
- Add a piece of butter to the milk porridge. Cool the dish to a temperature of 40° and offer it to the baby.
Rice milk porridge recipe
Children with normal stools are not recommended to consume the following dish more than once a week. This is explained by the fact that rice porridge can cause constipation in the baby. Otherwise, such a dish, if properly prepared, will bring exceptional benefits to the body.
You need to cook rice milk porridge for a 1 year old child as follows:
- Pour 200 ml of milk into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Rinse rice (1 tbsp) thoroughly and add to the pan with milk. For a child who has not yet turned 1 year old, the cereal must first be crushed.
- Cook the porridge over medium heat until tender for 25 minutes. It is worth noting that rice does not need constant stirring.
- Add ½ teaspoon of sugar, 5 g of butter and pieces of fruit or jam, if desired, to the finished porridge. Cool and feed the baby.
Baby corn porridge
The following dish is ideal for babies with gluten allergies. A 1-year-old child should undoubtedly like corn milk porridge, as it has a pleasant, sweetish taste. The only drawback of the dish is the long cooking time. Step by step, milk porridge is prepared in the following sequence:
- Grind the cereal in a coffee bean grinder until it becomes flour. This way it will cook faster. In total you will need 3 tablespoons of corn flour. For children over 1 year old, this preparation step can be skipped.
- Boil 200 ml of water in a saucepan and add the cereal. Cook the porridge for 20 minutes over low heat.
- Add 100 ml of milk and put the pan with porridge on the fire again. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover the dish with a lid and continue cooking the porridge for another 5 minutes.
- Remove the dish from the heat, let it sit for 15 minutes, then add the butter.
Recipe for oatmeal with milk
For a 1 year old child, milk porridge is prepared from unground flakes. They boil quite well in any form, as a result of which the dish acquires a pleasant consistency. To prepare porridge you need:
- Pour 200 ml of milk into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Add oatmeal (2 tbsp), while reducing heat.
- Cook the porridge for 7 minutes, remembering to stir.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, cover it with a lid and leave on the table for 10 minutes. Before serving, you can add butter and other additives to taste.
Semolina porridge for first feeding
For your child to like the next dish, it must be prepared without lumps. To do this, we recommend using the recipe below:
- Pour cold milk (¾ cup) and water (¼ cup) into a thick-bottomed saucepan.
- Sprinkle semolina (3 tsp) on top and leave to swell for 10 minutes.
- Stir and place on low heat.
- Add sugar to taste (no more than ¾ tsp).
- Stirring constantly, let the porridge boil, then cook for another 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add butter to taste.
It is not recommended to give semolina milk porridge to children under one year of age. But for older kids it will be very useful.
How is wheat porridge prepared?
Cooking a portion of porridge for a child will not be difficult:
- A glass of milk needs to be boiled on the stove.
- Add a tablespoon of cereal to it, while simultaneously reducing the heat to low.
- Cover the pan with a lid.
- Simmer the porridge over low heat for 40 minutes. At the end of cooking, remove the pan from the stove and let the dish sit for another 10 minutes.
It should be recalled that milk porridges for children under one year of age should be given about a month after being introduced to a dairy-free product. At 6 months, a child can try rice and buckwheat, at 7 months - corn, at 8 months - oatmeal, and then all other porridges can be introduced into the diet.
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Menu for an 8-month-old bottle-fed baby
A baby who is fed artificial formula is given similar foods on the menu three times a day. The approximate size of daily portions will be:
- porridge – 200 g;
- butter – 5 g;
- chicken yolk – ½ piece;
- vegetable broth – 170 g;
- vegetable oil – 5 g;
- portion of meat – 30 g;
- wheat bread - a piece;
- fruit juice – 50 ml;
- fruits – 70 g;
- cottage cheese – 30 g;
- cookies or crackers – 1 pc.;
- fermented milk drinks – 150 ml.
Approximate weekly children's menu for an eight-month-old artificial child: Monday
- Adapted mixture with the necessary components
- Zucchini, vegetable oil, chicken, wheat bread, apricot juice
- Zucchini with vegetable oil, turkey mousse, wheat bread, apple juice
- Apple, cottage cheese, baby cookies, kefir
- Formula milk
Tuesday
- Adapted mixture with the necessary components
- Buckwheat
- Pumpkin, turkey, plum juice
- Pear, cracker, yogurt
- Formula milk
Wednesday
- Adapted mixture with the necessary components
- Corn porridge
- Broccoli, veal, cranberry juice
- Bioyogurt, plum, bagel
- Formula milk
Thursday
- Adapted mixture with the necessary components
- Rice porridge, half yolk
- Zucchini with vegetable oil, turkey mousse, wheat bread, apple juice
- Baby kefir, apricot, cracker
- Formula milk
Friday
- Adapted mixture with the necessary components
- Hercules
- Green peas, dill, veal, cherry juice
- Yogurt, pear, baby cookies
- Formula milk
Saturday
- Adapted mixture with the necessary components
- Corn porridge
- Broccoli with dill, rabbit, apple juice
- Kefir, apple, bagel
- Formula milk
Sunday
- Adapted mixture with the necessary components
- Buckwheat
- Cauliflower, veal, dried fruit compote
- Bio-yogurt, peach, cookies
- Formula milk
Cream soup with chicken and vegetables
- Cooking time: half an hour.
- Purpose: for lunch.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
A child's menu at 8 months should be enriched with meat broth. It is recommended to make it not too rich and low-fat so that the baby’s stomach can digest it without consequences. For this dish, choose chicken fillet, add cauliflower and rice cereal. The result is a delicious hearty soup with a pleasant aroma. Give it 100-150 g at a time, diversify the finished soup with croutons.
Ingredients:
- chicken – 200 g;
- cauliflower – 100 g;
- carrots – ½ pcs.;
- onion – 1/3 pcs.;
- rice – 1 tbsp;
- dill – 2 sprigs;
- salt - a pinch.
Cooking method:
- Cut the meat into pieces, pour a liter of cold water.
- Boil, drain, add boiling water, add salt.
- Cook until done, remove and add rice. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Separate the cabbage into pieces and cut large parts. Chop the onions and carrots.
- Add vegetables to broth and cook for five minutes.
- Add meat and chopped dill.
- Grind with a blender.
Soup recipes for 8 months
An eight-month-old child is allowed to prepare the following types of soups.
Vermicelli soup
Should you bathe your newborn every day?
Chicken noodle soup is an excellent solution for an eight-month old baby. Vermicelli and lean chicken are easily digested by children's bodies, and the soup itself turns out tasty and nutritious.
To prepare the first dish you will need:
- chicken (or turkey);
- vermicelli;
- potato;
- carrot.
Cooking process:
- Cook chicken broth.
- Wash the carrots and potatoes thoroughly and cut them into small cubes.
- Add vegetables to broth without frying carrots.
- Cook for 10 minutes.
- Either remove the chicken from the broth or finely chop it.
Important! It is recommended to choose vermicelli for children's soup in the form of letters or figures. Such pasta attracts children's attention and increases their appetite.
Vegetable soup
Most often, feeding a child liquid food begins with vegetable soups. You can use any vegetables except white cabbage, which promotes gas formation. It can be replaced with broccoli or cauliflower. For example, you can prepare a light puree soup with potatoes, rice and cauliflower.
The ingredients you will need:
- water;
- cauliflower;
- rice;
- potato;
- butter.
The step-by-step cooking process will look like this:
- Rinse fresh vegetables thoroughly.
- Peel and finely chop the potatoes and cauliflower florets.
- Add butter (it speeds up the process of cooking potatoes).
- Cook for 10 minutes.
- Add rice.
- Cook for another eight minutes.
- Grind the soup to a puree using a blender.
Important! A multicooker can be used to prepare any soup.
Other
There are other soups, each of which is perfect for feeding a child who is not yet one year old. The most popular of these is a simple milk noodle soup.
To prepare this soup recipe for an 8 month old baby you will need:
- milk and water in equal parts;
- small web vermicelli;
- butter.
Cooking this liquid dish is as easy as shelling pears:
- Bring water to a boil.
- Add vermicelli to boiling water.
- Cook over low heat, stirring slightly, for 5 minutes.
- Add milk.
- Boil over low heat for another five minutes.
- Season with butter.
Another interesting recipe that is optimal for an 8-month-old baby is meatball soup. For it you will need:
- beef (or other lean meat);
- carrot;
- potato;
- egg;
- bulb.
Preparation proceeds as follows:
- Boil the meat until done.
- Remove meat from pan and cool.
- Drain the broth or reserve for preparing adult dishes.
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Add potatoes and carrots.
- Make meatballs (add an egg to the chopped boiled meat and roll into small balls).
- Add the meatballs to the soup when the vegetables are completely cooked.
- Bring the dish to a boil.
Important! Until your child is three years old, you should avoid preparing strong meat and fish broths. It is completely unacceptable to use bouillon cubes or canned ready-made broths.
Under no circumstances should children be given rich broth-based soups.
For such a first course as soup for an 8-month-old baby, recipes on the Internet provide many variations in preparation. Which one to choose, each mother will decide for herself. The most important thing is that within such a time period as a week, the diet includes vegetable soups several times and cereal or milk soups several times.
Porridge for babies
- Cooking time: 15 minutes.
- Purpose: for breakfast.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
Rice porridge with berries or fruits will be a tasty treat for an 8-month-old baby. Add your child’s favorite fruits to the prepared baby mixture so that he eats the dish with appetite. Porridge can be cooked without sugar, but if desired, you can add a little granulated sugar. Don't forget to beat the finished dish with a blender to get a homogeneous consistency.
Ingredients:
- milk – 100 ml;
- water – 100 ml;
- rice – 2 tbsp;
- berries – 30 g.
Cooking method:
- Mix milk with water, pour into a saucepan, and put on fire.
- Add the cereal, stir, bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cook for 10 minutes.
- Pour boiling water over the berries, add to the finished porridge, and blend with a blender.
- Cooking time: 20 minutes.
- Purpose: for lunch.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
Buckwheat porridge made with milk or water can be an option for a hearty lunch. If the baby is bottle-fed, cook the dish with cow's milk. When breastfeeding, it is better to use boiled water. Beat the finished porridge with a blender, mix with meat puree, vegetable or butter. You are allowed to serve it with a piece of white bread.
Ingredients:
- buckwheat – 3 tbsp;
- water - glass;
- butter – 1 g.
Cooking method:
- Pour the cereal into cold water.
- Cook over low heat for 15 minutes after boiling.
- Season with butter.
Benefits of the dish
If an infant, upon reaching 8-9 months, begins to eat liquid meals, such an innovation will not cause him the slightest harm. Moreover, introducing soup into the diet of an 8-month-old baby has a number of undoubted advantages:
- liquid meals are easy to digest;
- The gastric juice released when eating first courses allows you to better digest solid foods (second courses);
- soups (especially puree and milk soups) do not irritate the walls of the stomach and intestines;
- During the cooking process, vegetables retain a large amount of useful substances.
Important! If your child cooks vegetable soup for lunch, any porridge should be offered as a side dish for the second course. And, conversely, if you cook soup with cereals as the first course, it is recommended to serve vegetables as a side dish for the second course.
Any soups not only stimulate appetite, but also replenish fluid reserves in the body.
Carrot-apple puree
- Cooking time: 10 minutes.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
Carrot and applesauce will be a simple but delicious dessert. It is easy to prepare in the microwave or slow cooker. Apples go well with carrots, the dish acquires a sweet and sour taste and a light orange color. If desired, after readiness, the treat can be diluted with juice. It goes well with crackers, bagels or children's cookies.
Ingredients:
- apple – ¼ piece;
- carrots – 4 small pieces;
- water – 30 ml.
Cooking method:
- Peel the apple, remove seeds, and cut the fruit into pieces.
- Cut the carrots into thin strips and add to the apples.
- Fill the fruits with water and cover with a lid.
- Microwave for 2 minutes at maximum power.
- Cool, beat with a blender.
Steamed fish cutlets
- Cooking time: half an hour.
- Purpose: for lunch.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
A child's menu at 8 months should include fish. The best option for preparing a fish dish is steaming. This way, valuable proteins, vitamins and microminerals are preserved. To prepare cutlets, take lean fish, preferably fillets. If you take a carcass, carefully clean it of bones, even the smallest ones, so that they do not get into the child’s throat and cause injury.
Ingredients:
- pollock fillet – half a kilo;
- white bread – 60 g;
- milk – 70 ml;
- eggs – 1 pc.;
- butter – 2 tbsp.
Cooking method:
- Cut the fillet into small pieces and pass through a meat grinder twice.
- Soak the bread in milk, add to the minced meat with the egg.
- Stir the mixture, form into cutlets, and place on a greased grate.
- Steam for 20-25 minutes, serve with carrot puree.
Turkey meat mousse
- Cooking time: 1 hour.
- Purpose: for lunch.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
Pureeed turkey or rabbit meat will become your baby's favorite treat. The dish is distinguished by its delicate texture, pleasant taste, and great benefits. You can cook meat food in a slow cooker or double boiler. To ensure that the mousse is not dry, add a teaspoon of olive oil to it. This will help absorb vitamins from the meat. If you add pumpkin or carrots to the dish, the taste will be even more original.
Ingredients:
- turkey fillet – 100 g;
- water - half a glass.
Cooking method:
- Rinse the meat well, pour boiled water into the multicooker bowl.
- Place the piece on the steamer rack and set the “Steam” program.
- Cook for 40 minutes.
- Cut into pieces and puree with a blender for 7-10 minutes.
Zucchini and cauliflower puree with herbs
- Cooking time: 15 minutes.
- Purpose: for lunch.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
Vegetable puree made from zucchini and cauliflower has an original taste. The added dill gives it sophistication, which additionally relieves the baby from colic. It's easy to prepare a vegetable dish. The ingredients should be boiled or steamed until soft, and then blended with a blender and mixed with vegetable oil.
Ingredients:
- zucchini – 150 g;
- cauliflower – 150 g;
- dill - sprig.
Cooking method:
- Cut the zucchini into cubes and separate the cauliflower into florets.
- Steam or cover for five minutes.
- Beat with a mixer, add chopped herbs.
Homemade yogurt with peach puree
- Cooking time: 1.5 hours.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Difficulty of preparation: difficult.
The menu of a small child at 8 months includes the inclusion of homemade fermented milk drinks. They are prepared in a special yogurt maker, thermos or slow cooker. To prepare dishes you will need natural sourdough. You can mix the resulting yogurt with your favorite fruits or berries, preferably specially processed ones. Peach or apricot puree will give the drink a delicate taste.
Ingredients:
- pasteurized milk – 1 l;
- dry sourdough – a bag;
- peaches – 2 pcs.
Cooking method:
- Boil the milk over low heat for five minutes, cool to 40 degrees.
- Dilute the starter in a small amount of milk and add to the base.
- Sterilize the jars, cover the bottom of the multicooker bowl with a towel, fill with water so that it reaches the “hangers”.
- Pour the base into jars, set the “Warming” mode for 20 minutes.
- Turn off the multicooker and leave the yogurt covered for an hour.
- Meanwhile, make the puree: cut the peaches in half, remove the pits, and place cut side down in a steamer.
- Cook for 6 minutes, rub through a sieve.
- Mix yogurt with puree.
What soups to cook
Menu for a one-year-old child every day
If the child is fed artificially, soups are given as complementary foods as early as six months. Of course, liquid meals for infants should be different from those prepared for adults. To avoid mistakes, it is important to adhere to the following simple rules:
- In order for the nutrition to be as balanced as possible, the baby should be given a variety of soups, alternately preparing cereal, potato and vegetable or dairy liquid dishes.
- It is recommended to cook the soup over low heat to preserve the maximum amount of nutrients in its ingredients.
- Spices and herbs should be completely avoided. Even onions should be used with great caution and in small quantities at first.
- The amount of salt in the broth should be added minimally or completely abandoned.
- It is allowed to feed a child exclusively with freshly prepared soup, regardless of whether it is meat, vegetable or dairy.
- New foods for the baby should be introduced into the soup gradually.
Important! Under no circumstances should tap water be added to soup for an 8 month old baby. It often contains salts of heavy metals. Water for preparing children's meals should be carefully filtered or bottled.
Soups for the first feeding should resemble porridge
Regardless of whether the baby was fed artificially or breastfeeding, when introducing liquid food into the diet, you should start with the simplest vegetable puree soups of 2-3 ingredients. It is imperative to carefully monitor how the child’s body reacts to a new dish: if problems with stool or rashes appear, this is a signal to abandon innovations. If they are available, the baby has not yet grown up to soups, you should wait a little.