Your little one is 6 months old. This is a kind of turning point in the baby’s life, as many mothers stop exclusively breastfeeding and introduce complementary foods into the baby’s diet. For children who are bottle-fed or mixed-fed, this is an equally important issue: it’s time to diversify their menu by introducing new products.
When breastfeeding, the question “how much and what to give the baby?” is not so relevant, because with mother’s milk the child receives all the substances he needs for full development. When introducing new products - complementary foods - into the baby's menu, one should not forget that the child's main nutrition remains breast milk (adapted milk formula), and complementary foods are only an addition to his diet. And here you should know that complementary foods are introduced gradually, from half a teaspoon, carefully observing the possible reaction of the small organism to the introduction of a new product.
You should also know that it is advisable to offer a new product to your child in the morning feeding hours, in order to observe during the day whether rashes have appeared on the baby’s skin and to provide him with good, healthy sleep at night, avoiding unwanted reactions in the form of colic or diarrhea.
Baby feeding schedule at 6 months
Usually by this age, children already have a relatively clear feeding schedule, with slight deviations within 15-30 minutes. The main amount of feeding occurs during the daytime, but night feedings also do not lose their relevance - infants can be attached to the breast more often, artificial babies usually have one or two night feedings. Some children can sleep at night, practically without waking up for food, for up to six hours. It's quite normal.
If you want to create a feeding schedule for a 6-month-old child, it is worth remembering that complementary foods are introduced in the first half of the day, during morning feeding, so that you can track reactions to new foods throughout the day. They usually occur within 24 hours. Therefore, you should not introduce more than one new product in one day.
How much porridge per day should I give my child?
Each child should receive a sufficient amount of porridge and cereals per day, which is calculated using daily consumption rates depending on the baby’s weight. How exactly the required volume will be distributed throughout the day is up to the parents to decide. In this case, not only the lifestyle, but also the child’s appetite and preferences should be taken into account. At the same time, food must certainly remain varied.
The norms for porridge consumption for children are as follows:
- for children aged 6 months, 150 grams per day is enough. porridge;
- for children aged 8 months, the daily norm increases to 180;
- children aged 9-12 months should receive at least 200 g of porridge daily;
- children over one year old should receive 200-300 g of porridge.
As the child grows, the amount of porridge he needs will gradually increase.
Children over one year of age can be offered porridge either once a day or twice. At the same time, do not forget about the recommended quantities of this product.
Do not forget that the presence of a sufficient amount of cereals in a child’s diet contributes to a greater intake of carbohydrates into the body, which can sometimes have a pro-allergenic effect and contribute to the formation of excess weight in a child.
How much should a 6 month old baby eat?
On average, the volume of food for a six-month-old child is about 1000 ml, and this volume of food must be divided by the number of meals. At the same time, such calculations need to be carried out only for artificial ones. For infants who eat according to their appetite, there is no need to carry out any special nutrition calculations. They still won't eat more than they need. When suckling at the breast, the baby receives different amounts of nutrition at different times, adjusting the amount of milk sucked at will. For artificially fed animals, such calculations are simply necessary in order to eliminate overfeeding and excess stress on digestion. Excess nutrition leads to increased weight gain, obesity and metabolic disorders. And the nutritional amounts indicated on jars of formula are calculated for average children and are often greatly overestimated.
The baby is growing, and every month his body’s need for nutrients increases. What should be the proper nutrition for a 6 month old baby?
The importance of breastfeeding
Human milk is an ideal food product for children in the first year of life. Its main advantages:
- milk contains all useful substances in the required quantities;
- nutrients are almost completely absorbed by the body;
- biologically active substances obtained through natural feeding protect the baby’s gastrointestinal tract from the influence of pathogens;
- optimal temperature for feeding.
Natural nutrition has a direct impact on the development and growth of children, the formation of intellectual potential, and the learning ability of children in the future. Due to constant close contact with the mother during feeding, the baby’s correct behavioral and mental reactions are formed.
Types of complementary foods. What to choose?
Currently, two methods of introducing complementary foods are popular:
Pediatric
It comes in two types:
- Developed in accordance with WHO (World Health Organization) recommendations. Today it is the most popular and most rational from the point of view of children's physiology. Recommended from 6 months.
- Developed taking into account the recommendations of the Ministry of Health. It is similar to the method proposed by WHO, however, the timing is shifted: from 6 months it is administered to breastfed babies, and to artificially fed babies - from 4 months.
Pedagogical complementary feeding
It is popular due to its ease: there is no need to cook specifically for the child, since the baby receives food from the adult menu in microdoses. However, this method can only take place with natural feeding. It should also be borne in mind that the parent's table should consist exclusively of healthy food. If mom and dad only eat fried potatoes and like spicy and salty foods such as canned cucumbers and smoked fish, pedagogical complementary feeding is impossible.
Maria, mother of 9-month-old Alina: “I heard enough about how good pedagogical complementary feeding is, and decided to feed it that way myself. She gave me a match head of meat and potatoes. But the breast milk was too thin, and the baby did not gain any weight in a month! This complementary food did not suit us, we had to catch up with our peers on porridge.”
It is worth considering that the ideal formula for introducing complementary foods has not yet been identified. However, according to WHO, pediatric complementary feeding is considered the most rational: it takes physiological factors into account to a greater extent.
Complementary feeding is not a replacement for breastfeeding, but an addition to it. Its goal is not to “feed,” but to gradually introduce the baby’s gastrointestinal tract to the food that he will eat in the future.
Why is complementary feeding needed?
Natural feeding has undoubted advantages, but the child grows, his development progresses, and his needs change. The World Health Organization recommends complementary feeding at 6 months of age. Complementary feeding means the gradual introduction of other products into the baby’s diet: purees, juices, compotes, cereals, etc. Why is it necessary to change your diet? This is due to several factors:
- the baby lacks the energy obtained through natural feeding;
- some substances necessary for a child at a certain stage of development are not included in human milk, for example, vitamin K;
- it is necessary to develop the digestive system, train the chewing apparatus, the development of intestinal motility of the baby must continue;
- You can expand the qualitative composition of nutrients in a baby’s diet due to those contained in cereals, compotes, and purees.
Physiologically, already at three to four months, the baby’s intestines have sufficient immunity to the effects of new foods, and the maturation of the ability to swallow semi-liquid and solid foods is completed. But it is impossible to give purees and compotes too early, since complementary feeding will displace breast milk. At the same time, it is also undesirable to introduce new types of food later, since difficulties often arise in getting used to denser foods.
I recommend making the final decision about starting complementary feeding after consultation with your pediatrician, based on the individual developmental characteristics of the baby.
How to feed correctly?
6 months is the period when the baby is already 24 weeks old. Some mothers mistakenly believe that the beginning of the sixth month is the time to introduce complementary foods. But in fact, by this time the baby is still only 20 weeks old, and this is too early to switch to adult food.
What you need to know:
- You need to spoon feed before giving milk (breast or artificial). Food must be warm.
- When starting complementary feeding, you should introduce no more than half a spoonful of the new product in the first days, gradually, over 10 days, increasing the volume to the required norm. Subsequent introduction of other products can be reduced to 5-7 days. This interval between doses is necessary so that you can monitor the child’s body’s reaction to a new product. You need to monitor not only skin rashes, but also your baby’s stool.
- Monocomponent products should be introduced into the child’s diet first.
- It is better to give the product for the first time before lunch. What is important here is not so much the diet as the child’s reaction to new food. The same new type of complementary food is not given twice a day.
- If the baby is sick or has vaccinations coming up, then the day of introducing complementary foods should be postponed. The same rule applies to each product introduced for the first time.
You need to start introducing complementary foods with vegetable purees or cereals. Among vegetables, zucchini, cabbage and potatoes are best suited as the least allergenic foods. It is better to introduce fruit puree later, because after tasting the sweets, children may then refuse vegetables and cereals.
If your baby is prone to constipation, has irregular bowel movements, and is overweight, then preference should be given to vegetable purees. You can choose either food from jars or home-cooked food.
If a baby is diagnosed with underweight or a risk of developing anemia, then the first complementary food should be porridge. If your baby is prone to allergies, it is better to start with dairy-free and gluten-free cereals (rice, buckwheat, corn).
Irina, mother of Seryozha, 1.5 years old: “Seryozha was born premature, he did not gain weight well, even though he was fed breast milk. From the age of 5 months they started introducing porridge, as the pediatrician advised. But problems with stool appeared: constipation. I had to switch to vegetables, and porridge was postponed until 9 months.”
Meat is an important product in the children's diet, which should be introduced approximately 8-9 weeks after vegetables. With a standard complementary feeding schedule from 6 months, meat can be introduced into the diet at 8-8.5 months. If the baby has been receiving complementary foods since 4 months, then you can try meat by the middle of the 6th month. You should start with rabbit and turkey.
Soups can be introduced into a child’s diet only after he has become familiar with the individual ingredients of this dish. It is best if they contain only vegetables, and if meat is present, then you should choose dietary meat: rabbit, turkey. Fish should be included in a child’s menu only after a year: the risk of allergies is too great.
Table - scheme for introducing complementary feeding to a child up to one year old
| Name of products and dishes | Age (months) | ||||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9-12 | |
| Fruit juice, ml. | 5-30 | 40-50 | 50-60 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90-100 |
| Fruit purees, ml (at least 2 weeks after juice) | 5-30 | 40-50 | 50-60 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90-100 |
| Cottage cheese, g | 10-30 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 50 | ||
| Egg yolk, pcs. | 0,25 | 0,5 | 0,5 | 0,5 | |||
| Vegetable purees, g | 5-100 | 150 | 150 | 170 | 180 | 200 | |
| Kashi, g | 50-100 | 150 | 150 | 180 | 200 | ||
| Meat purees, g | 5-30 | 50 | 60-70 | ||||
| Kefir and other fermented milk products, ml. | 100 | 200 | |||||
| Fish puree, g | 30-60 | ||||||
| Bread (wheat), g | 3-5 | 5 | 5 | 10-15 | |||
| Cookies, crackers, g | 3-5 | 5 | 5 | 10-15 | |||
| Vegetable oil, g | 1-3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | |
| Butter, g | 1-4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
Recipes for healthy baby dishes
It is important to introduce complementary foods correctly.
Whether or not a child likes a new product depends on how it is prepared. Food should be tasty and healthy. You can buy purees in the store, but not all baby food is of high quality. Recipes for feeding six-month-old artificial babies:
- meat puree. Boil the meat until done. Pass it through a meat grinder twice or grind it using a blender. Dilute with vegetable broth and place on the stove. Bring the puree to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool. Add 1-2 drops of vegetable oil;
- vegetable soup . Boil cauliflower and zucchini. Grind the ingredients to a puree consistency. Add the liquid in which the vegetables were cooked. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil;
- rice soup with broccoli, zucchini . Boil all ingredients separately. Rinse the rice and pour in the broth with vegetables. Place on the stove. After the mixture boils, turn off the heat. Grind rice with vegetables. Add a little vegetable oil.
Type of primary feeding and complementary feeding
Depending on what type of feeding the baby is on, the schedule for introducing complementary foods may differ slightly.
For bottle-fed children, pediatricians recommend partially free feeding. With this method, certain hours are added to the daily routine for feeding the baby. The nutrition of a 6-month-old breastfed baby differs from the menu of bottle-fed babies in that complementary foods are introduced later. There is no need to start it with cereal porridges if the mother eats well and the child does not lag behind in physical indicators.
However, today not all pediatricians share a similar point of view: “This misconception about the earlier introduction of complementary foods to artificial children dates back to the old days, when formulas consisted of diluted cow’s milk,” says Dr. Komarovsky. – Today, the composition of infant formula is as close as possible to breast milk. Therefore, when starting complementary feeding, the type of primary feeding of the child is not particularly important.”
With the beginning of the introduction of complementary feeding, the children's daily routine changes: meals become 5 times a day.
If a child stubbornly refuses to accept a new dish, you should not immediately switch to another product. You can offer him this product up to ten more times. After all, it is very important to form the baby’s taste habits now. In the future, this will greatly facilitate his stay in kindergarten or school: there, as a rule, the menu includes “tasteless” but healthy foods.
How to cook porridge for a child
Which option for preparing porridge for a child will be the most correct? After all, you can cook it in water, milk, meat or vegetable broth. Of course, in this matter you need to take into account the child’s personal preferences. At the same time, during the first year of life, it is not recommended to cook porridge with whole cow’s milk for your baby due to the increasing level of allergic reactions.
It is for this reason that for children under the age of one year, it is better to use ready-made brewed porridges, which are selected depending on age. You can buy them in any baby food department. To breed them, not only mother’s milk can be used, but also clean water, preferably for baby food, and you can also use formula.
As soon as the child is over a year old, he can be offered the most ordinary porridges, prepared in the same way as for adults. Once the porridge is ready, you can add milk or a little butter. But in cases where allergic dermatitis occurs in infants, the child should wait to use whole cow's milk to prepare porridge - it should be introduced into the children's diet as late as possible.
Table of feeding regime and menu for a child at 6 months: menu (approximate)
The table contains an approximate feeding schedule, calculated that the daily nutrition of a 6-month-old bottle-fed baby includes complementary foods introduced from 4 months:
| Feeding time | Products | Food volume |
| feeding 1st (morning, 6:00 a.m.) | milk mixture 180 - 200 ml | 180-200 ml |
| 2nd feeding (morning, 10:00 a.m.) | rice or buckwheat porridge (milk) fruit puree (industrial or homemade) | 120-150 g, 60 g |
| feeding 3rd (morning, 14:00) | pureed vegetables grated egg yolk with milk (egg is given a maximum of 3 times a week!) juice (preferably homemade fruit or vegetable) | about 150 g 1/4 about 30 ml |
| feeding 4th (morning, 18:00) | milk formula, baby cottage cheese (maximum 3 times a week), cookies (can be dissolved in milk) | 150 ml 40 g 3 g |
| feeding 5th (morning, 22:00) | mixture (milk or fermented milk) | up to 200 ml |
If the child is fed breast milk, then in the morning the second feeding includes porridge without milk, and the third - puree (vegetable or fruit) plus additional feeding with milk; the rest of the meals are made up of breast milk.
The nutrition of a 6-month-old child on mixed feeding is close to the diet of an infant; only daily intakes of mother's milk are replaced, if necessary, with infant formula.
Individual characteristics of the first complementary feeding
The complementary feeding schedule for each infant should be drawn up individually, based on physical condition and hereditary factors. Children with low body weight need food enriched with vitamins, iron and mineral salts. For them, the best complementary foods will be ready-made industrially produced gluten-free porridges (baby food).
In case of individual hypersensitivity to cow's milk protein, ready-made cereals must be selected carefully, since many of them are cooked using a dry mixture. Such children begin to experience a lack of protein earlier than others, which is why it is recommended that they be given puree from twice-cooked meat as early as the fifth month.
A child's meat menu at 6 months should consist of lean pork, poultry (turkey, chicken), rabbit and horse meat, since beef and veal contain proteins similar to those in cow's milk. As for ordinary porridges prepared with soy or water, the healthiest cereals for your baby will be corn, buckwheat, barley and rice.
Children with signs of anemia, food allergies and rickets should be given vegetable purees to eat. Their preparation involves some rules.
- To avoid allergic reactions, you should eat only green and white vegetables: cabbage, peas, asparagus, zucchini and potatoes.
- In summer it is best to use fresh products, and in winter - frozen. As a last resort, canned vegetables that have appropriate quality certificates are allowed.
- The maximum proportion of potatoes in vegetable puree is 20%, since this root vegetable has high allergenic properties.
- When adding vegetable oil to puree, you need to take a deodorized and refined product.
Recipes for a six-month-old baby
Cooking your baby's own food gives parents confidence that the baby is receiving quality nutrition. A double boiler, a slow cooker and a blender will be good helpers in this matter.
It is important to remember that the child must be familiar with each component of the dish if it consists of several ingredients.
This applies even to such “simple” products as milk, olive oil, etc.
Vegetables:
1. Cauliflower in a slow cooker
Place washed cabbage (100 grams) on the multicooker rack. Steam for 15 minutes. Next, grind the product in a blender and cool.
2.Pumpkin puree
Cut the pumpkin pulp (the volume depends on how much the baby eats) into cubes and place on the steamer rack. Cook in steam mode for 20 minutes, grind with a blender.
3.Carrot puree
Peel the carrots, cut into slices and place in a double boiler for 20 minutes (you can simply boil them in a saucepan), cook until the fibers are completely softened. Next, chop the carrots in a blender.
4.Carrot puree with added milk
One large carrot; milk – 4 tbsp. spoons; a few drops of oil (the best option is olive oil).
Grind the boiled carrots in a blender, add hot milk. Boil for a couple of minutes over low heat, add oil.
5.Mashed potatoes
Soak peeled potatoes in water to remove starch (12-24 hours). Rub the boiled potatoes through a sieve, add milk to the desired consistency, and boil for a couple of minutes.
6.Assorted vegetables (zucchini, carrots, potatoes)
100 g zucchini pulp, half a medium carrot, 1 potato, 1 teaspoon olive oil, half a glass of water.
Cut the peeled vegetables into cubes and place in a steamer bowl. Cook for 20 minutes. Place them in a blender bowl, add boiled water and oil, and grind.
Fruits:
1.Applesauce
Scald an apple (sweet and sour, sour, green) with boiling water and remove the peel. Cut into pieces, remove seeds. Grate or grind in a blender. The puree should be prepared immediately before eating, otherwise it will darken.
2.Stewed apple puree
Grate the washed and peeled apple and, adding a couple of tablespoons of water, simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
3.Apple-carrot puree
Peel the apples and carrots (one each), and grind in a blender. Add a spoonful of water and boil for a minute or two.
4.Prune puree
Pour boiling water over the prunes and leave with the lid closed for three to four hours. Rub the steamed prunes through a fine-grained sieve, add a spoonful of the water in which they were infused, and boil for a minute.
5.Dried apricot puree
Wash good clean dried apricots and soak in boiling water for several hours. Boil in the same water for 7-10 minutes. Drain the water and rub the dried fruits through a fine-mesh sieve or grind in a blender.
Porridge
1.Dairy-free rice porridge
Grind the rice in a coffee grinder. Add rice flour to boiling water (3 tablespoons per glass of water). Stirring continuously, cook for 10 minutes.
2.Corn porridge (dairy-free)
Corn grits - 3 tablespoons; glass of water.
Pour the cereal into boiling water and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and cook until the cereal is completely softened (up to 30 minutes). Grind the finished porridge to a puree consistency in a blender, pour into an enamel bowl and let it boil.
3.Milk porridge (buckwheat, rice or oatmeal)
Rinse the cereal until clear water and place in a saucepan, pouring water 2 fingers above the cereal. Cook over low heat until done. Grind the porridge through a fine-mesh sieve or grind in a blender. Pour hot milk to the desired consistency and boil for a few minutes, you can add a little butter.
Meat
1.Carrot and meat puree
100 g turkey (rabbit, chicken); 1 carrot, 80 g milk.
Cut the meat into cubes and boil until cooked. Separately cook the carrots. Grind the products with a blender, transfer to a saucepan, pour in milk. Bring to a boil over low heat, cool.
2.Meat with rice
Boil the meat and rice (in water) separately. Grind the meat in a meat grinder, mix with rice and puree the mixture with a blender. Place the mixture in a saucepan, add milk and bring to a boil, cool.
Soups
1.Fruit and vegetable soup (in a slow cooker)
2 apples, 1 carrot, water - one and a half glasses.
Cut the carrots into slices, the apple into slices. Place in a slow cooker, add water. Cook in the “stew” mode for about 30 minutes. Grind the cooled soup with a blender.
2.Pumpkin puree soup
A small piece of pumpkin (about 100 g), carrots (1 piece), quail egg yolk, milk 150 ml, salt (small pinch), butter (1 piece by 1 cm).
Cut the pumpkin and carrots into pieces and boil until fully cooked. Grind with a blender, pour in milk, add butter. Boil.
Juices
1.Apple
Peel the juicy apple and grate it on a medium grater (it is better to use a plastic grater to prevent oxidation). Squeeze through cheesecloth. Can be diluted with boiled water.
2.Pumpkin juice with apple
Cut the pumpkin pulp into slices, and the apple without peel and seeds into slices. Prepare juice in a juicer. You can grate and squeeze through cheesecloth (a more labor-intensive process).
Rules for preparing food for the first feeding
You don’t even have to remind young parents that all products for babies should be of good quality and fresh. But there are several simple truths about how to prepare food for the first complementary foods, if introduced in the traditional way.
Firstly, it is important to monitor the consistency of the dishes -
food should not contain lumps, vegetable purees or porridges should be quite liquid, almost like liquid sour cream; for this, the products are crushed in a blender or a sieve is used.
If the effect cannot be achieved with this treatment, you can dilute the pulp with vegetable broth or breast milk. Secondly, to improve the taste, you can add the same mother’s milk or a little vegetable oil to your food.
Of course, kids should not eat fried food; vegetables should be boiled or cooked in a double boiler. It is believed that when heat treated with steam, more nutrients are retained in vegetables, and if the mother decides to cook the vegetables, then they must be placed in boiling water. You need to cut the vegetables into not too small pieces and cook for a short time. On average, zucchini and potatoes are cooked for 10 to 20 minutes.
What foods can you already eat?
Six months is the right time for the first feeding of a baby who was previously exclusively breastfed. The toddler’s gastrointestinal tract is already ready to taste vegetables, cereals and fruits.
Parents should decide together with their pediatrician which product to introduce first. Babies who are gaining weight poorly are recommended to start with cereals, and well-fed babies with frequent constipation should start complementary feeding with vegetable dishes. Check out the table for introducing complementary foods when breastfeeding.
Calculate your complementary feeding table
Please note the following:
- Vegetables are given in the form of puree from one type of vegetable, offering the baby 5 grams for the first time. Next, the portion is carefully increased to the age-appropriate dosage - 100 grams per day. When the baby has become accustomed to one vegetable, they begin to offer him a second type of vegetable, again starting with 5 grams.
- Porridge at 6 months of age is prepared without milk, but can be diluted with human milk or formula. The first portion of porridge will be 10 grams, after which the total amount of porridge eaten per day is increased to 150 grams.
- Babies who are accustomed to vegetables and cereals begin to offer fruits. They are also given in the form of a one-component puree - first 5 grams for the first sample, and then every day more up to a daily dose of 30 grams.
There are also many supporters of using fermented milk products for first complementary feeding. Among them is the famous pediatrician Komarovsky. A popular doctor recommends starting to give kefir to a healthy 6-month-old baby. The product is offered during the second feeding, gradually increasing the portion to 160 ml. From the fifth day of introducing kefir into the baby’s diet, Komarovsky advises starting to add cottage cheese to it. Its daily portion for a 6-month-old baby is 30 g. Read more about introducing complementary foods according to Komarovsky in another article.
In situations where the mother does not have enough breast milk or is not able to feed the baby with an adapted formula, introduction to vegetables and cereals is postponed to an earlier date - 4-5 months (we recommend following our table for introducing complementary foods when artificial feeding). Artificial babies also begin complementary feeding at an earlier age. By the age of 6 months, such children have already tried fruit purees and cereals (dairy-free), as well as vegetable purees with vegetable oil. At 6 months of age, they only increase the portions of these dishes and begin to add butter.
Different preparations of porridge for a child
We should also talk about cooking porridge with decoctions and vegetable broths. Previously, all children who suffer from lactose allergies were recommended to prepare just such porridges. But now pediatricians do not recommend getting carried away with porridges made with vegetable broths due to the fact that vegetables are not of very high quality in environmental terms.
Such a simple product as porridge with vegetables is a tasty and complete dish for a child’s diet. At the same time, children love this porridge, but they often begin to protest against vegetables in their pure form. Thus, one of the favorite children's dishes is buckwheat porridge with the addition of zucchini puree or rice porridge with the addition of pumpkin. But how to distribute such a variety of porridge dishes evenly throughout the day? It is best to offer your child regular milk porridge for breakfast. For lunch, you can serve your little gourmet vegetables with lean meat, and for dinner - porridge again, but with vegetables.
Don't overdo it with adding oil to the porridge. Traditionally, butter is added to porridge, and vegetable oil is added to various vegetable dishes. Do not forget about the widest range of modern vegetable oils, which allows you to alternate between different varieties - corn, sunflower, olive, mustard and others.
So what should you add to traditional porridge to make it sweet and tasty? If instant cereals, which do not require the addition of salt or sugar, are increasingly suitable for the first complementary feeding, then later it can be diversified. You should not accustom your baby to sugar from an early age, because, for example, dried fruits can give the porridge a sweet taste, which will also make the dish more healthy. You can also add grated fresh fruits and even berries to the porridge.
The best time to introduce babies to this substance is at six months of age. This is the time when the gastrointestinal tract has already become a little stronger, and now, in addition to breast milk, it can digest a much larger amount of various foods.
But, it should be remembered that you can start giving the product only if the child has already become thoroughly familiar with and accustomed to vegetable purees. There are exceptions when pediatricians advise starting the first complementary foods with cereals. Such measures are resorted to if children have problems with being underweight, regurgitating too often or with stool (too loose). Things are completely different with babies who are bottle-fed. For them, familiarization with the product begins at the age of 4-5 months. Porridges can be gluten-free or those that do not contain gluten in their structure. This element, in fact, is a protein of plant origin (another name is gluten). This protein is quite difficult for a 6 month old baby to digest. When it enters the stomach, it causes bloating, gas, colic and pain.
Sometimes a very rare genetic disease such as celiac disease occurs. If it is diagnosed in a child, all products containing gluten are completely excluded from his diet. Parents are required to feed according to the special diet prescribed by the doctor.
Gluten is found in products in this category such as:
- Wheat;
- Prosyanaya;
- Barley;
- Rye;
- Oatmeal.
The best are corn, buckwheat and rice porridge. They are gluten-free and contain a whole range of vitamins necessary for full development. It is worth noting that for each child, complementary feeding begins with a different porridge, it depends on the individual needs of the body. If rice groats are good for one baby, then for another, buckwheat will be better, especially if the latter’s stool is too thin.
Rules for introducing complementary foods
- You should start with one product, and each subsequent new product can be introduced only after habituation (lasts on average 3-5 days) and the absence of allergic reactions.
- You cannot give two foods at the same time that the child is not familiar with before, because if a reaction occurs, you will not be able to understand which product provoked it.
- The volume of product for the first sample is half a teaspoon.
- The new product should be washed down with breast milk or formula.
- It is worth giving a new dish in the morning feeding, then by the end of the day it will become noticeable whether the child tolerates it normally.
- It is recommended to keep a diary in which to note all the foods eaten by the baby.
- Introducing new food should be postponed if the baby is sick, as well as during vaccination (three days before vaccination and several days after it).
- If your baby refuses to try a new dish, don’t insist.
- In a situation where a product has caused an allergy or other negative reaction, new dishes are not given until the painful manifestations disappear.
“Capricious” complementary foods
Not all children are willing to try new foods, so any dish should be tasty. To make your acquaintance successful, you should use these secrets:
- the best time for a new product is noon if the baby goes to bed at 20-21 o'clock; if he is awake until 22–23 o’clock, then you can feed him at 16–18 o’clock;
- You can give your child only fresh food;
- You should always taste porridge and puree for salt;
- during cooking, it is important to interest the child by letting him suck on fresh, washed carrots or other product;
- beautiful children's dishes will be an interesting visual reinforcement of food innovation.
Interestingly, most children hereditarily copy the tastes of their parents. If mom and dad love pickles and meat, then it is better to add meat broth or butter with a pinch of salt to the porridge. If parents have a sweet tooth, then the best choice would be sugar syrup and delicious juices.
Sample menu
For a child who was exclusively breastfed until 6 months, at 6 months after the introduction of new products, the menu will look like this:
For a baby whose mother, due to a lack of milk, began feeding from 4-5 months, the daily menu will be as follows:
For a formula-fed baby, the diet at 6 months is as follows:
- Any new product should be given before feeding.
- A 6-month-old baby should use a sieve, mixer or blender to prepare food, as it is important to achieve a uniform structure. A very thick dish is diluted with milk (mother’s milk or formula), vegetable broth or boiled water.
How much should a child eat? How to determine if a child is eating enough? As soon as the baby is born, the mother begins to worry about these questions.
In order to determine whether the child is eating normally, not enough or excessively, the mother needs to know approximately how often the child should eat and how much the child should eat at one feeding.
How much should a baby eat at one feeding?
The volume of one feeding for a newborn up to the 10th day of life is calculated by the formula: 10*n, where n is the day of life from birth (daily volume - 70*n), the frequency of feeding is at least 7-8 times a day.
For a child over 10 days of life, the approximate one-time and daily amount of food can be seen in the table
| Age | Approximate volume of one feeding, ml | Daily food volume, ml | The frequency of feedings is not less than |
| 10 days — 1 month | 100 | 700 | 7 |
| 1 - 2 months | 100-120 | 700-800 | 6-7 |
| 2 - 3 months | 120-150 | 700-800 | 6-7 |
| 3 - 4 months | 140-180 | 700-900 | 6-7 |
| 5 - 6 months | 180-200 | 800-1000 | 5-6 |
| 7 – 12 months | 200-250 | 1000-1200 | 5-6 |
| 1 - 1.5 years | 250-300 breakfast, afternoon snack, dinner and 400-500 - lunch | 1200-1500 | 4-5 |
| 1.5 - 3 years | 500-600 - lunch 300-400 - all other meals | 1500-1800 | 4-5 |
| 35 years | 650-750 — lunch, 400-500 AMD. | 1800-2200 | 4-5 |
| 5 – 7 years | 700-850 - lunch, 500-600 - other. | 2200-2500 | 4-5 |
| 7 – 10 years | 800-900 - lunch, 500-650 - other. | 2500-2700 | 4 |
| 10 – 14 years | 900-1000 - lunch, 700-800 dr. | 2700-3200 | 4 |
| 15 - 18 years old | 1000-1200 - lunch, 800-900 - other | 3200-4000 | 4 |
Explanations for the table
The table shows approximate nutritional amounts for healthy children with a body weight appropriate for their age.
The most important column in the table is the daily amount of food, i.e. How much should a child eat per day?
Now free feeding is very popular from the first days of life: feeding on demand as often as the child asks.
In the first month of life, this can be useful in case of hypogalactia in the mother - frequent breastfeeding stimulates lactation, and there is more milk. But if the mother has a lot of milk or artificial feeding, frequent and erratic feeding can lead to overfeeding, regurgitation, intestinal colic, and diarrhea.
The approximate amount of food for a child is especially relevant for artificial babies. You need to focus primarily on the daily volume. It should not exceed the figures given in the table. The frequency of feedings should be no less than indicated in the table.
Many mothers are interested in whether it is possible to feed their baby more often. Can. But within reasonable limits.
- The minimum interval between feedings should not be less than 2 hours (during this time the milk is completely evacuated from the stomach to the intestines).
- If the number of feedings is greater than recommended in the table, then the volume of one feeding should be less so that the daily amount of nutrition corresponds to the age of the child.
- The daily volume of formula for a child of the first year of life should not exceed 1 liter.
If you feed a child 10-12 times a day with the same volume as is recommended for one feeding on the package of formula, a month-old baby will receive more than 1 liter per day, this will lead to colic, diarrhea, regurgitation, skin rashes, the child may gain weight normally or even less than normal due to regurgitation and diarrhea, and the mother will think that the formula is not suitable for the child, she will change the formula, treat the child, etc. But you just need to reduce the daily amount of food.
Organizing a proper diet
A properly selected diet is the key to good health. Avoid too short or long breaks between meals.
In the first case, this can lead to obesity, increased load on the liver, pancreas, intestines, stomach, in the second - to the occurrence of gastritis, developmental and growth retardation. Six-month-old artificial babies should eat five times a day. The optimal interval between meals during the day is 4 hours.
The night feeding break is 8 hours. In the first half of the day, food should be more nutritious and satisfying. Many pediatricians recommend starting the first feeding with an adapted milk formula. During the day it is allowed to give complementary foods. An approximate diet for a six-month-old artificial baby by the hour is shown in the table below.
| Feeding time | Type of feeding | What should you give your baby? |
| 6:00-7:00 | breakfast | adapted mixture |
| 10:00-11:00 | afternoon tea | mixture and complementary foods |
| 14:00-15:00 | dinner | complementary foods and mixture |
| 18:00-19:00 | dinner | mixture |
| 22:00 | snack before bed | adapted milk formula |
How to tell if your breastfed baby is eating enough
It would seem that there is nothing simpler: put the baby on the breast as he asks, let him eat as much as he wants - and that’s all. In fact, it's not that simple.
Breastfeeding has its challenges and challenges.
- Some children love to breastfeed
, and if the mother puts the baby to the breast every time, as soon as the baby cries and there is enough milk in the breast, then overfeeding results: the baby eats often and erratically, the milk does not have time to evacuate from the stomach to the intestines, this leads to constant fullness of the stomach, its stretching, the child begins to spit up, intestinal colic and diarrhea appear, the child screams and worries even more, and the mother again soothes him with her breasts. - Sometimes the mother has little milk, the baby is hungry, but he does not have the strength to cry and ask for the breast
. He sleeps a lot and sucks rarely and little, which causes even less milk, and mothers do not always immediately notice that the child is not gaining weight. As a result, if you do not start supplementing your child with formula in a timely manner, some children develop malnutrition. - The mother has little milk
, the baby cries all the time and demands the breast, the mother constantly feeds the baby all the time. The baby gets used to sucking continuously and begins to roar as soon as they try to tear him away from the breast. Mom hopes that as a result of such frequent sucking, lactation will improve, but since she does not have the opportunity to eat calmly, drink a lot, or have a good rest, she is so exhausted that not only does the milk not increase, on the contrary, it may disappear completely. In such a situation, additional feeding is required.
As follows from the above, when breastfeeding, both overfeeding and underfeeding are possible.
.
Mothers are usually especially worried if they assume that there is little milk and the baby is not getting enough.
Whether a baby has enough breast milk can be determined by the following signs:
- According to the child’s condition, if he does not eat enough, he is lethargic, sleeps almost all the time or, on the contrary, constantly screams and demands food.
- By the appearance of the child. After a few days, it becomes noticeable whether the child is gaining weight or not. But it is easier to judge this by a doctor who will examine your child at intervals of 1 week.
- By the number of urinations. A healthy newborn urinates 15-20 times a day. If the baby is wearing a diaper, the number of urinations is more difficult to determine, but a newborn’s diaper should not remain dry from one feeding to the next.
- By the quality of the chair. If a child is malnourished, he may have constipation or rare, 1-2 times a day, scanty stool.
- The most reliable method is weighing. You need electronic scales with an accuracy of 5 g. It makes no sense to weigh the baby after each feeding, the results will be different each time and the mother will only be more nervous because of this. You need to weigh your baby every morning at the same time, in the same diaper, before feeding. If there is enough milk, the child begins to gain weight by 20-30 g daily starting from the 5-7th day of life. If within 2-3 days the child does not gain or loses weight, the mother has little milk. And you need to think about introducing supplementary feeding.
- The last option is to feed your baby breast milk expressed in a bottle. Then we know exactly how much the child ate.
The maximum daily volume of breast milk or formula in a child’s diet is 1 liter is reached by 6 months, then complementary foods are introduced to the child and the daily volume of food continues to increase, but the daily volume of breast milk or formula begins to decrease. If complementary foods are introduced earlier, the amount of milk or formula in the diet can be reduced earlier - this can be useful if a lack of milk begins to appear at 4-5 months.
With the beginning of the introduction of complementary feeding, mothers begin to worry about how many and what foods can be given to the child at different ages. You can see the approximate amount of complementary feeding products in a child’s diet. In the second half of life, the child is recommended to be fed 5-6 times a day.
It's all about how much a child should eat. Stay healthy!
When a child turns 6 months old, every family celebrates this date in a special way, because this is a kind of milestone in the baby’s development. The child moves to a new stage of development. Now he not only observes those around him, but also tries to actively participate in the life of the family. He recognizes the people around him and can show various emotions - from joy to fear.
The reluctance to constantly lie down or sit leads to the fact that the baby gradually learns to crawl and stand near support. The baby's increased physical activity also requires changes in his diet. Only breast milk or formula to cover his energy costs is no longer enough for him to fully develop. That is why, if complementary foods were not previously introduced into the child’s diet, it is simply necessary to do so at six months.
How much milk does a newborn need during breastfeeding?
Today, the approach to breastfeeding has changed dramatically when compared with the recommendations of pediatricians twenty to thirty years ago. Increasingly, women are turning to breastfeeding consultants, who tell young mothers in detail about the rules of feeding a baby, the technique of breastfeeding and other nuances. Now it is important to maintain close contact with the baby, so feeding on demand is encouraged.
Nature provides for the process of breastfeeding a child, so immediately after the baby is born, the hormone responsible for milk production appears in an increased amount.
In the maternity hospital, a young mother is explained the rules for attaching a child to the breast in order to establish breastfeeding from the first days
What if he doesn’t have enough: secrets of the first feeding
But mothers most often worry in the first days after the birth of a child, when there is no milk as such yet, and the body produces only colostrum. Moreover, the amount of this valuable nutrition for the baby is very small: during the first breastfeeding, the baby receives about 1.5–2 ml of colostrum.
Experts have proven that receiving colostrum is mandatory for the baby. The fact is that it contains a huge supply of useful substances: trace elements, immunoglobulins, antibodies, and also a lot of protein. Therefore, doctors around the world insist that the baby be placed on the mother’s breast immediately after birth or in the first hours of life. Colostrum not only saturates the baby with nutrients, but also helps to activate the body's defenses.
When colostrum enters the baby’s body, it is completely absorbed, because it contains practically no fat and provides the child with passive immunity, which protects the baby from many infectious diseases. After the next meal, the amount of colostrum increases slightly and reaches 200–300 ml per day. During one feeding, the baby eats about 20–30 ml of liquid on the second and third days after birth.
Newborn babies eat only colostrum for the first days, and that’s enough for them
However, many women are worried that colostrum alone is not enough for the baby and he is not getting enough. You can often hear the opinion that in the first days the child needs to be supplemented with formula. This is a false statement: the amount of colostrum is absolutely sufficient to meet all the nutritional needs of an infant. Therefore, women should not worry about this.
Supplemental feeding of a newborn baby with an adapted formula can cause breast refusal. The baby will get used to receiving food from a bottle and will not want to perform active sucking movements in order to get milk. Also, the baby will take less from the mother’s breast, which, in turn, will lead to a decrease in the woman’s milk production.
Therefore, experts insist: for a child in the first days of life, the nutrition he receives during breastfeeding is quite enough. It is also worth noting that the volume of a newborn baby’s stomach is very small and is about 10 ml. Therefore, 7–8 ml of colostrum eaten at one feeding on the first day is quite enough for the baby.
Required milk standards in the first ten days of a baby’s life
The baby feeds on colostrum for the first two to four days after birth. He is actively mastering the sucking reflex, which is not yet very developed, and is learning to properly grasp his mother’s breast in order to extract valuable liquid. The volume of the stomach increases every day, so the child begins to eat more milk. The baby is put to the breast about 8-10 times a day.
Lactation consultants explain to new mothers that in the first days after birth, the baby should be latched to the breast frequently to stimulate the woman's milk production. After all, the body works on the “supply and demand” principle; the more the baby eats, the more milk comes in. And the first month is very important: it is at this time that breastfeeding is established.
In the first days after birth, the baby is often put to the breast: on average, 8–10 times.
There is a formula with which it is easy to determine what the norm of milk consumed for a child in the first days of life. It looks like this: N*10=the amount of milk that the baby should eat in one feeding, where N is the number of days from the moment the baby is born.
Table: How much milk does a baby eat in the first ten days after birth?
| Day after birth | Amount of milk per feeding, ml | Amount of milk per day if the child eats: in the first three days 8–10 times, then 6–8 times, ml |
| First | 10 | 80–100 |
| Second | 20 | 160–200 |
| Third | 30 | 240–300 |
| Fourth | 40 | 240–320 |
| Fifth | 50 | 300–400 |
| Sixth | 60 | 360–480 |
| Seventh | 70 | 420–560 |
| Eighth | 80 | 480–640 |
| Ninth | 90 | 540–720 |
| Tenth | 100 | 600–800 |
Sometimes doctors determine how much milk the baby has eaten by weighing the child. It is necessary to weigh the baby before feeding and immediately after. The difference in weight shows how much liquid entered the baby’s body during feeding. Sometimes women worry because... By the time they are discharged from the maternity hospital, children lose weight. Doctors rush to reassure that this is a normal phenomenon: after birth, the child’s body is cleansed, excess fluid leaves, so his weight decreases. This does not mean that the baby does not have enough milk.
If the baby is healthy and active, there is no need to specifically buy scales and weigh him at home before and after each feeding. The pediatrician makes all the necessary calculations once a month during a routine examination. He calculates the optimal weight gain; if everything is normal, then the baby has enough milk.
Table: Formulas for calculating milk standards for children in the first 10 days of life
| Author of the calculation formula | Formula | The meaning of the elements in the formula | Example |
| Finkelstein | Amount of milk required for a child per day=n*70 or 80 |
| Child weighing 3500 kg, fifth day after birth. 5*80=400 ml. This means that the baby should eat at least 400 ml per day per day. |
| Filatov | Daily milk intake = 2% of the child’s birth weight*n | n is the baby’s day of life | Baby weighing 3000 kg, fourth day of life. 60*4=240 ml. The daily norm for a child is 240 ml of milk. |
| Shabalov | The amount of milk that a baby should eat in one feeding = 3*n*m |
| An infant weighing 3.5 kg on the seventh day after birth. 3*7*3.5=73.5 ml. During one feeding, the baby should eat 73.5 ml of milk. |
Can the diet of children at 6 months be different?
The answer to this question is clear: yes, it can. It all depends on the following factors:
- whether complementary feeding had already been introduced at this age;
- how long has the child been offered adult food;
- does he have any allergic reactions to this or that product?
Children who are fed breast milk begin to introduce complementary foods at 6 months.
.
It is not recommended to do this before the specified age. And children who are fed formulas can begin to supplement their diet in the form of complementary foods as early as 4 months
. This explains the differences in the diet of six-month-old babies.
What foods can be given to a child at six months old?
List of permitted foods for a six-month-old baby
is quite extensive and includes quite a variety of products:
It is important to understand that the consumption of certain products depends on when complementary foods were first introduced.
Vegetables
Many pediatricians recommend starting complementary foods with vegetables. They improve intestinal function, are full of vitamins and have a neutral taste, unlike fruits, which, as a rule, children like more than vegetables. If you start complementary feeding with fruits, then there is a high probability that the child will refuse other foods.
If your baby is just starting to try adult food, then you should start complementary feeding with these hypoallergenic vegetables
, like cauliflower, broccoli and zucchini.
The first puree should be monocomponent, that is, consist of only one product. This requirement is due to the fact that the mother needs to monitor whether any product causes an allergic reaction in the baby. And if there are several ingredients in the puree at once, then it will be impossible to find out which component the allergy occurred to. Mixing several vegetables is permissible only if these products have already been offered to the baby and he has not had a reaction to them. Each new product must be introduced into the diet gradually, starting with 1 teaspoon. The volume of product consumed should increase every day until it reaches the required norm. At the age of 6 months, a portion of vegetables should be about 150 ml
.
After vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini, other permitted foods are gradually introduced: potatoes, carrots, onions, pumpkin.
The baby can be fed with both ready-made purchased purees and prepared ones yourself.
To properly prepare vegetables for your baby, you need to know a few rules:
Porridge
After introducing vegetables into your baby’s diet, it is recommended to start introducing him to cereals. The first porridges should be mono-ingredient and gluten-free
.
Therefore, the first cereals that are suitable for feeding a baby are buckwheat, corn and rice
. A little later, you can introduce oatmeal. And if the baby has been eating porridge for a long time, then you can diversify it by adding chopped pieces of fruit.
The healthiest porridge listed is buckwheat. If the child is prone to loose stools, then rice porridge will be ideal. And vice versa, if a child has frequent constipation, then you should not give rice porridge. For the first complementary foods, it is recommended to feed the baby with dairy-free porridge and introduce milk as the basis of the porridge later. You can buy porridge for your baby ready-made in the store or prepare it yourself. The volume of porridge eaten per day for a 6-month-old baby should gradually reach approximately 150 ml
.
Fruits
Fruits are usually given to the baby in the first half of the day. It is better to start complementary feeding with apples and pears. Later, apricot, plum, peach, and banana are introduced. They need to be mashed with a fork until pureed, or you can buy ready-made puree in jars. The amount of fruit eaten per day is approximately 50–60 ml
.
Meat
Meat begins to be introduced into the baby’s diet only after vegetables, fruits and cereals. Therefore, if you have just started introducing complementary foods to your baby, introducing meat will be postponed until a later time. If complementary feeding was introduced a long time ago, then the baby can be fed meat as early as 6 months.
It is best to start complementary meat feeding with these lean meats
, like rabbit, veal and turkey.
You can buy ready-made meat puree or make it yourself. Its amount in the baby’s diet should be gradually increased to 30 ml
.
Egg yolk
At 6 months, formula-fed babies can begin to be given egg yolk. For children fed on breast milk, chicken yolk is introduced later, at 7 months.
Since eggs themselves are a rather allergenic product, the egg white is not given to the child until he is one year old, and the yolk is introduced with great care.
The first portion of egg yolk should be very small.
Its size should be approximately the size of a match head. Gradually the serving size increases to ½ yolk
. After eating the yolk for the first time, it is important to closely monitor your baby's reaction to the yolk for several days. It is not recommended to introduce any other products during this period, since the allergy may not appear immediately.
When to introduce complementary foods
Breast milk is considered the best nutrition for young children. Breasts are growing, and so are their needs for new nutrients. There comes a time when it is necessary to diversify the child’s diet with new products. When introducing complementary foods, it is recommended to focus on signs indicating the baby’s readiness and his individual developmental characteristics.
Signs of readiness for complementary feeding
The first parameter is the age of the baby. New foods are introduced while breastfeeding, starting at 6 months. Pediatricians recommend paying attention to a number of signs indicating that your baby is ready:
- The child is 6 months old. For premature babies, gestational age is considered.
- Since birth, the baby's weight has doubled.
- The first teeth have erupted.
- The child does not push out hard objects with his tongue: toys, spoon, bottle, drinking bowl.
- It is difficult for a baby to get enough of breast milk, despite the fact that it empties the entire breast.
- The baby is interested in different objects, holds them well in his hand and tries to taste them.
- When presenting a spoon, children open their mouths and stick out their lower lips.
- Shows interest in food products of adult family members.
The age norm for introducing new products is the period from 5 to 9 months. It all depends on individual developmental characteristics. There is no need to rush into this matter. The later they are allowed to try new foods, the easier they are absorbed by the child’s body.
Important! Twins and twins may be ready for complementary feeding at different times. No worries. If one child begins to try new foods at 6 months, the second may not start until 9 months. Over time, their diets will become equal.
Child pulls a spoon
When to put off complementary foods
When visiting your pediatrician, your doctor may advise postponing the introduction of new foods. He establishes these conclusions by observing the baby’s development and after interviewing parents. Tolerate the introduction of complementary foods:
- with frequent allergic reactions of one of the parents;
- due to the presence of skin rashes on the child’s body;
- during a cold and fever;
- when is vaccination due?
- if the child sits poorly and holds his back.
Advantages of late introduction of complementary foods
Changing your baby's diet at a later age has its positive aspects. The older the baby, the stronger his body, and the better his digestive system is formed. The following advantages are noted:
- When fed only breast milk, the baby receives more protective antibodies.
- There is time for the digestive system to fully develop.
- The risk of allergies is reduced.
- This prevents the decrease in red blood cells and hemoglobin in the child’s body.
- Prevents the development of childhood obesity.
- The child is able to eat independently and does so with increased interest.
What can a 6 month old baby drink?
If breastfed children were not recommended to drink water up to 6 months, then as the child becomes more active and begins to eat adult food, water and other drinks must be present in the baby’s diet.
In addition to water and milk (breast or formula), the child can be offered decoctions of rose hips, chamomile, dill, juices from familiar fruits, and special children's tea. You can also start giving dried fruit compotes. It is not recommended to give regular black or green tea to a 6-month-old baby due to the caffeine it contains, which negatively affects the baby’s nervous system.
Porridge, meat and cottage cheese
The main dish of the second complementary feeding is porridge, but their preparation has several features:
- the first time you need to cook the porridge as thin as possible (100 ml of water per 5 g of cereal);
- all cereals, except semolina, must be filtered after cooking and, if necessary, crushed in a blender;
- It is better to avoid millet and pearl barley, as they are difficult to digest;
- if the baby is light, semolina porridge is preferable, but not every day, since its high starch content can cause allergies;
- in the case of loose stools, rice cereal will help normalize intestinal function, and for constipation, oatmeal porridge is useful;
- children with diathesis should be fed buckwheat;
- If you are intolerant to milk, the cereal should be boiled in water and seasoned with sugar syrup or vegetable oil.
Children react to meat broths in different ways, from increased appetite to exudative diathesis. Therefore, during the first days, you can give your child just a few tablespoons of broth, mixing them into vegetable puree or porridge. Gradually, the serving size can be increased to 30 ml.
In the absence of allergies, it is recommended to introduce cottage cheese into the baby’s diet, starting with a portion of 5 g at 17–18 hours. The child will like this snack and will enrich his body with calcium, phosphorus and protein. You can gradually increase the single serving to 50 g, without exceeding it until the baby is one year old. The introduction of kefir and Lenten cookies into the menu of a 6-month-old child is permitted according to doctor's indications.
Among the drinks, the healthiest ones will be fresh juices, rosehip decoction, compotes and jelly. Your child should get enough fluids to prevent dehydration, which can make it difficult for the kidneys to work. Apple juice is the most preferred because it is rich in vitamins and has the least allergenic properties. If a baby is constipated, plum and pumpkin juice, as well as rosehip decoction, will help relax the intestines.
The baby should not be given anything to drink while feeding, as liquid inhibits the digestion of food.
