There Are Certain Things To Pay Attention To When Adding Complementary Foods To Your Baby. Mothers Must Not Violate These Taboos.

Many first-time mothers are always cautious when it comes to adding supplementary food to their babies, especially worried that the children will not eat enough and will not be able to keep up with nutrition.

However, occasionally, love is overly eager and used in the wrong way, which may bring great risks to the child.

Just like the mother in the news who almost caused a catastrophe by feeding her baby steamed buns, her experience has sounded the alarm to all parents. Feeding complementary foods to babies is really not a small matter, and there are many "minefields" hidden in it that we can easily ignore.

Just today, we have to talk about what kind of things can be done and what kinds of things are absolutely untouchable in the process of adding complementary foods to babies, especially the dietary taboos related to the baby's safety, which must be firmly kept in mind.

When should the baby take his “first bite” of food?

Many parents, especially the elders in the family, always believe that babies can grow strong if they start eating as early as possible, so they feed their babies rice soup and egg yolks early.

In fact, timing is very critical when adding complementary foods to your baby.

According to the recommendations given by the World Health Organization, when an exclusively breastfed baby reaches the age of 6 months, he or she can start trying to add complementary foods.

This time point must not be delayed until after 8 months at the latest. Too early or too late will not be beneficial to the healthy development of the baby.

Of course, just looking at the age is not enough. We also need to pay extra attention to observe whether the baby has sent out small signals indicating that "it is ready to eat."

For example, the baby shows a strong interest in adults eating, staring closely at your rice bowl, and even drooling and swallowing; the baby can sit up by his own power, and the tongue thrust reflex no longer exists – that is, when you feed the baby something with a spoon, the baby will not use his tongue to push the spoon out based on instinct.

If your baby can meet these conditions at the same time, then you can start the process of complementary feeding for him with peace of mind.

From thin to thick, how should the baby's complementary food be "added"?

Giving your baby complementary food is like teaching him to walk, you have to do it step by step.

We must follow the principle of increasing from small to large in quantity, from thin to thick in level, from sparse to dense in density, and from single to diverse in variety.

At the beginning of the journey, you can start with a spoonful of iron-rich baby nutrition rice flour as a starting point, and make it thinner, similar to the state of rice cereal.

When feeding, don't be impatient and pay attention to your baby's reaction. If he shows he likes it, you can gradually increase the amount and consistency.

In order to prevent the baby from being allergic to certain types of food, we have to follow the "three-day rule": only add one new food each time, feed it continuously for three days, and always pay attention to whether the baby has any abnormalities such as skin lesions, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.

If your baby adapts well, you can try the next one after a week.

If an intolerance reaction occurs, stop it first and try again after three to five days. If the same problem persists, then the baby is most likely allergic to this food. It is best to stop for three months before considering it.

In the first two to three months, by using this step-by-step approach, you can discover the unique recipe that best suits your baby.

What and how much should babies of different ages eat?

When giving complementary foods to your baby, in addition to considering what to eat, how much to eat is equally important.

Our goal is not to simply feed our children, but to ensure balanced nutrition.

For babies between 7 and 9 months old, breast milk or formula milk must still be used as the main food source every day, ensuring that the milk volume is above 600 ml.

On this basis, iron-rich baby rice noodles, thick porridge, and rotten noodles can be added, followed by delicate minced meat, liver paste, and egg yolk.

At this stage, the baby should gradually reach the amount of eating one egg yolk and 50 grams of meat, poultry and fish every day.

At the stage of ten to twelve months, the baby's chewing ability has become stronger, and the types of complementary foods can be more abundant.

In addition to the previous food, you can also try soft rice, small wontons, and small dumplings.

It should be noted that if the baby's teething time is relatively late and his chewing ability is not enough, then don't rush to feed your baby food that requires chewing such as dumplings.

At this stage, it is still absolutely not allowed to add any flavoring items to the complementary foods that the baby eats, including salt, sugar, and soy sauce. If these food additives for seasoning are added too early, it will increase the burden on the baby's kidneys, and it will easily lead to him gradually developing a bad habit of being picky eaters.

The amount of milk must be maintained at about 600 ml every day, one egg, and 50 grams of meat, poultry, and fish, which are all essential.

When the baby is between one and two years old, the ratio of complementary food to milk can be gradually adjusted to one to one. Make sure there are 500 ml of milk, one egg, 50 to 75 grams of meat, poultry and fish every day, plus an appropriate amount of grains, fruits and vegetables. At this time, you can try to give him some yogurt.

Don’t step on these “pits”, especially that fatal mistake!

Returning to the case at the beginning, the mother actually made three very common mistakes, each of which has the potential to endanger the baby's life.

First of all, the time period is not suitable, it is 7 Even if complementary food is added to the baby, it is definitely not suitable to eat steamed buns that are dry and hard in texture and can easily cause choking. Secondly, improper disposal methods include breaking the steamed buns into pieces and feeding them to the baby. This behavior itself is particularly dangerous. This type of food can easily form clumps in the baby's mouth. Once inadvertently inhaled into the trachea, The consequences are unimaginable; moreover, making mistakes in first aid measures is also the most critical and fatal point. When a baby chokes on food, the first reaction of many parents is to give water, but this actually has the negative effect of adding fuel to the fire. Water will cause the dry food to swell, making the blockage more serious, thereby aggravating the suffocation situation.

Immediately perform the Heimlich maneuver. This is a more correct approach. You must race against time to rescue the baby, and at the same time, you must rush to the hospital.

When feeding complementary foods to your baby, always put safety first. Foods such as nuts, jelly, whole grapes, hard candies, glutinous rice balls and other foods should be avoided as much as possible before the baby is three years old. This can avoid many accidents.

Adding complementary foods is an important part of the baby's growth process. This process requires us, as parents, not only to have sufficient love, but also to have scientific feeding knowledge.

With more care and understanding, you can build an extra line of defense for your baby's health.

I hope that today’s sharing can help you as parents to avoid those hidden “pits”, so that all our babies can eat happily and grow strong and strong.

Remember, when it comes to feeding babies, safety is always more important than nutrition. Together, we can become smart parents who know how to feed and can feed them skillfully.