Feeding your baby at 6 months
The first food a newborn tries in his life is breast milk.
However, despite the storehouse of vitamins and useful microelements that not only help the baby to grow, but also improve its immunity, breast milk can replace "adult food" only until the child is six months old. Feeding a baby at 6 months is often a problem for young parents. To benefit your child and develop good taste in food, you definitely need to seek help from a specialist who will tell you where to start complementary foods.
Don't be afraid to add variety to your 6 month old baby. Reaching this particular age, the baby becomes more active, inquisitive and interesting. He is able to distinguish mom and dad from strangers. Now the baby expresses joy or disappointment (smiles or expresses his protest violently), tries to make some sounds and pick up toys. Such signs of normal development indicate that it is time to immediately develop a new menu.
Feeding a 6 month old baby. Introducing new dishes
A child who feeds only on breast milk and does not lag behind in development can be breastfed for up to 6 months. It should be remembered that in this case there is no need to offer the baby fruit, vegetable purees or juices. Before introducing a new product into the usual feeding regime for a baby at 6 months, you should consult a pediatrician. It is the doctor who will tell you what allergenic fruits and vegetables should be postponed for several months, and what can be given now.
The situation with artificial children is quite different. Being on a similar diet, a child should learn about the existence of juices and fruit purees from 3.5 or 4 months, that is, traditional complementary foods begin a little earlier. Children with allergies are often forced to consume formulas made not with cow's milk, but with soy protein. Such babies feel a lack of animal protein, which meat puree helps to replenish. It should be given at 5 or 5.5 months. The only condition for the correct preparation of such a dish is that the meat must be cooked in a second broth and carefully chopped.
Feeding a baby at 6 months may include beef or veal puree. If you are intolerant of these proteins, you can replace them with lean pork, chicken, turkey, rabbit or horse meat. You can prepare such a puree yourself or buy it ready-made in a pharmacy. Making the baby's menu more varied, monitor every reaction of his body in order to prevent future allergies.
Feeding regimen for a baby at 6 months. Switching to a new diet
A child who is 5 months old should get used to eating not 6, but 5 times a day. The break between meals should be 3-4 hours maximum. You should also take a 10 hour break at night. It is best to introduce the new product into the feeding of a 6-month-old baby at lunchtime (at about 1 pm) to monitor its tolerance. It is not recommended to give complementary foods early in the morning or late in the evening. Adhering to this rule, the baby will more easily get used to an unusual dish and will not overeat at night.
To accustom your child to non-dairy products, you must give them when the baby is hungry (just before breast milk). Feeding your baby at 6 months should not start with large portions of juice or fruit puree. Limit to half a teaspoon, gradually increasing the amount of new food over 10-12 days to 150 g.
Feeding a 6 month old baby will start off successfully if mom and dad are patient and attentive to their baby. Do not forget that at this age the baby still does not know how to swallow thick and solid food. For convenience, buy a silicone spoon that will not injure the baby's gums and give him discomfort while eating. Do not offer multiple foods to your child at once. First stop at one, and then gradually add other components there. So, over time, zucchini can be supplemented with peas, onions, potatoes, etc. If the baby refuses any ingredient, do not force him to do it, as this can cause deliberate protest for a long time.
It is best to start feeding a baby at 6 months with vegetable puree (in the case when there are signs of rickets or anemia) or porridge. If your toddler has allergies, complementary foods should not include brightly colored vegetables. You should limit yourself to cabbage, zucchini, peas, potatoes and green beans. It will be possible to avoid potato allergy if its amount from the total mass of vegetables does not exceed 20%. Sunflower, olive or corn oil will help make the dish more healthy and tasty.
It is possible to start feeding a child with porridge at 6 months when the baby is underweight or has frequent and profuse regurgitation. It is recommended to purchase special gluten-free cereals (rice, corn, buckwheat) in pharmacies, enriched with vitamins and microelements. To prepare such cereals, it is enough to fill them with hot water and do not bring to a boil. Introducing it into the feeding mode of a 6-month-old baby, it is necessary to take into account that the porridge must be very liquid (5 g of cereal per 100 ml of liquid). Until 8 months, you should not cook porridge in cow's milk. Better to replace it with breast milk or a suitable formula. Children with severe allergies may receive porridge cooked with water or dairy-free formula. To make such a dish very useful, butter or a piece of egg yolk will help.
Approximate menu for a child at 6 months
The feeding regimen of a child at 6 months can be very diverse depending on the characteristics of the organism of each baby. Consider a rough 6 month old baby feeding menu that is appropriate for breastfed babies. It includes 5 meals:
- Mother's milk;
- 30 g fruit puree + breast milk;
- 150 g of vegetable puree (porridge) and 3 g of vegetable oil, juice;
- 30 g fruit puree + breast milk;
- Mother's milk.
Babies who receive artificial formula can gradually switch to a feeding regimen consisting of the following 5 meals:
- Milk mixture;
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4 g butter and 150 g porridge, 50 g fruit puree;
Feeding rules for a 6 month old baby - 3 g of vegetable oil and 150 g of vegetable puree, 1/4 of an egg yolk, 30 ml of juice;
- Milk mixture, 30 ml of juice and 40 g of cottage cheese;
- Milk mixture.
Feeding a 6 month old baby allergic to cow protein can consist of the following 5 meals:
- Mother's milk, fermented milk product, 180-200 ml of soy mixture;
- 170 g of dairy-free porridge + breast milk or fermented milk product, 3 g of sunflower oil, 20 g of fruit puree;
- 3 g sunflower oil + 150 g vegetable puree, 30-50 g meat puree, 20 g fruit puree;
- 150 g of a vegetable dish with the addition of cereals and 3 g of sunflower oil, 30 g of meat puree and 20 g of fruit puree;
- Mother's milk, fermented milk product or special dairy-free formula.
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