Complementary food recipes for babies aged 6-12 months, how many meals to eat and how to feed them, all your confusion will be gone!

Although OK Mom has pushed a lot of articles about complementary feeding (you can check it out in the catalog), many mothers still ask me, can you tell me how many meals a baby should eat every day? How much do you eat per meal? What specific foods should I eat? Well, I think OK’s mother had a lot of problems when she was adding complementary foods to her baby. She even found it difficult to know how thick the rice noodles should be. Today, I will combine the American Academy of Pediatrics/Hong Kong Department of Health\’s \”Healthy Diet for Infants and Young Children\” booklet and the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents to help you sort through all the knowledge related to the addition of complementary foods. 1. Babies must start eating complementary foods when they are six months old. In the past, there were two recommendations for starting complementary foods at 4 months and 6 months, but the latest \”Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2016\” published by the Chinese Nutrition Society clearly states that, Start adding complementary foods after the baby reaches 6 months of age (180 days after birth). Adding complementary foods too early can easily cause food allergies, and the baby\’s gastrointestinal function is immature and cannot digest food well. If complementary foods are not added for 6 months, the baby will not be able to keep up with both nutrition and development. 1. Meet nutritional needs. After six months, breast milk alone can no longer meet the baby\’s nutritional needs. At this time, the baby needs to eat a variety of nutritious foods to absorb the nutrients needed for growth and development. Adding complementary food too late will cause the baby to lack nutrients needed for growth, such as iron and zinc. 2. Meet development needs. Eating solid food will help your baby develop chewing skills, and trying a variety of food types, textures, and flavors will help your baby adapt to a variety of foods and gradually get used to an adult diet. Adding complementary foods too late will make it difficult for the baby to adapt to eating a variety of foods, and may also cause partial eclipse or other eating problems, such as resistance to foods with rough textures. 2. Determine the time to add complementary foods based on the baby\’s performance. Many mothers are always a little anxious about the specific day to start giving complementary foods to their babies. In fact, the time point for adding complementary food varies with each individual baby. At a similar time point, parents can easily judge whether the baby is ready to eat complementary food by observing some of the baby\’s abilities and performance. In terms of mobility: able to sit up against the back of a chair, able to control the head, and able to reach out to grab food; in terms of eating performance: appears interested when seeing food; also moves lips when seeing adults eating; reaches the spoon to mouth It can open and open its lips automatically; it can close its lips and hold the spoon after putting the spoon into the mouth; it can swallow food. Although babies develop at different paces, most babies can already exhibit the above behaviors by nearly 6 months. If the baby still does not have these symptoms after 7 months, parents should take the baby to consult a doctor. 3. What complementary foods should be eaten for babies aged 7-12 months? Complementary foods for the first month. There are two principles for babies’ initial food: iron-fortified and easy to swallow. Therefore, the most suitable first food for babies is high-iron rice cereal. When you first start adding complementary foods, take a spoonful of rice cereal once a day and make it thinner. After the baby accepts it, the daily amount and consistency can be gradually and slowly increased. Usually there will be instructions on the ratio of powder to water on the packaging box, but you still need to control the thickness yourself. Don’t think that the thicker it is, the more nutritious it will be., if it is too thick, the baby will not be able to digest it and will cause constipation. According to the gradual transition from thin to thick rice noodles, the following three sets of dynamic diagrams illustrate the appropriate thinness and consistency at each stage. For a detailed explanation and review of rice noodle brewing, please check out the previous article \”Easing all the confusion about rice noodle!\” Detailed explanation of the three mainstream rice noodles in the United States: Jubilee, Earth\’s Best, and Jiabao Brewing\” ▼The rice cereal fed to the baby at first is in a flowing state ▼In the transitional stage, it is slightly thicker and does not flow down so quickly ▼In the adaptation stage, it is in the shape of a ball and does not flow down easily ( The picture above is from @马宝 Bangbangbang) In the first few days, the baby may eat a very small amount of rice cereal. He often eats 2 or 3 spoons after soaking a bowl. This is normal. As the baby starts to eat more, usually in about a week, new foods can be gradually added, such as egg yolks, vegetable purees, fruit purees, etc. The new food added can be mixed with rice cereal and eaten, or rice cereal for one meal and vegetable puree or fruit puree for the next meal. The order of complementary feeding and breastfeeding. Regarding the order of complementary feeding and breastfeeding, experts have slightly different opinions. Dr. Cui Yutao\’s suggestion is to eat breast milk immediately after finishing the complementary food, and treat the two as one meal; while other suggestions are to arrange the complementary food between two meals of milk. The Hong Kong Department of Health recommends breastfeeding half an hour after eating complementary food. OK moms personally agree that breastfeeding takes half an hour to one hour after eating complementary food, because you feel really full just after eating complementary food. Drinking milk immediately will either affect the amount of milk or make you feel full. After all, the baby\’s stomach capacity is not large, so it is most suitable for the baby. The best way of eating is to eat small meals frequently. If you encounter some babies who refuse to eat complementary foods, or if the baby is already particularly hungry, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you try breastfeeding first, then feed complementary foods when the baby is half full, and then continue breastfeeding as needed. This can prevent some babies from Losing your temper when you are very hungry because you are not used to it. Complementary food for 7-8 months Baby complementary food for 7-8 months is mainly puree. There are still quite a few choices at this time. You can buy commercially available food or make your own. Each has its own pros and cons. The advantage of finished food supplement purees is that they have a wide range of ingredients and are not restricted by season, such as apricot puree, nectarine puree, etc.; and they do not have storage problems. It is more hygienic to open a can or a bag and eat them in one meal. The advantage of homemade complementary food is that the ingredients are fresh and grounded from local sources. Although modern complementary food production technology can prevent food from deteriorating and nutrients from being lost, freshly cooked food still tastes far better than sterile-preserved food. It is best to buy some freezer compartments for homemade food supplement puree, so that you can freeze and store the puree you make once, and then just take out a few pieces and heat them every time you eat it. For specific methods, you can check out \”Complementary Food | What does your baby eat at each age and how to make it? Help you figure it out?\” 》↓↓↓ Daily menu for 7-8 month old baby. Complementary food after 9 months. After 9 months, the baby’s complementary food needs to be prepared by the mother herself. After 9 months, the baby needs to start practicing chewing with teeth and eating independently. At this time, it is necessary to introduce soft and small pieces of food, that is, finger food, and these need to be done by yourself. Of course, it is not difficult to make. You can refer to our previous article \”Make this kind of food and make your baby fall in love with eating easily!\” \”, as well as independent eating training \”Each step and key point isI want to tell you ❗A complete solution for letting children learn to eat independently! 》↓↓↓One-day menu for babies aged 9-11 months. Example of daily meal arrangement (7-12 months) 7:00-7:30: Take 200 ml of breast milk or formula milk. 10:00-10:30: Eat breast milk plus formula milk or fruit. 12:00-12:30: Eat complementary foods. 15:00-15:30: Take 100 ml of breast milk or formula milk, plus fruit. 18:00-18:30: Complementary food. 20:00-20:10: 100 ml of breast milk, brush teeth and go to bed on time. 4. Signs that your baby is hungry and full. You must understand that there is no absolute amount of complementary food that your baby should eat at each meal. Each baby\’s acceptance of complementary foods is different. We should not blindly compare with other children, nor should we always worry about the baby not getting enough. If the baby no longer accepts food, continues to be disinterested in food, looks around, and rubs his eyes , that is, you no longer want to eat. At this time, you should stop feeding even if you only eat the bottom of a small bowl. \”Forcing\” will cause the baby to resist, let alone blame or even make the baby cry. 5. Do not give these foods to your baby 1. Sugary drinks. The fiber of the pulp cannot be retained in the juice, so the juice is basically sugar. Drinking the juice will cause the baby to consume too much sugar, so it is recommended to directly scrape the puree and feed it to the baby. If you must drink juice, you need to dilute it with water 1:1, which can reduce the sweetness so that the baby will not be overly dependent on flavored drinks, and also reduce sugar intake. 2. Fish with high methylmercury content. Including shark, swordfish, swordfish, tuna, king mackerel, etc. How to eat fish before you see it? You can check \”What kind of fish and seafood are good for babies?\” Which fish have more DHA?》. 3. Undercooked food and unpasteurized dairy products. 4. Foods that are likely to cause choking: – Small particles, such as corn, melon seeds, and peanuts; – Crispy and hard-textured foods, such as candies, vegetables that are not cooked until soft; – Meats that are not boneless and seeds are not removed. fruit. 5. Seasonings, such as salt, chicken powder, soy sauce, etc. 6. Problems that may be encountered when adding complementary foods 1. The baby starts to look around after eating half of the food. Is he full? It may be that you are full, or you may be only half-full, but you are attracted to other places. How to deal with it: Call the baby gently to bring the baby\’s attention back to the dinner table; remove distracting things, such as the TV playing. It is best for babies to eat with their family members. 2. Reluctance to eat excludes situations where the baby is already full. There are two possibilities for the baby\’s reluctance to eat: he or she does not accept the texture of the new food or he does not like the taste of the new food. Coping methods: Change the cooking method; adjust the hardness and softness of the food; try different food combinations to change the taste; let the baby try it another day. 3. Vomiting reaction may be caused by the baby not being able to adapt to thicker or larger and coarser food, or the feeding speed is too fast, or the portion of one spoon is too large. Coping method: Mother should stay calm, try small mouthfuls after cleaning, and feed at a slower speed; if the baby continues to spit out food, you can put the food awayGrind the material a little smoother. 4. Reach out to grab food, or point at the food and yell that you are not full yet and want to eat more; you have to eat by yourself. How to deal with it: continue feeding, and give some lumpy food for the baby to grab and eat by himself. 5. It is a good thing to grab the spoon in your hand, which means that the baby has the willingness to eat independently. How to deal with it: Hand the spoon to your baby generously. This is a good opportunity to practice. Don’t refuse. Of course, the baby can only play with the spoon at first and cannot really feed himself with the spoon. The mother will then get a spoon to help the baby finish the food. 6. Hit the table with the spoon or throw it away. This is because the baby is playing with the spoon and constantly exploring the various cause-and-effect relationships of playing with the spoon. How to deal with it: If he is playing by himself, don’t bother him, let him explore by himself, the process will pass soon; if the baby drops the spoon and comes to see your attitude, don’t get angry or cater to him, but give him “I I don’t support you doing this” in response. 7. If the child seems to be playing with food, he may be full or not interested in the food. At this time, he will only play without eating. If he plays for a while and then puts it into his mouth to eat, it means that the child is just exploring the food. Every seemingly sloppy action of children playing with food is actually cooperating with their brains to rapidly process information about the food. Coping method: Give some hints during play, such as reminding the baby that broccoli looks like a small green bush, so that the baby can go through this exploration stage more happily. Text | OK Mom