Baby Care

Archive for the ‘Baby Diet’ Category

Your child grows up not day by day but hour by hour. And, of course, you want him/her to grow healthy, strong, smart and talented … The key to successful growth and development of a baby in the first year of life is good nutrition. It is no secret that the best diet for a child in the first year of his/her life is breast milk. This magical product not only have nutritional properties and contributes to optimal growth, but also gives your child strong immunity. From 4-6 months, child’s needs for nutrients and energy are increasing, it is time to put into his/her diet supplementary nourishment.

What is nourishment?

Nourishment is the gradual expansion of child diet in addition to breast milk, starting from the age of 4-6 months.
How to determine whether it is time to start complementary nourishment? There are several factors that determine this important step:

-child becomes more active and as a consequence, the growing body needs additional nutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates);

-the need to expand the diet, as in a variety it’s easy to collect all essential microelements for the development and growth of the organism (iron, zinc, etc.);

-preparing the organism for the transition to solid food types (”training” digestive system);

-and one of the most important points – to teach the child to get used to new kinds of food for a gradual weaning from breast-feeding or the bottle.

Before including the complementary food in the baby diet always consult a pediatrician! The choice of the first dishes requires an individual approach, and it depends on many factors.

How to include new food in the child’s diet?

New food for baby is a large load for the child’s organism, so it is very important to observe the rules of complementary nourishment:

a healthy baby responds with joy and interest to a suggestion to try something “new”, if a child is prone to allergies he/she get sick;

foods should be started with a product (if it porridge – then start with one grain, and no additives) in a small number (preferably in the morning), and closely monitor the state of the baby during the day, diathesis – the first sign of allergies to food;

each new type of product you need to write, starting with a small amount (1-2 teaspoons), increasing it within 10-14 days prior to the desired volume;

no more than one new product should enter into the diet of a baby within 5 days;

before using a new product be sure to read the instructions on the preparation;

food should be prepared just before each feeding, and the remains can not be stored and reused.

One of the first courses in the introduction of complementary foods is porridge.

Types of children’s cereal

A. home made or ready.

B. requiring cooking or fast cooking.

B. Monocomponent

G. No gluten or that contain gluten.

D. Without milk or dairy based.

E. No additives.

When mother carefully preparing porridge for babies from the usual cereals, it is difficult to take into account all the nuances, which include the needs of child’s organism in proteins and fats, vitamins, iron, zinc and other trace elements.

Paediatricians recommend the use of meals designed specifically for child nutrition. Their advantages are: security (absence of harmful substances), guaranteed by a balanced composition, enriched in basic vitamins and minerals, the possibility of rapid preparation.

The range of children’s cereal porridge Friso represented a wide variety of species. Porridge made by Dutch company Friesland Foods recipe for appropriate hygienic requirements of international standards for the production of children’s products. The production of cereal are used raw materials, derived from traditional sources, does not contain GMOs, artificial colors or preservatives. Special processing of cereals in the production of cereal, can save their unique natural properties.

The composition of children’s cereal Friso to maintain immunity kid put a set of “triple protection”, which includes selenium + zinc.

Selenium is an essential component of antioxidant protection of organism. If selenium is not enough, the body of the child becomes less resistant to environmental hazards.

Zinc has a very beneficial effect on the immune system. It is proved that a sufficient amount of zinc increases the number of immune cells and helps the body fight infection.

Children, who already run, jump and swim, are extremely active in summer, and therefore they need much more energy from products that “charge” their batteries. In summer the most of the time children spend in the open air. It’s the season of hikes, long walks, sports and helping adults in the country. The baby wants to pick a bunch of greens, collect berry himself.

The energy consumption increases while appetite reduces due to heat. So, what to feed your little active baby, what products at what time and in what quantities are good for a child in summer?

Very often in the kindergarten or school, when teachers meet their pupils in the beginning of the school year, you will hear they say that children have grown up. And surprisingly, in summer children are growing more active, and therefore the children need the protein, which is the main “building” material of organisms, more than usual. It is very important to increase the proportion of sour-milk products during summer. This way the protein is in its most easily assimilated form. Cottage cheese, kefir, yoghurt should be given to the child 100-200 ml more than his/her normal age-norm. The best is to break the daily norm into 2-4 reception. Thus you first help your child’s stomach – because dairy bacteria contained in dairy products help to improve digestion, which is especially important in hot weather. Second, the baby will not have to drink a glass of kefir at once, especially if he/she is not fond of such drinks.

Daily portion of meat products are also recommended to increase in 10-30 g, depending on the age of the child. With regard to carbohydrates, the main suppliers in the children’s menu for the entire warm period should be berries, fruit and vegetables. Minimize the consumption of biscuits, rich bread, wheat bread and confectionery products, if the kid wants sweet – offer a cup of berries.

It’s necessary to include fresh vegetables in the diet – spices, radishes, sorrel and young nettle should be added to soups and salads. Also keep in mind the forest berries. Remember, that usually they are sweeter than the garden ones.

“Your child does not eat sweets? But in this way you are depriving him (her) from childhood!”, – exclaims a friend, and even a stranger learning that you exclude from the diet of the child artificial sweets. Here, under the artificial sweets we mean those that are made on basis of natural products, but with the addition of various sugars. For example, chocolate – children’s favorite delicacy, prepared on the basis of cocoa beans and sugar, which in turn is extracted from either sugar cane or from beets.

When saying natural sweets, we will mean those which have a sweet taste from nature, without additional sweetening. For example, fruits and berries, and honey. So what is childhood, without sugar, wrapped in colored paper? This is a fantastic performance, shown by mother or the child to a grateful audience – relatives and friends. Childhood is a Dad’s strong hand on which the child hangs like a small monkey, holding with hands and feet.

So, what is candy? Candy is a common joy, and when the child does not know its taste, a piece of sugar in wrappers for him/her is absolutely nothing. Chocolate, candies, pasta, marshmallows are all artificial sweets, their taste reinforced repeatedly, in contrast to the natural sweetness, such as fruit.

When child grows enough to reach a table or to sit around it with parents, he/she is certainly interested in, what is in color wrappers. But here is an example: adults use alcohol at table; however, they don’t even think that they can “treat” the child with it. The same happens with candy – you can simply explain child that it’s “adult food”. Kid is constantly faced with different restrictions in life, and life will not become a tragedy adding one more ban in his/her list.

Another thing is when the child begins to get acquainted with the “image” of chocolates. Advertising, “good” relatives and acquaintances, socializing with peers who brag in front of each other about eaten supplies of chocolate and marmalade this is when it would be difficult to simply ignore the existence of “pieces of sugar in the colored wrappers”. But by this time the child will already be old enough, and a bit of candy will not harm him/her.