Baby’s First Solid Food
If the child is 6 months+ then he should be given additional food. Only a mother’s breast milk is sufficient till the age of 6 months. New mothers are naturally a little worried about how to get baby used to new foods. Today’s feature is about the baby’s first solid foods. Today we will know what the children’s diet should be, and which fruit or meal should be given first.
Foods for Your Baby
0-6 months of baby food
The baby should be breastfed within an hour of birth. Only a mother should breastfeed till full 6 months of age. Not even a drop of water should be given in the mouth. After giving birth, the first light yellow sticky milk that comes out of the mother’s breast is called colostrum. Colostrum milk is less in quantity but its nutritional value is very high.
Take a look at the benefits of colostrum milk
- Acts as the first vaccine in a child’s life
- Increases the immunity of newborns
- Helps to expel black waste material (meconium) from the baby’s stomach
- The tendency of baby jaundice is reduced
- Colostrum milk contains body-enhancing ingredients
Only the mother’s breast milk is sufficient till 6 months
- Mother’s breast milk ensures the normal growth and mental development of the baby
- Increases the immunity of the child – helps prevent diarrhea, pneumonia, allergies, asthma
- Breast milk reduces the chances of children developing diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure
- A deep bond of love develops between the child and the mother
- Mother’s blood pressure after delivery is very much under control
- Mothers are less likely to develop diabetes, breast, and uterine cancer
- Financial savings to the family (saves on formula milk costs)
Baby’s first solid food
Up to 6 months of age, when the baby starts eating other than milk after exclusively breastfeeding, it is called weaning and the foods with which weaning is started are called weaning foods. It is best to start with a winning home meal. Some ideal foods as first solid meal is-
- Crispy ripe bananas
- Sweet potato puree
- Soft rice soaked in dal water
- Fruit juice (except sour fruits)
- Soft rice, boiled vegetables
- Hotchpotch slowly cooked with rice, pulses, and 2 types of vegetables
At least 4 types of meal out of the 7 main types of meal must be kept in the daily diet of the child.
Main 7 types of diet
- Fish, meat
- The egg
- Colorful vegetables
- Other green vegetables and fruits
- Rice, bread
- Foods like nuts, pulses
- Dairy meal
How to start a baby’s first solid food?
- First day – 1 spoon, noon. Second day – 2 spoons, morning and afternoon. Third day – 3 spoons, morning, noon, and night.
- When the baby starts eating cooked meal, the baby food should be cooked with 2/3 spoonfuls of oil.
- Take half a bowl of 1 Poa bowl twice a day with homemade extra meal and 1-2 nutritious snacks.
- During this time, the child will eat every 3 hours, out of which two additional meals and a nutritious snack should be given. Such as bananas, canned water, fruit juice, milk, etc. Start the morning with breast milk or formula milk. Breast milk can be given to children up to 2 years.
What will the meal chart look like after getting used to solid food?
- 8 am- Soft Khichuri. (Anything that can be included in Khichuri- 1 handful of rice, half the number of pulses of rice, two types of vegetables, 2-3 spoons of oil, boneless fish, chicken, or liver)
- 11 am – Breast milk/Formula milk/Milk cooked semolina/Cerelak/Seasonal fruits
- 2 PM- soft rice with soft khichuri/dal and one piece of fish or meat
- 5 pm – Any fruit like – ripe banana/ripe papaya/mango or boiled egg yolk/soft biscuits/noodles
- 8 pm – Rice, vegetables, fish like noon
- Before sleeping – breast milk/formula milk
After 6 months the baby should also be given water. Many people feed the baby rolled oats or cereal in the morning instead of khichuri, there is no problem with that either. But try to give homemade meal instead of outside packaged food. He will get used to home food. These foods are new to the baby, so they may not be digested at first. So don’t start introducing all new foods in one day. Start one step at a time. If a food does not suit or digest the baby or suddenly causes an allergy, stop giving it.
Problems that may occur at the beginning of the winning
Your baby may be allergic to new foods during weaning. The symptoms that you can identify as a food allergy in a child are:
- Abdominal pain with crying and twisting stomach
- Repeated vomiting
- A rash on the body
- Redness
- Runny nose etc.
If so, try to find out which meal is causing the allergy. Temporarily stop giving that meal. Then give it again after a few days. If the child has a second allergy, be sure to assume that the food is the cause of the allergy.
Note a few things
You can mix a little ghee in the baby’s meal. When a baby begins to be given solids, many times the baby’s bowels become tight or he has trouble going to the toilet. In this case, raw papaya, and sweet pumpkin should be kept on his meal menu. You can serve these vegetables with soft rice or mix these vegetables with hotchpotch. The toilet will be normal. If you have digestive problems, it is better not to give beef or mutton before 2 years. And avoid direct feeding of cow’s milk before 2 years of age.
Babies may not like all foods at first. Do not force-feed him. However, studies have shown that once a child does not want to eat meal, if that meal is offered to him repeatedly, he gradually becomes interested in that meal. Mothers should be patient without force. If the food is served on a colorful plate, the child’s interest will increase. Don’t always blend liquid meal with your baby, as he will not learn to chew. Get him used to home-cooked meal to meet his body’s nutritional needs, and let him eat with his own hands. He will learn to eat with his own hands while playing! So far today. Stay well, stay healthy.
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