3Months baby food
Feeding Your 1- to 3-Month-Old (for Parents)
During your baby's first 3 months, breast milk or formula will provide all the nutrition needed. Doctors recommend waiting until your baby is about 6 months old to start solid foods. Some babies may be ready for solids sooner than 6 months, but wait until your baby is at least 4 months old.
What Changes Should I Expect?
As your infant grows, feeding will change. Babies will start drinking more milk during each feeding, so they won't need to feed as often and will sleep longer at night.
Your baby's appetite will increase during growth spurts. Continue to feed on demand and increase the number of feedings as needed.
Your infant also will become more alert as the weeks go by, cooing and smiling. So there will be more interaction between you and your baby during feedings.
The following are general guidelines, and your baby may be hungrier more or less often than this. That's why it's important to pay attention to your baby's signals of being hungry or full. A baby who is getting enough might slow down, stop, or turn away from the breast or bottle.
Breastfeeding: How Much and How Often?
As babies get older, they will start to breastfeed less often and sleep for longer periods at night. Your infant probably is eating enough if he or she:
- seems alert, content, and active
- is steadily gaining weight and growing
- feeds six to eight times per day
- is wetting and soiling diapers on a regular basis
Babies might not be eating enough if they:
- don't appear satisfied
- cry constantly
- are irritable, even after feeding
- are not making wet diapers
Call your doctor if you're concerned your baby isn't eating enough.
A few weeks after birth, breastfed babies tend to have fewer bowel movements (BMs, or poop) than they did before. At around 2 months of age, your baby may not poop after each feeding, or even every day. During growth spurts, you may notice that your little one wants to feed more often.
This frequent nursing sends a signal to make more milk. Within a couple of days, supply and demand will get into balance.
Babies who get breast milk only should get vitamin D supplements within the first few days of life. Other supplements, water, juice, and solid foods aren't usually needed.
Formula Feeding: How Much and How Often?
Babies digest formula more slowly than breast milk, so if you're bottle-feeding, your baby may have fewer feedings than a breastfed infant.
As babies grow, they can eat more at each feeding and may go for longer stretches between feedings. You'll also notice that your baby is starting to sleep longer at night.
During the second month, infants may take about 4 or 5 ounces at each feeding. By the end of 3 months, your baby may need an additional ounce at each feeding.
It's easy to overfeed a baby when using a bottle because it easier to drink from a bottle than from a breast. Make sure that the hole on the bottle's nipple is the right size.
The liquid should drip slowly from the hole and not pour out. Also, resist the urge to finish the bottle when your baby shows signs of being full.
Never prop a bottle. Propping a bottle might cause choking and it increases the chances of getting ear infections and tooth decay.
Should I Worry About Spitting Up?
It's normal for infants to "spit up" after eating or during burping. Spitting up a small amount — usually less than 1 ounce (30 ml) — shouldn't be a concern as long as it happens within an hour of feeding and doesn't bother your baby.
You can reduce spitting up in these early months by:
- feeding before your baby gets very hungry
- keeping your baby in a semi-upright position during the feeding and for an hour after
- burping your baby regularly
- avoiding overfeeding
- not jostling or playing vigorously with your baby right after a feeding
If your baby seems to be spitting up large amounts, is spitting up forcefully, is irritable during or after feedings, or seems to be losing weight or is not gaining weight as expected, call your doctor.
And if your child has a fever or shows any signs of dehydration (such as not wetting diapers), call the doctor right away.
Call your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about feeding your infant.
Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: November 2021
When Can My Baby Start Eating Solid Foods? (for Parents)
A friend just started giving her 3-month-old applesauce and rice cereal. My son is just 2 weeks younger than hers, and I am wondering if I should be introducing solids soon too. When should I start?
– Taylor
Doctors recommend waiting until a baby is about 6 months old to start solid foods. Starting before 4 months is not recommended.
At about 6 months, babies need the added nutrition — such as iron and zinc — that solid foods provide. It’s also the right time to introduce your infant to new tastes and textures.
Some babies may be ready for solids sooner than 6 months, but don't start until your baby is at least 4 months old.
How do you know it’s the right time to start solid foods? Here are some signs that babies are ready:
- They have good head and neck control and sit up in a high chair.
- They're interested in foods. For example, they may watch others eat, reach for food, and open their mouths when food approaches.
- They don’t push food out of their mouths, which is a natural tongue reflex that disappears when they’re between 4–6 months old.
- They weigh twice their birth weight, or close to it.
Talk to your doctor about the right time to start solid foods.
How Should I Start Solids?
When the time is right, you can start with a single-grain, iron-fortified baby cereal. Start with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cereal mixed with breast milk, formula, or water. Feed your baby with a small baby spoon. Don’t add cereal or other food to a baby's bottle because it can lead to too much weight gain. Let your baby practice eating from a spoon and learn to stop when full.
When your baby gets the hang of eating the first food, introduce others, such as puréed meat, fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, or yogurt. Try one food at a time and wait a few days before trying something else new to make sure your baby doesn't have an allergic reaction.
Foods that are more likely to cause allergies can be among the foods you introduce to your baby. These include peanuts, eggs, cow’s milk, seafood, nuts, wheat, and soy. Waiting to start these foods does not prevent food allergies. Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about food allergies, especially if any close family members have allergies, food allergies, or allergy-related conditions, like eczema or asthma.
Infants with severe eczema or egg allergies are more likely to have allergies to peanuts. Talk to your doctor about how and when to introduce these foods to your child.
When starting your baby on solids, avoid:
- foods with added sugars and no-calorie sweeteners
- high-sodium foods
- honey, until after the first birthday.
It can cause botulism in babies. - unpasteurized juice, milk, yogurt, or cheese
- regular cow's milk or soy drinks before 12 months instead of breast milk or formula. It’s OK to offer pasteurized yogurt and cheese.
- foods that may cause choking, such as hot dogs, raw carrots, grapes, popcorn, and nuts
Also, do not give fruit juices to infants younger than 12 months old.
Over the next few months, introduce a variety of foods from all the food groups. If your baby doesn't seem to like something, don’t give up. It can take 8 to 10 tries or more before babies learn to like new foods.
Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: February 2021
Diet for a child aged 4
Your baby is already 4 months old. He has noticeably grown up, become more active, is interested in objects that fall into his field of vision, carefully examines and reaches for them. The emotional reactions of the child have become much richer: he joyfully smiles at all the people whom he often sees more and more often, makes various sounds.
Are you still breastfeeding your baby or have you switched to formula or formula feeding? The child is actively growing, and only with breast milk or infant formula, he can no longer always get all the necessary nutrients. And that means it's time to think about complementary foods. nine0003
Optimal time to start its introduction is between 4 and 6 months, regardless of whether the baby is receiving breast milk or formula. This is the time when children respond best to new foods. Up to 4 months, the child is not yet ready to perceive and digest any other food. And with the late introduction of complementary foods - after 6 months, children already have significant deficiencies of individual nutrients and, first of all, micronutrients (minerals, vitamins, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, etc.). In addition, toddlers at this age often refuse new foods, they have delayed development of chewing skills for thick foods, and inadequate eating habits are formed. It is important to know that, no matter how strange it may seem at first glance, with a delayed appointment of complementary foods, allergic reactions more often occur on them.
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When is it advisable to introduce complementary foods as early as 4 months, and when can you wait until 5.5 or even 6 months? To resolve this issue, be sure to consult a pediatrician.
The optimal time to start introducing complementary foods to a healthy baby is between 5 and 5.5 months of age.
The World Health Organization recommends that breastfed babies should be introduced to complementary foods from 6 months of age. From the point of view of domestic pediatricians, which is based on the big
practical experience and scientific research, this is possible only in cases where the child was born at term, without malnutrition (because in these cases the mineral reserves are very small), he is healthy, grows and develops well. In addition, the mother should also be healthy, eat well and use either specialized enriched foods for pregnant and lactating women, or vitamin and mineral complexes in courses. Such restrictions are associated with the depletion of iron stores even in a completely healthy child by 5-5.
5 months of age and a significant increase in the risk of anemia in the absence of complementary foods rich or fortified with iron. There are other deficits as well. nine0003
The first food product can be vegetable puree or porridge, it is better to give fruit puree to the baby later - after tasty sweet fruits, children usually eat vegetable puree and cereals worse, often refuse them altogether.
Where is the best place to start? In cases where the child has a tendency to constipation or he puts on weight too quickly, preference should be given to vegetables. With a high probability of developing anemia, unstable stools and small weight gains - from baby cereals enriched with micronutrients. And if you started introducing complementary foods with cereals, then the second product will be vegetables and vice versa. nine0003
If the first complementary foods are introduced at 6 months, it must be baby porridge enriched with iron and other minerals and vitamins, the intake of which with breast milk is no longer enough.
Another important complementary food product is mashed meat. It contains iron, which is easily absorbed. And adding meat to vegetables improves the absorption of iron from them. It is advisable to introduce meat puree to a child at the age of 6 months. Only the daily use of children's enriched porridge and meat puree can satisfy the needs of babies in iron, zinc and other micronutrients. nine0003
But it is better to introduce juices later, when the child already receives the main complementary foods - vegetables, cereals, meat and fruits. After all, complementary foods are needed so that the baby receives all the substances necessary for growth and development, and there are very few in their juices, including vitamins and minerals.
Juices should not be given between feedings, but after the child has eaten porridge or vegetables with meat puree, as well as for an afternoon snack. The habit of drinking juice between meals leads to frequent snacking in the future, a love of sweets is instilled, children have more tooth decay and an increased risk of obesity.
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With the start of the introduction of complementary foods, the child is gradually transferred to the 5-time feeding regimen.
Complementary feeding rules:
- preference should be given to baby products of industrial production, they are made from environmentally friendly raw materials, have a guaranteed composition and degree of grinding
- Complementary foods should be offered to the baby by spoon at the start of feeding, before breastfeeding (formula feeding)
- the volume of the product increases gradually, starting with ½ - 1 spoon, and in 7 - 10 days we bring it to the age norm, subsequent products within the same group (cereals from other cereals or new vegetables) can be introduced faster, in 5 - 7 days
- start introduction with monocomponent products
- it is undesirable to give a new product in the afternoon, it is important to follow how the child reacts to it
- do not introduce new products in the event of acute illnesses, and before and immediately after prophylactic vaccination (should be abstained for several days)
When introducing a new type of complementary food, first try one product, gradually increasing its amount, and then gradually "dilute" this product with a new one.
For example, vegetable complementary foods can be started with a teaspoon of zucchini puree. During the week, give the baby only this product, gradually increasing its volume. After a week, add a teaspoon of mashed broccoli or cauliflower to the zucchini puree and continue to increase the total volume every day. Vegetable puree from three types of vegetables will be optimal. The portion should correspond to the age norm. Over time, you can replace the introduced vegetables with others faster. nine0003
After the introduction of one vegetable (bringing its volume to the required amount), you can proceed to the intake of porridge, and diversify the vegetable diet later.
If the child did not like the dish, for example, broccoli, do not give up on your plan and continue to offer this vegetable in a small amount - 1-2 spoons daily, you can even not just once, but 2-3 times before meals, and after 7 - 10, and sometimes 15 days, the baby will get used to the new taste. This diversifies the diet, will help to form the right taste habits in the baby.
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Spoon-feed with patience and care. Forced feeding is unacceptable!
In the diet of healthy children, porridge is usually introduced after vegetables (with the exception of healthy breastfed children, when complementary foods are introduced from 6 months). It is better to start with dairy-free gluten-free cereals - buckwheat, corn, rice. At the same time, it is important to use porridge for baby food of industrial production, which contains a complex of vitamins and minerals. In addition, it is already ready for use, you just need to dilute it with breast milk or the mixture that the baby receives. nine0003
Children suffering from food allergies are introduced complementary foods at 5-5.5 months. The rules for the introduction of products are the same as for healthy children, in all cases it is introduced slowly and begins with hypoallergenic products. Be sure to take into account individual tolerance. The difference is only in the correction of the diet, taking into account the identified allergens.
From meat products, preference should first be given to mashed turkey and rabbit.
Diets for different age periods
explain how to make a diet, it is better on several examples that will help to navigate the menu for your child.
From 5 months, the volume of one feeding is on average 200 ml.
Option 1.
I feeding
6 hours
Breast milk or VHI*
200 ml
II feeding
10 hours
Dairy-free porridge**
Supplementation with breast milk or VHI*
150 g
50 ml
III feeding
14 hours
Vegetable puree
Meat puree Vegetable oil
Supplemental breast milk or VHI*
150 g
5 - 30 g
1 tsp
30 ml
IV feeding
18 hours
Fruit puree
Breast milk or VHI*
60 g
140 ml
V feeding
22 hours
Breast milk or VHI*
200 ml
* - Children's dairy mixture (VHI)
** - diluted with breast milk or VHI
Option 2.
9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000
baby 6 months, if complementary foods were introduced from 4 - 5 months:
| I feeding | Breast milk or VHI* | 200 ml |
| II feeding | Dairy-free porridge** | 150 g |
| III feeding | Vegetable puree | 150 g |
| IV feeding | Fruit puree | nine0086 40 g 140 ml |
| V feeding | Breast milk or VHI* | 200 ml |
* - Children's dairy mixture
** - diluted with breast milk or DMS
Option 3.
An approximate daily diet for a baby at 6.5 months on breastfeeding, if complementary foods began to be administered from 6 months:
| I feeding | Breast milk | |
| II feeding | Dairy-free porridge** | 100 g |
| III feeding | Vegetable puree | 100 g |
| IV feeding | Breast milk |
|
| V feeding | Breast milk |
|
** - diluted with breast milk
Up to 7 months, increase the volume of porridge and vegetable puree to 150 g and introduce fruit puree.
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Proper nutrition of the child from birth to the age of
Nutrition of the child, Diet
Mother's milk is an ideal food that allows you to ensure the full development of the baby during the first half of the year. This is the main food of a monthly baby, and the next 6 months too. At this age, babies do not need to introduce additional fluid in the form of water, herbal teas, teas or juices. All needs will be met by breast milk. With it, the crumbs receive all the necessary, biologically active and nutrients. Mother's milk is ideally adapted to the peculiarities of digestion and metabolism of each child. It contains in the right amount not only carbohydrates, fats, protein, but also such important substances as carnitine, taurine, inositol, polyamines, which are needed for the formation and development of the baby's nervous system and retinal photoreceptors. nine0003
Author: Assistant of the Department of Pediatrics №1 Andrey Pyshnik
Sometimes there is a need for artificial feeding of a child.
This happens if a woman, for one reason or another, cannot breastfeed (a complete lack of milk, a serious illness of the baby or the mother herself) or simply does not want to do this. Artificial - this is feeding, in which the baby completely eats the milk formula or the proportion of breast milk is less than 1/5 of the daily volume of food. In this case, you need to choose the most useful formula for the baby. nine0003
Diet
The main food for a child from 1 to 3 months is only breast milk. No other products should be given until 5-6 months. The baby quickly grows up, his first teeth begin to erupt. So the body signals that a new food needs to be introduced into the child's diet - complementary foods. In addition, after 6 months, the baby becomes more mobile, so its energy needs increase. Mother's milk can no longer provide them, so the child must receive additional nutrition. nine0003
When introducing complementary foods, it is important to adhere to the following rules:
- New foods should be given when the baby is active, during breakfast or lunch with other family members.
- The baby should be in an upright position on a special highchair or on the mother's lap during feeding.
- Give food from a spoon.
- Each new product should be introduced from a small portion (1 teaspoon), gradually brought to the desired age volume over 5-7 days. nine0038
- Give complementary foods after a short period of breast milk (or formula if artificial baby).
- To keep the mother lactating, the baby should be breastfed after weaning.
- When introducing a new weaning meal, make sure it has only one ingredient to avoid unpleasant side effects. Give it a few days in a row.
- If your baby refuses solid food, do not force feed him. It is better to try to give another product that differs from the previous one in texture and taste. nine0038
- Food should be homogeneous, freshly cooked, at a temperature of 36-37 °C.
- Do not add salt and spices to complementary foods.
- If there are signs of intolerance to the product (eating disorders, allergies), its administration should be discontinued.
Complementary foods, if artificial feeding of the child is introduced, should be given from 5 months of age, natural - from 6 months.
Menu
Most of the diet of infants consists of mother's milk. But after 5-6 months, you need to expand the menu of the crumbs, gradually accustoming him to other foods. In the second half of life, breast milk can no longer meet all the needs of a growing body in the micro and macro elements it needs. nine0003
The child's nutrition by months looks like this:
- 6 months. Iron-enriched cereals (buckwheat, rice, corn) are given for signs of anemia, fruit and vegetable purees. They should be given 1-2 times a day, the volume gradually increases. Porridges from several cereals can be introduced when the baby has already met each of them separately. You can add fruits and vegetables to them. It is forbidden to use cereals for adults for complementary foods.
- 6-9 months. Meat is introduced: chicken, beef, rabbit, lean pork, turkey.
First, it should be given in crushed form, starting with 5 grams, and over time it can be in pieces. Children under one year should not be given sausages and other sausages, as they contain a lot of salt. At this age, cottage cheese is also introduced. It is important to remember that you should not give two new products at the same time, it is important that the baby first gets used to one well. nine0038 - Egg yolk is introduced at 7 months of age. At first it is given in the amount of 1/8, with a gradual increase to half by 10-12 months.
- At 8-10 months, breastfeeding complementary foods include the introduction of fish puree (from 10 grams).
- 9-12 months. The child may actively try larger pieces of food.
- After 12 months, the baby can be given egg white, but it is important to remember that it often provokes allergies. Therefore, if you make up the optimal nutrition for children, the menu should not contain it until a year old. nine0038
When complementary foods are introduced, fruits are best given after vegetables, because often, after tasting the sweet taste, children refuse vegetables.
You can mix several ingredients if the baby is well accustomed to each separately. You can not enter spicy, spicy vegetables and fruits.
How often should I give complementary foods? A child at 8 months should be given 3 times a day, at 9-11 months - 4 times. From 12 months you can use a drinking cup.
Diet
The duration of breastfeeding is approximately 15-20 minutes. More often in the first 5 minutes, the baby sucks out the maximum part of the required volume of milk. Then he sucks more slowly, maybe dozing a little. Therefore, you should ensure that the baby is actively sucking, if he falls asleep, wake him up and continue feeding. nine0003
The World Health Organization recommends that proper nutrition for children under 1 year of age should be provided on demand. But this also needs to be approached wisely. Babies have a natural sucking reflex, so you don't need to breastfeed every time he cries. After all, the baby will take it reflexively. Try to analyze the behavior of your baby in order to gradually develop the optimal diet for an infant that is convenient for you.
Approximately you will have to feed the baby every 2.5-3 hours. If after eating he is active and energetic, then this is quite enough. The approximate frequency of feeding children 1-3 months - 7 times a day, 3-5 months - 6 times, and after 5 months the child eats five times. nine0003
The amount of milk consumed per day depends on age. The first 3 days from birth is 40-200 grams, after 7 days - about 400 grams per day, at the end of 2 weeks - 500 grams, at the end of 1 month - about 600 grams, at 2 months - 800 grams. Then, up to a year, the total daily volume of food should not exceed 1 liter.
Peculiarities of a 1-year-old baby's nutrition
To get all the nutrients necessary for the body, a 1-year-old baby should continue feeding with breast milk or an adapted formula, gradually expanding the diet. An obligatory component of food should always be fruits and vegetables. nine0003
Feeding should be done at a frequency of 5 times a day. Please note, when developing a child's nutrition per year, the menu must necessarily contain eggs, fish and meat dishes, cottage cheese and sour-milk products, fats, grains, vegetables and fruits.
It is advisable to introduce vegetable and butter into the diet as a dressing for cereals, mashed potatoes, salads. Spreads and margarines are strictly prohibited!
A small amount of sugar should be included in the diet (about 35 grams). Consider the content of the products to select the appropriate "sweets". For example, you can try to enter: marmalade, dried fruits, natural honey, various cookies. Fast foods are strictly prohibited, as they contain many different flavors, dyes, preservatives and other harmful substances that contribute to the allergization of the body. As a result, there is a problem of excess weight and all kinds of endocrine disorders. nine0003
A child's nutrition per year should contribute to the formation of the correct behavior of the baby during meals. He should eat regularly, 4-5 times a day, without all sorts of snacks. At this age, strong tea should be avoided, as such drinks tend to flush out iron from the body. The amount of food should be appropriate for the weight and age of the child.
Sources:
- Baby food. Complete guide. Author: Natalia Pavlova, Galina Lazareva, Elvira Mullayarova, Vera Podkolzina, S. Sizikumova, O. Anashkina, G. Trofimova. Publisher: Eksmo. Series of books: A complete medical guide for the whole family. Language: Russian, Year of publication 2008. Number of pages: 768 p.
- The results of the daily follow-up of the applied menu for 7 days of healthy children for 1 to 3 years: method. .:TOV “People in white”, 2014-24p.
- Peculiarities of diagnostics and approach to judicious and preventive eating of children of early age with allergy to cow's milk protein: method. recommended/[O.G. nine0449
- Ivakhnenko O.S.S. Zalezhniy Vinikennya that manifest an alergic one is an hour of introduction of not modifiable cows at the di-trookh Rockyv Zhitta at the Daniye Docolidzhennya // Problems of Klinchnychiye. -16).-S.87-92.
- NICE recommendations. Diagnosis of food allergy in children and adults // Children's doctor.
