Baby cereal when to feed
When, What, and How to Introduce Solid Foods | Nutrition
For more information about how to know if your baby is ready to starting eating foods, what first foods to offer, and what to expect, watch these videos from 1,000 Days.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend children be introduced to foods other than breast milk or infant formula when they are about 6 months old. Introducing foods before 4 months old is not recommended. Every child is different. How do you know if your child is ready for foods other than breast milk or infant formula? You can look for these signs that your child is developmentally ready.
Your child:
- Sits up alone or with support.
- Is able to control head and neck.
- Opens the mouth when food is offered.
- Swallows food rather than pushes it back out onto the chin.
- Brings objects to the mouth.
- Tries to grasp small objects, such as toys or food.
- Transfers food from the front to the back of the tongue to swallow.
What Foods Should I Introduce to My Child First?
The American Academy of Pediatrics says that for most children, you do not need to give foods in a certain order. Your child can begin eating solid foods at about 6 months old. By the time he or she is 7 or 8 months old, your child can eat a variety of foods from different food groups. These foods include infant cereals, meat or other proteins, fruits, vegetables, grains, yogurts and cheeses, and more.
If your child is eating infant cereals, it is important to offer a variety of fortifiedalert icon infant cereals such as oat, barley, and multi-grain instead of only rice cereal. Only providing infant rice cereal is not recommended by the Food and Drug Administration because there is a risk for children to be exposed to arsenic. Visit the U.S. Food & Drug Administrationexternal icon to learn more.
How Should I Introduce My Child to Foods?
Your child needs certain vitamins and minerals to grow healthy and strong.
Now that your child is starting to eat food, be sure to choose foods that give your child all the vitamins and minerals they need.
Click here to learn more about some of these vitamins & minerals.
Let your child try one single-ingredient food at a time at first. This helps you see if your child has any problems with that food, such as food allergies. Wait 3 to 5 days between each new food. Before you know it, your child will be on his or her way to eating and enjoying lots of new foods.
Introduce potentially allergenic foods when other foods are introduced.
Potentially allergenic foods include cow’s milk products, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame. Drinking cow’s milk or fortified soy beverages is not recommended until your child is older than 12 months, but other cow’s milk products, such as yogurt, can be introduced before 12 months. If your child has severe eczema and/or egg allergy, talk with your child’s doctor or nurse about when and how to safely introduce foods with peanuts.
How Should I Prepare Food for My Child to Eat?
At first, it’s easier for your child to eat foods that are mashed, pureed, or strained and very smooth in texture. It can take time for your child to adjust to new food textures. Your child might cough, gag, or spit up. As your baby’s oral skills develop, thicker and lumpier foods can be introduced.
Some foods are potential choking hazards, so it is important to feed your child foods that are the right texture for his or her development. To help prevent choking, prepare foods that can be easily dissolved with saliva and do not require chewing. Feed small portions and encourage your baby to eat slowly. Always watch your child while he or she is eating.
Here are some tips for preparing foods:
- Mix cereals and mashed cooked grains with breast milk, formula, or water to make it smooth and easy for your baby to swallow.
- Mash or puree vegetables, fruits and other foods until they are smooth.
- Hard fruits and vegetables, like apples and carrots, usually need to be cooked so they can be easily mashed or pureed.
- Cook food until it is soft enough to easily mash with a fork.
- Remove all fat, skin, and bones from poultry, meat, and fish, before cooking.
- Remove seeds and hard pits from fruit, and then cut the fruit into small pieces.
- Cut soft food into small pieces or thin slices.
- Cut cylindrical foods like hot dogs, sausage and string cheese into short thin strips instead of round pieces that could get stuck in the airway.
- Cut small spherical foods like grapes, cherries, berries and tomatoes into small pieces.
- Cook and finely grind or mash whole-grain kernels of wheat, barley, rice, and other grains.
Learn more about potential choking hazards and how to prevent your child from choking.
Top of Page
Feeding Your 4- to 7-Month-Old (for Parents)
Most babies this age are ready to try solid foods. Experts recommend starting solid foods when a baby is about 6 months old, depending on the baby's readiness and nutritional needs.
Be sure to check with your doctor before giving any solid foods.
Is My Baby Ready to Eat Solid Foods?
How can you tell if your baby is ready for solids? Here are a few hints:
- Does your baby swallow food or push it out of their mouth? Babies have a natural tongue-thrust reflex that pushes food back out. Wait until this reflex disappears (typically when babies are 4–6 months old).
- Can your baby support their own head? To eat solid food, an infant needs good head and neck control and should be able to sit up.
- Is your baby interested in food? Babies who stare, reach and grab, and open their mouths for food are ready to try solid foods.
If your doctor gives the go-ahead but your baby seems frustrated or uninterested in solid foods, try waiting a few days before trying again. Breast milk and formula will still meet nutritional needs as your baby learns to eat solid foods. But after 6 months, babies need the added nutrition — like iron and zinc — that solid foods provide.
Do not add cereal or other food to your baby's bottle because it can lead to too much weight gain.
Watch for signs that your child is hungry or full. Respond to these cues and let your child stop when full. A child who is full may suck with less enthusiasm, stop, or turn away from the breast or the bottle. With solid foods, they may turn away, refuse to open their mouth, or spit the food out.
How Should I Start Feeding My Baby Solid Foods?
When your baby is ready and the doctor says it’s OK to try solid foods, pick a time of day when your baby is not tired or cranky. You want your baby to be a little hungry, but not so hungry that they’re upset. So you might want to give your baby a little breast milk or formula first.
Have your baby sit supported in your lap or in a high chair with a safety strap.
Most babies' first food is iron-fortified infant single-grain cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. Place the spoon near your baby's lips, and let the baby smell and taste it. Don't be surprised if this first spoonful is rejected. Wait a minute and try again. Most food offered to your baby at this age will end up on the baby's chin, bib, or high-chair tray. Again, this is just an introduction.
When your little one gets the hang of eating cereal off a spoon, it may be time to try single-ingredient puréed meat, vegetables, or fruit. The order in which you give them doesn't matter, but go slow. Offer foods that are high in iron and zinc — such as meat, poultry, eggs, and beans — especially if your baby is breastfeeding. Try one food at a time and wait several days before trying something else new. This will let you identify any foods that your baby may be allergic to.
Which Foods Should I Avoid?
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’re 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.
Possible signs of food allergy or allergic reactions include:
- rash
- bloating or an increase in gassiness
- diarrhea
- vomiting
Get medical care right away if your baby has a more severe allergic reaction, like hives, drooling, wheezing, or trouble breathing.
If your child has any type of reaction to a food, don't offer that food again until you talk with your doctor.
Babies shouldn't have:
- 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 beverages 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
Tips for Feeding Your Baby Solid Foods
With the hectic pace of family life, most parents try commercially prepared baby foods at first. They come in small, convenient containers, and manufacturers must meet strict safety and nutrition guidelines.
If you prepare your own baby foods at home, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Follow the rules for food safety, including washing your hands well and often.
- To preserve the nutrients in your baby's food, cook it in ways that keep the most vitamins and minerals. Try steaming or baking fruits and vegetables instead of boiling, which washes away the nutrients.
- Freeze portions that you aren't going to use right away.
- Whether you buy the baby food or make it yourself, texture and consistency are important. At first, babies should have finely puréed single-ingredient foods. (Just applesauce, for example, not apples and pears mixed together.)
- After your baby is eating individual foods, it's OK to offer a puréed mix of two foods. As babies get older, they will learn to eat a greater variety of tastes and textures.
- If you use prepared baby food in jars, spoon some of the food into a bowl to feed your baby. Do not feed your baby right from the jar — bacteria from the baby's mouth can contaminate the remaining food. If you refrigerate opened jars of baby food, it's best to throw away anything not eaten within a day or two.
- Around 6 months of age is a good time for your baby to try a cup. You might need to try a few cups to find one that works for your child. Use water at first to avoid messy clean-ups. Do not give juice to infants younger than 12 months.
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.
What kind of porridge to choose for the first feeding | How to introduce porridge: how to cook, properly breed porridge for the first feeding
Your baby is growing up, getting stronger, gaining weight, and now there comes a moment when feeding only breast milk or formula is not enough for the full development of the crumbs. It's time to introduce complementary foods into your baby's diet. The question arises - where to start? Your pediatrician should answer it.
Today we’ll talk about how to properly introduce complementary foods with cereals. Let's talk about how to breed porridge, which one is better to choose for the first feeding, and how homemade porridge differs from store-bought.
Cereals for children up to one year old
Porridge contains all the necessary set of trace elements, is perfectly absorbed, and has a beneficial effect on the digestive system.
Usually, cereals begin to be introduced into the diet of a baby at the age of six months. If the child is bottle-fed, it is permissible to start earlier, at 4-5 months. These are only approximate dates, in fact, everything is individual. It is necessary to take into account the pace of development of the child, his readiness for adult food and the tendency to allergic reactions.
Complementary foods with cereals are recommended for children who are not gaining weight well. Most likely, the baby simply does not have enough calories. In any case, before starting complementary foods, a pediatrician should be consulted. He will help you choose porridge, tell you in what quantities and how often to feed her child.
It is important that the first porridge be:
- Industrial production . Not only because the raw materials are sterilized and undergo rigorous quality control. But also because at home it is difficult to achieve such a degree of grinding cereals, as cereal manufacturers do. For example, Materna porridges consist of delicate cereal flakes, which form an absolutely homogeneous mass when brewed. If desired, they can be diluted to a thick mixture and offered to the baby to drink from a bottle.
- Single component . To track down the cause of an allergic reaction if it occurs.
Dairy or non-dairy: with which cereals does the first weaning start
Pediatricians recommend starting complementary foods with dairy-free gluten-free cereals. Gluten is a fairly heavy vegetable protein for digestion by a child's body. Its use can lead to allergies. Dairy-free cereals can be diluted with breast milk or your own milk formula to make them more nutritious and taste more familiar to the baby.
The first gluten-free cereals include: corn, rice and buckwheat.
How to switch from dairy-free to milk porridge
If no allergic reactions occur within 4-7 weeks from the start of complementary foods and dairy-free cereals are well absorbed, you can start offering milk cereals for children up to a year old to the baby, their energy value is much higher.
How to properly organize feeding with cereals
For the first acquaintance, you need to cook a five percent porridge, which means that for five grams of dry porridge there should be 100 mg of water. The resulting consistency will be ideal for a child who is not yet able to chew and swallow thick food.
The best time to feed is the morning meal. So you will have time to track the baby's reaction to a new product: if there are any allergies or stool disorders.
For feeding, a baby spoon made of safe material for the baby's delicate gums or a regular teaspoon is used.
As a first test, it is enough to give the child about half a tablespoon of liquid porridge. The kid should try out a new product, get used to the change in texture and taste.
Make sure the porridge is not too cold or hot, and does not contain lumps.
After porridge feeding, feed your baby his usual food - breast milk or formula.
Increase the volume of a serving of porridge only when you are sure that the baby eats it with pleasure, and he does not experience unwanted reactions.
Every day, increase the amount of porridge per spoon until the serving is 150 g for a six-month-old baby, 160-170 g for a child aged 7-8 months and 170-180 g for an age of 8-9months. Closer to the year, the serving volume will be about 200 g. And the five percent porridge is replaced by a thicker, ten percent one.
We remind you that these are only general recommendations, and the development of each child is individual and the dosage may differ from that described above. It is important not to change cereals at the beginning of complementary foods, your baby should get used to one cereal, and only after a successful debut, you can offer the next one - not earlier than in two weeks.
If you start experimenting ahead of time and give your child a different porridge every day, in case of an allergy, it will be very difficult for you to understand what exactly the child's body reacted to.
The child does not eat porridge
Toddlers refuse porridge for various reasons.
- Don't like the taste or texture.
It happens that children who started complementary foods with fruits and vegetables do not eat porridge, because their taste is very different and not so bright. Try adding an already familiar apple or broccoli to a new porridge. In addition, a child may not like the taste of some cereal today, but in a couple of weeks he will eat it with pleasure. Set this mess aside for a while and try again later. - The porridge is too hot or too cold.
Check food temperature on the inside of your wrist. If you do not feel cold or hot, then the temperature is optimal. - The child is not yet hungry. Set the plate aside for half an hour and then try again.
The main advice to parents is not to despair, and offer the same porridge many times in different combinations.
What kind of porridge to introduce first into complementary foods
Be sure to ask your pediatrician for advice on which cereal to give your baby first. After all, all kids are different.
The main types of cereals recommended for consistent introduction into the child's diet:
- Buckwheat porridge . It is considered indispensable in the diet of the child. Contains vitamins B1 and B2, iron, magnesium, protein.
- Rice porridge . Contrary to the common misconception of many parents, baby rice porridge will not cause constipation because it does not contain crushed rice. For the manufacture of these cereals, rice flour is used, which has a beneficial effect on the digestion of the child and is rich in healthy dietary fiber.
- Corn porridge . Such porridge is a leader among other cereals in terms of the content of potassium in its composition. Also contains a large amount of protein, iron and fiber.
- Oatmeal . No other cereal compares to oatmeal in terms of fat and fiber content. In addition, oatmeal is rich in vegetable protein and calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamins B1, B2, PP. Oatmeal is introduced last of all the described cereals, because it is very rare, but there is an allergy.
The Materna product line includes dairy-free and milk porridges for children from 6 months. All cereals do not contain salt and sugar and are made from cereals and fruits grown in Israel specifically for baby food.
Porridge for children: is it possible to give porridge to children and from what age? Recipes with water and milk
Everyone knows about the benefits of cereals for a growing organism. It is cereals for children that are one of the first complementary foods and food during illnesses and during periods of rehabilitation. They are nutritious, contain a large number of essential microelements, are well absorbed, and promote digestion.
However, the usefulness factor of the dish depends on the preparation method . For example, buckwheat porridge is a storehouse of iron. Children who consume it frequently are less likely to become anemic. But if you cook buckwheat porridge in milk (as many do), then the benefits of this cereal are minimized. The thing is that calcium from milk prevents the absorption of iron from buckwheat.
Not everything is so simple with semolina. Modern nutritionists have proven its uselessness for healthy children. In addition to the usual carbohydrates that give a feeling of satiety, there is nothing useful for the child in it. However, it is still quite popular.
So, let's figure out which cereals are the most useful for children, how to cook porridge from them and when to introduce the dish into the diet.
Contents:
- Is it possible to give porridge to children and from what age?
- Benefits of porridge for children
- What kind of porridge to give a child? Which are the most useful?
- Milk or water?
- How to cook porridge for a child: recipes and instructions
- A few tips for cooking porridge
- Cooking examples
- How much porridge to give a child and when?
- The child does not eat porridge - what to do?
Is it possible to give porridge to children and from what age?
WHO recommends introducing complementary foods at 4–6 months of age. During this period, the baby's activity increases, he gains weight, and breast milk or formula may no longer be enough. The enzyme system of the gastrointestinal tract is ready to start taking adult food. Delayed introduction of complementary foods can lead to beriberi and developmental delay.
The scheme for introducing cereals into the diet of a child under one year old is as follows:
6-7 months
The first cereals should be introduced 3-4 weeks after getting used to vegetables. But if the child does not eat up, is not gaining weight well, there are problems with the gastrointestinal tract or a tendency to “liquid” stools, then the pediatrician may prescribe porridge as the first complementary food.
The first cereals should be dairy-free, gluten-free (rice, buckwheat, corn) and monocomponent. Also, the first cereals are cooked without the use of salt, sugar, honey, dried fruits, etc. It is not recommended to cook cereals for children under the first year of life with whole cow's milk.
7-8 months
You can add oatmeal to your diet. Already familiar cereals to try to combine. But only if the child's body is used to them. Porridges can be diluted with additives, such as applesauce.
9-10 months
Introduce barley and wheat groats.
12 months
From this age, you can start cooking porridge with whole cow's milk. But provided that the child is not allergic to it . You can also start giving semolina.
The benefits of porridge for children
Cereal products contain a large amount of carbohydrates, vitamins (group B, iron, zinc, copper, PP, etc.), minerals and vegetable proteins. Cereals are a great source of energy that kids of all ages need so much, especially schoolchildren.
Cereals improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and can help with disorders. So, buckwheat and oatmeal help with constipation, and rice - with diarrhea. The fiber found in cereals helps to remove unnecessary substances from the body, normalizes metabolic processes in the body.
What kind of porridge should I give my child? Which are the most useful?
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
According to the results of numerous studies, the TOP-7 healthy cereals for children were determined: and stimulates the digestive tract. But remember that by cooking cereals in milk, we deprive it of its beneficial properties.
Oatmeal
The benefits of oats are legendary. Even in the old days, seriously ill patients were raised to their feet with decoctions from this amazing cereal and drank the water in which it was boiled to prevent many diseases.
Oatmeal is rich in vitamins B, C, E, fiber. However, it should be understood that instant cereals on the principle of “filled and ready” are of little use. After the processing that they have undergone, and in the presence of flavorings, such cereals are harmful to children. Healthy oatmeal is a porridge cooked from whole grains or flakes, the cooking time of which starts from 3 minutes.
Barley porridge
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Barley porridge. Barley contains iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, vitamins of groups B, PP, D, A, E, zinc, boron, silicon, fluorine. This cereal is very useful for brain activity and restoring metabolism. But its disadvantage is the duration of preparation. Do not be tempted by store offers and buy instant porridge. It will be of little use.
Millet porridge
This cereal contains iodine, iron, chromium, magnesium and other useful substances. Millet is recommended for children with anemia. It improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, helps to accelerate the process of hematopoiesis, helps to remove antibiotics from the body.
Corn porridge (maize)
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Due to its vitamin and mineral composition, it is indicated for children with bad teeth. Strengthens bone tissue and immunity, normalizes the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Also, corn stimulates a decrease in the level of fermentation and decay of food residues in the intestines.
Rice porridge
The benefits of the dish will depend on the type of grain and how it is processed. The most useful type of rice is brown, not polished. Rice is rich in potassium and phosphorus. With 7 amino acids, rice is an excellent source of energy. Rice porridge improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, removes toxins from the body, and helps strengthen the cardiovascular system.
Flaxseed porridge
Originally a Russian dish, this amazing porridge is a source of omega-3 and omega-6. Flaxseeds contain three times more of these fatty acids than fish. It is also distinguished by a high protein content - 34 g of protein per 100 g of porridge.
Milk or water?
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
For children older than a year, it will be more useful to cook porridge with milk, as the fats in it contribute to a better absorption of vitamins from porridge.
Milk porridge is more nutritious and high in calories, it is an additional source of calcium, which is very important for the development of the child's skeleton and teeth.
But when adding milk, you need to take into account several nuances:
- iron-rich cereals will lose their superpower in the prevention and treatment of anemia;
- when preparing cereals for children under one year old, it is not recommended to use whole cow's milk;
- when preparing milk porridge, you need to be sure that the child's body absorbs this product, he is not allergic to lactose;
- milk is added after or at the end of cooking, otherwise it becomes useless.
If you are allergic to lactose, milk can be replaced with a lactose-free formula, milk from plant ingredients (oatmeal, almond, rice, for example).
How to cook porridge for a child: recipes and instructions
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Cereals must be free of husks and other debris. You need to cook well-washed cereals, since in warehouses it is often processed from rodents.
It is advisable to use a pan with a thick bottom for cooking porridge. This will prevent it from burning.
If porridge is prepared for babies, then the cereal can be pre-grinded with a blender or coffee grinder. So the porridge will boil faster and will have a uniform consistency.
A few tips for cooking porridge
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Viscous porridge
To cook a viscous porridge, it must be prepared from crushed cereals and added to boiling water. To prepare a viscous porridge, you need to take 1.5–2 times more water than cereals.
Loose porridge
To obtain loose porridge from buckwheat, pearl barley or millet, cereals and water are taken in a ratio of ½, respectively. Groats are added to boiling water and boiled until water is absorbed. You don't need to stir the porridge.
How to speed up the process?
To make the porridge cook faster, it is pre-soaked. Buckwheat is soaked in cold water 3-4 hours before cooking. It will be possible to have time to cook porridge for children from millet or oats for breakfast if you soak the cereal in hot water overnight. In the morning, swollen porridge will cook very quickly.
Cooking examples
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
The food examples below are common for adults and children.
When preparing porridge for a child under one year old, one should take into account the recommendations of pediatricians and do not add spices and cow's milk. Cow's milk can be substituted for breast milk, goat's milk, vegetable milk, powdered infant formula, water, etc. and ease of preparation. You can use semolina porridge not only in its pure form, but also use it for making desserts and creams.
Ingredients:
- 200 ml milk;
- 1 pinch of salt;
- 1 tsp Sahara;
- 1 st. l. semolina with a slide;
- berries, jam, egg yolk, butter to taste.
Cooking method:
- When the milk boils, add salt and sugar.
- Stirring constantly, add the semolina. It is important to pour the cereal in very small portions. Then there will be no lumps.
- Do not stop stirring until the cereal is completely swollen, usually this process lasts no more than 5 minutes.
- Add oil and mix well.
- To make semolina fluffy, you can beat it with a blender, so it will become like a cream.
- Ready-made porridge can be diluted with fillers to taste.
Baby Rice Porridge
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
If you and your child don't like rice porridge, you can make fluffy rice with this recipe.
What you need:
- 1 st. rice
- 1 st. water;
- oil and spices to taste;
Recipe:
- To make the rice fluffy, put it in cold water.
- Covered and over high heat, rice porridge is brought to a boil.
- After that, the fire is reduced to medium, and the porridge is cooked for another 10 minutes.
- After this time, the fire is set to minimum, and the porridge is cooked for about 5 minutes.
- The saucepan is removed from the heat.
- The lid of the pot is replaced by a cloth towel.
After this, rice porridge will need to stand for another 10 minutes.
Buckwheat porridge for children
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Grain can be ground in a coffee grinder and boiled for 15 minutes. Such a porridge will turn out liquid and it will be convenient to use it from a bottle. If it turned out a little thick, it doesn't matter. The porridge can be diluted with breast milk or prepared formula.
For an older child and schoolchildren, you can cook buckwheat with cheese, because everyone loves it. This dish is perfect for both breakfast and dinner.
Ingredients :
- 200 gr. buckwheat;
- 500 ml water;
- 50 g hard cheese;
- 30 g oil;
- 1 pinch of salt.
Cooking method:
- Boil buckwheat in salted water until tender. The process usually takes 15-20 minutes.
- While buckwheat is cooking, three large cheese.
- Add butter, cheese to the finished porridge and stir quickly.
The dish is served hot so that the cheese stretches. You can decorate with greenery if the child likes.
Corn porridge
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Corn porridge is perfect for both babies and older children. It's filling, healthy, and gluten-free. You can cook with both milk and water.
Very tasty when combined with pumpkin.
Ingredients :
- 200 g pumpkin pulp;
- 100 g grits;
- 250 ml milk;
- 25 g oil;
- steamed dried fruits, jam, honey to taste.
Cooking method:
- Pour boiling water over grits and leave to swell.
- While the corn grits swell, cut the pumpkin pulp into small slices and simmer with sugar.
- Pour grits into boiling milk and cook for 15 minutes at minimum heat, stirring constantly.
- A few minutes before cooking, add butter and pumpkin.
- If desired, add honey, steamed dried fruits, etc.
Millet porridge
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Whole grain millet porridge for children is prepared from 1–1.5 years old. Until this age, it is recommended to use cereals of varying degrees of grinding or grind yourself.
Since now we have a pumpkin season, and this is a very healthy vegetable that can be introduced into complementary foods for babies from 6 months old, we will consider a recipe for making porridge with it.
Ingredients :
- 130 g pulp;
- 200 ml milk;
- 200 ml. water;
- 0.5 st. cereals;
- oil and spices to taste.
Preparation:
- Cut the pumpkin into cubes.
- Place the grits and pumpkin in a saucepan and cover with hot water.
- Boil and remove the film.
- Salt.
- Let the water boil, preferably the millet remains firm.
- Boil the milk and add it to the porridge.
- Cover with a lid and bring to readiness over low heat.
When serving, add butter and dried fruits to taste.
Milk porridge for children
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
One of the most common breakfast cereals is oatmeal with milk. Delicious, healthy, fast.
It can be diluted with various toppings, frozen berries, made sweet and savory, and even served as a side dish for meat.
For a child over one year old, oatmeal porridge is cooked from unground flakes.
Ingredients :
- 2 tbsp. l. flakes;
- 200 ml milk / water;
- spices, oil, toppings to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Bring the used milk or water to a boil.
- Reduce heat and add cereal.
- Cook the porridge for about 7 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes.
Water porridge for children
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
Children's cereals can be cooked from several cereals at the same time. This is useful and expands the range of trace elements obtained. However, it should be understood that can only be mixed with cereals that the child has previously consumed.
For example, rice and millet porridge “Druzhba”.
What you need:
- 0.5 tbsp. millet;
- 0.5 st. rice
- 1 l water;
- spices to taste.
Cooking method:
- Mix cereals with water and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a minimum and cook for another 20-30 minutes, making sure that it does not burn.
- Add oil and spices to the finished porridge.
How much porridge to give a child and when?
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
New products are introduced into the diet of babies from 1-2 tsp. in the morning or afternoon to observe the reaction. With a positive result, the amount of a new product increases proportionally and in a few days the volume is brought to the age norm.
Product in g or ml. | 4-6 months | 7 months | 8 months | 9-12 months |
Vegetable puree | 10-150 | 170 | 180 | 200 |
Milk porridge | 10-150 | 150 | 180 | 200 |
Fruit puree | 5-60 | 70 | 80 | 90-100 |
Fruit juice | 5-60 | 70 | 80 | 90-100 |
Meat puree | 5-30 | 30 | 50 | 60-70 |
Curd | 10-40 | 40 | 40 | 50 |
Fermented milk drinks (kefir, etc. ) | – | – | 200 | 200 |
Fish puree | – | – | 5-30 | 30-60 |
Yolk | – | 1/4 pcs. | 1/2 pcs. | 1/2 pcs. |
Biscuits | – | 3-5 | 5 | 10-15 |
Wheat bread | – | – | 5 | 10 |
Butter | 1-4 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Vegetable oil | 1-3 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
⠀
Porridge is better to give the baby for breakfast. It will provide him with energy and a feeling of satiety for the whole day. However, if the baby sleeps restlessly and often wakes up hungry at night, then evening feeding can be replaced with it.
The child does not eat porridge - what should I do?
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com
If the child refuses to eat porridge, the reason should be investigated to correct the situation.
These may include:
- consistency;
- temperature;
- bad experience;
- don't like the taste;
- feeling unwell.
After identifying the cause, you can correct the situation as follows:
- Dilute the porridge with breast milk or formula so that it becomes liquid. With a positive result, gradually reduce the amount of liquid.
- Make sure that the porridge offered to the child is appropriate for his age group. If the porridge is cooked on its own, then you should try to grind it even more until smooth.
- Change additives. For example, a child refuses to eat porridge with pumpkin. Offer him porridge with an apple.
- Change of scenery. If during the last feeding of the baby something was very disturbing, he was frightened, then it is worth moving the highchair to another room.