How early can you feed a baby cereal
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.
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When Can You Start Feeding a Baby Rice Cereal? Safety and More
If you ask for advice on the best time to start feeding your baby rice cereal, the responses may be all over the place.
Some people might suggest feeding a baby rice cereal starting at 6 months, whereas others might suggest as young as only 2 or 3 months old.
But just because someone else gives their baby rice cereal early doesn’t mean that you should do the same. For advice, the best place to go is to your own pediatrician — they’re the authority on your baby’s health. In the meantime, here’s what other experts recommend.
Updated recommendations
New guidelines caution that rice cereal shouldn’t be the only solid given. So the old practice of starting only iron-fortified rice cereal at about 6 months is no longer recommended.
For the first few months of life, you’ll feed your baby exclusively with breast milk or formula. Anything other than breast milk or formula is considered a solid food. So when deciding the right time to start your baby on rice cereal, you should follow the same guidelines for starting a baby on solid foods.
Some people argue that rice cereal is an exception to the guidelines — perhaps because of the ability of rice cereal to dissolve in (and “thicken”) breast milk or formula when added in small quantities.
Yet, rice cereal is a solid food. Babies aren’t ready for solid foods until they’re about 6 months old.
Since every baby is different, it’s important to look for signs that your baby is actually ready to start eating rice cereal before serving it.
You should hold off feeding a baby solid food until they have control of their neck and head. Your little one will need to be upright while eating, so they should be able to sit in a highchair.
Most importantly, don’t give a baby rice cereal until they have the oral skills to move solid food from the front of their mouth to the back. This skill doesn’t typically develop until at least 4 months old. Until then, your baby’s tongue will push out any food that enters their mouth.
Another telltale sign that your baby may be ready for solid food is when they express an interest in your food. If you’re eating in their presence, they might try to grab your food — or lean in toward food with their open mouth (have your camera ready!).
For the most part, you shouldn’t give a baby rice cereal before the recommended guidelines. Even though the extrusion reflex — that automatic reflex that causes a baby’s tongue to push food forward — can provide some protection before they’re ready, offering solid food too early can still pose a choking or aspiration risk.
Giving a baby rice cereal — or other solid foods — too early may also increase a baby’s risk of having obesity.
But when they’re ready, rice cereal can be a great starter food, among others.
After several months of only consuming breast milk or formula, some babies have difficulty adjusting to solid foods.
To start the introduction process, mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of iron-fortified rice cereal with 4 to 6 tablespoons of formula, breast milk, or water. Some people mix rice cereal with fruit juice, too. But this isn’t recommended because fruit juice doesn’t offer health benefits and is very high in sugar.
Spoon feed an iron-fortified rice cereal to your baby.
(It’s important that babies get enough iron once they start solid foods.) But don’t be surprised if it takes a couple of feedings for your baby to get the hang of eating this way. You can nurse or bottle feed first, and then end feedings with rice cereal.
Doctors used to recommend rice cereal as a “first food.” But now we know that age-appropriate foods can be introduced in any order, and rice cereal shouldn’t be the only solid given for very long due to arsenic exposure, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
You can introduce other jar or puréed foods like fruits and vegetables before or after you introduce rice cereal. And do include other iron-fortified, single-grain cereals besides rice. Variety is the spice of life — even for baby!
When introducing new solid foods to your baby, do so one at a time. This way, you can detect any potential food allergies or sensitivities early. For example, after you feed your baby peas for the first time, wait 3 to 5 days before introducing carrots.
You might have heard of adding rice cereal to a bottle to thicken breast milk or formula. This, however, isn’t recommended unless your pediatrician says it’s OK.
If your baby has episodes of acid reflux, your doctor might advise this method to thicken the milk and try to prevent regurgitation. But this is rare.
Starting a baby on solid food is a major milestone, but you shouldn’t introduce rice cereal too early. Doing so poses a few different risks. So wait until your baby is about 6 months, and look specifically for signs that they’re ready for solids.
When in doubt, talk it out — with your pediatrician. They’re a goldmine of information, and best of all, they know your baby’s health better than anyone else, including Dr. Google.
Diet for a 4-6 month old baby
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.
You are still breastfeeding your baby or have had to switch to mixed 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.
The 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.
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.
As a rule, at an earlier age (4 - 4.5 months), complementary foods are introduced to children at risk of developing iron deficiency anemia, as well as children with insufficient weight gain and with functional digestive disorders.
The optimal time to start complementary foods for 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 extensive practical experience and scientific research, this is possible only in cases where the child was born on time, without malnutrition (since in these cases the mineral reserves are very small), he is healthy, grows well and develops. 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.
The first complementary food can be vegetable puree or porridge, fruit puree is better to give 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.
If the first complementary food is 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.
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.
With the start of the introduction of complementary foods, the child is gradually transferred to a 5-time feeding regimen.
Rules for the introduction of complementary foods:
- 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 entered 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, as well as 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.
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 and continue to offer this vegetable in a small amount - 1-2 spoons daily, you can not even 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.
Spoon-feeding should be done 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.
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 you can make a diet, it is better to use a few examples that will help you navigate in compiling a menu specifically for your child.
From 5 months, the volume of one feeding is on average 200 ml.
Option 1.
If your baby started receiving complementary foods from 4-5 months, then at 6 months his diet should look like this:
| 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 |
* - infant formula
** - diluted with breast milk or VHI
Option 2.
* - infant formula Option 3. : ** - diluted with breast milk Up to 7 months, increase the volume of porridge and vegetable puree to 150 g and introduce fruit puree. The materials were prepared by the staff of the Healthy and Sick Child Nutrition Laboratory of the National Research Center for Children's Health of the Ministry of Health of Russia and are based on the recommendations given in the National Program for Optimizing the Feeding of Children in the First Year of Life in the Russian Federation, approved at the XV Congress of Pediatricians of Russia (02.2009d.) 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 of the dish depends on the cooking method . For example, buckwheat porridge is a storehouse of iron. 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. WHO recommends that the first complementary foods be introduced at 4–6 months of age. The scheme for introducing cereals into the diet of a child under one year old is as follows: 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 on whole cow's milk. 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. Introduce barley and wheat groats. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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: If you are allergic to lactose, milk can be replaced with a lactose-free formula, milk from plant ingredients (oatmeal, almond, rice, for example). Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com Cereals must be free of husks and other debris. 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. Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com 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. 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. To make the porridge cook faster, it is pre-soaked. 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 replaced with 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: Cooking method: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com If you and your child don't like rice porridge, you can make crumbly rice with this recipe. What you need: Recipe: After that, rice porridge will need to stand for another 10 minutes. 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 : Cooking method: The dish is served hot so that the cheese stretches. You can decorate with greenery if the child likes. 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 : Cooking method: 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 : Preparation: When serving, add butter and dried fruits to taste. 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 : Method of preparation: 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: Method of preparation: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock. 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. I feeding
6 hours Breast milk or VHI* 200 ml II feeding
10 hours Dairy-free porridge**
Fruit puree 150 g
20 g III feeding
14 hours Vegetable puree
Meat puree Vegetable oil
Fruit juice 150 g
5 - 30 g
1 tsp
60 ml IV feeding
18 hours Fruit puree
Breast milk or VHI* 40 g
140 ml V feeding
22 hours Breast milk or VHI* 200 ml
** - diluted with breast milk or VMS 
I feeding
6 hours Breast milk II feeding
10 hours Dairy-free porridge**
Breast milk supplement 100 g III feeding
14 hours Vegetable puree
Meat puree Vegetable oil
Breast milk supplement 100 g
5 - 30 g
1 tsp IV feeding
18 hours Breast milk V feeding
22 hours Breast milk 
Porridge for children: is it possible to give porridge to children and from what age? Recipes with water and milk
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. Contents:
Is it possible to give porridge to children and from what 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. 6-7 months
7-8 months
9-10 months
12 months
The benefits of porridge for children
What kind of porridge should I give my child? Which are the most useful?
Oatmeal
Barley porridge
Millet porridge
Corn porridge (maize)
Also, corn stimulates a decrease in the level of fermentation and decay of food residues in the intestines. Rice porridge
Flaxseed porridge
Milk or water?
How to cook porridge for a child: recipes and instructions
You need to cook well-washed cereals, since in warehouses it is often processed from rodents. A few tips for cooking porridge
Viscous porridge
Loose porridge
How to speed up the process?
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
Baby rice porridge
Buckwheat porridge for children
Corn porridge
Millet porridge
Milk porridge for children
Water porridge for children
How much porridge to give a child and when?
com
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 Sour 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
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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 a 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.
- Check 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.
