When do you stop giving baby food
When to Stop Pureed Food for Infants | Healthy Eating
By Krista Sheehan Updated December 12, 2018
Knowing when to stop pureed foods in your baby's diet isn't as easy as knowing when to change his diaper. There is no one-size-fits-all rule for feeding your baby -- but he'll let you know when he's ready. Adding pureed foods to your baby’s diet at around 4 months of age introduces a new world of tastes and textures. But knowing when to stop pureed foods -- usually around 1 year of age -- is important for helping your baby develop chewing and swallowing skills.
Developmental Timeline
Typically, infants are started on pureed foods between 4 to 6 months of age. In the beginning, choose pureed foods with only one ingredient. As the infant becomes more accustomed to the new texture, include pureed foods with a combination of ingredients -- this typically occurs around 6 to 8 months of age. As your baby moves into the 8- to 10-month time frame, chunkier pureed foods can be introduced. If your baby does well with these foods, introduce soft, cooked vegetables and cooked fruits, breads, soft cereals, scrambled eggs and yogurt around 10 to 12 months of age. If your baby manages these soft foods easily, stop pureed foods. Ideally, your baby should not be eating pureed foods after 1 year of age.
Baby’s Readiness Cues
Your baby will give you certain clues that indicate he’s ready for solid and finger foods. These cues might include picking up foods with his thumb and forefinger, easily transferring items from one hand to the other and moving his mouth in a chewing motion. Your baby will also be ready to stop eating pureed foods as he develops more teeth and gains more control of his tongue. However, if you attempt to stop pureed foods at 12 months and your baby is struggling with solid and finger foods, adding pureed foods back into the diet might be necessary. Consult your pediatrician if you have any concerns or questions about your baby’s specific diet.
Allergy Considerations
When adding new foods to a baby’s diet, add only one new ingredient at a time. This feeding plan allows you to more easily identify a baby’s allergies or sensitivities to specific foods. Allow your baby to eat the new ingredient for a few days -- unless an allergic reaction occurs, of course. If no reactions occur after a few days, you can safely add another new ingredient to your baby’s diet.
Foods to Avoid
Certain foods and ingredients should be completely avoided in a baby’s diet. According to the Florida Department of Health, your baby should never be given pureed foods made with honey, corn syrup, added sugar, artificial sweeteners, spices, seasonings or salt.
References- March of Dimes: Feeding Your Baby
- Cooking Light: Baby Feeding Timeline
- BabyCenter: Age-by-Age Guide to Feeding your Baby
Krista Sheehan is a registered nurse and professional writer.
She works in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and her previous nursing experience includes geriatrics, pulmonary disorders and home health care. Her professional writing works focus mainly on the subjects of physical health, fitness, nutrition and positive lifestyle changes.
When to end purees and start soft table foods with your infant
Julia was delighted to begin solid foods with her 6-month-old son Brandon. Brandon was a champion eater and quickly learned to manage the iron-fortified rice cereal fed to him from a spoon. As Brandon grew, Julia began introducing pureed foods to provide a more balanced diet in addition to breast milk. By 8 months, Brandon grew impatient for his mother to spoon purees into his mouth. At 10 months, Brandon was communicating he was hungry even though he had eaten three bowls of puree an hour earlier. Julia was wondering why her son had such a veracious appetite and wasn’t content after eating
It is a pleasure to introduce infants to the new tastes of solid foods at 6 months of age.
Watching their little tongues learn to move food from the front to the back of their mouths to swallow is mesmerizing. And as soon as they have mastered this skill, parents love to start introducing other foods in pureed form, such as fruits and vegetables. Later, protein sources such as meat, fish, or legumes are also added to the purees to provide a balanced diet in addition to breast milk or formula.
However well intentioned, some parents continue to provide purees rather than moving onto solid table foods because:
they fear that their baby won’t eat enough;
their baby will not be able to mash the soft foods with their gums;
their baby will choke on non-pureed foods; or
the parent enjoys spending time feeding their little one with a spoon.
Reasons such as these may lead parents to offer purees longer than is recommended.
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Baby cereals and purees are only needed during the first months of learning to eat solid foods. Babies need to learn to control their tongues to move the food from the front of their mouths to the back of their mouths to swallow. Purees allow them the perfect consistency to master this skill. The next step is for them to accept food into their mouth and learn to chew the food with their gums before swallowing. This natural transition from swallowing a liquefied food (puree) to breaking down soft foods (chewing) helps prepare babies for feeding themselves independently.
When parents continue to offer purees rather than soft table foods, there are a few issues that can arise, including:
Babies take a passive role in eating because the parent is directly involved with spoon-feeding.
This can interfere with the baby’s natural hunger and satiety responses;
It can be difficult for babies to accept foods with different types of textures because they are not used to feeling all the unique ways that solid foods feels in the mouth;
Babies can choke if they think they are supposed to swallow everything in their mouth without chewing. They need time and practice to learn to chew before swallowing; and
Purees pass through the stomach faster than solid foods because they are already partially broken down before being swallowed. This can lead to feelings of hunger and stress about when the next offering of food will occur.
To help your baby avoid these and many other issues around feeding, it is recommended that purees are phased out and soft, solid foods are introduced as soon as your baby can move foods easily from the front of their mouth to the back to swallow. This usually happens for most infants by 6-8 months of age. After your baby has mastered this skill, you can start providing foods that the rest of your family is enjoying.
You can offer well-cooked, mashed, or ground fruits and vegetables, mashed potatoes, sticky rice, or wheat-free dry cereals like Cheerios that have been broken in half in addition to breast milk or formula.
By 7-10 months, most infants are able to eat chopped cooked vegetables, canned or cooked fruits, cheese, mashed cooked dried beans, strips of toast, crackers and dry cereal, as well as breast milk or formula. And by 9-12 months, most babies can eat cut up soft cooked foods, cut up soft foods like bananas or peaches, tender chopped meats, dishes with noodles that are cut up, dry cereal, toast, crackers, eggs, and cheese, in addition to breast milk or formula. This progression is to prepare your baby to move onto being a toddler on their first birthday and be able to eat everything from the family table that is soft. Remember to avoid foods that can cause choking like whole grapes or sausage rounds. Meat should continue to be cut up into small pieces. Whole pasteurized milk can be given in place of breast milk or formula.
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Allowing your baby to grow and adapt their eating habits during the first year of life, as their development permits, will set them up to learn to accept and enjoy a wide variety of foods that support a healthy diet. They will also learn to take more control over eating enough food to keep their bodies satisfied between meals and snacks.
Encouraging your baby to transition from purees to solid foods is a wonderful way to support their growth and development.
Sources:
Satter, E. (2000). Child of mine: Feeding with love and good sense. Boulder, CO: Bull Publishing Company.
Swarzenberg, S. Georgieff, M. & Committee on Nutrition. (2018). Advocacy for improving nutrition in the first 1000 days to support childhood development and adult health. Pediatrics 141(2), doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-3716.
World Health Organization. (2003). Feeding and nutrition of infants and young children: Guidelines for the WHO European Region. Denmark: WHO Region Publications.
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About the instructor
Proactive Parenting
Dr. Deanna Marie Mason PhD
More than 20 years of clinical experience helping families:
Bachelor's Degree in Registered Nursing, Master’s Degree in Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and PhD in Nursing. University professor, patient education specialist, pediatric researcher, published author and reviewer to first-line international scientific journals, continuous philanthropic activity related to health promotion and education, wife and mother of two children.
Is it possible to feed dogs with baby food, what to give instead for puppies
January 25, 2022
The question seems simple and unambiguous only at first glance. Many people think that if a product is made for babies, its quality should be on top and certainly suitable for feeding pets. We do not argue that in most cases the production of food for infants is indeed of high standards, but the problem here is not in the quality of raw materials and compliance with production standards, but in compliance with the composition of baby food to the needs of predators - adults and especially growing ones. nine0003
Only as a treat
If there is a baby in the house, dogs often get uneaten leftovers from instant cereals, milk mixtures, vegetable and meat purees. Well, if it's about giving baby food as treats to dogs, it's okay, even though it doesn't make sense. Just do not forget that the share of this kind of treats should be no more than 10% of the calorie content of the entire diet (per day), otherwise your dog will quickly gain weight, which will be very difficult to get rid of.
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Particularly harmful in this regard are porridges, a source of readily available carbohydrates. However, cottage cheese, kefir and milk mixtures are also not the healthiest food for a dog. Yes, they contain milk protein and usually probiotics, but they are often additionally sweetened - which is not good for animals at all. If we are not talking about puppies, but about adult dogs, then “native” milk sugar is a big risk. The farther from puppyhood, the less pets have enzymes designed to digest lactose. By 7-8 months, only a small part of the dogs can digest and assimilate the "milk" well, the majority have bloating, diarrhea of varying degrees of intensity. nine0003
What about meat purees in glass and tin jars - such as Tyoma, Nestle, Grandmother's basket, etc.? It is they who are most often referred to when they talk about feeding pets with baby food. Moreover, many owners specifically buy baby food in stores, and do not use stocks purchased for children and grandchildren with the goal of “not wasting”.
Usually this practice is typical for owners of small puppies, adult dogs of small breeds, as well as pets who find it difficult to chew. Alas, it is undesirable to give even meat baby food to dogs on an ongoing basis. And there are reasons for this. nine0003
Why shouldn't you feed your dog meat baby food?
First, these products have a completely different composition. The dog will obviously not receive the necessary components - animal protein and fat, which are vital for it, and calories will not be received from the usual and so healthy meat, fish or poultry, but most likely from grain and starch.
Secondly, all these products undergo a powerful heat treatment (sterilized), during which not only possible pathogenic microorganisms are destroyed, but also many useful substances vital for predators are lost - a number of amino acids and vitamins. In the manufacture of industrial food for dogs, the same thing usually happens, however, manufacturers, knowing about the problem, add “lost” substances additionally, at the last stage of production.
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It is not for nothing that ready-made food, which is intended for daily nutrition of animals, is called “complete” or “balanced”, and its recipe is called “formula”. On the label you will definitely find the components included in the mineral-vitamin complex, the amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber. And even if some substances were not enough in the feedstock, after taking samples for analysis, the developer will add what is needed to the “dough” of the feed.
Data on the needs of dogs are not taken from the ceiling and not from the personal experience of the manufacturer, but are correlated with the figures recommended by the competent regulatory organizations - AAFCO, FDA, as well as GOSTs for non-productive animals. nine0025
Thirdly, in the composition of children's meat food, you can often find such undesirable components as potato starch, rice or wheat flour. And also, which is rather unpleasant, salt, spices and even dried onions.
The proportion of such additives is rarely indicated, and it may happen that when buying a “meat” puree, you will provide your pet with only its likeness, moreover, devoid of the necessary nutrients.
Why is the use of baby food so popular in feeding puppies and dogs? This product really has many advantages: it contains understandable types of meat, is well homogenized and has a delicate texture (which is important for small puppies and dogs with oral problems), is completely ready for use and can be stored at room temperature. An important advantage for some owners is the financial side of the issue: sometimes baby food seems cheaper than high-quality wet dog food, and at the same time it is easy to buy. nine0003
Is it possible, taking into account the above-mentioned advantages, to choose an analogue for children's purees among canned food created specifically for dogs? Delicious, complete, healthy in composition, delicate in texture, conveniently packaged and affordable and available in stores? Of course.
What to give instead of baby food?
Let's start with those who receive baby food not from younger family members, but from reverent owners who strive to give their pet the best and safest.
Feeding small puppies
For the first three weeks, mother's milk is the only thing a puppy needs, but then you can start accustoming a kitten to meat food. Not any diet is suitable, but as you understand, the most tender, easily digestible and very nutritious. It is commonly referred to as a "starter", but not all manufacturers make one. We have such a product in our assortment, it is Blitz Sensitive "Turkey with Zucchini" - a starter food for puppies, pregnant and lactating bitches. Packed in 200 g cans with a key. Contains turkey meat, several types of offal, zucchini pulp, milk powder, prebiotics and a vitamin and mineral complex. The product has a high calorie content, so it is advisable to give it up to 4 months, when the puppies are growing rapidly, then it is advisable to switch to other canned food options, for example, with chicken and pumpkin or lamb and turkey.
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All Blitz wet foods for dogs and puppies are complete rations with 80% to 98% meat ingredients. By consistency, they are divided into “pieces in sauce” or chopped pates, they are available in different packaging options (85 g, 200 g, 400 g and even 700 g) and are presented in a wide flavor palette - you will definitely choose what suits your pet.
The current assortment can be viewed on this page of our catalogue. Foods marked "for all breeds and ages" are designed, among other things, for the daily feeding of puppies that have come out of the lactation period. nine0003
Canned food for small breeds of dogs
Miniature pets (Chihuahuas, Spitz, Dachshunds, Toy) are also very fond of eating baby food, and in terms of packaging it seems to be intended for them for a single portion. But, despite the external "toy", these are real dogs - brave, tireless, with well-developed muscles and light bones. And they need to eat the same way as other breeds - not purees like "Tyoma", but a balanced diet.
Pieces of canned Lamb with Salmon, Beef with White Fish or Turkey with Duck soaked in fragrant sauce will please your gourmet much more than baby food, and they will be a hundred times more useful. nine0003
Blitz dog food is produced in Russia using European equipment. They are developed taking into account the recommendations of leading veterinary organizations and regulatory authorities, from high-quality raw materials, without the use of preservatives and dyes.
Nutrition for debilitated dogs
In most cases (except for liver diseases) during the recovery period and in old age, dogs do not need diet food (as we understand it), but easily digestible nutritious food. If your dog was recommended a temporary liquid diet after surgery, or if your pet has oral problems, it is not necessary to opt for baby mashed meats. The correct choice would be to use any of Blitz's complete wet or even dry foods, bringing them to the desired consistency with water.
Learn how to properly soak dry food here. nine0003
Blitz – available to everyone
Blitz wet food can be found on all major online trading platforms (Ozon, Wildberries, YandexMarket), ordered on the official website of the brand or bought at the pet store of our distributor partners. A complete list of them, with addresses and phone numbers, you can see on this map. We supply our products to all regions of Russia.
Due to Russian production, transparent logistics and focus on quality, Blitz wet food boasts a competitive price. You can give them to your pet every day, and it will certainly not be more expensive than feeding him baby food, but it is guaranteed to be more beneficial for his health and development. nine0025
12+1 advice on how to teach your child to eat healthy
I am a happy mother of two perfectly healthy children who eat almost everything I eat. And I think that these are not just two separate facts, but a causal relationship: proper nutrition for children and their health.
At the same time, I am not a “superwoman” at all, I don’t have a nanny, a cook, a personal trainer and a nutritionist (however, the latter is completely useless to me, because I myself am one). I don’t even have relatives on hand who can take the children for the weekend, freeing up my free time, or come to visit, capturing provisions for the week ahead. In general, I am the most ordinary mother. The only thing that makes me different from other moms is that I am strong of my profession understand like no one else how important it is to teach children to eat right.
Not without pride I can say that I myself sometimes wonder when they voluntarily refuse juice or "Cola" at a party, choosing water, and paella with an abundance of clams of various colors and pumpkin soup with ginger call their "dishes life" is a direct translation from the Danish "livret".
Actually, the menu of the Danes is not particularly correct, and the children's diet often shocks me: an abundance of soda, sweets, endless pasta with meat sauce and dominance of dairy products.
So society is clearly not conducive to consolidating healthy eating habits in children. At every children's party, just look at the food served to understand that Danish children have endless colds and allergies for a reason. Yes, children are here all year round on the street, but snot under the nose from October to April is considered the norm here. And if they are not, then they are even surprised. nine0003
In addition, there are many chronic diseases in Denmark such as otitis media. Personally, I also attribute this to malnutrition and poor intestinal microflora, which directly affects children's immunity. And how can she, the microflora, be good when bifidobacteria feed on fiber, which we mainly get from vegetables? After all, if the child’s diet consists of what they managed to stuff into him by hook or by crook (bread, rolls, cheese, sausage, sweets and pasta with meat), then why be surprised that the child is constantly sick? nine0003
Personally, I get the impression that modern parents are so busy that they no longer have the strength to fight with their child for proper nutrition.As a result, many give up and let the children eat what they want. What they want, as a rule, is not salad and fish...
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But! Dear Parents. Stop for a second and think: now you will save time and energy by succumbing to the persuasion of the child, but in the long run everyone will be the losers. After all, if your child is often sick, then it takes a lot of time and effort. Both yours and his. And in general, it is so disgusting to get sick! In addition, food is not just calories. It is the building material for our body. And there is no need to talk about how important this is for growing organisms. Your child's diet today is an investment in their future health, as pretentious as that sounds. nine0003
I am sure that all parents want only the best for their children. And certainly everyone at least tried to accustom children to proper nutrition. Let me share as many as thirteen tips on how to do this in practice. All advice is based on my personal experience, and believe me, it works.
I came to this somewhere intuitively, somewhere through reading smart books about children and their upbringing, and I simply borrowed some advice from other parents.
So, how to teach a child to eat healthy
Tip 1: No baby food
Yes, you read that right. After the child has the opportunity to chew on an equal footing with adults, he should eat exactly the same as the rest of the family. Of course, you can (and even should) at first pick out, for example, pits from olives before giving them to your child, but here you can prepare “children's” dishes specially or, even worse, feed your child with special baby food from jars, no need.
I know many families where mother cooks two dinners - one for a small child and one for the others. Like, we don't have this, and this, and this. Where such confidence? Have you tried giving it to him at least a try? Why did you decide in advance that olives and pickled artichokes are not for children? Let the child try, and there he already decides whether he has them or not.
Personally, my son already adored olives at 6 months. Moreover, the more intense taste they had, the more he liked them. So save time and effort - cook what you usually do. nine0003
I remember my ex-husband once said that I cook food that is not for children. When asked what kind of "children's" food this is, he answered me: "Well, pasta , potatoes and rice." I answered honestly that I was not going to eat pasta, potatoes and rice for dinner for the next 17 years just because I had children. The idea caught on, because he (her husband), apparently, didn’t want to eat like that either, and he wanted to cook for the children even less. And I refused to do it. And I never regretted this decision. nine0003
Tip 2: Be consistent - no means no
If you make a rule, stick to it and don't change your mind halfway through. For example, if you promised dessert only to those who ate their dinner (whole or a specified portion), then in no case give up the slack. If the child has not eaten the agreed amount of food, then no dessert.
If you threaten every evening with no dessert, but then, out of the kindness of your soul, still offer it to your child, he will quickly realize that from now on he can not eat dinner at all if he does not like it. After all, there will still be dessert! And what kind of fool would eat a salad if you can immediately proceed to fruit or candy in general? They set a condition - stick to it, otherwise you will not only not accustom the child to normal food, but also lose his respect.
Tip 3: Be an example
It is foolish to tell children about proper nutrition while eating a hamburger and washing it down with cola. Children do not do what we tell them, but what their parents do.
Recently I scolded my daughter for the fact that all her clothes are lying around in her room for nothing, to which she reasonably told me: “Mom, everything is exactly the same in your room.
” And she was right ... I had nothing to say.
Therefore, when teaching a child to eat right, start first with yourself. Take a hard look at your eating habits. To do this, I recommend writing down everything you eat and drink for 5-7 days, including weekends. For many, this is sobering and makes you look at your diet in a new way. nine0003
Before my nutrition consultations , I usually send people these charts to fill out, and you know what? Most are surprised and about 80% say at a meeting: “In fact, I don’t eat quite like that. There were just guests here (holidays, weekends, vacations, birthdays, a lot of work ... "- emphasize the necessary. But, my dears! There is no standard life in principle. Therefore, proper nutrition does not happen only on those days when everything goes without interference. After all, interference is that very life.Therefore, try to eat healthier every day.How to do this with the least loss of time, I already wrote here .
Tip 4: No sweets on weekdays
Yes, that's right.
The point here is that sweets really bring joy. And when joy becomes commonplace, it is no longer joy at all. Many people give their children sweets and cookies every day, saying that sweets are needed for the brain to work. Firstly, this is not true, because the brain needs glucose, and not just sweets. We are able to get glucose from the most ordinary food. Secondly, by eating sweets, children do not have “place” for normal food. Sweets really kill the appetite. So save the treats for the weekend. nine0003
Advice 5: From drinks - only water
Milk, juices, fruit drinks and compotes are already food, not thirst-quenching drinks. I remember a woman wrote to me who did not know how to feed a child with normal food. As it turned out, he drank about 2 liters of milk a day. And this is in their 2-plus years! At the same time, he was given a “healthy” whole-grain cookie as a bite. “Because there is fiber and no sugar,” this lady told me. Cunning manufacturers take advantage of our ignorance: the name “sugar-free” often hides completely harmless sweeteners or fructose.
Therefore, the utility of such a product tends to zero. nine0003
Of course, you can give children juice, compote, and fruit drinks (please note that they are free of preservatives and added sugar). But remember that this is already food that takes the place of more healthy products. Personally, I give children a small glass of juice on weekdays at breakfast, and on weekends we drink vegetable smoothies with berries and fruits.
Tip 6: Establish a diet and stick to it
Children have a much easier life when they know exactly what, when and how will happen in their lives. Rituals and regimen give them confidence and make their life more understandable. When they clearly know that they have such and such options for breakfast on weekdays, and such options on weekends that they have hot food for dinner, and after it - fruits and on weekends - ice cream, then this saves everyone time and nerves. Children will not test your patience and beg for sweets with tears on Wednesday.
Instead, they'll be happily munching on bananas and walnuts for dessert, calmly waiting for Friday's when ice cream finally arrives. They won't ask you for a soda at dinner, knowing that it's only allowed on holidays and when going to a restaurant. nine0003
I guess it sounds cruel - so many hardships and rules. I have heard from my relatives more than once that I am too strict a mother and “no one has died from sweets yet.” But the most important thing is that my children do not consider themselves deprived, and at the same time they are cheerful and healthy. From this follows...
Advice 7: It's your child, so it's up to you to decide (and not the mother-in-law or others)
Society often considers it its duty to intervene in the process of raising children. You will see, as soon as you decide to go against him, and, for example, stop giving milk to children, then you will definitely hear the opinions of others about this, and more than one. The environment generally loves to stick its nose into the affairs of others.
Such is, apparently, human nature. And your relatives will be ahead of the rest here, I guarantee you. I advise you to politely explain to them why you are doing this. Most likely, not everyone will understand you and not everyone will support you. But that's not your problem anymore. nine0003
I heard a lot about how my children are guinea pigs, that I deprive them of their childhood (read sweets and soda), that they don’t eat well and don’t get enough calcium (due to the lack of dairy products in their diet) ... Yes, a lot Total! But the result is obvious: at every family holiday, everyone looks with tenderness at my beloved children, who are happy to eat grandmother's cauliflower soup. And of course, a bonus in the form of no sick leave due to the illness of children. They don't really hurt me. I sometimes even start to worry about whether their immune system is sufficiently involved, and whether it has something to train on ... So, if you decide something, do not pay attention to sidelong glances.
Your decisions do not have to please everyone, and it is impossible. If you want to understand, then just say that your child is allergic to these products. Diseases are respected more than prevention of health, so this excuse works flawlessly. Checked. nine0003
Tip 8: Make arrangements with relatives who help you with your children
If your children often spend time with their grandparents, then outline the rules of the game. If you decide that your child does not consume dairy products or Coke, but at the same time the house where they are going has exactly these food traditions, then gently inform them that this is not necessary to offer children. For example, my ex-husband's sister is a real Cola manca, and everyone in her family, including children, drinks this drink in liters. If my children are staying with her, I ask you not to offer them Coke during this time. nine0003
The most interesting thing is that they still listen to me. Everyone is used to the fact that I am a little bit in terms of healthy eating and are no longer surprised and do not argue.
Tip 9: Don't panic!
Still, try not to go too far on prohibitions. It's a fine line, and I probably won't be able to explain in two paragraphs exactly how to do it. But I'll try to explain with examples.
If my children go to my ex-husband's sister for a couple of hours, where synthetic candies are everywhere, then I choose the greater of two evils (Cola), and I only talk about a ban on her. Nothing bad will happen if they eat some harmful sweets, right? Moreover, out of habit, their taste does not seem so delicious to my children, and they still don’t eat much. nine0003
Same with children's birthdays. I have no right to decide what the parents of another child will serve at the holiday. In 99%, this is something completely unhealthy (for some reason, most parents are sure that children love everything only the most harmful). I do not want to make my daughter into a special girl with strange parents who, bringing her to strange houses, announce the list of what she is not allowed to do.
And she, in turn, will not feel like a white crow. An added bonus: she knows that IN PRINCIPLE she can do anything. But not always. The same principle excludes the appearance of the "forbidden fruit", which is so sweet. nine0003
Tip 10: Explain
Children are very intelligent creatures. Even at 2 years old, you can talk to them like adults and explain everything to them. I always tell my children in detail why it is good to eat vegetables (to get vitamins and not get sick), why you can’t have cola (you will get sick and your stomach too) and why a lot of sweets are bad (there will be bad teeth and you can become fat). I explain everything to the elder in more detail. For example, that if her scratch does not heal for a long time, then you need to eat a lot of food from vitamin C and give a list with examples. I tell her about fish and omega-3, about the capabilities of the brain and about what it needs for normal work, and so on. Of course, I have a lot of knowledge on this subject.
But I think that if you yourself are interested in proper nutrition, then it will not be difficult for you to explain what is good and what is bad. Most likely, it is these clarifications that will help your child choose water instead of soda in a restaurant, even if there are no prohibitions on your part.
Tip 11: Agree with your child that he will try all the food
To get used to a new taste, we need to taste food 10 times on average. That is why agree that the child should try everything on the plate. If he really does not like the food, then it is allowed to spit it all out neatly into a napkin. So you leave the child the right to choose, and he will not have to choke on something completely hated. But on the other hand, he will try something new, and then, you see, over time, he will get used to all these “adult” products such as broccoli and mussels.
That's how I got my kids used to vegetable smoothies, although at first I couldn't even add a whisper of spinach to them, as the drink was immediately refused.
Now half of the composition is greens, and children drink it with great pleasure. nine0003
Tip 12: The child should sit down to the table hungry
If you have been giving him fruits, nuts, cookies with milk all day, then do not be surprised if he does not eat anything at dinner. The degree of fastidiousness at the table is directly proportional to the degree of hunger. If you can't stand the whining of a hungry child, for example, at 17:00, then give him something really useful: julienned vegetables, nuts
hour". And if he doesn’t eat dinner later, then it’s okay, because he fully received the necessary nutrients in a snack. nine0093-
Top 12 + 1 tip: Don't make food a problem
After serving a very "unchildish" dinner, don't stress too much about whether your child will eat it. No need to look in his direction with caution, saying what a wonderful soup turned out today. Better focus on your plate or on talking with your family.
