When should my baby be eating table foods
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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Helpful Resources | Nutrition | CDC
If you would like more information on topics related to feeding your baby or toddler, here are some resources:
General
CDC’s Infant and Toddler Nutrition microsite syndication
CDC offers a free Web Content Syndication service that gives public health partners the opportunity to syndicate CDC content directly to their sites without having to monitor or copy updates.
To search the CDC infant and toddler nutrition website available for syndication as well as other resources you can share, visit the CDC Public Health Media Library and browse or search for “infant and toddler nutrition”. Learn more about content syndication and how to add CDC syndicated content on your site.
CDC’s Child and Teen Resources
This collection of resources provides parents and caregivers, health care providers, and partners with tools and information to help children and teens maintain a healthy weight and prevent obesity.
CDC’s Child Development Positive Parenting Tips (Infants)
This CDC website provides information about infants’ development, as well as tips for positive parenting and promoting the safety and health of infants.
CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early.
This website includes tools to track children’s milestones and resources about children’s development.
CDC’s Parent Information
This CDC website provides resources and information on pregnancy, infants and toddlers, children, and teens.
Learn how to handle common parenting challenges through interactive activities, videos, and more. Healthcare professionals and researchers can also find information on children’s health and safety.
CDC’s Division of Oral Health
Tooth decay (cavities) is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood in the United States. Untreated tooth decay can cause pain and infections that may lead to problems with eating, speaking, playing, and learning. CDC’s Division of Oral Health provides information on what parents and caregivers can do to ensure good oral health for your child.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025 pdf icon[PDF-30.6MB]external icon
These guidelines provide science-based advice for Americans on what to eat and drink to promote health, reduce chronic disease, and meet nutrient needs. The 2020–2025 edition provides recommendations for all life stages, including infants and toddlers.
Feeding Guidelines for Infants and Young Toddlers: A Responsive Parenting Approachexternal icon
This report presents recommendations for promoting healthy nutrition and feeding patterns for infants and toddlers from birth to 24 months, with an emphasis on dietary quality, portion sizes, and mealtime environment.
Healthy Childrenexternal icon
This website was developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics for parents. It features thousands of articles in English and Spanish on children’s health and safety, as well as interactive tools.
United States Department of Agriculture Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)external icon
The WIC Program provides support to low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, babies, and children up to age 5. WIC provides nutritious foods, information on healthy eating, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care.
United States Department of Agriculture Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)external icon
SNAP provides benefits to low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities.
Feeding and Beverage Recommendationsexternal icon
Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, offers science-based recommendations for parents and caregivers.
Tips are available for feeding children from birth through 24 monthsexternal icon and beverages for children from birth through 5 yearsexternal icon. Tips for older children are also available.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Advice About Eating Fishexternal icon
The U.S. FDA and EPA provide advice regarding eating fish. This advice can help people make informed choices when it comes to the types of fish that are nutritious and safe to eat. It is especially important for those who might become pregnant, who are pregnant, or who are breastfeeding, as well as for parents and caregivers who are feeding children. This advice supports the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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Breastfeeding
CDC’s Breastfeeding Information
CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) is committed to increasing breastfeeding rates throughout the United States.
CDC provides information for public health professionals and others to help support breastfeeding mothers, such as managing breastfeeding during various maternal and infant illnesses and conditions, any precautions for vaccines during breastfeeding, and recommendations for proper storage and handling of expressed human milk.
International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA)external icon
ILCA is the member association for professionals who care for breastfeeding families. ILCA’s “Find a Lactation Consultant Directory” can help you find a lactation consultant to get the breastfeeding support you need.
United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA)external icon
USLCA is a professional association for International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) and other health care professionals who care for breastfeeding families. USLCA’s “Find an IBCLC” can help you find a lactation consultant to get the breastfeeding support you need.
WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children—Breastfeeding Support external icon
The United States Department of Agriculture Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Breastfeeding Support website includes resources for expectant and current mothers about breastfeeding, overcoming common challenges, and thriving to make breastfeeding work for their families.
La Leche League USAexternal icon
La Leche League USA helps mothers to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education and promotes a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.
Office on Women’s Healthexternal icon
The Office on Women’s Health’s vision is for all women and girls to achieve the best possible health outcomes. They provide information on breastfeeding to help women make infant feeding decisions and to guide mothers through the breastfeeding process.
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Infant Formula
Questions & Answers for Consumers Concerning Infant Formulaexternal icon
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulates infant formula and has a list of questions and answers about infant formula.
Infant Formula Do’s and Don’tsexternal icon
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides information on infant formula preparation and storage, as well as other tips on how to keep infant formula safe.
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Food Safety
Food Safety Concerns for Children Under Fiveexternal icon
Food safety is particularly important for young children. Foodsafety.gov provides information on safely preparing food for your child.
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Meal Time
Fruits & Veggies—Have a Plant Movementexternal icon
A resource designed to help spread the word about the health benefits of adding more fruits and veggies to your diet.
USDA MyPlate Kitchenexternal icon
This online tool features a large collection of recipes and resources to support building healthy and budget-friendly meals. Site features include:
- Extensive search filters on cuisine, cooking equipment, nutrition content, and more.
- Detailed nutrition information.
- Cookbooks to browse and download or build your own.
- Recipe star ratings, review comments, and sharing on social networks.
Video Series on How to Introduce Solid Foods
1,000 Days has developed helpful videos about introducing solid foods to your baby.
Topics include:
- Is your baby ready to start eating foods?
- What is a good first food for your baby?
- What to expect when introducing first foods
- How much should I feed my baby?
- How to win at mealtimeexternal icon
- What foods should my baby avoid?
- What should your baby eat in the first year?
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Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamin and Mineral Fact Sheetsexternal icon
The National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements has fact sheets for consumers and health professionals about vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements.
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Law on hot meals for schoolchildren: who will be fed free at school - August 29, 2020
(not) everyone will get lunch: 10 questions about compulsory hot meals for schoolchildren
- 1. Who is entitled to hot meals?
- 2. How to get it?
- 3. Do I need to pay extra for meals?
- 4. What if we are homeschooled?
- 5.
How many times a day should you feed? - 6. Can I choose what to feed my child?
- 7. What if the child needs a diet?
- 8. What will the food be like?
- 9. What if the school doesn't have a cafeteria?
- 10. What if the child does not want to eat at school?
1
Who is entitled to hot meals?
All students from 1st to 4th grade without exception. Regardless of the income of the parents and the number of children.
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2
How to get it?
You need to write an application at the school. No further documents are required from you.
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3
Do I have to pay extra for meals?
No, no money should be taken from you. Financing - from the federal, regional and municipal budgets.
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4
What if we are homeschooled?
The child must be provided with hot meals when he comes to school.
For example, writing test papers.
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5
How many times a day should I feed?
Depends on how much time the child spends at school. If six hours - once, if more (for example, due to an extension) - two. If a student is at school from early morning until six in the evening, then he is entitled to breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.
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6
Can you choose what to feed your child?
This is decided by your school's internal documents. According to the general methodological recommendations, parents can influence the school menu, but the decision should be general. That is, it will be necessary to discuss everything at a school-wide parent meeting and come to a consensus, and then go with him to the school administration. If you suspect that the food is of poor quality, you can complain to Rospotrebnadzor.
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7
What if the child needs a diet?
Regions may take into account the characteristics of children who need dietary nutrition, including children with disabilities and children with disabilities.
But federal law does not require them to do so.
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8
What will the food be like?
Schools are required to provide quality, healthy, and nutritious meals that meet safety standards, with at least one “hot meal, not including a hot drink” per meal. Either the first and second, or only the second, depending on what we have now: breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sandwiches cannot be substituted.
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9
What if the school doesn't have a cafeteria?
So, until the children get hot meals. The law obliged to provide it from September of this year only where there is a technical possibility to do this. The rest are required to prepare by September 2023. But in the Chelyabinsk region, according to the statement of the governor Alexei Teksler, already this year they will provide free hot meals in all schools.
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10
What if the child does not want to eat at school?
You can take food from home.
Many schools prohibit this, referring to sanitary standards, but there is no such rule in SanPiN. And in the appendix to the Rospotrebnadzor manual on parental control over the organization of child nutrition, there is a questionnaire in which one of the answers about food is “I bring it from home.”
Last year, the introduction of a new SanPiN was discussed, which forbade bringing food to school. Then Rospotrebnadzor stated that we are talking about cooking at school from the products brought. And this does not apply to ready-made meals, because "it is the right of parents to give the child additional food or replace the diet completely."
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Dissatisfied with school meals? Send comments, photos and videos to the editorial office [email protected] , to our groups " VKontakte ", and also in WhatsApp or Viber at +7–93–23–0000–74. News service phone 7-0000-74.
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Chelyabinsk schoolchildren are given free milk without vitamins and with a long shelf life
Yekaterina Bormotova
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What are the norms, provisions and rules
Statistical data indicate that the provision of hot nutrition says that the provision of hot foods schoolchildren have a positive effect on their ability to work and academic performance.
In this connection, the teaching and medical staff of the school should make every effort to translate these recommendations into reality.
Legislative regulation of the issue
In accordance with Federal Law "On Education" , the procedure for organizing school meals lies entirely on the shoulders of the educational institution.
It also contains information about the developed nutritional standards and sanitary conditions, but there is not a word about paying for children's meals.
In addition, the law requires educational institutions to have a long break, sufficient for eating.
Applicable Regulations
A menu is a piece of paper that informs students and parents about the food available in the school cafeteria.
When compiling this document , the following principles of are taken into account:
- meet the physiological needs of children.
- Age group of students.
- The assortment of dishes must meet the requirements for diversity and compatibility of food products.
- Mandatory accounting is subject to: seasonality, features of the national character, the price of the dish and the labor costs necessary for its preparation.
When developing a menu, normative-technical and methodological documents must be taken into account.
A wide range of dishes can be achieved by using several heat treatment methods for 1 product, for example, meat can be boiled, fried, poached or stewed.
Implementation Rules
Proper nutrition affects not only the level of academic performance, but also the health of children. Therefore, it is very important to take care of the diet. So, a schoolboy needs hot food 2 times a day (we are talking about breakfast and lunch). If a child does not go home after school, but goes to an after-school, then you can’t do without an afternoon snack.
If a child stays in an educational institution around the clock, then he is supposed to eat at least 5 times a day with an interval of 3.5 to 4 hours. In this case, the second dinner (1 hour before bedtime) is a fermented milk product in the amount of 1 cup.
All employees of the catering department are required to observe the rules of personal hygiene .
A healthy citizen who has conscientiously passed the medical examination procedure in accordance with the requirements of the law, and who has also undergone hygienic training, may be admitted to work.
Each employee must have a personal medical book with the entered results of a medical examination, information about the transferred diseases of an infectious origin, as well as the passed sanitary minimum.
The following regulations are mandatory :
- clean work clothes and shoes;
- leaving outerwear, headgear and other personal items in the cloakroom;
- the presence of only short-cut nails;
- thoroughly washed hands before starting work;
- storage of clean sanitary clothing in an appropriate room;
- obligatory use of soap (preferably disinfectant) after visiting the toilet;
- Mandatory visit to a medical facility if there are signs of diseases such as colds and intestinal dysfunction.
Do not :
- Paint nails with nail polish while cooking or confectionery ;
- use pins to fasten overalls;
- to eat;
- smoking in the workplace.
In , the duties of a medical worker of educational institution include a daily examination of a food unit employee for signs of any pustular disease. Identification of a festering cut, burn, abrasion or catarrh of the upper respiratory tract requires the employee to be transferred to another position.
Rospotrebnadzor is responsible for coordinating the organization and diet.
Hot food must be distributed to school students during a long break, the duration of which is at least 20 minutes.
If we are talking about boarding school , then meals are provided in accordance with the daily routine.
Each class has a designated dining table.
Hot meals may be provided to students through pre-set tables or a distribution line. The first option involves the involvement of on-duty schoolchildren over 14 years old, who are led by a responsible teacher.
Students are prohibited from entering the cafeteria production areas, as well as from doing kitchen work such as cooking, peeling vegetables, serving cooked food, cutting bread, washing dishes or floors.
For students with diabetes
Schools must be aware that their student has diabetes. The introduction of insulin leads to a constant decrease in blood glucose levels, regardless of the meal. The school menu in this case deserves special attention. Only with the help of snacks at a certain time can the onset of a hypoglycemic state be prevented.
The teacher has no right to detain a student suffering from diabetes or to take away his time allotted for a break.
Boarding schools
Meals for at boarding school are usually organized as follows:
- there is a menu in the dining room that contains information about the name of the dish and its amount;
- the production activity of the canteen corresponds to the mode of operation of the institution as a whole;
- the meal schedule is approved by the principal of the school;
- meals are given to the whole class;
- quality control, balance and catering are carried out by the marriage commission, which is appointed by the head of the school;
- a nurse or other responsible person is required to take a sample daily;
- the class teacher must explain to students and their parents information about what proper nutrition is and provide a list of eating students to the canteen;
- in accordance with the procedure determined by the Ministry of Health, it is mandatory to carry out C-vitaminization of prepared food in winter and spring.
Implementation of control
At the current time, not only state supervisory authorities, but also the management of an educational institution are allowed to identify violations in school meals.
For example, the principal of the school can assign the appropriate responsibilities to the governing board or appoint an initiative group and invite parents to join it.
It is these people who control the quality of dishes, the production rate, the required cooking time, the timeliness of deliveries, the shelf life of the finished product, the temperature regime, the validity of replacing one dish with another, calorie content, etc.
If all the above measures have not calmed the director, he has the right to involve an independent expert and conduct a number of necessary laboratory tests.
In the event that a third-party organization provides a comprehensive catering service for schoolchildren, the school management can control any stage of cooking without causing damage to the business of the company.
