Adding supplementary foods is an important milestone in the baby’s growth and development. After the baby is six months old, gradually adding solid foods can make him slowly adapt to different foods.
However, there are different opinions on how to supplement the baby’s food. It will take eight months to add eggs? Yogurt can only be added after one year old? Juice is very nutritious? Vegetable water and clear porridge are easy to absorb? Homemade complementary foods are safer and more nutritious?
01
Mistake: Specific supplementary foods should be added in a specific order, such as rice paste, vegetables, fruits and meat.
Correct Solution: There is no sequence that must be followed in adding supplementary foods, and there is no need to limit the types of foods added. Rich foods can provide comprehensive nutrition, as long as iron-rich foods are included in the original supplementary foods.
The initial supplementary food choice is generally not easy to allergic, easy to digest food, can include convenient ready-to-eat fruit puree, such as bananas, avocado; Vegetable puree, such as pumpkin and sweet potato; Grain, such as purchased iron-containing rice paste, baby cereal or homemade brown rice paste, etc.
Traditionally, single-ingredient rice paste is the first supplement. But in fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics, based on evidence from nearly a decade of infant feeding research, suggests that adding supplements in a specific order has no effect on the health of babies and has no additional benefits.
Although some pediatricians suggest adding vegetables before adding fruits, so as not to dislike vegetables because the baby has eaten fruits. However, in fact, babies are naturally fond of sweet taste, and it is natural to like fruits more than vegetables, and the order of addition will not change this preference.
If the baby is exclusively breastfed, It may be better to add meat earlier. Because breast milk contains very little iron, Six months ago, babies mainly relied on the iron brought from their mothers at birth to maintain their growth and development needs. After starting to add supplementary foods, foods rich in iron are especially needed, while meat contains iron and zinc that are easy to absorb. If the child is fed with formula milk powder, the demand for high-speed iron supplementary foods is not as urgent as that of exclusively breast-fed babies because the formula milk has strengthened iron.
Australia’s National Council of Medicine and Health has compiled guidelines for infant feeding, which have neither recommendations on the order of addition nor on the types (numbers) of foods that can be added, except that iron-rich foods are recommended as initial complementary foods.
Appropriate amounts of iron, zinc, fat, protein, vitamins and other trace elements are very important for babies. Therefore, high nutrition density and rich kinds of food should be introduced as supplementary food for the baby. Even at the initial stage of adding supplementary food, vegetables and fruit puree should be diversified so that the baby can absorb appropriate energy and nutrition.
02
Myth: Delaying the addition of supplementary foods can avoid baby allergy.
Correct Solution: Try reasonably to find out the food that the baby can accept and is not allergic to, and explore the acceptance progress of the baby’s exclusive supplementary food.
Allergy is very individualized. Your child may not be allergic to foods that other children are allergic to. Even foods that you are allergic to may not be allergic to your child. If you don’t try, you will never know what foods your baby can eat and what won’t.
Evidence from experimental embryology and epigenetics shows that the early nutritional status of infants may affect gene expression, intellectual development, immune system development and susceptibility to future chronic diseases, cancer and infection.
Nutritional status affects the development of the baby’s intestinal microbiome and immune system. The microbiome in our body will affect the nutrient absorption of food. Food can also affect the composition of normal flora in our body. A rich variety of foods may make the flora more diverse and abundant, which helps to establish and maintain normal immunity. There is already considerable research evidence that early addition of a rich variety of supplementary foods may reduce the risk of allergy after one year old.
Not only that, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases issued a new guideline on peanut allergy on January 5, 2017, which is mainly based on the results of the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study: Researchers followed 600 children with high risk of peanut allergy for 5 years and found that early addition of peanut-containing foods can reduce the risk of peanut allergy by 81%.
The guide recommends that, Those babies who may be allergic to peanuts, Compared with other children with low risk of allergy, Peanut products should be introduced earlier. For example, under normal circumstances, The average baby can try peanut products after 6 months, while babies who may be allergic are advised to start trying peanut products after 4 months or 4-6 months. However, a careful evaluation (a series of tests) is required before adding peanut products to decide whether to add peanut products at the doctor’s place or whether to add peanut products at home.
What if the baby has allergy during the process of adding supplementary foods?
Parents can stop adding this food and continue to try other foods. Depending on the degree of allergy, they can wait for 3-6 months to try to add the food that was allergic before again. If you are still allergic, stop adding it again and replace other supplementary foods.
Don’t give your baby only a few kinds of supplementary foods because you are worried about allergy. Nature has given us so many different kinds of food, we must believe that there must be enough kinds of food that your baby will not be allergic to.
If parents are worried about their baby’s allergy, However, the addition of various supplementary foods will be delayed in an all-round way. Even dare not try new complementary foods, this will only make the baby’s food types are greatly limited. When the baby’s food types are too few, on the one hand, it cannot ensure nutrition and normal growth and development, on the other hand, it is also unfavorable to the healthy development of intestinal tract, which in turn affects the child’s nutritional status and immune response.
03
Myth: The earlier supplementary foods are added, the earlier children can adapt. By adding supplementary foods early, children can be provided with better nutrition.
True solution: Six months is the best time for most infants to begin to adapt to different foods, different food structures and feeding methods.
The addition of supplementary foods should not be too late or too early. Six months is the time when most babies develop to a level that can accept supplementary foods, and it is also the time when most babies begin to need supplementary foods to provide some additional nutrition.
In the first few months of life, The child’s digestive system is still unable to handle foods other than milk. Pancreatic amylase (which digests starchy substances) is not available for at least the first three months, and may be insufficient for six months. Adding supplementary foods too early will make the baby’s digestion difficult, and because the baby is not ready for all aspects of development, it will only make it difficult to add supplementary foods.
Newborns have a congenital unconditioned reflex-tongue pushing reflex, that is, the tongue will push out solid food (or spoon) entering the mouth to prevent foreign bodies from entering the throat and causing asphyxia. This reflex usually disappears about six months after birth.
Similarly, at about six months old, many babies can sit on their own, which means that children can better handle the food in their mouths before swallowing, and then thicker food can be eaten.
Adding supplementary foods too early and too late to infants seems to be related to an increased risk of certain diseases. A 2012 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics said that Infants who were fed supplements after four months and before six months were four times more likely to develop pneumonia than those who were fed supplements after six months. In addition, infants who were exclusively breastfed to six months had a 74% reduction in the severity of respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis compared with infants who were fed supplements after four months.
Many parents ask, must supplementary foods be added within six months?
About six months is the time when most babies are suitable to add supplementary foods, but the development of each baby is not completely synchronized, and each baby has its own particularity. If the following signals appear at the same time, it indicates that the baby can start to add supplementary foods:
1. Can sit firmly independently (leaning on the chair, but not with big hands), and can raise your hand stably;
2. Strong interest in adult food;
3. Have certain eye-hand-mouth coordination ability, i.e. Can see food, can hold some finger food (such as fruit and vegetable strips) with hands, and can accurately put it into the mouth;
4. Be able to swallow and no longer use your tongue to push out food.
04
Myth: Babies six months ago need to drink white water, especially when the weather is hot. Babies fed with formula milk should drink white water even more, otherwise they will be [irritated].
True solution: Breast milk is the most ideal source of nutrition for babies. Breast milk can meet all the nutritional needs (including water) of babies six months ago, while proportional formula milk, as an imitation and substitute of breast milk, can also meet all the nutritional needs of babies six months ago.
Why not recommend feeding water and other non-breast milk or formula drinks six months ago?
1. Breast milk contains sufficient water to meet the baby’s demand for water;
2. Feeding other drinks may increase the risk of diarrhea if the hygiene and disinfection of all links cannot be guaranteed;
3. Feeding water or other drinks will reduce the amount of breast milk, and the nutrition contained in breast milk is what the baby needs most.
4. Drinking a lot of water will also impose a burden on the baby’s already delicate kidneys.
Before adding supplementary foods, whether it is breast-fed, mixed-fed or formula-fed babies, when the water intake is insufficient, the first consideration is to increase the feeding and absorb more water through milk instead of white water.
Some formula milk feeding baby may have constipation, need to consider many factors, such as whether the blending method is correct, should add water first, then add formula milk powder, formula milk powder spoon should be loose and don’t scrape flat. Should also consider whether the baby is sick, whether fever, whether there is allergy, etc.
Finally, consider whether the formula is ideal for the baby, such as whether the protein content is high. If the baby fed with formula milk suffers from constipation, it is recommended to consult a pediatrician to determine the cause of the problem before deciding how to do it.
On the premise of safety, feeding what is [allowed], but we hope everyone knows that what is [the best]. The problem of feeding water is not big, but it is not good. It only increases risks and does more harm than good.
05
Myth: The baby’s digestive system is not fully developed, so it is necessary to give the baby [drink] various supplementary foods, such as clear porridge and vegetable water.
True solution: Supplementary food is also called solid food. The baby’s stomach volume is small, but the energy needed for growth and development is a lot. Therefore, it is necessary to give the baby food with high nutrition density instead of clear and thin soup and water. Food is from six months to one year old, milk is the staple food, and supplementary food should also transition to solid food eaten by adults.
The baby’s growth and development consume a lot of energy, Particularly in the first few months, There are significant and measurable changes in height and weight almost every week. However, after six months, the energy needed for growth still accounts for a large proportion of the energy consumed by food (adults do not consume energy for growth). The baby’s stomach is small, and if he eats some foods with low nutritional density (such as clear porridge, vegetable soup and vegetable water), he will get very little nutrition and energy even though he is full.
According to the World Health Organization, good complementary foods should meet the following characteristics:
1. It contains high energy, protein and trace elements, especially iron, and cannot be very watery and dilute (for example, it should be thick porridge instead of clear porridge; Can be vegetable puree, but not vegetable water);
2. Easy to eat and easy to digest
3. Keep the preparation process and feeding process hygienic;
4. Do not contain bones and hard small pieces (such as nuts, plant seeds, etc.) to avoid choking;
5. Not spicy, not salty. Children’s food should be light and keep the original flavor as much as possible.
After reading this, do you understand why clear porridge and vegetable water are bad complementary foods?
06
Myth: Fruit juice and vegetable water are rich in vitamins, especially fruit juice, which is a very nutritious supplementary food.
True solution: You can give puree or fruit pieces or fruit strips, but you should not drink fruit juice.
Fruit will lose a lot of cellulose in the process of turning into fruit juice, so drinking fruit juice will make blood sugar rise rapidly. At the same time, because fruit juice is not as full as complete fruit, you can only eat one apple at ordinary times, but it is easy to drink 2-3 apples.
Also, fruit juice tastes good, so it is easy for babies to refuse plain boiled water when they are used to drinking fruit juice.
Due to the above reasons, fruit juice is easy to cause obesity and dental caries in children, so it is not recommended to drink fruit juice and other sweet drinks for babies.
After six months, in addition to the fruit paste, you can also give the baby some small pieces of fruit strips, let the baby hold them in his hand and try them in his mouth. Of course, this is not to eat, but to exercise the child’s hand-eye coordination ability.
After the baby is 12 months old, As an attempt, it is not completely forbidden to drink a small amount of fruit juice occasionally, but in order to avoid the problems of refusing to drink plain boiled water, dental caries, obesity and the like caused by fruit juice, parents are advised to dilute the fruit juice when giving their children fruit juice, and only give it to the cup instead of the bottle, because it is easy to drink more fruit juice because it is convenient to drink with the bottle.
07
Myth: Homemade supplementary foods are more hygienic, nutritious and healthy.
True solution: Some self-made supplementary foods may have insufficient iron content and high nitrite content. Baby rice paste is recommended to purchase grain flour strengthened with iron, while self-made vegetable paste should pay special attention to the freshness of food materials.
At the beginning of the addition of supplementary foods, because the types of foods are still relatively single, the self-made supplementary foods may have insufficient iron content, while the purchased supplementary foods mostly strengthen iron and other nutrients, and are more likely to meet the iron demand of babies aged six months or above.
Whether you add what food to your baby first, be sure to include high-iron food in the original supplement. High-iron supplements include iron-fortified baby rice paste, meat paste, poultry and fish (the source of all heme iron), or cooked tofu and beans. Vegetables, fruits and dairy products such as whole yogurt, cheese and cream jelly can be added later.
Baby’s rice paste can be added with breast milk, formula milk or water. No matter what kind of rice paste you choose, please make sure that this rice paste is iron-fortified.
In terms of safety, some commercially processed complementary foods also have certain advantages.
A small amount of bacteria may cause diarrhea in small-month-old babies, so home-made needs to pay attention to the hygiene of every link. However, commercially processed complementary foods will screen for bacteria that are easy to cause diseases. Responsible merchants, products that meet safety standards, may have higher hygiene standards than home-made products.
In addition, some vegetable species naturally contain nitrates, These vegetables include carrots, Green beans, Long yellow pumpkin, Spinach, beetroot, etc. Although it is said that the possibility of reaching the level of harm is very small, a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics once said that all cases of nitrate exceeding the standard came from home-made supplements, and no exceeding the standard was found in commercially purchased vegetable puree. Therefore, commercially purchased supplements are not as bad as imagined.
The more stale the ingredients are, the higher the nitrate content is. Therefore, if you make your own supplementary food, you must pay attention to buying fresh ingredients. It is better to eat the vegetable puree that cannot be eaten up within 1-2 days or freeze it.
08
Myth: Glucose water is healthier, more nutritious and tonic than white water.
Glucose should be regarded as a drug and should only be taken in case of hypoglycemia. Healthy people, whether adults or children, should not drink glucose water in a healthy state. White water is the only healthy drink for children and adults.
Many parents think glucose is a nutritional tonic, So as to give children to drink glucose water. But in fact glucose is only a kind of sugar, which can be directly absorbed by the stomach, quickly enter the blood, and raise blood sugar. Glucose absorption is fast, but absorption is only sugar, which does not play a nourishing role, but will bring children appetite decline, refuse white water, tooth decay, obesity and other problems.
In our country, the practice of drinking glucose water to newborns is also very common, Many parents and even pediatricians believe that drinking glucose can help eliminate jaundice, but this is wrong. Giving your baby water or glucose water may only aggravate jaundice, because doing so will affect the intake of breast milk or formula milk and slow down the drop in bilirubin levels.
The scientific community is clearly opposed to giving newborns glucose water, sugar water and any other non-milk drinks. Only by ensuring the baby’s milk quantity can jaundice disappear as soon as possible.