The six-month-old baby ate Eve's world
When your baby is six months old, you can introduce solid foods into his diet. Children's response to this stage varies; Some may take time to adjust to new flavors and textures, while others may accept food enthusiastically from the beginning.
Some families find the weaning process difficult, while other babies enjoy the taste of pureed foods served with a spoon. We will provide information about the appropriate foods to offer your baby during their first months on solid foods, which will help them cope with mealtimes successfully.
At the beginning of the sixth month, you can introduce different foods to your child and try new varieties. Here are a few foods you can start with:
– Well-cooked or mashed vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower.
– Mashed ripe fruits such as apples, pears, mangoes, and papayas, in addition to avocados and bananas.
– Children’s cereals mixed with their routine milk.
Babies can quickly learn how to chew soft food even in the absence of teeth. Once you notice that your baby enjoys eating from a spoon, you can expand the range of foods you offer him to avoid getting bored with repeated items. Try presenting:
– Mashed or minced meat such as chicken and other meats after making sure they are well cooked and removing the bones.
– Legumes such as lentils and chickpeas, after mashing them well.
– Full-fat yogurt and soft cheeses, taking care not to serve cow’s milk as a main food before the child completes the first year.
In addition, provide your child with home-cooked meals as much as possible, and use ready-made products only when necessary. Always pay attention to the sugar and salt content of canned foods when purchasing to ensure you choose the healthiest types for your child.
Do babies need to drink fluids in the sixth month?
It is not appropriate to offer juices to infants at the age of six months, as these drinks contain high calories that may cause a decrease in the desire to eat, in addition to the sugar contained in them that can harm the child’s teeth that are still developing. Also, soft drinks and various types of juices are considered harmful to children’s health.
On the other hand, water can be offered to children when they start introducing solid foods, as drinking water with meals helps enhance their digestion process.
The number of meals suitable for children in the sixth month
The World Health Organization recommends that children aged 6-8 months eat complementary foods two to three times daily. Determining the amount required to feed a child may be a challenge due to the small size of his stomach and his inability to handle large amounts of food. Therefore, it is important to adopt the following points to help ensure that the child is fed adequately:
It is recommended to start offering food to the child in small amounts, such as one to two tablespoons, and then monitor the child’s reaction to determine if he wants more or is full.
Solid food can be gradually increased in the child's diet in parallel with reducing dependence on milk, until the child is completely dependent on solid food.
It is recommended to offer food frequently during the day, with the child getting five to six meals a day, including three main meals and two snacks, to ensure that the child is eating every few hours.
Tips on feeding young children
It is recommended not to give honey to infants under the age of one year, because it contains bacteria that may cause serious food poisoning. You should also refrain from offering them cow's milk at this age because it is difficult to digest. It is important to avoid giving the child a bottle of milk while sleeping to prevent tooth decay.
If directed by a pediatrician or dietitian, only then can ground rice grains be added to a milk bottle to help prevent esophageal reflux.
When introducing new types of food to a child, it is necessary to wait two to three days before introducing another type to observe any possible allergic reactions.
It is preferable not to serve food directly from the original container unless it will be completely consumed, and the food must be placed on a clean plate before serving it to prevent food contamination. Also, baby food containers should be covered and stored in the refrigerator and should not be kept for more than two days.
Your baby's first foods
When the baby reaches six months, he begins a new phase of learning how to chew. Therefore, it is essential that his first meals are soft and easy to swallow, such as porridge or carefully boiled and mashed vegetables. It is worth noting that thin porridge may not contain many nutrients, but its nutritional value can be enhanced by cooking it until it acquires a thick consistency that does not allow it to leak from the spoon easily.
It is important to offer food to your child when he signals hunger with movements such as putting his hand to his mouth. Start by giving him two or three tablespoons of soft food, twice a day. Remember that the baby's stomach is still small, which means he cannot eat large quantities at once.
Your child may be surprised by new tastes, so give him time to get used to them and accept them willingly. Be patient and don't pressure him to eat. Continue to look for signs of fullness and stop feeding him when they appear.
Over time, the child's stomach will be able to absorb larger amounts of food, and this is in line with his normal growth and development.
Nutrition of young children who are not breastfed
Mothers who do not breastfeed their babies should know that their little ones consume food at a higher rate and require dietary diversification, including dairy products, to ensure that they receive the necessary nutrients for their growth.
It is recommended that the mother provide her child with solid food starting from six months of age, in the amount of two to three tablespoons of pureed foods up to four times a day, to compensate for the deficiency resulting from not breastfeeding.
Between the sixth and eighth months of life, the baby should eat half a cup of pureed foods at least four times a day along with some snacks that support his health.
When a child is between nine and eleven years old, he or she should receive half a cup of food at four to five meals a day and two snacks to ensure that he or she continues to receive optimal nutrition.
