My baby is five months and ten days old, struggling with whether to add complementary food to her, every time adults eat, they stare very quietly, presumably wanting to eat.
This is a question asked by a mother, and it should be a question for many parents.
At 4-6 months, the baby may begin to be interested in adult food, not good milk, parents will begin to struggle with the problem of "adding complementary foods to the baby".
Thinking: When will I start adding?
How do I add, what to add first and then what to add, etc.?
Next, Beijing's mother will talk about: how to judge that the baby needs to add complementary foods?
Experienced parents know that adding complementary foods depends on the age of the month, which is 6 months.
In fact, "looking at the age of the month" can be used as a general reference, but it is not the only standard, in addition to looking at the baby's age, it is also necessary to take into account other conditions that can add complementary foods.
When will my baby start adding complementary foods? Officially gave "reference month age"
Whether it is the Chinese Nutrition Society, the World Health Organization, or the American Academy of Pediatrics, it is recommended that infants start adding complementary foods after 180 days (6 months).
Of course, this is just a reference advice for parents, not the only standard, after all, every baby is different.
Just like some babies weigh more than 8 pounds when they are born, but some babies are premature babies and weigh less than pounds.
Another example is feeding after birth, some babies eat well, sleep well, grow well, growth has been in the middle and upper class, all aspects of development are also fast, but some babies are often sick from birth, and the growth indicators are not good, or even not up to standard.
Even if it is the same month of age, the baby's development state will be different, and the addition of complementary foods will also make a difference.
Babies that develop fast and grow well can be added as early as possible, and babies with slow development and slow growth can be added appropriately later.
However, there is also a time limit, the earliest can not be earlier than 4 months, the latest can not be more than 8 months.
Add complementary foods to your baby, in addition to a certain age, you must also meet these conditions
Just said that because there are individual differences, the age of the month can only be used as a reference, and whether it can actually be added depends on whether these conditions are met.
Condition 1: Whether there is a strong interest in adult meals
If the baby is very interested in adults eating for a period of time, will stare at it, and even want to pounce on it, it is one of the conditions for the baby to add complementary foods, which has been met.
Condition 2: Large movement development, able to sit alone for a while
The baby can sit still, which is one of the prerequisites for eating, because when adding complementary food to the baby, the best thing to do is not to hold the baby and feed the food, but the baby can sit independently on the dining chair.
This requires the baby to have the ability to sit alone for a period of time, whether sitting or sitting independently, which is the key condition for the baby to eat.
Condition 3: The tongue reflex disappears and drools profusely
To feed the baby complementary food, you need to use a spoon to feed the supplementary food into the baby's mouth, that is, the baby can open his mouth, suck, swallow, that is, the tongue reflex disappears.
When the baby drools a lot, it means that the baby's salivary glands have begun to secrete a lot and begin to produce a large amount of amylase, which means that the baby can digest other foods other than breast milk at this time, and it is also one of the conditions that can add complementary foods.
Condition 4: Eat only breast milk and grow slowly, or even meet the standard
That is, only breast milk can no longer fully meet the baby's growth and development needs, which will lead to poor baby growth indicators.
Even if the feeding is very regular, feeding 8-10 times a day, feeding every 3-4 hours, can not make the baby full.
The weight has reached 2 times that of birth, and the weight and height growth during the physical examination are not good, or even not up to standard, which also indicates that it is time to add complementary foods.
Therefore, to see whether to add complementary food to the baby, you can look at the comprehensive age of the month and these conditions together, if the baby has passed more than 4 months, or even almost 6 months, and these conditions are also available, then you can try to add.
However, when adding complementary foods to the baby specifically, parents may encounter many problems, even if it is the first bite of complementary food, there will be various problems, such as:
What is good to eat in the first bite of complementary food?
First time feeding complementary food in the morning or at noon?
Just start adding complementary foods, how many times a day and how much to eat each time?
How thin is the rice noodles?
How to see if your baby is adapting?
How long does it take to add rice noodles before you can add other foods...
Recommend to you a book that I often read myself, and the easy to use complementary food book "What to Eat Each Week with Complementary Food".
The book not only has the basic knowledge of the supplementary food addition stage, including the supplementary food addition signals, principles, methods, precautions, misunderstandings, etc.
Basic novice mothers often encounter problems at this stage, can find answers from the book, scientifically add complementary foods to the baby.
Moreover, according to the age of the month, the specific supplementary food addition method is given to each month, the recipe method of the week, the nutritional analysis, etc. It can be used from 6 months to 3 years old, and the content is easy to understand, the recipe is simple and easy to learn, which is very suitable for novice parents to learn.
The whole book is hardcover color printed, the quality is very good, and it is accompanied by a number of large recipe color pictures, which is not difficult to understand.
For new parents, adding complementary foods to their babies is enough.
Parents who are ready to add complementary foods to their babies, but do not understand and have many problems, can start a book to learn.
Do not fall into the pit on the food supplement road, ensure the baby's nutritional intake, so that the baby grows well, the body is strong, and less sick.
Regarding the addition of complementary foods to the baby, what questions do you have, welcome to leave a message to discuss, you can also come and share with parents your experience of adding complementary foods to the baby.