Special Planning: Nutrition 365 Q
Yimaitong works with clinicians from various disciplines to answer the "100,000 whys" of disease diagnosis and treatment, and provide medical guidance for patients and their families.
The author of this issue is Gu Jianping
Department of Child Health, Taoranting Community Health Service Center, Xicheng District, Beijing
Highlights of this issue
1. Why should I add complementary foods?
2. When should I start adding complementary foods?
3. Why it is not recommended to add complementary foods too early or too late
4. The principle of adding complementary foods
5. Precautions for adding complementary foods
▍Introduction
The introduction of complementary foods is a crucial step in the growth of your baby. Proper nutrition and feeding not only affect your baby's short-term growth and development, but also directly affect their long-term health.
The right complementary foods will not only provide your baby with essential nutrients, but will also help them adapt to a variety of foods and develop their ability to chew and swallow. Here are some key points about the addition of complementary foods for infants and young children, let's take a look at them together.
▍Why do you want to add complementary food?
1. Meet nutritional needs
As your baby grows, breast milk or formula milk can no longer fully meet your baby's energy and nutrient needs, and other nutrient-dense foods must be introduced.
2. Promote oral development
Exercise chewing, swallowing and language development skills.
3. Develop good eating habits
Help your baby adapt to a variety of foods, adapt to different food tastes and textures, and transition from passive feeding to self-directed eating, reducing the likelihood of picky eating.
4. Strengthens the immune system
Provides various nutrients such as iron, zinc, various vitamins, etc., to improve the body's resistance.
▍When should I start adding complementary foods?
In general, babies can start experimenting with complementary foods when they are 4-6 months old. However, the specific time should be decided to introduce the addition of complementary food according to the baby's physical growth, neurodevelopment, feeding skills, social skills and other aspects of development.
Timing of adding complementary food: generally the baby's weight should reach 6.5~7.0kg, and the following two points should be met at the same time:
1. In terms of gross motor ability
Able to sit alone or leaning up, raise the head steadily, control the head and neck, reach out to grasp things, and put things in the mouth.
2. Fine motor skills
Open your mouth when you see a spoon, open your mouth when you feed him, close your lips when you put a spoon in your mouth, hold a spoon in your mouth, close your mouth to swallow food, and try to grasp small things such as food or toys.
The possession of these abilities is basically at the age of about 6 months, and at the same time, at this stage, the baby's gastrointestinal tract and other digestive organs have been relatively well developed, and can digest a variety of foods other than breast milk.
Therefore, in the norms of community children's health care doctors, it is recommended that it is safer to add complementary foods after the baby reaches the age of 6 months.
▍Why it is not recommended to add complementary foods too early or too late
If the complementary food is added too early, the baby's digestive organs and excretory organs are not fully mature and functional, which will reduce the ability to digest and absorb food and excrete metabolic wastes, thereby increasing the risk of diseases such as diarrhea.
In addition, the early introduction of complementary foods may replace breast milk intake, leading to malnutrition.
Conversely, adding complementary foods too late may lead to malnutrition, especially deficiencies in vitamins and trace elements such as iron and zinc, which can affect your baby's growth and development. In addition, adding complementary foods too late may also cause the formation of poor eating habits, which is not conducive to the healthy development of the baby.
▍ The principle of adding complementary food
1. Add complementary food from the age of 6 months and continue to insist on breastfeeding
Continued breastfeeding can help foster a bond between mother and baby and promote your baby's development.
2. Start with pureed foods rich in iron and gradually add them to a variety of foods
Up to 99% of iron comes from complementary foods, so the first complementary foods for babies should be iron-rich high-energy foods, such as iron-fortified baby cereal, meat puree, etc. On top of that, other different kinds of foods are gradually introduced to provide different nutrients.
3. Promote compliant feeding, encourage but not force feeding
Parents and feeders should sense the baby's hunger or satiety signals in time and respond appropriately. Respect your baby's choice of food, patiently encourage and assist your baby to eat on his own, and do not force him to eat, so as not to cause a psychological reaction of boredom or fear of eating.
It is also necessary to create a good eating environment for the baby, keep the eating environment quiet and pleasant, do not watch TV or electronic products, play with toys, etc., distract the baby, and do not use food as an encouragement or punishment. Control the time of each meal to no more than 20 minutes, and parents and feeders should also set a good example for the baby.
4. Complementary foods should not be condimented, and the intake of sugar and salt should be minimized
The baby's complementary food should be made separately, keep the original taste, do not add salt, sugar and irritating condiments, and maintain a light taste. Light food is conducive to improving the baby's acceptance of different natural food tastes and reducing the risk of picky eating.
Blander foods can also reduce your baby's salt and sugar intake, reducing the risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in childhood and adulthood. After the age of 1 year, babies can gradually try light family meals.
5. Pay attention to food hygiene and eating safety
To choose fresh, high-quality, non-polluting food and clean water to make your baby's complementary food, always keep clean and hygienic during the production process, raw and cooked separately. Wash hands before meals, do not eat leftovers, the baby must be supervised by an adult when eating, it is not recommended to give the baby whole peanuts, nuts, jelly and other foods to prevent eating accidents.
6. Regularly monitor physical indicators and pursue healthy growth
Regular child health care is carried out to monitor the baby's physical growth indicators such as length, weight, and head circumference. Do not pursue fat babies, moderate and stable growth is the best growth mode.
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▍Precautions for adding complementary food
1. Observe for allergic reactions
If there is an abnormality such as rash and diarrhea when adding complementary food, the addition should be stopped in time.
2. From less to more
Give only a small amount at the beginning and gradually increase it.
3. From thin to thick
Gradual transition from liquid to semi-liquid and solid foods.
4. One to many
Only one new food was added at a time, and no adverse reactions were observed for 2~3 days.
5. When breast milk or milk is sufficient, calcium supplementation is not required, and vitamin D supplementation is required.
6. Pay attention to the cultivation of eating skills
Try to let the child actively participate in eating, such as 7~9 months baby can grasp food, 1 year old can be spooned to eat, you can increase the baby's interest in eating, and is conducive to training hand-eye movement coordination and cultivating independent ability.
7. In the process of adding complementary food, if you encounter special circumstances, you can ask your pediatrician for help
The addition of complementary food for infants and young children is a task that requires the care and patience of parents. Correct feeding methods and principles are crucial, and we should not blindly follow others or be influenced by the feeding practices of the families around us.
Scientific feeding is key, as it requires an in-depth understanding of your baby's needs and development, and adapting accordingly to their individual differences.
In addition, parents should also pay attention to cultivating good eating habits in their babies. Do not force your baby to eat, but respect their appetite and preferences, and give appropriate encouragement and guidance.
At the same time, we should also create a pleasant eating environment for the baby, away from distractions, so that they can concentrate on enjoying the eating process.
In short, the addition of complementary food for infants and young children is not only a technical work, but also an art. Parents need to keep learning and exploring, adapting to their baby's needs and responses, and providing them with rich, balanced nutrition to help them grow up healthily.
Parents' care and patience will play a vital role in this process, so let's work together to build a solid foundation for your baby's health.
Experts of this issue
Dr. Gu Jianping
- Graduated from North China Coal Medical College, majoring in preventive medicine
- Since September 2018, he has been engaged in children's health care at Taoranting Community Health Service Center, Xicheng District, Beijing, and is responsible for the overall work of children's health care
- With 15 years of experience, he has accumulated a lot of experience in child health care, such as child psychological development screening and assessment, physical development evaluation and guidance, breastfeeding related knowledge, etc
- He has won the title of "the most beautiful women and children in Xicheng District".
- Won the 2009 "Government to do practical things for the people" work advanced individual
- In 2017, he won the first prize and the best popularity award in the final of the "Xicheng District Maternal and Child Health Education Publicity Materials Creative Skills Competition";
- On behalf of the unit, he has participated in the Beijing Maternal and Child Health Care Grassroots Skills Competition for many times
- In 2023, he won the title of "Outstanding Individual of Beijing Oral Public Health Service Project of the Year".
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Tips: Popular science articles do not provide professional diagnosis and treatment opinions, please carry out specific diagnosis and treatment under the guidance of professional doctors, the picture comes from Visual China