The first six months of a baby’s life is a time of active growth and exploration of the world. The baby learns important things: sit, talk, eat adult food. Parents should help him, including with the help of a properly formulated diet for a child of 6 months. Development and nutrition are directly interconnected at this age.

The harmonious development of a six-month-old baby includes the first skills of mastering his body and the ability to:

1. Sitting without the support and insurance of an adult thanks to developed and strengthened back muscles.
2. Roll from side to side, roll over from back to stomach and back with overall high activity and mobility.
3. Consciously follow objects and focus on an object of interest.
4. Bite and taste everything. At this age, the first baby teeth erupt, which causes increased salivation in children.
5. Imitate sounds, create still meaningless syllables from letters, use consonants.
6. Remove food from a spoon using only your lips, not your entire mouth.
7. Get conscious pleasure from playing and communicating with adults.
8. Try to stand up while holding onto support.

Physiological parameters are normal for children at 6 months, averaged for girls and boys, are collected in the table.

Six months is the age at which, if breastfeeding, it is time to introduce the first complementary foods into the diet.

We are, of course, not talking about completely switching the baby to adult food - now, along with mother’s milk, the baby is given fruit, vegetable juices and purees, starting with one or a few drops or half a dessert spoon.

The best choice for starting complementary feeding:

1. Boiled green and white vegetables (zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, peas, green beans) chopped into a pulp.
2. Porridge made from rice, buckwheat, corn without seasonings and oil.

If at 6 months the child is not introduced to the diet and menu for development, complementary foods that contain the fats, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and microelements necessary for a small body, then over time the baby’s growth and development will stop.

A baby who continues to feed only breast milk after six months increases the risk of the following diseases:

• rickets;
• body weight deficiency;
• exhaustion;
• anemia;
• dysfunction of taste perception.

When a child is 6 months old, his development: both nutrition and care must obey the regime established by the parents. So, for six months it is considered normal to eat 5 times a day in small portions in this order:

1. Breast milk.
2. Feeding with fruit puree. It is given in the morning, so that in case of allergic reactions or nausea, vomiting, there is time to cope with the situation or call a doctor. The baby washes down adult food with mother's milk.
3. Vegetable puree or porridge for lunch.
4. Fruits crushed into pulp, to which the baby is not allergic, then breast milk.
5. Before bedtime, the baby is breastfed only.

Thus, vegetables rich in fiber can completely replace one “dairy” meal 2–4 weeks after the start of complementary feeding.

To ensure harmonious development of a child at 6 months, food, the total weight of which does not exceed 150–200 ml (both complementary foods and breast milk) should be given at equal intervals. So, the time between feedings should not exceed 5 hours, but should not be less than 3-4 hours. The normal night break for sleep without feeding is 10 hours.

When introducing complementary foods, the following rules are observed:

1. 1 product is introduced into the diet at a time. Mixtures of several vegetables or fruits and cereals are given to children from 7–8 months.
2. The child is just learning to swallow food with a thick consistency, so when feeding, parents need to be patient and give food from a soft silicone spoon.
3. Forcing adults to take this or that product is unacceptable.
4. Cow's milk is not used to prepare porridges.

When a child is fed formula milk, adult food is added to the diet earlier, at the end of the 4th month - formula-fed children gain weight faster. In this case, at six months the baby’s diet will include not only vegetables and fruits, but also baby cookies, chicken egg yolks, and certain dairy products.

A bottle-fed baby at 6 months of age is helped to develop through nutrition. An approximate menu table for the day is given below.

In the case where there is an allergy to cow's milk protein in a 6-month-old child, development and nutrition are adjusted as in the table, taking into account the replacement of lactose-containing products with soy formula or protein hydrolysate.

In the diet of such children, meat puree appears earlier than others - twice-digested and chopped pieces of beef or chicken. This is done to compensate for the protein deficiency that is not supplied with whole cow's milk.

When a child is 6–7 months old, development and nutrition for his body are directly related. A high-quality, complete diet consisting of milk or formula, together with the first complementary foods, form the basis for the normal functioning of internal organs and functional systems. A thoughtful, balanced menu is the key to the health of a growing little person, his harmonious physical and mental development.

Your baby is already 4 months old. He has grown noticeably, become more active, is interested in objects that fall into his field of vision, looks attentively and reaches out to them. The child’s emotional reactions have become much richer: he smiles joyfully at all the people he sees more and more often, and makes various sounds.

Are you still breastfeeding your baby or have you had to switch to mixed or bottle feeding? The child is actively growing, and only with breast milk or infant formula can he no longer receive all the necessary nutrients. This means that it is time to think about complementary feeding.

The optimal time to start introducing it is an interval of 4 to 6 months, regardless of whether the baby receives breast milk or formula. It is at this time that children respond best to new foods. Until 4 months, the baby is not yet ready to accept and digest any other food. And with the late introduction of complementary foods - after 6 months, children already have significant deficiencies of certain nutrients and, first of all, micronutrients (minerals, vitamins, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, etc.). In addition, children at this age often refuse new foods, their development of chewing skills for thick foods is delayed, and inappropriate eating habits are formed. It is important to know that, strange as it may seem at first glance, with delayed administration of complementary feeding products, allergic reactions to them are more likely to occur.

In what cases is it advisable to give complementary foods as early as 4 months, and when can you wait until 5.5 or even 6 months? To resolve this issue, be sure to consult a pediatrician.

As a rule, at an earlier age (4 - 4.5 months), complementary foods are introduced to children at risk of developing iron deficiency anemia, as well as to children with insufficient weight gain and functional digestive disorders.

The optimal time to start introducing complementary foods to a healthy baby is the age of 5 - 5.5 months.

The World Health Organization recommends that breastfed children be introduced to complementary foods from 6 months of age. From the point of view of domestic pediatricians, which is based on extensive practical experience and scientific research, this is only possible in cases where the child was born on time, without malnutrition (since in these cases the reserves of mineral substances are very small), he is healthy, grows well and develops. In addition, the mother must also be healthy, eat well and use either specialized fortified products for pregnant and lactating women, or courses of vitamin and mineral complexes. Such restrictions are associated with depletion of iron reserves even in an absolutely healthy child by 5 - 5.5 months of age and a significant increase in the risk of developing anemia in the absence of complementary feeding products rich or fortified with iron. Other deficiency states also arise.

The first complementary feeding product can be vegetable puree or porridge; it is better to give fruit puree to the baby later - after delicious sweet fruits, children usually eat vegetable puree and porridge worse, and often refuse them altogether.

Where is the best place to start? In cases where a child is prone to constipation or gains weight too quickly, preference should be given to vegetables. If there is a high probability of developing anemia, unstable stools and small weight gains, use baby cereals enriched with micronutrients. And if you started introducing complementary foods with cereals, then the second product will be vegetables and vice versa.

If the first complementary foods are introduced at 6 months, it must be baby porridge, enriched with iron and other minerals and vitamins, the supply of which through breast milk is no longer sufficient.

Another important complementary feeding product is meat puree. It contains iron, which is easily absorbed. And adding meat to vegetables improves the absorption of iron from them. It is advisable to introduce meat puree to a child at the age of 6 months. Only daily use of children's fortified porridge and meat puree can satisfy babies' needs for iron, zinc and other micronutrients.

But it is better to introduce juices later, when the child is already receiving the main complementary foods - vegetables, cereals, meat and fruits. After all, complementary feeding is needed so that the baby receives all the substances necessary for growth and development, and juices contain very little of them, including vitamins and minerals.

Juices should not be given in between feedings, but after the child has eaten porridge or vegetables with pureed meat, and also as an afternoon snack. The habit of drinking juices between meals leads to frequent snacking in the future, a love of sweets is instilled, children are more likely to develop tooth decay and the risk of developing obesity increases.

With the beginning of the introduction of complementary foods, the child is gradually transferred to a 5-time feeding regimen.

Rules for introducing complementary foods:

• preference should be given to industrially produced children's products; they are made from environmentally friendly raw materials, have a guaranteed composition and degree of grinding
• a complementary feeding product should be offered to the child from a spoon at the beginning of feeding, before breastfeeding (formula feeding)
• the volume of the product increases gradually, we start with ½ - 1 spoon, and in 7 - 10 days we bring it to the age norm, subsequent products within the same group (porridge from other cereals or new vegetables) can be introduced faster, in 5 - 7 days
• We begin the introduction with monocomponent products
• It is not advisable to give a new product in the afternoon; it is important to monitor how the child reacts to it
• new products are not introduced in the event of acute diseases, as well as before and immediately after preventive vaccination (you should refrain for several days)

When introducing a new type of complementary food, try one product first, gradually increasing its quantity, and then gradually “dilute” this product with a new one. For example, you can start vegetable complementary feeding with a teaspoon of zucchini puree. For a week, give your baby only this product, gradually increasing its volume. After a week, add a teaspoon of broccoli or cauliflower puree to the zucchini puree and continue to increase the total volume every day. A vegetable puree made from three types of vegetables would be optimal. The portion must correspond to the age norm. Over time, you can replace the introduced vegetables with others faster.

After introducing one vegetable (bringing its volume to the required amount), you can move on to eating porridge, and diversify your vegetable diet later.

If the child does not like the dish, for example, broccoli, do not give up on your plan and continue to offer this vegetable in small quantities - 1-2 spoons daily, maybe not just once, but 2-3 times before meals, and after 7 - 10, and sometimes it takes 15 days for the baby to get used to the new taste. This will diversify the diet and help the baby form the right taste habits.

Spoon feeding should be done patiently and carefully. Force feeding is unacceptable!

In the diet of healthy children, porridge is usually introduced after vegetables (with the exception of healthy breastfed children, when complementary feeding is introduced from 6 months). It is better to start with dairy-free, gluten-free porridges - buckwheat, corn, rice. It is important to use commercially produced baby food porridge, which contains a complex of vitamins and minerals. In addition, it is already ready for use; you just need to dilute it with breast milk or the formula that the baby receives.

For children suffering from food allergies, complementary foods are introduced at 5 - 5.5 months. The rules for introducing products are the same as for healthy children; in all cases, it is introduced slowly and starts with hypoallergenic products. Individual tolerance must be taken into account. The only difference is in adjusting the diet taking into account the identified allergens. For meat products, first preference should be given to turkey and rabbit puree.

Diets for different age periods

It is better to explain how you can create a diet using several examples that will help you navigate in creating a menu specifically for your child.

From 5 months, the volume of one feeding averages 200 ml.

Option 1.

If your child began receiving complementary foods from 4 to 5 months, then at 6 months his diet should look like this:

* - infant formula

Option 2.

Another option for the diet of a 6-month-old child, if complementary feeding was introduced from 4 to 5 months:

* - infant formula
** - diluted with breast milk or DMS

Option 3.

Approximate daily diet for a 6.5-month-old breastfed child, if complementary foods were introduced at 6 months:

** - diluted with breast milk

Up to 7 months, you should increase the volume of porridge and vegetable puree to 150 g and introduce fruit puree.

The materials were prepared by employees of the department of nutrition of healthy and sick children of the Scientific Center for Children's Health and are based on the recommendations given in the “National Program for Optimizing Feeding of Children of the First Year of Life in the Russian Federation”, approved at the XV Congress of Pediatricians of Russia (02.2009)

The demand for food in a baby who is 6 months old increases literally before our eyes. Toddlers who are breastfed are already receiving their first complementary foods, while artificial ones have even managed to get used to it and need more variety. In the first case, there is no extreme need to track how much and what the baby needs; he should still receive the main components from mother's milk.

In the second, you will have to try a lot to ensure that the child is provided with everything necessary and at the same time does not suffer from colic, gas, regurgitation and other unpleasant consequences of an improperly organized food intake process.

How often and when to feed?

Children aged 6 months are already able to withstand fairly long breaks between meals, and at night the need for feeding disappears altogether. If the baby develops according to plan, then by six months he should receive food approximately 5-6 times a day. Experts have even developed an approximate diet for infants. But do not forget about the individual characteristics of children, which can make minor adjustments to the routine:

• First meal at 7.30.
• The second one is at 11.00.
• The third one is at 15.00.
• The fourth is at 17.00.

Advice: It is only useful for adults not to eat at night. A 6-month-old child who has had a hearty dinner before bed will sleep soundly and peacefully until the morning, without needing nighttime “snacks.” The main thing is to understand how much a baby can eat so that his stomach is not full. Otherwise, he will quickly fall asleep, but may wake up with colic.

• Fifth – at 19.00.
• The sixth is at 21.00.

The duration of feeding is individual for each baby. If one child easily copes with a plate of mashed potatoes, cookies and fruit dessert in 20-30 minutes, then another is able to stretch out a meal consisting of porridge for an hour. Don't push the baby. He should associate eating only with positive emotions.

Amounts of food that are optimal for a six-month-old child

Despite the fact that today there are several approaches to calculating the daily amount of food consumed by a child under the age of one year (based on the baby’s weight or height, his calorie needs), the simplest formula is most often used. According to it, a child aged 6 months and older should eat food per day in an amount ranging from 1/9 to 1/8 of his weight. Based on how much macronutrients, vitamins, minerals and fiber will be in this case, nutritionists derive the following important figures:

• The daily volume of food should be about a liter and this figure does not depend on the type of feeding of the baby.
• At 6 months, the child should be given at least 500 ml of breast milk or 600 ml of an adapted formula. For a baby on a mixed type of diet, the proportions of both are selected individually.
• The amount of porridge per day will be about 150 ml.
• For vegetable puree, also no more than 150 ml.
• Fruit puree will be 50-60 ml.
• Meat puree – only 30 ml.
• Another 60 ml for juice and 40 ml for cottage cheese.
• Additionally, a baby at 6 months should receive about a quarter of an egg yolk.

Substances that should be present in the diet of a 6-month-old baby

A child aged 6 months, taking into account all developmental characteristics, should receive about 115 calories per day. And this indicator must be covered by consuming cereals, meat, vegetable or fruit purees. No sweets, even homemade from natural products. In addition, the following points must be taken into account:

• First of all, you need to pay attention to how much protein your baby consumes. The requirement of a 6-month-old baby exceeds the same norm for an adult by approximately two times. In general, this macronutrient should account for at least 80% of the baby’s diet. It is he who is the key to the normal physical and mental development of the little man. The main source of the component for infants is mother's milk, for artificial infants - an adapted formula. Additionally, as complementary foods are introduced, the baby should begin to eat cottage cheese, turkey or rabbit puree.
• Carbohydrates and fats are the main sources of energy, but if they enter the body excessively, the child will begin to experience discomfort due to the constant fermentation of food in the intestines. And the abundance of fats is also a prerequisite for the development of diseases of the digestive system. To get the right carbohydrates, your baby should eat cereal. It can be instant, but it is better if the child eats the product prepared according to all the rules. The source of fats is breast milk, adapted formulas, and egg yolk.
• At 6 months, we begin to pay special attention to the toddler’s drinking regime. Vegetable and fruit purees, breast milk, and soups are not always able to cover the baby’s need for liquid. Artificial children are always given baby water, herbal teas, and fruit juices.

Before making any adjustments to your baby’s usual diet, it is better to consult with your pediatrician. The specialist will assess the speed and correctness of the child’s development and give useful advice.

Approximate menu options for a six-month-old baby

You need to not only know how much your baby should eat in one meal or per day, but also how to properly combine dishes, combine and alternate components. As a basis for creating a menu, you can take one of the following daily diet options:

Option 1:

• First feeding. Infant formula or mother's milk in a volume of 200 ml.
• Second feeding. Porridge boiled in water - 150 ml, supplementary feeding in the form of breast milk or formula - 100 ml (in general, the amount of supplementary feeding depends on how much the baby ate of the main dish).
• Third feeding. Vegetable puree - 100 ml with a small amount of meat - 20 g. A quarter glass of fruit juice.
• Fourth feeding. Children's cookies in the amount of a couple of pieces with two tablespoons of a suitable fermented milk drink.
• Fifth feeding. No more than 20 g of cottage cheese, 40 ml of fruit puree and 200 ml of adapted formula or breast milk.
• Sixth feeding. Breast milk or formula in a volume of 150-200 ml.

Option 2:

• First feeding. Adapted formula or mother's milk - 200 ml.
• Second feeding. Two tablespoons of fruit puree or a tablespoon of juice. Depending on how much your baby has eaten, you can supplement with breast milk or formula.
• Third feeding. Chicken broth - 100 ml with ground meat, 100 ml vegetable puree, 50 ml fruit puree.
• Fourth feeding. Porridge cooked in milk – 150 ml, jelly – 100 ml.
• Fifth feeding. Adapted formula or mother's milk - 200 ml.

After some time, you can begin to gradually add butter to porridges, and vegetable oil to vegetables. In this case, you need to take into account the fact that the fat content of the dishes will increase, albeit slightly. During such experiments, parents should monitor the baby’s condition even more closely than usual.

Many parents are interested in what they can give their baby to eat and drink at 6 months. Why exactly from this age? Because this age is defined by WHO as the very moment when a baby can receive something else in food other than breast milk. That is, a child at 6 months can already eat cereals, fruit and vegetable purees, as well as some other foods. There are no universal recommendations yet, since there is no consensus on this issue among pediatricians in different countries.

For example, in the USA and Great Britain, children rarely receive breast milk before 6 months, so complementary foods are introduced to the baby earlier. While, according to WHO, introducing complementary foods from 6 months can lead to iron deficiency and increase the risk of growth retardation, it is better to wait a little longer, although in general a 6-month-old baby is physiologically ready for more “adult” food. What can you give to a baby of this age and in what quantities? Are those parents who give meat to their children doing the right thing?

Rules for first feeding

A common point of view among pediatricians is the introduction of complementary foods from the moment the child manages to double the weight that he had at birth. There is another point of view that complementary feeding can begin when the first teeth appear. But in principle, both of these factors usually approximately coincide in time - this is 5-6 months.

At 6 months, the child can already be given fairly thick food. Moreover, this applies to both breastfed and bottle-fed children. Thick food does not mean that a child can eat meat, even in pureed form. They start with vegetable puree and then move on to porridge.

In Soviet times, when a child was six months old, he already had time to try vegetable juices, since it was believed that they provided him with all possible vitamins. However, it was later proven that juices have virtually no effect on the vitaminization of the diet, so consuming them is not very useful and even in some cases harmful - they can cause allergies. What you can eat is vegetable puree. It is especially useful for a 6-month-old bottle-fed child, since such babies tend to be constipated, and vegetables contain fiber. In addition, vegetable puree is useful for diathesis (the main signs of this condition are redness of the skin of the cheeks followed by peeling, sometimes such irritation occurs on the buttocks).

If you are premature and underweight, it is also better to eat vegetable puree than kefir, which some pediatricians consider a good start to complementary feeding.

Which puree should you give first? Some people believe that it is best to give homemade purees. But if your child turns six months old in the winter, you are unlikely to find fresh zucchini to make puree from. Not to mention the fact that very little of this complementary feeding is needed. The main thing is to start with one type of vegetable in order to recognize food allergies in time and determine which vegetables such a reaction occurs to.

At 6 months, the baby should try green vegetables. To start, you should choose a zucchini, then give it broccoli or cauliflower. Potatoes are often considered a neutral food. But it contains starch in fairly large quantities, so it can cause allergies. You can make some mashed potatoes and add it to the rest of the vegetables if they have been given for more than 2 weeks. But in this case, potatoes should make up no more than 1/3 of the total food.

Meal scheduling

What foods, besides vegetables, can be given to a child? There is a table for introducing complementary foods approved by domestic pediatricians. It can be used as a guide when feeding your baby. According to this table, at 6 months a child can eat only 3 types of foods - fruit puree, pureed vegetables and dairy-free cereals. At the same time, starting to give complementary foods at six months, the baby is given very tiny portions - 10 g of vegetable puree, 10 g of porridge, 5 g of fruit puree. All 3 products are not given at the same time, only in turn. By the end of the sixth month, you can give up to 120 g of vegetable puree, up to 150 g of porridge and up to 60 g of fruit puree. This is an accepted algorithm and should not be violated.

Thus, meat is not given to a child at 6 months old. Cottage cheese and egg yolk are also excluded for now. Why don't pediatricians recommend doing this? It would seem that both cottage cheese and meat are fats and proteins that help the child grow. But the possible harm from them at this age outweighs the benefit, since there is a risk that the digestive organs will not cope well with such a fairly heavy meal. So meat and cottage cheese are completely excluded.

What fruits can you give your baby? The fact that they are allowed to be given does not mean that they are needed, since you should not get carried away with excess carbohydrates. An hour after eating, when it has already been digested, you can give your child a few spoons of fruit puree, preferably apples. Although pears are generally neutral, they can cause constipation. What other foods can a 6 month old baby eat? Some mothers believe that pedagogical complementary feeding, that is, food from an adult table, will not hurt. But in fact, at this age it is still too early to practice it.

All these products can and should be given to a 6-month-old child not from a bottle, but from a spoon. At this time, the baby's instinct to push out the spoon should have weakened. In addition, complementary foods, even at six months, should have a more complex consistency so that the baby learns to chew and swallow.

Is it possible to eat porridge?

Many people believe that at this age you can start eating cereal, and this is the right approach. But even here, pediatricians from different countries do not have a common opinion. For example, in the USA and some European countries it is believed that porridge should be gluten-free - this is rice and corn. But in the Scandinavian countries, wellings are common. There they approach the issue of gluten content less strictly, and welling is most often oatmeal with milk, a very thin consistency that can be drunk from a bottle. Similar welling porridges, which can be diluted with milk or milk formula, can also be found on the domestic market - they are made not only from oatmeal, but also from other cereals. Such porridges are convenient for those who want to go on a picnic or walk with their baby - there is no need to take plates, bowls, saucepans and other utensils with them.

However, despite such a diversity of opinions, it is worth adhering to the recommendations approved by domestic pediatricians. Firstly, they generally comply with WHO requirements, and secondly, they are adapted to Russian reality. Thus, porridge is an allowed product, but it is given only when the child gets used to the first complementary foods, that is, vegetable puree.

What cereals can a child eat? Since gluten is not digested as well in children of this age as in adults, it is better to eat rice, corn or buckwheat. These cereals are rich in carbohydrates and various minerals. And buckwheat also contains a lot of iron, that is, it can provide the body with almost everything necessary.

It is believed that rice is digested better because it contains very little plant proteins. This is where they start, especially if the baby often has an upset stomach. If a child has constipation, then you should start with buckwheat porridge, since it is very nutritious and is also well digested. It is ideal for children with iron deficiency anemia. In any case, the second porridge will be corn porridge. If you prepare corn porridge not from flour or specially processed flakes, then it will take much longer to cook than rice or buckwheat.

So, all of the listed cereals can be eaten by a child at 6 months, but with one caveat. The fact is that rice should not be eaten by children suffering from constipation, it will only worsen the situation. As for oats, barley, wheat, they are very healthy, but they contain a lot of gluten, and if a child’s body produces little peptidase enzyme, then after he eats such porridge, he may experience abdominal pain, increased gas formation, and bloating , other painful or unpleasant symptoms.

Semolina porridge, which tastes good and is loved by many children, can be given to your baby around the time he turns one. Before this, there is no need to take risks, since semolina is made from wheat and contains a lot of gluten. In addition, semolina reduces the absorption of calcium, which increases the risk of rickets. But oatmeal can be given as early as 7 months. It contains more gluten than corn, but not by much. As soon as the mother is convinced that this or that cereal is well tolerated, she can combine several at once. For example, give a mixture of corn, rice and oatmeal. Moreover, ready-made mixtures of this kind are sold in stores.

The rules for introducing cereals are not much different from introducing vegetable complementary foods. To begin with, the porridge must be made more liquid so that it is better absorbed. This complementary feeding should be brought to the above volume of 150 g in at least a week, or even 10 days. All this time you need to watch how the child gets used to the new dish and whether rashes have appeared. It is recommended to give porridge in the morning for breakfast. Moreover, pediatricians advise sticking to this rule in the future, when the child is older, right up to elementary school, since at this time of day all the substances contained in it are absorbed most fully. You shouldn’t eat so many slow carbohydrates at night, as they take longer to digest. They start eating porridge from a bottle, but as it becomes thicker, they eat it from a spoon. You should choose the consistency that your child will like the most. Of course, there should be no lumps in the porridge under any circumstances, even if the baby already has teeth.

What can a 6 month old baby drink?

Although in Western literature one can find the statement that a child can drink regular tap water, in domestic conditions this is impossible. Therefore, at 6 months the baby should drink boiled water cooled to room temperature. Table water should not be drunk because it often contains a lot of mineral salts. The exception is water, the composition of which was developed specifically for children of this age.

Gradually it will be possible to give fruit juice, only it will first need to be diluted with water - about 1-2 tsp. juice per glass of water. In addition, you should drink fruit juices either during meals or immediately after, so as not to cause gastritis. The juice must be freshly squeezed; no packaged drinks are allowed, as they contain dyes, sugar, preservatives and other harmful substances. Juices, even diluted ones, should not be drunk before going to bed and especially at night, since they create a large load on the digestive organs.

According to WHO recommendations, at the age of 6 months, a healthy baby is maximally ready for complementary feeding. Although mother's milk continues to be the main source of all substances important for life, the body no longer has enough energy, vitamins and microelements. The baby’s digestive system is physiologically ready to digest coarser foods. Moreover, its use can cause the release of special enzymes that have a positive effect on the motility of the gastrointestinal tract.

Age characteristics - why from six months?

Many mothers mistakenly believe that if their milk is not enough to nourish the baby, then it is time to move on to introducing complementary foods from 2-3 months. Indeed, what harm can a couple of teaspoons of applesauce or “so healthy” carrot juice do? In fact, this is a fundamentally wrong point of view. The baby's digestive system is unable to digest anything other than mother's milk. If there is insufficient lactation, the pediatrician should select a supplement for the child. The introduction of early complementary feeding is fraught with such unpleasant consequences for the baby as:

• indigestion;
• (which can last for many years);
• subsequent development of obesity.

On the other hand, late complementary feeding is also harmful: it will lead to:

• retardation in mental and physical development;
• risk of developing deficiency conditions (malnutrition, anemia, hypovitaminosis);
• protein-calorie deficiency.

A baby's body up to 5-6 months is not adapted to digest any food, with the exception of breast milk and adapted milk formulas, which are used in cases of insufficient lactation. But the age of 6 months is an average value. Accurate information about whether the baby is ready for the introduction of complementary foods can only be provided by a pediatrician who observes its development. Children do not grow according to an exact pattern; each baby is individual: one is ready for complementary feeding at 5 months, another only at 9. The main factors that it is time for your son or daughter to start giving complementary foods are:

• The child is absolutely healthy:
• He shows interest in food from the diet of the adults around him;
• The baby's weight has doubled since birth;
• The baby does not have enough breast milk: he is increasingly put to the breast;
• The baby sits confidently without support;
• The ejection reflex (regurgitation) gradually fades away.

Complementary feeding while breastfeeding - where to start at 6 months

Basic principles to follow when introducing complementary foods to a breastfed baby:

• Complementary feeding can be introduced only if the baby is completely healthy: there is no disorder of the digestive system (constipation, diarrhea), no increase in body temperature, there have not been and will not be vaccinations 5 - 7 days before and after the planned complementary feeding;
• An additional meal should be given to the child when he is hungry, then supplemented with breastfeeding;
• The consistency of the dish should be as homogeneous and liquid as possible, the temperature should be moderately warm. It is especially useful to steam vegetables and then grind them in a blender (or rub through a strainer). With this method of cooking, vitamins and nutrients are better preserved in vegetables;
• The baby should be fed from a spoon and always in a sitting position;
• A new product can be given to a child only once a day. You should start with 0.25 - 0.5 teaspoon. Within two weeks, the portion should be increased to 150 g, which will replace one breastfeeding;
• New dishes are introduced gradually. The next product can be used in the diet after the body adapts to the previous one;
• Constantly monitor the child’s condition and his reaction to new foods;
• Simultaneously with the introduction of complementary foods, accustom the baby to 5 meals a day with intervals of 4 hours between feedings.

Products for the first menu

The choice of first courses for complementary feeding depends on the characteristics of the baby’s body and condition: if there is a problem of underweight, then it is better to start with gluten-free porridges: corn, buckwheat or rice. If a child has a tendency to constipation, then use vegetable and fruit purees.

At the first stages, the dish should consist of one type of product: you should not mix two types of vegetables, fruits or berries in one puree or juice.

The best products for the first vegetable feeding– cabbage of all varieties, the healthiest of which are cauliflower and broccoli, potatoes and zucchini (especially if the baby has constipation). Then you can introduce green peas. Colored fruits and vegetables (red apple, dark grapes, carrots, beets, pumpkin) are offered to the baby a little later.

There is no need to add sugar to fruit purees or salt to vegetable purees. Add half the yolk and vegetable oils (olive or sunflower) to the vegetable puree, starting with 1 drop and increasing to 1 tsp. for a full serving of puree (150 g).

Since a child’s kidneys are not fully formed until they are one year old, under no circumstances should you give your baby meat broths that contain a large amount of purine bases. For soup it is better to use vegetable broth.

The healthiest way to prepare vegetables is to steam them and grind them in a blender or through a strainer. With this heat treatment, a greater amount of vitamins and other useful substances is preserved. The puree must be made liquid; the baby is not yet able to swallow thick food.

Porridge for a 6-month-old baby (we are starting to give one-ingredient, gluten-free cereals. These types include buckwheat, rice and corn porridge) are first cooked from one type of cereal. After three weeks, you can start mixing cereals. It is recommended to first grind them in a coffee grinder and only then cook them. Both water and breast milk are suitable for cooking. It is useful to add melted butter to the finished porridge.

Child's taste preferences

Be very attentive to the desires and taste preferences of the baby himself. If a dish is unpleasant to him and he turns away from the spoon, do not insist on anything. Avoid this product for a while. It can be offered again after 3 or 4 weeks.

Do not force your child to eat the entire portion of complementary foods. In this case, the baby will suck less milk from the breast, which will lead to a decrease in its production and the extinction of lactation. It can also cause aversion to the new dish and poor appetite in the future.

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It is necessary to supplement the baby with breast milk for as long as possible. It remains the main food for up to a year, a source of growth hormones and antibodies that form the child’s immunity. Remember that the main goal of complementary feeding is not transfer to the common table, but the formation of natural eating behavior. Therefore, it is not so important whether the products and their quantities comply with the recommendations. It is necessary to take into account the desire of the baby. If parents do not pursue the goal of maintaining a quantitative portion of baby food, then an active interest in food will remain and breastfeeding will not be supplanted. In this case, the transition to eating from a common table will be gradual.

For babies who, for one reason or another, are fed with adapted artificial formulas, complementary foods are introduced a little earlier: from 4 to 5 months. This must be done on the preliminary recommendation of the observing pediatrician and taking into account his advice. The introduction of complementary foods at such an early stage is due to the fact that the growing body does not have enough nutrients obtained from mixtures for full development.

The feeding regimen corresponds to the feeding regimen of a breastfed baby. First, vegetable and fruit purees are also introduced into the diet. At 6 months, artificial babies move on to the second stage of complementary feeding - dairy (depending on milk tolerance) and dairy-free cereals with added butter, juices diluted with water, cottage cheese, yolk, meat and fish purees.

Artificial people may be prone to obesity, so do not overuse semolina porridge. Apart from being highly nutritious, it is essentially of no use. With frequent consumption of this cereal, the possibility of developing conditions such as anemia or rickets significantly increases.

When adding meat and fish dishes to the menu, you can use ready-made canned food () intended for children, but mashed potatoes or purees prepared in a blender at home will be healthier. The first meat purees are prepared from rabbit, turkey, veal or chicken. ()

Our complementary feeding history (6 months)