So, how do babies eat to be nutritious?
Before the baby is one year old, it is mainly the stage of "learning to eat". The main nutrition comes from milk. A balanced diet is not very important, but when the baby is over 1 year old, milk becomes an auxiliary food, and solid food becomes the main source of nutrition. Parents should arrange their baby's three meals a day reasonably and make some delicious, nutritious food suitable for the baby's chewing ability.
Adequate and comprehensive nutrition is the material basis to ensure the healthy growth of infants. Protein, fat, carbohydrate, minerals, vitamins and water must be provided to infants every day in order to maintain their normal physiological functions and meet the needs of growth and development.
What are the characteristics of complementary food for infants at different stages?
Baby's complementary food has different characteristics at different stages. Parents should arrange complementary food reasonably and scientifically according to the characteristics of the baby at different stages, so that the baby can eat more nutritionally. Let's take a look at the characteristics of complementary food at different stages;
0~3 months baby 0 ~ 3 months baby grows and develops rapidly, and the brain enters the second peak of development. This stage is mainly breastfeeding. When the baby is in the first month, the baby's stomach is very small, only about 30 ml, and it is necessary to breastfeed when necessary. From February to March, the baby's food intake began to increase, and the time for eating became more and more fixed. Breastfeeding 6-8 times a day, with an interval of 3-4 hours each time and 5-6 hours in the evening.
Babies aged 0~3 months mainly eat whole milk, and vitamin D can be supplemented in the later period of newborns. If climatic conditions permit, babies of 2-3 months can try to watch the sun for a few more minutes outdoors, or open the window indoors and get in direct contact with the ultraviolet rays in the sun. It doesn't matter if the sun shines through the glass or doesn't expose the skin.
After 4 to 6 months, the baby's iron reserve has been exhausted, and the iron in breast milk or formula milk can't meet the baby's nutritional needs. At this time, if iron-containing food is not added, the baby is prone to iron deficiency anemia. For babies within 6 months, the main food should be breast milk or formula milk powder, and other foods can only be used as complementary food. At this stage, don't force your baby to eat complementary food he doesn't like, so as to avoid adding complementary food more difficult in the future.
Experts suggest that after 4 months, according to the baby's physical development, you can start adding muddy food to stimulate the baby's oral touch. When parents are parents to their babies, they should give priority to semi-liquids, starting with baby rice noodles, and then giving them fruit purees, such as apple puree, banana puree, carrot puree and pear puree.
At this stage, the main source of nutrition for babies aged 7 ~ 9 months is breast milk or formula milk, and complementary food is added. You can feed rice porridge or noodles at this time. In order to ensure nutrition, you can also feed meat sauce (such as chicken sauce, beef sauce, fish sauce, etc. ), but only one kind is fed at a meal. You can also try to feed mixed meat and vegetables with mud, but vegetables must be low in fiber, and carrots and pumpkins can be used instead of celery and leeks. Only a small amount of potatoes can be used, and tofu rich in plant protein is a better complementary food.
10- 12 months old baby is at the peak of teething, and calcium and phosphorus can promote the growth and development of human bones and teeth. Therefore, at this stage, mothers should pay attention to feeding their babies more foods with high calcium and phosphorus content in their diets to ensure that their babies can get the calcium and phosphorus they need. For example, when making complementary food, dairy products, shrimp skin, green leafy vegetables, bean products, eggs and so on.
At this stage, staple foods such as rice porridge and noodles are the main sources of baby's calories. Meat sauce, vegetable sauce, egg yolk, liver sauce and tofu are rich in inorganic salts and cellulose, which promote metabolism and help digestion. Change the pattern every day to increase the baby's appetite.
1 ~ 2-year-old baby at this stage, the baby is in an important stage of bone and tooth growth, so at this stage, it is necessary to pay attention to calcium supplementation for the baby. Ensure that the baby has more than 400 ml of formula milk every day, because dairy products are the main source of calcium. In addition, the baby should eat some shrimp, seaweed, green leafy vegetables and so on. , but also a good calcium supplement.
At this stage, the baby has grown new teeth on the basis of the upper and lower eight front teeth, and slowly learned to chew, but the digestive ability is still relatively poor. Still have to eat something soft and rotten. The baby's daily food should include sweet potatoes, meat, eggs, beans, vegetables, fruits and milk, and the nutrition should be appropriate.
Babies aged 2-3 years old have gradually developed all their deciduous teeth, have strong chewing ability, and like to eat solid food. The habit of eating three meals a day has basically taken shape, but they still need to eat snacks or snacks once in the morning and evening. The amount is small and the taste is light, and the calories provided should not exceed 5% of the whole day. The distribution of all kinds of food should be reasonable, that is, the proportion of meat and vegetables and the intake of coarse grains in flour and rice should be appropriate, so as to ensure a balanced nutrition.