How to choose baby food ingredients

As the baby grows older, his diet also needs to be adjusted. Drinking milk alone is not nutritious enough. Of course, a good choice of complementary food can give the baby more nutrition. However, when choosing complementary food, you must pay attention to the baby's taste, the baby's physical allergies, etc. Here the editor recommends suggestions on choosing baby complementary food.

Milk alone is not enough for baby's development

Nutritionist Joyce Cheng said that before discussing how to eat complementary foods, it is worth understanding why infants and young children need to eat complementary foods. This is because when a baby is 4 months old, he will enter a period of rapid growth and development, and his activity level will also increase significantly. At this time, drinking breast milk and formula milk can no longer meet the calories, iron, calcium and other nutrients needed for his growth.

Therefore, you need to start introducing "complementary foods", also known as "weaning foods", to gradually reduce the amount of milk, so that the baby can gradually take in a variety of ingredients and supplement more diverse nutrition. Most importantly, this method can improve the baby's ability to chew, swallow, and use the tongue, promote their taste and language development, and allow the child to learn to eat independently like an adult.

How to choose baby food ingredients

If you want your baby to eat "complementary food" healthily, what should mothers do? Nutritionist Joyce Cheng shares 4 tips for preparing supplementary food from a nutritional perspective for new mothers to refer to:

Tip 1/Serve only one food at a time:

It is recommended to start with a small amount of a single item (one teaspoon) when supplying complementary foods, so as to observe the baby's allergic reactions (such as diarrhea, vomiting, rash, skin flushing, etc.) and bowel movements. If there is no discomfort, then slowly increase the amount.

In terms of food form, you should also gradually start with liquid food, then semi-solid food, and then solid food; the concentration should be changed from thin to thick; from paste to small cubes, so as to slowly train the child's chewing ability. In addition, when trying to feed complementary foods in the early stage, you can also try to start with complementary foods, then give breast milk or formula milk; and use a bowl or spoon when feeding, and provide a comfortable and relaxing environment, which is a good way to help children adapt to the adult diet.

Tip 2/Make good use of natural foods:

The stage of complementary food is the "taste formation period" of the baby in the future. In order to prevent the child from developing picky eating habits, it is recommended to choose fresh, natural, easy to digest, and free of artificial seasonings. Cooking with natural spices such as onion puree, lemon, onion, ginger, garlic, etc. is a good way to avoid the formation of heavy taste.

In addition, when mothers are breastfeeding, they will pass the nutrients they eat to their babies through breast milk, which will affect the child's acceptance of food in the future. Therefore, if parents do not want their babies to be picky eaters, they may try to choose a variety of natural fruits and vegetables during pregnancy and breastfeeding, which is another way to cultivate good eating habits for children from the "womb stage".

Tip 3/Nutrition supply should be divided into stages:

Nutritionist Cheng Xinyi pointed out that the nutritional needs of preschool children vary greatly according to their growth stages. Generally speaking, babies aged 0 to 12 months need about 100 calories per kilogram of body weight; while those aged 1 to 3 years old need about 1150 to 1350 calories per day, depending on their activity level.

In addition to the supply of calories, infants and young children need to pay more attention to the intake of protein, calcium, and iron during their growth stage. For protein supplementation, it is recommended to choose high-quality proteins such as tofu, soy milk, fish paste, and meat paste; and calcium can be supplemented with the following high-calcium foods, such as green amaranth and sesame paste, in addition to breast milk and formula milk. As for iron, beef paste, liver paste, etc. can be selected, and after meals, juice or fruit puree with high vitamin C content can be supplemented, such as orange juice, guava paste, etc., which is a good combination for iron supplementation and absorption.

Tip 4/Pay attention to food hygiene and safety:

Parents are advised to prepare complementary foods by themselves if it is convenient. When cooking, they should also pay attention to the freshness of the ingredients, the cleanliness of the cooking utensils, and the subsequent storage temperature and time to prevent food spoilage. In addition, since children's intestinal function is not complete before the age of 1 and their tolerance is poor, it is recommended that they avoid eating honey products to avoid discomfort caused by anaerobic bacteria in honey.

The forms and types of supplementary foods are the best to eat! Nutritionists use a table to teach you how to choose the right ingredients

In addition to teaching new mothers how to cook, nutritionist Joyce Cheng also specially compiled a chart of the types and forms of supplementary foods recommended for children in the three major growth stages of 4 to 6 months; 7 to 9 months; and 10 to 12 months, to provide parents with a reference for care: