Preparation of complementary foods
Release time : 04/20/2025 09:30:01
For newborn babies, breast milk is of course the most ideal food for babies. But as the baby grows up day by day, eating breast milk or infant formula alone cannot meet the baby's nutritional needs starting from about four months. Therefore, during this period, in addition to feeding breast milk or infant formula to the baby, mothers should also Give the baby some complementary foods according to the age of the month, which is what we often call complementary foods.
So, how should the complementary food that your baby eats be made? What are the common misunderstandings about mothers making complementary food for their babies? Let's take a look at the precautions for making baby food supplements. First of all, mothers should pay attention to the following points for the production of complementary food for their babies: 1. ** Choose ingredients **: Make sure the ingredients you choose are fresh, clean and free of pesticide residues. 2. ** Ingredients processing **: Try to cut the ingredients into small pieces or pieces for the baby to chew and digest. 3. ** Temperature control **: The temperature of complementary food should be moderate. Overheating or too cold may affect your baby's digestive function. 4. ** Food shape **: Try to make the shape of the food suitable for your baby's chewing and swallowing abilities, such as mud, crushed, etc. 5. ** Gradually add **: At the beginning, only add one new food at a time to observe whether the baby has an allergic reaction. 6. ** Avoid additives **: Try to avoid adding additives such as sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate to complementary food. 7. ** Pay attention to hygiene **: Pay attention to hygiene when making and storing complementary food to avoid cross-infection. Common misunderstandings include: 1. ** Adding solid food too early **: Adding solid food too early may increase the burden on your baby's stomach and lead to indigestion. 2. ** Single food **: Giving only one food to your baby for a long time may lead to unbalanced nutrition. 3. ** Add too much condiments **: Too much salt, sugar and other condiments may affect your baby's health. 4. ** Ignore the taste and taste of complementary foods **: Babies are very sensitive to the taste and taste of food. Ignoring this may cause babies to dislike eating complementary foods. 5. ** Excessive reliance on breast milk or formula **: Excessive reliance on breast milk or formula may lead to a lack of essential nutrients. In short, when making complementary food for their babies, mothers should pay attention to the choice of ingredients, processing methods and amount added, while avoiding the above misunderstandings.
There are many ways to make complementary food. Newbie mothers feel that their cooking skills are not good and are worried that the complementary food they make for their baby will not meet the baby's nutritional requirements. In fact, as long as the mother reads more cooking books or learns the method of making complementary food from experienced people, You can also make nutritious and delicious complementary food.
These simple and practical methods for making complementary food may provide some help to novice mothers.
First of all, be fully prepared before making complementary food: 1. Mom must cut her nails short and wash her hands repeatedly with soap before making complementary food.
Do not make complementary food for your baby when you suffer from an infectious disease or hand inflammation.
2. Various tools used to make and serve food must be washed in advance and scalded with boiling water.
3. The gauze used for filtration must be disinfected by boiling before use.
Whether it is a fruit or a vegetable, it must be washed repeatedly. It is recommended to blanch it with boiling water to ensure that what your baby eats will not be contaminated by bacteria.
4. Prepare a set of special tools for your baby, such as a juicer (it is best to have juice, dry powder, juice pressing, etc. with complete functions such as juice extraction, dry powder, juice pressing, etc.), which will make it easier to use. Secondly, it can Avoid mixing with adult tableware to cause cross-infection.
Then, grasp the key details in the cooking process: 1. Pay attention to adjusting the shape and hardness of the food according to your baby's digestive ability.
At the beginning, make the food into soup or paste, and slowly transition to semi-solid, shredded, and small pieces of solid food.
2. Don't use copper or aluminum drinking utensils to cook food for your baby, because copper can produce an oxidation reaction with vitamin C in some foods, destroying the effect of vitamin C, while aluminum will dissolve in food in an acidic environment, which is not good for your baby's health.
3. Steamed food with skin should be steamed with the skin, and then peeled after steaming.
Cook vegetables by steaming, pressurizing or without water, minimizing their contact with light, air and water.
When preparing baby's first foods, it is best not to add baking soda as it can lead to the loss of vitamins and minerals.
Furthermore, attention must be paid to controlling the temperature of food. It is best not to heat it in a microwave oven at high power levels, as this may destroy the nutrients in the food.
Moreover, the nutritional ingredients of the food should be reasonably combined to make up different types of food. The different nutritional components in the complementation, enhancement or obstruction of each other.
If Mom can notice the differences in nutrition between different foods and pair each ingredient with its "ideal partner," she can enhance the overall nutritional value of her baby's meals, adding more to their diet.
If the baby is fed by mixed feeding or artificial feeding, it should begin to add solid food when the baby's digestive system has developed more fully and he or she is 6 months old.
Mom can start by adding the least likely to cause allergic reactions rice cereals, first choosing pure or single flavored ones, and then selecting those that add milk and calcium, fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, and whole grains.
When selecting rice noodles, not only is the quality of rice noodles made of green rice more guaranteed, but it is also recommended to trace them back to the origin of origin to ensure that 100% green rice is produced in green bases. It has a "double green guarantee" and is safer.
Principles for making complementary food: The production of baby complementary food must be very particular, not only taking into account the baby's taste, but also making the variety of complementary food rich and diverse. When eating, babies should also pay attention to the scientific combination of meat and vegetables, which will be conducive to the healthy development of the baby's body.
Generally, what principles should mothers follow when making complementary food for their babies? Come and learn together, all mothers.
1. Gradual Introduction: When introducing new foods to your baby, start with a small amount and gradually increase the quantity. For example, when adding egg yolks, first feed one-quarter of an yolk (to prevent allergic reactions, it is recommended to add egg yolks after 8 months), and wait for three or four days without any adverse reactions. If your baby shows no hunger between meals, has normal bowel movements, and sleeps well, then gradually increase the amount to half of an egg yolk, and eventually to the entire egg yolk.
2. Gradually from fine to coarse, the baby's food should be small granules. This not only exercises the baby's swallowing ability and lays a foundation for gradually transitioning to solid foods in the future, but also helps the baby become familiar with the natural taste of various foods, thereby fostering good eating habits such as no preference or pickiness.
Additionally, during the time when a baby is about to or is already teething, mothers can gradually increase the size of food particles, which will facilitate the growth of baby's teeth and enhance their chewing abilities.
Many mothers ask which foods are better for developing a baby's chewing and swallowing skills. In fact, noodles can be a good choice.
However, regular noodles are not suitable for babies as they may contain additives such as salt, coloring, and emulsifiers. Babies' gastrointestinal systems are still delicate and cannot handle these additives at this stage.
It is recommended that mom chooses to make baby noodles using 100% wheat flour, without adding salt or preservatives. These noodles made from low-gluten flour are easy to cook and do not increase the burden on the baby's liver. Moreover, these noodles are softer and smoother in texture, making them easier for babies to digest.
3. From sparse to thick, in terms of the variety of baby food, mothers should gradually transition according to the development of the baby's digestive system and teeth growth. This means moving from soups, juices, and rice soups to rice porridge, vegetable puree, fruit puree, and meat puree, and then into soft rice, small pieces of vegetables, fruits, and meat. Only by doing so can the baby better absorb nutrients and avoid digestive issues.
IV. Avoid Salt, Sugar, and Oily Foods; Some parents often feed their babies according to their own taste, adding too much salt or sugar to their baby's food, which is absolutely wrong.
In particular, it is advisable not to add salt to a baby's diet until they are one year old. Additionally, excessive consumption of sweets can increase the baby's feelings of fullness in the stomach and decrease appetite. Moreover, excessive sugar intake can turn into fats stored in the body, potentially leading to obesity in the baby.
When preparing baby's first foods, it is best for mothers to prepare a set of specialized feeding tools that are both convenient and hygienic.
What are some common baby food preparation tools? Here is a list of tools that mothers can refer to.
Common baby food tools include: 1. Cutting board: Prepare a dedicated cutting board for baby foods; the cutting board should be regularly washed and sterilized. The simplest method of sterilization is boiling water, or you can also opt for sun exposure.
After use, immediately rinse and dry thoroughly.
2. Cutlery: Use separate knives for cutting raw and cooked food. Always wash and dry the knife before each use and after preparing a baby's meal.
Choose high-quality knives to prevent rust from water stains.
3. Scraper and Board: Baby's often-eaten fruit purees and vegetable purees are made using a scraper and a board.
A standard stainless steel scrub brush is sufficient. After each use, it should be cleaned thoroughly and air-dried to prevent the growth of bacteria.
The finely ground residue of the food is easily steamed out, the food taste fresh tender, cooked and digested easily, contains less fat, can save a lot of nutrients.
Filters can easily accumulate food residues, which are hidden in fine crevices and are hard to spot. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to cleaning them after use.
5. Steamer: Used for steaming or softening foods, a regular steamer is sufficient.
6. Small pot: Suitable for steaming or boiling food, and can also be used as a regular soup pot. However, small pots cook less food at a time and are suitable for baby meals, preventing waste.
The following are the specialized tools for baby food preparation: 1. Measuring device: It is used to calculate the amount of various materials in the baby food, facilitating cooking according to the ratio of ingredients, and helps calculate the nutritional value of the food.
2. Fruit and Vegetable Slicer: This device can be used to cut fruits like pears or apples into small pieces, making it easier for babies to eat.
Various fruits and vegetables have their own specialized cutters, such as apple cutters and banana cutters.
3. Mixer: A common tool used for making paste-like solid foods.
Mixing baby food, in fact, can be done with any solid object, including sticks or spoons. However, a blender can make the process much more convenient and ensure that the food is thoroughly mixed.
Just keep it clean.
4. Juicer: When babies start to add fruit and vegetable juices, a juicer is an essential tool for preparing these foods.
It is best to purchase a juicer with a fine filter net that allows for separate parts to be cleaned.
Due to juicers being commonly used tools in the early stages of infant feeding, if not cleaned thoroughly, they are particularly prone to breeding bacteria. Therefore, it is essential to pay extra attention to their cleaning process.
5. Grinding Machine: The grinder can turn food into paste without the need for mothers to spend time cutting it into strips before pressing it into a paste, saving both time and effort.
Before grinding, soak the grinding rod and the vessel in boiling water for thorough disinfection before use.
Nowadays, there are many sets of baby food preparation tools on the market, such as baby food cubic containers, food grinders, simple milk storage containers, simple electric stirrers, and fruit and vegetable cutters. Their advantages include being specifically designed for babies, allowing mothers who lack confidence in their cooking skills to use these tools to prepare ingredients more effectively, making the cooking process easier.
Misconceptions in Feeding Baby, to make the baby's feeds both refined and nutritious, some easy-to-overlook misconceptions in feeding baby should be avoided.
So what misunderstandings do mothers often fall into when making complementary food for their babies? Let's take a look together.
Myth 1: I like to use bone soup for porridge. Analysis: Bone soup and bone porridge are rich in nutrients and high in calcium, which is of great benefit to toddlers.
But when you cook with bone broth or rice, only about 10% of the nutrients from the bones are absorbed into the soup. Therefore, to get more nutrition, it's best to eat the broth and bones together.
Moreover, bones contain a lot of lead and are difficult to remove, which could have adverse effects on the baby's health.
Therefore, the mother should add meat to the baby's diet, including fish and shrimp, in order to provide more abundant nutrition.
Misconception Two: Providing Babies with Homemade Rice Porridge Throughout Their Lives. Explanation: Some mothers are concerned about food safety and prefer to grind rice powder by themselves for making rice porridge for their babies. It's okay for babies to occasionally consume it; however, the nutritional content in homemade rice powder is generally less than that found in commercially available baby rice powder.
It is recommended to mothers select rice powder and rice paste according to the development characteristics of babies, so that they can eat healthy and nutritious.
Misconception Three: Substituting vegetable or fruit juice for plain water for infants. Explanation: Many mothers believe that vegetable and fruit juices are more nutritious and have a better taste, leading them to use juices and vegetable juices instead of plain water for their babies.
In fact, these juices easily remain in the baby's mouth, providing a good breeding environment for bacteria.
Therefore, boiled water is the best drink for your baby. It is recommended to use boiled water to replenish your baby's water.
In addition, after the baby eats the complementary food, pay attention to gargle with plain boiled water to clean the mouth.
Which is better, finished food supplements or homemade food supplements? The food supplements given to the baby must meet the following three requirements: fresh, nutritious, and clean and hygienic.
So, is the complementary food that meets these requirements better made by the mothers themselves or the finished food that they bought better? Some mothers like to make homemade complementary food for their babies, thinking that this way their babies can eat healthier and more nutritious. In fact, the finished complementary food on the market may not be worse than homemade complementary food. Below we will compare the finished food supplements with the homemade food supplements, or we can give some tips for moms.
1. The nutritional elements contained in the finished food supplement are more abundant and reasonable.
The homemade porridge often lacks the nutritional elements that are too simple, which may lead to insufficient absorption of proteins and other nutrients by babies. However, the nutrient content in the finished baby food is more rich and reasonable.
2. The processed finished baby food is more refined and easily absorbed.
Because the homemade complementary food is made by hand, the texture of the food is not fine enough, and the finished complementary food is processed and produced uniformly, which is more comprehensive in nutrition and has a more reasonable ratio than the homemade complementary food, making it easy for the baby to absorb.
3. Ready-made baby food, saves time and ensures convenience and hygiene.
For working mothers, there is not much time to learn to make complementary food, so there are not many varieties that can be made.
More importantly, there is no time to do it.
Instead of spending your time in the kitchen, it is better to buy ready-made complementary food, which will not only ensure your baby's nutrition, but also avoid spending a lot of rest time making complementary food for your baby.
4. Finished food supplements are suitable for storage with little nutrient loss.
Mom makes her own complementary food, which takes a lot of time from shopping, cleaning, processing and making.
Moreover, the baby eats less, and the amount is too small to make.
If you do more at once, it can only be stored in the refrigerator. As time goes by, some of the nutrients will also be lost.
However, the finished baby food adopts scientific packaging and is suitable for storage, so you can rest assured that it's safe for your baby to consume.
5. Ready-to-feed products are made with fresh, natural ingredients.
The advantage of mothers preparing their own baby food at home is that it ensures the freshness of the ingredients. However, once fresh vegetables and other ingredients are left for one day, they lose a lot of nutrients. The processed baby food used in the products is sourced from natural green foods and does not contain any artificial flavors, salt, or preservatives, which makes it more reliable in terms of quality.
The medical content mentioned in this article is for reference only.
If you feel unwell, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately, and the medical diagnosis and treatment will be subject to offline diagnosis.