What should the diet be like between one and three months of age?

If the child is bottle-fed, he or she should be fed six times a day with an interval of three and a half hours during the day and a six-hour break at night. From the moment complementary feeding is introduced, children are transferred to five meals a day every four hours with an eight-hour break at night.

If the child is breastfed, then you select the feeding regimen individually: as you did at the age of one month. Breastfeeding is related to the so-called rational nutrition. Recent studies have shown that the first three to four months the child must receive mother's milk. And early introduction of juices and purees into the diet is not recommended. The fact is that some children experience digestive problems (about 30% of cases) and allergic reactions (about 40% of cases) when introducing these products. Since we already talked about giving water in the previous chapter, we will not repeat ourselves. Water must be given!

If mother's milk is not quite complete (in spring and winter, due to the lack of fresh berries, fruits, vegetables in mother's milk, the amount of vitamins and some microelements decreases), or the child does not gain the required weight, or has signs of rickets, anemia, or is on artificial or mixed feeding, the introduction of juices and purees is allowed, but not earlier than three and a half months.

Both juices and purees should be introduced very carefully, starting with very small amounts (juices - 1-2 drops, purees - on the tip of a teaspoon). In this case, you need to watch the child's reaction - whether he likes the taste of the new food or not. The taste of the introduced products should be either sweet or sour-sweet (but still sweeter than sour). If the juices are too concentrated, then they need to be diluted with cooled boiled water. After you understand that the juice "flowed", that is, the child does not have any side effects (diarrhea, allergies), after 3-5 days you can start giving undiluted juice.

It is best to start with apple juice. By the end of the month, you increase the total amount of juice to 20-30 ml (4-6 teaspoons), starting with a few drops. Juices should be given to the child at the end of feeding, as an addition to food. They cannot be used as a substitute for water to quench thirst. New juices should be introduced only after the child has already gotten used to the previous one. But you need to start giving it exactly the same way as the first one, that is, 2-3 drops, increasing the portion gradually.

Different juices (vegetable and fruit) cannot be mixed. If you are confused by the price or quality of ready-made juices, you can make them yourself by grating an apple and squeezing the juice out of this puree, or use a juicer. But you must strictly observe cleanliness (both hands and fruits must be thoroughly washed) and be sure of the origin of fruits and vegetables (what if they are stuffed with nitrates or some chemicals to speed up their growth?).

When choosing juices, you need to consider the child's health. If he has unstable stool, then pomegranate, blueberry, cherry and blackcurrant juices, which contain tannins, will be useful. If the child is prone to constipation, then it is better to use beetroot, plum and cabbage juices. Grape juice should not be given to children under six months, as it causes bloating.

You can give carrot juice to children, but it is better to do it every other day, since if there is too much carotene in it, the child may turn yellow.

More specific recommendations on feeding a child can only be given by a doctor who has been monitoring your baby since birth.