Feeding children from 4 months

Feeding children from 4 months - this is a burning issue, which is actively interested in the mothers of toddlers who have reached four months of age. It is during this period that the child requires additional substances, trace elements, which are not found in breast milk. Such innovations in the baby's diet should be carefully prepared and thought out, it is better if the lure of children from 4 months - his menu, mode and dosage will be picked up by the attending pediatrician, not an omniscient neighbor or a caring grandmother. Classical variants of complementary food are mashed cereals and mashed potatoes from boiled vegetables. In addition to supplementing nutrition with useful vitamins and calories, such supplements help to form a chewing skill in the child, which should shortly supplant the sucking reflex.

The beginning of complementary feeding, as a rule, fits between the fourth and sixth month of the child's life. Early lure is undesirable, since up to 4 months the internal organs and systems of the baby are not yet formed to take such food, the later period - after half a year is also not argued, as mother's milk can not replace the whole range of nutritional value of complementary foods. Also, the introduction of late complementary foods is fraught with the rejection of unusually dense food, because the baby for six months already gets used to the liquid substance of milk and is difficult to adapt to a new diet. Feeding children from 4 months is not a strict recommendation, supplements can be administered from 4.5 months, and from 5 months, it all depends on the individual characteristics of the development of the baby and the state of his health. The optimal terms are as follows: 

• Artificial feeding - introduction of complementary foods from 4 or 4.5 months; 
• Breastfeeding - the introduction of complementary foods with 5 or 5.5 months of life.

The norm of complementary foods, which is introduced from the fourth month

It is normal if the baby eats a meal amounting to about 1/6 of its body weight, that is, about one kilogram per day. Of course, this amount of food should be evenly distributed to 5-6 servings, then a "comfortable" figure of 150-200 grams per serving will be obtained. Pediatricians are advised to begin feeding children from 4 months with a small portion of egg yolk, which give the baby first to try, and then gradually increase its amount. Boiled yolk, literally at the tip of a teaspoon should be given before breastfeeding, after about a week, the portion of complementary foods should increase to half a yolk per day. In the same way, you can start giving grated cottage cheese, which is the main source of calcium and protein. Cottage cheese is given on the tip of a teaspoon, gradually bringing a serving up to four teaspoons a day. One should be attentive, not so much to the reaction of the baby to the unusual taste of food, as to the digestive reaction, that is, to the stool. If frustration or constipation begins, you should adjust the menu or reduce the amount of complementary foods. Also there is an unspoken rule: the lure of children from 4 months should be done with a teaspoon, do not replace it with a bottle of pacifier, whatever the liquid additive, for example, juice or puree. It is easier to feed from a spoon, since it is possible to regulate the portion, in addition, the baby should gradually wean from the sucking skill. It is also important to remember that new dishes should be introduced gradually, accustoming the child first to a single product, and then adding the next one. All food included in the feeding of children from 4 months should be subjected to careful heat treatment, especially for eggs and cottage cheese, and the food must be ground either in a blender or in another convenient way (grate on a special grater). Poorly chopped food can be swallowed by the baby, but its digestion will be clearly difficult and can provoke flatulence, constipation or upset of the stool, even to intestinal colic or vomiting. All new dishes are best given for familiarity before the main feeding, since after saturation with breast or artificial milk, the child is unlikely to want to try unusual food for him. After the baby adapts to the lure, additives can be given as a "dessert". It is not uncommon for a child to begin to be capricious and to demand milk, refusing complementary foods, in such situations a compromise is needed: first a small portion of milk, then a bit of complementary food and again milk.

The rules of the regime and the menu, in order to competently introduce the feeding of children from 4 months, are fairly simple, give an approximate schedule and option for the ration: 

• Morning, 6.00. Breastfeeding or using a milk formula. 
• Morning, 9.00 - 9.30. Before feeding, a little egg yolk, breast-feeding / milk mixture and 15-20 milliliters of fruit juice. 
• Day. 12.30-13.00. Breastfeeding / milk formula and 20-25 milliliters puree, better than fruit. 
• Day 16.00-16.30. Breastfeeding / milk formula and 20-25 milliliters of juice, preferably with pulp. 
• Evening. 19.30-20.00. Breast milk / milk formula and 15-20 grams of mashed potatoes from boiled vegetables (can be replaced with fruit puree).

The feeding of children from 4 months must pass in compliance with the following rules and recommendations: 

• Early lure (before 4 months) can trigger allergies and further problems associated with intolerance to a particular product. 
• The complementary feeding should not be plentiful, fat or sweet, and also exceeding age norms, as though the child did not like new food. Excessive amounts of carbohydrates, fats and sugar can lead to a disruption in metabolism and in the future to obesity. 
• The feeding of children from 4 months should be quite diverse, mono-diet can provoke hypovitaminosis in a baby, up to rickets. 
• Late lure (after 7-8 months) is also unacceptable, no matter how much the mother's milk, it can not replace the caloric content and protein composition of complementary foods.
• What "attributes" and utensils can be needed for introducing complementary foods. 
• Small small plate, bright, colored, so that both mother was nicer, and the baby is more fun. 
• Two or three small teaspoons, you can special. 
• Special cups or containers, called poelniki for the baby to be comfortable drinking tea and juice.

What should be included, in addition to milk, in feeding children from 4-month olds?

• Fruits, vegetables in the form of juices and purees. It is these ingredients in the diet that supply the baby with vitamins B, vitamin C, iron, vegetable fiber. Initially, you should give juice, squeezed from vegetables or fruits as a "training" and comfortable in the consistency of nutrition. Then, after a couple of weeks or two of the same products should be made puree. There is a recommendation regarding the quantity, volume of vegetable and fruit complementary foods: the volume should be equal to the age of the baby, which must be multiplied by 10, for example 4 months X 10 = 40 grams. 
• Porridges from cereals, in which there is also starch, and proteins of vegetable origin, and vitamins, and trace elements (magnesium, selenium, iron). Kasha starts to add from 4-month old age, no more than 5grams per reception, gradually the portion is brought up to 150 grams per day. At one-year-old age the child should receive at least 200 grams of porridge per day. 
• Meat products, which are a resource and supplier of protein, iron, vitamin B essential for growth. Meat is introduced at half-yearly age in the form of a well-ground mashed potatoes. 
• Fish, better sea. The source of essential polyunsaturated fats, vitamin D, vitamin A and iodine. Fish also complements the baby's diet, starting at six months of age.

Feeding children from 4 months - this is certainly an important event in the life of the baby, because in this way he begins to join the real "adult" food. The choice of products and the way they are cooked depends on the preferences of the parents: it is possible to prepare the feeding of children from 4 months at home on their own with the desire, energy and time, or you can buy ready-made children's products (porridges, mashed potatoes and juices) in specialized stores or pharmacies. The main thing is that the new food is pleasant to the kid and gave him pleasure.