The Right Baby Food During The First Year

There are many options for the creation of a baby’s diet for the first year of life. The point is that the kids’ menu under 1 year is significantly different from the usual menu for older children. However, usually one year old becomes a kind of border when parents begin to quickly expand the already created list of products.

Breastfeeding for up to 1 month is recommended because breast milk contains all maternal antibodies that help the body to receive needed nutrients. Besides, breastmilk becomes a kind of protection for a baby. How much food a newborn requires is an individual question, which should be agreed upon with a pediatrician. The baby’s menu from 0 to 1 year should mainly consist of breast milk or adapted formula, but you need to follow the basic rules:

• the regime is adjusted individually if there are no medical indications, you can feed a child when it wants to eat
• a newborn’s nutrition by months is built depending on the intensity of weight gain
• it is believed that a baby eats as much as it needs
• gradually accustom a child to eating on schedule if it’s bottle-fed(e.g. every 3-4 hours)

Mixed and Bottle-Feeding

Mixed feeding is the alternation in a certain proportion of breastfeeding and formula feeding. The minimum amount of breast milk should be 50% of the total. In case of the complete absence of lactation, a baby is bottle-fed. Then special milk formulas become a full-fledged replacement for breast milk. 

The formula is adapted and developed according to basic kids’ nutrients needs. Such baby food is rich in the right amount of trace elements and nutrients. In this case, you need to immediately set the feeding regime, because the formula should be given at a schedule. European baby formula is extremely popular because they all have to pass lots of regulations to be able to reach the market. Why is that? For example, the EU strictly regulates the content of iron in the formula. The European Commission has different recommendations for iron at every stage of development while American formulas consist of between 0.15mg and 3.30mg of iron at any stage in a child’s infancy.

The Beginning of Complementary Feeding

When starting a complementary feeding, you can follow the next recommendations:

• start by introducing yogurt, not vegetables to minimize the risk of intestinal disorders
• a better time to experiment with new products is from 9 to 11 am
• on the 4th day of complementary feeding, cheese is added
• after a month, you can add porridge (buckwheat, rice, oatmeal).

The complimentary menu involves primarily the introduction of vegetables and fruits. But they are given to kids after full processing. For example, it can be fruit purees and juices. They are chosen depending on the needs of the body. For instance, overweight children offer to try carrot puree.

Nutrition After 25 Weeks

It is necessary to constantly monitor the change of stage of the formula for bottle-fed babies because they are designed for a specific age. It is not recommended to change the manufacturer to avoid intestinal disorders. 

After the 29th week, you can start introducing the multi-component purees of vegetables and lean meat. When a child reaches 7 months, it’s enough to mash complimentary food with a fork, not to a mushy state. After the 33rd week begins the introduction of fish because it gives the baby iodine and amino acids. 

Feeding After 37 weeks

When a baby reaches the age of 8 months, the portions of cereals and fruits increase to 180 grams. Food portions can be gradually increased. Beginning from ten months, the diet is quite rich, so it is desirable to make at least an approximate schedule of food to be equally useful to saturate the body with various substances. 

Useful tip: it is undesirable to combine the feeding process and watching cartoons because at this age the food habits are formed.