When a child can eat everything. To the teeth! Transition to solid food. Variety... where can you get it in the Urals?

27.07.2024

One of the most common questions is how to feed a child. Since the first person who gives the baby food is his mother, “poor” appetite, refusal of food, and fear of new foods and dishes in the baby are often associated with the psychological problems of the mother. There are, of course, purely physiological reasons, but in my work I try to analyze the psychological component as well. Before you read today’s question and answer, I’ll give you an example from my practice.

From the weight loss department, a patient, a 45-year-old man, weighing 170 kg, was referred to me for consultation. At the first meeting when collecting an anamnesis (collecting a person’s history), I was able to find out that a few days after the birth of my son, his mother was admitted to the hospital with acute appendicitis, and the baby remained with his father. Several hours passed before the man found a way to feed the child. Since then, throughout his infancy, the boy “overeated,” as if he did not believe that there would always be food. Everything would be fine, but his mother, returning from the hospital, did not find the right words to calm her son. And to this day (I must say, a man with his wife and child live with his parents), seeing him with a plate, his mother says with irritation: “Well, how much can you eat?” What kind of reaction do you think these words lead to?

The topic of food is eternal, life is impossible without it, so we will return to issues related to it more than once!
QUESTION: Good afternoon, dear Larisa! Thank you for your video lectures and the site as a whole. They help a lot. I have my first child, of course, I have a lot of questions, and it’s not always possible to get a clear answer from the doctor.

Our baby is 10.5 months old. A girl with character. At 4 months I tried to give up breastfeeding for 2 months, but I didn’t give up. Currently still breastfed. She, pah-pah, eats vegetables from cans and porridge (instant) well. I practically don’t give fruits - I’m afraid that he will start eating only sweets. From 7 months she gave food from her plate. I know that by the age of one year the child needs to be fed from the common table, but she either eats it very slowly and reluctantly, or chokes and does not eat at all. If you blend food from the communal table in a blender, you generally end up with a sticky mess that apparently sticks, causing your daughter to choke. That’s why I mash the food with a fork, but you can’t put much in your mouth so that the gag reflex doesn’t start.

I am very worried that suddenly the child will only eat what is poured into his mouth, that is, mashed potatoes from cans and liquid porridge. For comparison, I give a dish from the common table, and then puree from a jar. If it’s puree, the child immediately opens his mouth with enthusiasm; as soon as I switch to regular food, everything slows down and freezes. What should I do? Should I continue to try to feed from a communal table or should I pause and feed only in cans until he grows up?
Best regards, Elena

ANSWER: Hello, Elena! The answer to your question could be very simple: take your time! Everything has its time! There are children who seem to be switched every year, and they immediately give up pureed food and switch to a common table.

However, there is a detail in your story that does not allow me to limit myself to such an answer. This is a reference to the fact that the girl refused to breastfeed at the age of 4 months. It’s a pity that I can’t ask you questions, but must give an answer with only this information. Otherwise, I would ask, have you figured out the reason for such a refusal? If you look, it will become clear that I am always trying to understand the psychological reasons for seemingly very physiological things. When you know these reasons, it is easier to help!

My first question would be: “How are you doing with your appetite and feeling of hunger? What does your mother say about how you ate as a baby?” Very often, babies' problems depend on similar problems in their mothers. Moreover, this is your first child, and it is a girl, i.e. She has a great chance of repeating her mother’s problems, since she unconsciously identifies with you.

Second question: “On those days when the girl began to refuse food, did your menstruation resume?” It happens that a child acutely senses the possibility of a new mother’s pregnancy. For a woman, on an unconscious level, the story of complete merging with the born baby “ends”, and she, as it were, becomes ready for the birth of the next child. Don't get me wrong: it is clear that not a single woman is ready to consciously think and desire a new pregnancy at a time when there is still a baby at her breast, but we are talking about the unconscious, which babies can read better than psychoanalysts.

If I were wrong here, I would ask another question: “Were there any problems during pregnancy at 4 months?” Psychologists know that in the first 9 months of life, a baby seems to “repeat” his nine months in the womb. In addition, I would ask: “Where do you get the fear that the baby will only eat sweets? Yes, so strong that you deprive the girl of the pleasure of eating fruit?” It seems that you have your own complexes related to food.

We need all this information in order to understand what kind of conversation you need to have with your daughter. Yes Yes! You, Lena, need to talk to the girl, and this is what can help improve her difficult relationship with food. Now her problem is that she is not interested in adult food, she seems to be satisfied only with baby food (it is as if she does not want to grow up).

An example of such a conversation could be as follows (I will fantasize, because I know very little about you): “Daughter, I see that you want to stay little longer. Maybe because you think that I will spend less time with you? I understand you, I myself have a difficult relationship with food, but without food it is impossible to live and grow! You know, I'm ready to wait until you decide that it's time for you to grow up and eat adult food! And know, no matter how old you are, you can always count on my help!”

I don't know if my answer helped. I would be grateful if you write a comment on this material. All the best to you!
Sincerely, Larisa Sviridova

If you have encountered a similar problem, share your experience in the comments.

Feeding a newborn is about more than just eating. At this moment there is close psycho-emotional contact between mother and baby.

In general, the feeding process:

provides ;
promotes ;
saturates the body with the necessary energy for the functioning of the body and physical activities;
food for the baby is a source for the regeneration and restoration of all tissue systems;
ensures the supply of components that stimulate the production of hormones, antibodies and other substances necessary for the formation of the body's protective functions.

Breast-feeding

Breastfeeding involves feeding the baby exclusively with mother's milk before starting.

important Of course, for a newborn, breast milk is many times better than any other type of food.

Every woman's milk has its own special composition, but, at the same time, it contains about 300 currently studied components that nourish the baby’s body, help create immunity and protect the body. They are not found in cow's milk, and even modern technologies are not yet able to recreate everything that is in mother's milk;
breast milk always comes exactly as much as the baby needs, it is at the ideal temperature, always fresh and sterile;
Statistics show that children who grow up breastfed get sick much less often, have a strong immune system and a higher level of intelligence;
the feeding process contributes to the formation correct bite, which further reduces the risk of occurrence;
such children have greater psycho-emotional stability and lower levels of antisocial behavior;
milk has antimicrobial properties;
among cases of occurrence sudden infant death syndrome significantly fewer children were breastfed;
components in breast milk stimulate development those parts of the brain that respond to and.

additionally It should be noted that the process of breastfeeding benefits not only the baby, but also the mother.

Attaching the baby promotes rapid recovery of the body, involution of the uterus, reduces postpartum bleeding and prevents the development of anemia.
There is a faster recovery of the figure.
The risk of developing breast, ovarian cancer or osteoporosis is significantly reduced.

From a pragmatic point of view, breast milk also has a number of advantages:

it for free;
it always ready, you won’t need to, say, run to the kitchen at night to prepare food for your baby;
it has no expiration date and is always ready to eat. Even if the mother has not fed the baby for a couple of days, it will not spoil.

There is a widespread belief that breastfeeding for more than a year is not only pointless, but also harmful, since the baby will become too attached to the mother and will not be independent. It is not true.

information The duration of breastfeeding should be determined solely by the mother, based on the needs of her baby and her own well-being.

Artificial feeding

Of course, breast milk is in any case better than artificial formula. But quite often it happens that it becomes impossible for one reason or another:

diseases in children in which the sucking reflex is impaired;
illnesses of the mother that make the feeding process impossible;
the need to be away from the child for a long time;
premature;
baby intolerance to mother's milk.

In this case, you have to use . Although it is not as perfect as breast milk, it also has a number of benefits:

the mixture helps replace problematic breastfeeding and in some cases make life easier for the mother;
modern manufacturers produce a lot of varieties of formulas adapted to certain special needs of the child;
Artificial people have a longer sleep duration;
by using the mixture, you know exactly how much the baby has eaten and whether the portion was enough for him;

additionally The mother may not limit herself in food, fearing that an extra piece of any product may;

if necessary, a woman can safely leave the child for a while;
there is no problem that many children endure quite hard psychologically.

There are also a number shortcomings :

it happens that choose the right mixture It doesn’t work the first time, and sometimes even the second time. It turns out that you have to experiment on your baby;
preparing the mixture takes time. There are also added hassles with sterilizing bottles, cooling the finished mixture, etc., this disadvantage is especially acute at night;
exists risk of overfeeding baby;
good mixtures cost quite expensive, which can hit the family budget.

Mixed feeding

In some cases you have to resort to:

Rh conflict between baby and mother;
birth by cesarean section;
difficult birth for the mother, accompanied by severe blood loss;
lack of mother's milk;
forced separation of mother and child.

pros mixed type of feeding:

important There is no ideal time to introduce complementary foods. You just need to monitor the baby’s behavior and his interest in adult food, which signals the child’s readiness to introduce new food.

When introducing complementary foods, you need to follow the correct dosage of portions, the correct schedule for introducing new foods, and also carefully select what you are going to introduce your baby to. Almost all doctors advise introducing vegetable purees from soft varieties of vegetables as the first complementary foods. After getting used to this, you should start eating one-ingredient cereals, then you can start eating fruit.

There are many that will help parents figure out the right choice of products and dosage of complementary foods for their baby.

When the baby begins to try complementary foods in addition to mother's milk or formula, all food for the toddler is ground and made homogeneous. Purees and liquid porridges are used to transition the baby to thicker, and then to solid food.

Many mothers doubt at what age it is possible to no longer give food crushed to a homogeneous state, but to teach the baby to chew. Knowing the age at which it is recommended to introduce solid foods into the diet is also important to prevent possible problems, for example, when a healthy baby at 3-4 years old refuses to eat pieces or chokes when feeding.

When to introduce complementary foods?

Neither the chewing apparatus nor the digestive system of infants in the first 4-6 months of life are ready for food other than breast milk or an adapted formula. In addition, in such young children, not only the sucking reflex is very pronounced, but also the protective reflex, in which any hard objects are automatically pushed out by the tongue.

As the baby grows up, these innate reflexes begin to fade. At the same time, the maturation of the baby’s gastrointestinal tract continues, and the need for nutrients increases. At about the age of 4-6 months, children are already ready to try foods that have increased density.

Until about 5 months, the child’s body can only absorb liquid food - formula or mother’s milk

Early introduction to thicker foods helps your baby learn to bite, chew and swallow thicker foods. The nervous system of a six-month-old baby is already so developed that the baby can coordinate the movements of his tongue and swallowing movements. Even without teeth, the baby learns to grind and mix food in the mouth using the gums and tongue. To do this, his menu should include dishes with varying degrees of grinding of pieces.

The optimal age for complementary foods with a denser consistency is 6-10 months. If during this period parents are afraid to give the baby inhomogeneous food, its later introduction into the diet may cause the child to refuse to accept pieces of food. As a result, the child cannot swallow solid food and chokes if the food offered is not completely crushed.

Calculate your complementary feeding table

How to transition a child to solid food?

The transition from liquid and completely homogeneous nutrition to solid food must be gradual. First, the liquid dish for the baby is made semi-liquid, and then viscous and thick. In addition, pureed food is made finely chopped over time, and then they move on to medium grinding and large pieces.

The baby's first feeding should have a puree-like consistency.

The transition stages will be as follows:

At the age of 4-6 months, depending on the type of feeding, babies begin to be offered pureed food from a spoon.
All foods at this age are given semi-liquid and without lumps so that the baby can swallow them without difficulty. Vegetable purees are rubbed twice through a sieve or crushed with a blender at high speed, and porridge is cooked from cereal ground into flour, first offering 5% of the dish, and a little later - 10%. From 7-9 months of age, the consistency of baby dishes becomes thicker.
Vegetables are still offered to the baby in the form of puree, but they are rubbed through a sieve once or the blender is set to a lower speed. To prepare porridges, you can already use grains with medium grinding. Meat in the diet of infants of this age must first be homogenized (chopped twice in a meat grinder and then whipped in a blender with vegetable broth). At 9 months, boiled meat can only be passed through a meat grinder 2 times, so that small pieces up to 2-3 mm remain in the puree. Also, at 8-9 months, the child begins to be offered solid food in the form of cookies, crackers and wheat bread.
At the age of 10-12 months, it is time to accustom the child to less chopped foods. At this age, food for the baby is already crushed so that pieces of 3-5 mm in size remain. Fruits and vegetables for toddlers can be mashed with a fork or grated, and the meat can be cooked in the form of meatballs. Whole grains are already used for porridge, but they are boiled well. In addition, at this age, the child usually wants to pick up and hold various objects with his fingers, which allows him to offer the baby pieces of boiled vegetables, boiled pasta, small slices of white bread, banana slices and other food that the baby can independently put in his mouth and chew.
A one-year-old child is improving his chewing skills and can already cope with cereal and vegetable casseroles, steamed cutlets and meatballs, fresh vegetables and fruits grated on a coarse grater, as well as other dishes. By the age of 1.5-2 years, the child is already fully chewing solid food.

A one and a half year old baby can easily cope with a plate of “adult” soup and a slice of bread

If the child refuses

Some children protest against denser foods and demand their favorite pureed foods. This often occurs due to switching too quickly to uncut food. In addition, many babies are conservative and do not like to change their routine, so they should be given time to get used to innovations.

Try changing the consistency of your baby's favorite food by persistently offering a small amount every day. At the same time, it is impossible to force the baby to eat, so that the child does not develop a negative attitude towards thicker food and nutrition in general. The size of the pieces should be increased gradually and very slowly so that it is unnoticeable to the baby.

Many children do not welcome a change in diet from mother's milk to solid food

If a child over one year old does not chew food in pieces, Dr. Komarovsky recommends:

Invite your child to mash the food on his plate on his own, saying that the store didn’t have his favorite puree and the blender doesn’t work.
Find something tasty among solid foods that the child will surely like, for example, fresh dried fruit or slices of sweet fruit.
Organize meals in a public place where the child can observe other children and will be limited in the choice of foods.

To learn how to teach your baby to chew, watch the following video.

The period of complementary feeding is a transitional stage from purely dairy nutrition to “adult” food. To develop healthy eating habits and ensure good digestion in a baby in the future, it is necessary that the consistency of food during this period corresponds to the development of his chewing apparatus and the maturity of the digestive system. How to properly transfer a child to a common table? Do I need to rush and is it possible to be late with the introduction of solid foods? And how do you know that your baby is ready to switch to a new type of nutrition?

In the first months after birth, the baby receives only breast milk or an adapted formula as nutrition. The baby’s organs and systems are still so immature that they are not ready to accept and assimilate other foods. In addition, during this period, infants have very pronounced innate reflexes - the sucking and protective “spoon pushing” reflex, in which the tongue automatically pushes all foreign objects out of the mouth, including pieces of food. As the child grows and develops, the functional activity of the digestive, urinary, nervous, immune and other systems of the small body increases, the child begins to move actively and purely dairy nutrition can no longer meet his needs for nutrients and energy. By about 4-6 months of a baby’s life, there is a need for additional food products with greater density and nutritional value. An important stage in the baby’s life begins, the ultimate goal of which is to transfer him to “adult” food from the common table.

The right consistency.

Chew, swallow.

The introduction of solid foods is not just about meeting the baby's increasing nutritional and calorie needs. With a gradual transition to thicker and denser foods, “training” occurs and further development of the baby’s digestive system, his chewing apparatus, stimulation of intestinal motor function, taste preferences and habits are formed. During this period, the baby must master important skills: biting, chewing, pushing and swallowing a dense bolus of food.

By about 6 months, baby's nervous system has developed enough to coordinate his tongue movements with his swallowing movements to swallow a solid morsel. Over the next few months, this skill improves, which is only possible by swallowing solid pieces of varying degrees of crushing. Although the chewing surfaces of the jaws are still toothless, the baby learns to make chewing movements, crushing and mixing food with the help of the tongue and gums. If learning these skills does not occur in a timely manner (between 6 and 10 months), in the future, when trying to introduce food with a denser consistency, the child may begin to choke on the offered food, even to the point of vomiting, and refuse to chew and swallow solid food for a long time. As a result, the baby may develop a preference for liquid and puree diets and picky eating habits. Failure to chew food well can also lead to digestive problems in the future. In addition, untimely acquisition of the chewing skill leads to weakness of the speech apparatus and inhibits the development of the child’s speech. Speech therapists claim that people who talk with “porridge in their mouth” have not learned to chew properly at one time. That is why it is very important that, as the organs and systems of a small organism physiologically mature, the structure and consistency of food gradually changes.

The consistency of foods and dishes for a child can be liquid, semi-liquid, viscous, thick and solid, and as the baby grows, it should change from uniform liquid to thick and solid. The structure of the food should also change from homogeneous to puree, mashed, and then finely, medium and coarsely ground.

Learning to consume thicker and denser foods can be divided into several stages (according to foreign terminology, steps or stages) depending on the age and degree of maturity of the child.

Stage 1 - 4-6 months.

Modern scientific research and accumulated practical experience allow us to conclude that physiological readiness to eat food other than breast milk (adapted formula) appears at approximately the age of 4 to 6 months. Only by 4 months does the child’s digestive tract become more mature, the activity of a number of digestive enzymes increases, and a sufficient level of local immunity is formed. The development of the nervous system provides the baby with the opportunity to move and swallow thicker types of food, the “pushing” reflex fades away, a readiness to chew appears, and an emotional reaction to the feeling of hunger and satiety is formed (purposeful movements of the head and hands, showing the child’s attitude towards eating). Attempts by parents to spoon-feed a baby up to 4 months are unreasonable and undesirable; they can lead to digestive disorders (regurgitation, vomiting, thinning and frequent stools, or, conversely, constipation), the development of food allergies, and even the entry of food particles into the respiratory tract. Such attempts most often cause protest from the baby; he spits out the food, chokes on it, and pushes away the spoon. In addition, early introduction of complementary foods can reduce the amount of milk in a nursing mother, due to a decrease in the frequency and activity of suckling at the mother's breast.

The optimal timing for introducing complementary foods is not precisely defined and varies from 4 to 6 months. Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend introducing a new type of food to your child for the first time only from the age of six months, provided that he is exclusively breastfed. At this age, the baby’s first teeth usually appear, the child begins to sit up, become interested in the contents of the plates of other family members, and his organs and systems “mature” in order to accept and assimilate new food. Domestic pediatricians most often advise introducing complementary foods to infants at 5 - 5.5 months, and to artificial babies a little earlier at 4.5 - 5 months. In fact, this period is determined individually, taking into account the developmental characteristics of each baby, together with the pediatrician observing the baby.

Dishes with which the baby begins to get acquainted with new food should have a homogeneous (homogeneous, without lumps) semi-liquid consistency, so as not to cause difficulty in swallowing. In accordance with the latest recommendations for the organization of complementary feeding, the first to be introduced into the baby’s diet is a one-component vegetable puree from green or white vegetables (zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower) and then milk porridge from gluten-free cereals (rice, buckwheat, corn). To obtain a homogeneous consistency of vegetable puree at home, vegetables are boiled in water or steamed and then ground in a blender at high speed with the addition of a small amount of vegetable broth or passed through a fine sieve twice. You can also use industrially produced “canned” purees with a degree of grinding appropriate for a given age. When introducing complementary foods in the form of porridge, it is most convenient to use ready-made commercial infant porridges, which are simply dissolved in water, breast milk or infant formula. To prepare homemade porridge, the cereal is ground in a coffee grinder to the state of flour and boiled in water with the addition of breast milk (adapted mixture) or pre-boiled whole cereal is ground in a blender until smooth (can be rubbed through a sieve). First, prepare 5% semi-thick porridge (approximately 5 g of cereal per 100 ml of liquid), then after 2-4 weeks switch to a thicker 10% porridge (approximately 10 g of cereal per 100 ml of liquid).

Stage 2 – 7-9 months

During this period, the baby begins to take an active interest in food, willingly opens his mouth when feeding, knows how to remove food from a spoon with his upper lip, and learns to chew. In addition, this is the time of active teething and the toddler pulls into his mouth all objects that fall into his hands to scratch his swollen gums. This means it’s time to offer the little eater food with a thicker puree-like consistency, gradually introducing into the diet crumbs of food with small, soft, non-fibrous pieces (no more than 2 - 3 mm). Vegetables for your baby can be chopped in a blender at low speed, or passed through a sieve once. From 8-9 months, pureed vegetable soups can be included in a child’s daily diet in small quantities. Porridges are prepared thicker from medium-ground grains. From 7 months, meat is introduced into the child’s daily diet. It is better to start getting acquainted with this product in the form of a homogenized puree; for this, the boiled meat is passed through a meat grinder twice, and then beaten in a blender with a small amount of vegetable broth or passed through a sieve. After the baby has successfully mastered this consistency, by about 9 months you can switch to a lower degree of grinding of the puree with small pieces (no more than 2-3 mm), for this it is enough to pass the boiled meat through a meat grinder twice or grind it in a blender to the desired state. It is also recommended to use industrially produced canned vegetables and meats with labeling corresponding to a given age, since for them the principle of matching the degree of grinding of products to the child’s age is strictly observed (it is necessary to know that the label of “canned” food indicates the minimum age from which this food can be introduced). product).

By about 7 months, the baby has mastered the “palm grip” skill and is able to hold solid food in his hand. Starting at this age, you can give your baby special children’s cookies, a cracker of white bread, or dry bread without additives. From 8 months it is allowed to give wheat bread. These products are made from high-grade wheat flour, have low nutritional value and high calorie content, therefore they are given to the child in limited quantities, no more than 15 g per day (one cracker or cookie), only for the development of chewing skills (in this regard, soak them in milk is not advisable; in this case, it is much healthier to offer the baby porridge).

Stage 3 – 10 – 12 months.

By this age, the child has usually already erupted from 6 to 8 teeth, he has already perfectly mastered the skill of biting, learns to chew larger and larger pieces of food and makes his first attempts to pick up a spoon. During this period, the baby’s food should become denser, while the food is not pureed, but crushed with a gradual increase in the size of the pieces to 3-5 mm. Vegetables and fruits can be given to the child grated on a fine grater or simply mashed well with a fork. Meat from 10-11 months can be given in the form of meatballs, and closer to a year in the form of steamed cutlets and souffles. Cereals for porridges can be cooked without grinding, while the porridges are cooked boiled.

A baby at the age of 10-12 months already knows how to pick up and hold small objects with his fingers (the skill of “tweezers grip”) and he can safely be offered on a plate small slices of boiled vegetables, ripe pear, banana or baked apple, boiled pasta, small pieces of bread, which he can independently pick up with his hand and put in his mouth. This kind of “biting” not only improves chewing skills, but also develops fine motor skills very well, while teaching the child the skills of eating independently. You should not put a lot of food on the plate, otherwise the baby will try to stuff as much as possible into his mouth and may choke.

Stage 4 – over 12 months.

After a year, the child’s molars (chewing) teeth begin to erupt. By this time, the baby should already have mastered the skill of chewing well, although the baby will be able to fully chew solid food only by the age of 1.5 - 2 years, when he can count 16 or more teeth in his mouth. The basis of a child’s diet in the second year of life should be solid food that requires chewing, which gradually becomes denser and less crushed. Taking into account the development of the chewing apparatus, by the age of 1.5 - 2 years, the baby’s menu should include salads from fresh vegetables and fruits, grated on a coarse grater or chopped into small pieces, vegetable and meat stews, vegetable and cereal casseroles, meat and fish cutlets, meatballs , meatballs, etc. Thus, with a gradual expansion of the composition and type of dishes offered, the child fully adapts to “adult” food, and by the age of 3 he can be transferred to the common table.

Previously, the standard phrase characterizing the diet of one-year-olds was: “the child is transferred to the common table.” It is still pronounced today, but is interpreted differently. It would seem an idyllic picture: a child sits decorously at the table next to his dad, who has returned from work, and... questions arise about the contents of his plate, not less, but more. Is it really necessary to change the diet of the whole family to please the child? And what to do if the child is still fully fed with breast milk, without intending to join any such “table”.

Let us highlight two main situations:

1. The child eats little, prefers canned food and breast milk/formula.

2. The child has a good appetite, he is ready to eat adult food as much as possible.

What to do in the first case:

WHO recommends that children be fed breast milk or formula for at least two years. A child at this age better absorbs nutrients from milk protein. Cow's milk cannot satisfy this need; it is not adapted for the human baby and is processed, losing its beneficial properties. If you wean your baby after a year, it is advisable to give him a special formula “from 1 year” until he is two years old. Sometimes mothers are surprised: the child is so big (1.5-2 years old), why does he need formula, let him drink regular milk like an adult! The composition of the mixture is much healthier; it will be a vitamin supplement. And it will be absorbed much better than vitamins from the pharmacy. Or it is necessary to maintain episodic breastfeeding for up to two years.

There is no need to doubt whether breast milk is beneficial at this age, whether it is harmful for a child to “hang” on the breast - breast milk is beneficial, it has been proven. Another thing is important: the mother should not be exhausted by constant feeding. If she enjoys breastfeeding after a year, great. If a child demands the breast too often, even with hysterics, you need to deal with the psychological reasons. Perhaps the mother constantly sits with the child, and he, excuse me, is already tired of her. Psychologists especially highlight this point: it’s a paradox, but the constant demands of the breast mean “Mom, go away already!” The mother needs to go away more often, leaving the child with relatives or a nanny. If these options are not possible, find ways to captivate the child with something else. Creative activities, long walks, meeting through our website with the same mothers sitting at home. After a year, a child becomes unable to get enough of his mother, but he still cannot let her go. The crisis of “not enough mom, I want the whole world” will finally come at 3 years old, it is at this age that psychologists recommend sending the child to kindergarten.

Is canned food beneficial at this age? Of course, natural is better. But if a child doesn’t want to eat vegetables, it’s better to use canned vegetables than none at all. Children have a very uneven appetite: they can “suddenly” switch from cans to regular food. What SHOULD be given from jars: meat. It is advisable to use canned meat for as long as possible if you do not have a familiar supplier nearby. The quality of meat in the store, and even more so on the market, leaves much to be desired. What NOT to give from jars: cottage cheese. Jarred cottage cheese has been processed; it does not replace children's cottage cheese and is more of a dessert.

Is it worth worrying if the child still does not eat food in the required amount, shifting from the jar to the chest? Definitely not worth it. For children, everything flows and everything changes. Active teething continues every year - this is once. Taste sensations are dull. Especially if the child has a hard time with teething. At one year of age, an age-related crisis of power occurs: the child tests the nervous system of everyone around him. He throws food, pushes away the spoon, wants to run away... And this too passes. But if a mother, through her incorrect behavior, inspires her child that eating is an extremely nervous process, accompanied by angry screams, let her not complain later that she turned the child into a toddler. Come up with “tricks” to attract attention to food: for example, bright spoons with rubber tips, children’s forks that can be used to prick pasta and pieces, plates with ceramic animals or pictures hiding under soup or porridge.

What to do in the second case:

If your child has a great appetite, do not rush to transfer him to the common table completely. Use a simple technique: when cooking for your family, at the right time, put the amount of food you will offer your child into a small bowl. The right moment will come before adding sauces and spices to food. Children under three years of age are not given fried foods or sauces (ketchup, mayonnaise). To improve the taste, you can add low-fat sour cream (15%), low-fat cheese (10-17%), and herbs to your food. Until the age of three, a child is protected from soup with meat broth - the broth needs to be diluted, and it is much healthier for the whole family (why do you need a chemical concentrate?). You can often hear the following phrase: “the sooner a child is introduced to adult food, the faster his body will get used to it.” The same phrase is used to justify early complementary feeding. This is not true and it is unscientific. In the fight against unhealthy food, the body does not become stronger, but becomes depleted. A child who has been fed healthy food for a long time - steamed, free of chemical additives, not fried - will cope much better with imperfect food when he grows up. Than that child who was fed too early with heavy food, and whose body is already undermined by it.

Variety... where can you get it in the Urals?

Our stores offer a limited number of products. This is true. We are not very good with fruits and vegetables. Just not enough. How can you diversify a child’s menu after a year if there is nothing to choose from? This is of no use to you. Admit it – you’re already tired of everything, and you’ve been trying to diversify your menu for a long time, replacing healthy food with products with preservatives and other chemicals. Only because everything became boring. The child’s food priorities are still stable; many children can only eat pasta and bananas, others adore soup. So let them eat. Don't confuse them with the right preferences. We often hear brilliant conclusions: they say, I feel sorry for the child, let him at least try ice cream (sausage, ketchup)! A child may be deprived of walks, attention, understanding from adults - I feel sorry for such a child. Depriving a “poor” child of ice cream does not negatively affect health and development.

Nutritionist Irina Shatokhina, “My Child” magazine: The motivation to introduce a child to the entire gastronomic gamut is overwhelming “thanks to” grandmother’s “it’s time” and a friend’s “what, do you feel sorry for the child?!”... In fact, the question of diversifying the diet of a one-year-old or even two-year-old child is ambiguous and therefore relevant. Moreover, not every pediatrician who calls for enriching a child’s diet can explain the appropriateness of his advice. Not very clear? Then in more detail... Let's take for example an apple. There are quite enough carbohydrates, macro- and microelements, vitamins - sodium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, vitamins B1 and B2, PP, C, beta-carotene. The composition of other fruits is somewhat different, but there is nothing in the composition of, say, a pear or apricot that is absent in principle in an apple. The same situation applies to meat. Compared to pork, beef or rabbit, there are significant differences in some respects. However, there is nothing particularly rare or particularly valuable about a rabbit that is not present in a chicken. It's the same story with cereals. There is nothing unique in oatmeal that would not be found in rice, buckwheat, or pearl barley. The essence of the above reasoning boils down to the following. All food products can be divided into 5 main groups: meat, dairy, vegetables, fruits, cereals. If a child’s diet contains foods representing all of the above-mentioned groups, such nutrition can well be called varied. Want a specific example? Please! A menu consisting of kefir (dairy), chicken (meat), bread (cereals), apples (fruits) and potatoes (vegetables) is more than capable of providing the human body with everything necessary for normal functioning.

Let's talk about imaginary problems

The most common question that arises among mothers: if the baby does not want to eat some type of food, is that very bad? It is bad if the child suffers: he is often sick, inactive, and lags far behind his peers in development. Developmental delay is also a slippery fact. For example, a child may not be interested in books, but he really likes to observe (and comment on) natural phenomena - or he can spend hours dismantling toys for parts. This cannot be called a lag, even if your peer Vasya is already reciting Pushkin. The main thing is that the child is passionate about some kind of knowledge of life. And the state of health is assessed by symptoms, and not by habits of eating or not eating at a certain time. Scientists cannot explain how children manage to live on solar batteries and still be healthy. And don't try.

A child’s food interest consists of habits and preferences established before the age of one year. If parents did not make obvious mistakes when introducing complementary foods - they did not press, did not get nervous, did not add sugar and salt - the appetite should be normal. If a child is able to eat the norm of “half a ladle”, this is a very good appetite. Perhaps your “norm” for your child’s nutrition is too high. During the day, the baby should receive 1000-1200 g of products, including milk and fermented milk products. It's not that much. Calorie requirement after a year: 1100-1300 kcal per day, this is also not much.

It is necessary to take into account the child's taste habits within reasonable limits. You should not force him to drink kefir, milk that he hates, or consume some other product that is “vital” from the parents’ point of view. It is much easier and safer to think about replacing it from the range of products that the child likes. It happens that a child does not like cutlets, but he willingly eats meat in some other form, without even suspecting it.

Despite the fact that the child is already “all grown up,” if possible, he is not offered yesterday’s food. Food that has stood for a day (“soup for a week”) or more is ballast, not food. Adults can use ballast so that they don’t “waste”, but why a growing organism needs it is a question. Especially if the mother dreams that the child will never catch a cold in the winter and never catch an infection in the summer.

One-time consumption of food should not exceed the physiological capabilities of the child. The physiological volume of the stomach at the end of the first year of life is 250 ml, in the third year - 400-600 ml. Emptying of the stomach occurs after 4 hours, and food can remain in the intestines for 24 to 48 hours. The number of main feedings is reduced to 4 times a day.

Culinary processing of products must be age appropriate. Children at 1.5 years old are already actively chewing, so the culinary processing of food can be almost the same as for adults: vegetables in pieces, cutlets, goulash. However, the puree-like consistency of individual dishes is still encouraged. If the child still doesn’t like pieces, it doesn’t matter, let him receive hot dishes (lunch, breakfast) in crushed form, but during breaks give out pieces of fruits, vegetables, and crackers.

Children should be encouraged to chew their food thoroughly. This contributes not only to better digestion and assimilation of what is eaten, but also to the proper growth and formation of teeth. Come up with suitable rhymes or little fairy tales that teach your child to chew. Let him not repeat your mistakes - don’t chew for two seconds while running. Remember the ancient wisdom: food should be drunk, and drink should be chewed. Teach your child to chew slowly, this way you will keep him healthy for many years.

Basic nutrition after a year

Squirrels

After a year, the child still absorbs useful substances from milk protein, so it is not advisable to replace dairy products with something else, because this reduces the digestibility of protein. The child is sensitive not only to the quantity of protein, but also to its quality, which is determined by the amino acid composition. Among amino acids there are 2 groups: essential and non-essential. Essential amino acids are not synthesized in the body and therefore must be supplied with food. These include 8 amino acids: tryptophan, lysine, methionine, valine, threonine, phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine. A deficiency of essential amino acids has a negative impact on the child’s condition – their own proteins begin to break down, which cover the lack of amino acids. Hence the problems - delayed growth, weight and development. Sources of essential amino acids are animal proteins. This is the answer to the question: is it bad if a child does not eat dairy? Continue breastfeeding until two years of age - or give formula, you will be healthier.

Fats

They support the immune system and are rich in vitamins A, D, E and K. Along with proteins, they build tissues and cells of the body. However, fats are not the most accessible source of energy in the body. Their absorption in the digestive tract occurs more slowly than proteins and carbohydrates. Easier to digest – again! - milk fat containing fatty acids with shorter carbon chains. The main source is butter and dairy products.

Vegetable fats

They are the main sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and vitamin E. PUFAs are part of cell membranes, nervous tissue, and the visual apparatus. With their deficiency, metabolic disorders occur, both lipid and protein, electrolyte, phosphorus-calcium. Deficiency can also manifest itself in the form of neurodermatitis, eczema, diseases of the pancreas and thyroid glands. PUFAs are divided into 2 families: Omega-6 and Omega-3. The main sources for Omega-6 are sunflower, corn, soybean, and cottonseed oils, and Omega-3 is flaxseed, soybean oil, and fish oil.

Sources of protein and fat in the diet of children after one year: breast milk or formula, cheese, kefir, butter, veal, rabbit, chicken, beef, lean pork, lean fish. It is better not to use foods that contain a large amount of fat in the diet of children, because the activity of enzymes that digest fats and proteins is less than in adults, so do not try to feed your child fatter. Meat can be given every other day, fish - 1-2 times a week. Soybeans and products made from it, which have become very popular recently, are completely suitable for feeding a child, but make sure that the packaging bears the “does not contain GMI” symbol.

Carbohydrates

In children, an overload of carbohydrates with insufficient protein and fat in the diet leads to a decrease in immunity and an exacerbation of allergies. The main sources of carbohydrates for children should be cereals, bread and vegetables. Overfeeding with carbohydrate foods containing so-called refined carbohydrates, which babies especially love - sugar, flour products and various treats - can lead to metabolic disorders. Sugar is quickly absorbed into the blood and requires the rapid release of insulin, which is produced by the pancreas. Therefore, you should not overexert it.

Minerals

He is quite big now - he can eat noodle soup

When creating a menu after a year, it is very important to combine products correctly. If, for example, you have porridge for breakfast, then for lunch or dinner it is better to prepare vegetable dishes (potatoes, mashed potatoes, stewed cabbage, vegetable casseroles, etc.). For breakfast, instead of porridge, you can give pasta or mashed potatoes, milk soup, after one and a half years - an omelet, casserole, cheesecakes. For lunch, it is more advisable to prepare dishes from meat and fish, for an afternoon snack - cottage cheese and fruits, yogurt, cookies, for dinner - vegetable, cereal dishes, milk, eggs, cheese. During breaks, the child drinks juice, kefir, breast milk or formula.

What's new in nutrition after a year:

Milk, dairy products

Research by pediatric nutritionists and nutritionists confirms the high value of even occasional breastfeeding after a year. This protects the immune system from viral diseases, helps the optimal maturation of the gastrointestinal tract, and helps for the normal maturation of all parts of the brain.

Daily intake of fermented milk products: 200 g of kefir, 100-200 g of yogurt. Total amount of milk and fermented milk products: at least 600 ml per day.

After a year, the fermented milk diet includes: cheese 10-17%, children's yogurts Agusha or Tema, Uktus "Nezhenka", the rest of Uktus yogurts are allowed after two years.

A child under three years of age should receive fermented milk labeled “baby food” - children's cottage cheese, children's yogurt. If you give homemade cottage cheese, sweeten it with baby fruit puree or dried fruit. Dishes made from heat-treated cottage cheese (cheesecakes, casseroles) are offered to children after 1.5 years. Cottage cheese norm for up to three years: 70-90 g per day.

Cheese allowance after one year: 21 g per week. This means that twice a week you can give out a plastic cheese or add it to your pasta. After two, plastic cheese is given out (added to dishes) every day.

Do not replace healthy children's fermented milk with “rastishki” or “activia” even without additives. It’s better to find a way to feed your child normal cottage cheese by adding fresh fruit or dried fruit to it. An idea from a forum for a child who doesn’t want to: buy a bright jar/bottle of “rastishka” or “actimel”, mix baby cottage cheese with fruit puree in it.

Porridge

After a year, the child is offered porridge made from small flakes (like Nordic) or from whole grains, if the child likes them. You can also leave children's instant cereals and children's muesli. Important note: if you cook porridge from whole grains, there is no need to serve them every day. Porridges are rich in starch, and some grains contain phytic acid, which interferes with the absorption of calcium from food (this weakens the normal formation of the skeleton). This does not apply to children's instant cereals. After a year, pasta appears in the child’s diet; in addition to wheat pasta, you can give buckwheat, rice, and egg pasta.

Vegetables

After a year, they try vegetables such as beets, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, white cabbage (it should be squeezed out well so that the juice does not irritate the stomach). Salads are prepared from raw, finely chopped or boiled vegetables. Daily intake of vegetables: 200 g, less potatoes. The skin of tomatoes and cucumbers must be removed; it contains nitrates and is difficult to digest.

Eggs

They are given hard-boiled or added to various dishes. Until one and a half years, it is recommended to use only hard-boiled yolk. The whole egg can be given to a child at the end of the second year of life no more than three times a week. It is better to use quail eggs (2 pieces per day). An omelet from one egg is also introduced after 1.5 years.

Meat

For young children, lean varieties of beef, veal, pork, and chicken are used. It is advisable to serve meat dishes in the first half of the day, as they take longer to digest. The daily amount of meat up to three years is 50-70 g per day. You can use canned food for baby food; doctors generally recommend not giving your child meat from the store or market for as long as possible for safety reasons. Children under three years of age are not given sausage, ham, or frankfurters. Instead of meat, you should give fish a couple of times a week. Its daily norm is 25 g. You can cook both fresh river (lake) fish and frozen sea fish (cod, hake, perch, etc.). For children under three years of age, fish is given in the form of meatballs, fish cutlets, boiled or stewed in its own juice, sprinkled with fish broth and fat, as well as with carrots and onions.

Vegetable oil

The daily requirement is 6 g, preferably used raw, adding to vegetable purees and salads. The child receives fats of animal origin with low-fat sour cream (daily intake 5-10 g) and butter (daily intake 15 g), which also contain a small amount of milk protein.

Fruits, berries, mushrooms

The daily intake of fruits or berries is 100-150 g. Giving fruits and berries to a child in excessive quantities is irrational; vitamins are still not stored for future use, only vitamin C can live in the body for two months. But fruits can curb your appetite. They go well with fermented milk products. Juice limit: no more than a glass. Freshly squeezed juices are offered only in diluted form after one and a half to two years. Children are not given mushrooms. This is heavy and completely empty food in terms of usefulness.

Bread

Norm: 90 g per day. This is mainly white bread (60 g), for lunch you can eat a piece of black bread (30 g).

Sugar, sweets

The daily allowance for sugar is 20 g, for confectionery products - 7 g after two years. As a dessert, a means of encouragement or a gift after two years, you can give marshmallows, marshmallows, marmalade, jam, and lollipops in small quantities. Until the age of three, chocolate, chocolate candies and other products containing chocolate are completely unacceptable. They overstimulate the child’s nervous system, often cause allergies, slow down intestinal motility, and in our troubled times, they rarely do not contain heaps of harmful chemicals. Why you need to limit highly refined carbohydrates contained in sweets: quickly absorbed into the blood, they require attachment: mineral salts, vitamins. All this is taken from the tissues of the body itself. Thus, sweets weaken the immune system, especially in winter when healthy food is very important.

Drink

The best drink after a year is ordinary clean water. If it’s tea, it’s green and not from tea bags. After two years, you can try a drink made from chicory, cocoa with milk.

Nutrition after a year: ideas on a plate

* After one year, the child is given soup with vegetable broth, borscht, puree soup with grated herbs from vegetables, spinach, rice or buckwheat. Be sure to add a spoonful of olive oil. Milk soups are popular not only with noodles, but also with the addition of cereals. Young children are not given fried soups, but in the future, if you sauté onions and carrots for soup, do it in olive oil; it does not release carcinogens, unlike sunflower oil.

Idea: milk soup with small vermicelli, carrots and sweet corn.

* Mashed potatoes are considered too heavy; it is advisable to “hide” zucchini in it. We decorate the puree with “eyes” and a mouth made of sweet corn, a carrot nose, and make “hair” from dill or parsley. Try making balls from vegetable puree; your child can prick them with a child's fork.

Idea: use plates with cells; in each cell you can put different products: in one - sprigs of herbs, in another - pieces of vegetables, in the third - fresh cucumber, etc.

* How to make steamed cutlets: you need 60 g of meat, 1/2 a slice of white bread, a piece of butter the size of a hazelnut. Pass the meat through a meat grinder 2 times, the second time we grind the meat with bread soaked in water or milk and squeezed out. Add oil, a little salt and lukewarm water. Mix everything until a smooth homogeneous mass is obtained. With wet hands, form cutlets and place them in a greased pan. Pour in 3 teaspoons of hot broth or water, close the lid and place in the oven for 30 minutes, pouring over the resulting sauce.

When preparing steamed food for your baby, your best friend is a steamer.

* You can add chopped dried fruits to the porridge. Children are not given pearl barley until they are two years old; this is the heaviest porridge. You should not get carried away with semolina - as you know, it contains a substance that prevents the absorption of calcium in the body. Semolina porridge can also give you a stomach ache; it is quite heavy, and here is the secret about it: semolina should boil for no more than a minute, then remove it from the heat and leave for at least half an hour. If you give semolina porridge right away, it will swell in the child’s stomach. It's better to let it swell on its own.

Idea: Boil the pumpkin separately and add it to any porridge.

* To feed your child unloved vegetables, you can use canned food disguised as sauce. For example, pumpkin, carrots or broccoli. Pour any monocomponent puree over top of vegetable puree or pasta.

* The best treat would be apples, bananas or pears stuffed with cottage cheese: a couple of minutes in the microwave, and a healthy dessert on the table. On top of the fruit halves filled with cottage cheese, you can lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar and add cinnamon or vanilla. Another dessert: puree an apple with a pear (you can just use an apple or a pear), crumble baby cookies into it and put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Why do fruits need a microwave: they release healthy pectin, which cleanses the body of toxins.

On photos: Ksyusha (mother hromka), Grisha and Tema (mother Yin), Anastasia (mother Light... of distant planets ).

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