Pedagogical complementary foods: the well-forgotten old. We continue to try adult food. What you should pay attention to when introducing pedal feeding

28.04.2019

Young parents are often confused about the concepts of complementary feeding methods. Many questions are usually raised by pedagogical feeding (pedagogical complementary feeding). But this is easy to fix.

There are two types of complementary foods.

Pediatric complementary foods are common for many mums. Certain foods are introduced into the diet of the crumbs according to age. Among them there are many boxes and jars with special baby food. Everything is done on the recommendation of children's doctors, and the scheme of such complementary foods has long become traditional. A plus of the technique is the gradual acquaintance of the child with new products, which allows eliminating allergens from the menu. The second advantage is the convenience of compiling a full-fledged children's diet thanks to detailed age tables.
Pedagogical complementary feeding involves the use of the same products that the mother of the baby eats. Breastfeeding remains the main thing, but as it develops, the child can take what he wants from his mother's plate. If the crumb is bottle-fed, pedicum is not recommended for him. The methodology is based on the understanding that the nutrients in the mother's diet and in breast milk are the same.

The main plus, according to supporters of pedagogical feeding, is that during breakfasts, lunches and dinners, the baby eats with the parents and copies their behavior. The younger family member can immediately eat pieces of food from the common table that are not dangerous for him (in size and consistency), as a result of which in the future he will not have problems with digestion and impaired appetite.

Once the child reaches one year of age, he can fully transition to the adult table. This will allow the young mother to leave the baby with relatives and not worry about his nutrition.

According to the pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovskyi, pedigree feeding is the result of many years of work by adherents of on-demand feeding. If the baby categorically refuses any food, except for mother's milk, the parents have to "cheat".

Komarovsky draws attention to the fact that the baby will not eat on his own anyway. “The pedagogical complementary feeding method is safe only if you constantly observe the baby, and until breastfeeding became fashionable, it never occurred to anyone to look for an alternative to the traditional feeding method,” the pediatrician said.

Pedigree feeding rules

The kid eats with his parents. There is no need to cook separately for the child. There is a limited amount of food on the table.
Food is handed out to the child from a plate into a pen. So from an early time, the baby is instilled in a food culture.
While the child is trying to reach for food, he is given micro doses. If the interest in food has disappeared, the baby is satiated.
Microdoses are small pieces of food, no larger than a pea. Once in the gastrointestinal tract, they do not cause discomfort and come out in a slightly digested or primary form. In the child's body, enzymes are produced, and "adult" food is well accepted by the digestive system.
During the introduction of feeding, the baby remains breastfed.
The volumes of solid food in the child's menu are gradually increased.
The crumb is not left alone at the table. You need to closely observe him and, if necessary, help to cope with the pieces of food.

Positive points

The baby quickly masters swallowing and chewing reflexes. Learns easily and feels more confident at the table next to his parents.
In the future, the child does not have problems with appetite: there is no need to persuade him to eat or entertain while feeding. Little milkers when using the pedagogical feeding methodology are a rare occurrence.
Breastfeeding remains the main element of the children's menu.
Quick adaptation to the diet of the whole family (parents do not need to prepare separate food for the baby). This is obvious - saving time, which a young mother always lacks, and a budget.
Upon reaching the baby, it is already possible to leave for a short time with grandmothers or a nanny, since he is already ready for the food offered to him - the kind that all family members eat.

Difficulties are surmountable

Pedicorm also has disadvantages (fortunately, temporary):

At first, the baby often pushes back the pieces of food with his tongue. However, he can cough, which worries the parents. It is important to distinguish between two situations here: when the child is not able to cope with large pieces of food and when he tries to chew, but chokes. Experience shows that a baby quickly learns to chew food, if not to show violent emotions towards him.
It is difficult to determine which of the foods the crumbs showed a negative reaction to - diathesis or loose stools (we will return to the topic of allergies later).
At the table, the child inevitably gets dirty, looking at food and playing with it. This is natural for his age, but it can unnerve his mother.

Parents want the best for their children. Therefore, if a baby eats the same thing as mom and dad, this leads to a revision of the adult diet. As a result, the whole family switches to a healthy diet.

Mom will need help - it is difficult to cook and look after the baby at the same time. And you will have to spend more time in the kitchen. After all, semi-finished products, hot seasonings, sauces, fried and fatty dishes will disappear from the table.

How much and when?

It is recommended to introduce pedpriorum from 5.5 months by means of micro doses, which are equal to the amount of food in a mother’s pinch. You should start with monoproducts, in this case - with one vegetable. By the end of the first week, the baby will be able to taste up to 3 foods at the same time.

If parents adhere to the theory of pedagogical feeding, they will choose a meal that is convenient for everyone with an abundance of side dishes that the baby needs: cereals, vegetables, etc.

Infants (from 4 weeks to 1 year old) are introduced to new food with the help of micro doses.

The sequence in which products are added to the children's menu does not matter as much as in the case of pediatric complementary foods. Indeed, in this case, the main role is played by the acquaintance of the crumbs with new types of food, and not its obligatory eating.

Pedpriorum begins with cereals or cottage cheese, cheese or yogurt. For the first time, 2-3 microdoses are enough, each - the size of 1-2 grains of rice.
By the end of the first week, the portions are gradually increased to a volume of 1-2 peas. It is already allowed to provide the baby with drying, an apple and a carrot for independent eating.
After a month, the portions continue to grow. The range of products is expanding. As part of pedagogical complementary foods, you should not give your child a lot of the same type of food. Regularly invite your baby to try something new.
By age, the baby will be able to master up to 50 g of a particular dish in one feeding. By this time, he should already be sitting at the table on his own in his highchair.

Preserving traditions

Pediatric complementary foods eliminate the addition of salt, which makes babies eat bland foods. After all, a baby with a traditional diet has a personal diet that differs from the diet of other family members. The baby notices that mom and dad are eating something different, perhaps tastier than what was offered to him, begins to protest and show an increased interest in "adult" food.

When the child is nevertheless allowed to the common table, after the children's puree, he tries new, unfamiliar food.

Due to the habit of grated food and poorly developed chewing reflexes, many children cannot fully eat in kindergartens. The risk of occurrence, disruptions in the work of the gastrointestinal tract and eating disorders increases.

If the child suffers from allergies

As part of the pedagogical feeding methodology, there are special recommendations for children prone to allergies.

The child's body is extremely sensitive to food, and even for no apparent reason, the first symptoms of allergy may appear.

If, with the introduction of pedal feeding, the baby has a slight reddening of the cheeks, they do not pay attention to this symptom.

But if the situation worsens, all foods with a high allergenic potential are removed from the diet.

It cannot be said unequivocally that the pedagogical complementary feeding method is the best. Each feeding technique has positive and negative sides. Therefore, every parent has the right to choose.

Hello dear blog readers. Every mother wants only the best for her baby. When a child grows up, and it is time to introduce him to adult food, many mothers ask themselves the question: is pedagogical complementary feeding so safe, and what is its advantage?

There are two main methods by which the child is offered to familiarize himself with new products and form his interest in adult food - pedagogical and pediatric complementary foods.

Pedagogical complementary feeding is the process of a child's absorption of food, in micro doses, from the same table with his mother and other family members. At the same time, there is no need to prepare a separate menu for the baby, he eats what adults do.
Pediatric complementary feeding is a common complementary feeding method recommended by pediatricians. The child is offered new food, at first - one-component, in the form of cereals or mashed potatoes. This type of feeding implies a special menu for the child that excludes allergenic foods and "adult" food.

Both types of complementary foods are introduced in parallel with breastfeeding and do not replace, but supplement it. Pediatric complementary feeding is the traditional method of introducing a baby to new foods and is based on the safety and comfort of digestion for the baby.

If we talk about pediatric complementary foods, then it has both its supporters and opponents. Dr. Komarovsky, a renowned pediatrician for children, believes that this method of feeding is the result of many years of work by advocates of breastfeeding on demand.

Advantages and disadvantages

It should be noted that pedagogical complementary foods have both their pros and cons. Among the advantages are:

the child gets acquainted with food only after he has developed a food interest;
there is no need to force the baby to eat a certain amount of food in one feeding;
the kid can choose the dish that he wants to try, based on his taste preferences;
the child learns to independently use cutlery and get acquainted with the basics of cultural table behavior;
the baby learns to chew solid food;
the child develops a persistent food interest and in the future there are no problems with appetite;
there is no need to prepare separate meals for the child.

In addition to the positive side, this type of complementary food has its drawbacks:

such complementary foods have no scientific basis and are not recommended by pediatricians;
in case of violation of the rules of complementary feeding or inattention to the actions of the child at the table, on the part of adults, the baby may choke on a large piece of food;
when an allergic reaction occurs, it is not possible to track the product that acted as an allergen;
a prerequisite for this feeding method is the transition of the whole family to healthy food. Fatty, spicy dishes, as well as semi-finished products are excluded from consumption.

When to introduce complementary foods

Modern pediatricians do not recommend that mothers introduce complementary foods earlier than the child is 6 months old. By six months, the baby's digestive tract is already sufficiently formed and ready to get acquainted with the food variety. And, if the pediatric reception can already be started, then the pediatric one has several points that can postpone the start of complementary feeding.

There are criteria by which a child's readiness to start pedagogical feeding is determined:

pedal feeding should be started no earlier than the child's nutritional interest is formed. Usually it is already developed by 6 months, but it happens that the baby does not yet show the correct interest in the proposed dishes.
the child knows how to sit confidently;
the baby's weight has doubled in relation to its birth weight;
the pushing reflex fades away.

The most basic criterion for introducing complementary foods is nutritional interest. It can be distinguished from ordinary curiosity by looking at the behavior of the child. The kid should reach for food that adults eat, and not try to play with it or throw it out, but put it in his mouth.

At the same time, the baby does not pay attention to the cutlery, napkins lying on the table. His focus should be on the adults eating and trying to mimic their actions. If the child is not interested in the process of eating, it is recommended to postpone complementary foods for a while.

Pedagogical feeding technique

Acquaintance of a child with all the variety of products, on average, takes one year. The dishes that the baby tries at the common table can be of different consistency. Parents should closely monitor the child, encouraging his desire to eat, but not insisting.

You cannot try to feed the baby with a spoon, it is better to give him a table object in his hand and, by your example, demonstrate how to use it. There is a certain sequence of actions on which pedagogical complementary feeding is based on breastfeeding. There is no table of rules for the introduction of products, as with pediatric complementary foods. The child is fed the same food that all adult family members eat.

The sequence of actions is as follows:

The family should have a specific place and dining table for eating. All attempts to teach a child to eat at the table will be in vain if someone from the family allows himself to eat in front of the TV or at the computer table.
Mom informs the child that the whole family is going to eat. It is not necessary to force the child to sit at the table, but if he has shown a desire to join the meal, the mother takes him on her lap at the common table.
If the child, instead of eating, decides to play with food or cutlery, he is not scolded, but calmly carried away to the room.
If the child wants to try a dish, then the mother gives the child a microdose equal to one pinch. In the absence of a negative reaction to a new product, after five days, the portion is increased to one teaspoon.
A baby can taste up to three dishes in one meal.
At the beginning of complementary foods, the mother can invite the child to the table once a day, for example, for breakfast. Gradually, the number of joint meals increases to 5-6 times a day.
The child eats with his mother from the same plate. Attempts to eat from plates of other family members are suppressed.

Variety of dishes

The baby eats food in micro doses. If, after the baby has eaten the prescribed norm of the dish, but asks for more, switch his attention to another product.

We offer soups to the baby in two ways:

dip a spoon in broth and let the child lick the cutlery;
we put the cutlery in the kid's hands and help to scoop up and bring the contents of the plate to the mouth.

Second courses - porridge, mashed potatoes, pasta - we allow the child to grab and bring it to the mouth on their own.

We teach to drink tea, compote or juice from a mug. To do this, pour a tablespoon of liquid into the device and give the baby a drink. Let him sprinkle the contents into his mouth on his own.

Fruits, bread, bagels - the child should eat under the strict supervision of the mother. There is a chance that pieces of solid food may enter the respiratory tract.

If a child wants to leave the table, there is no need to hinder him. The baby should not be allowed to leave the kitchen with cookies or other food. So in his mind the idea that food intake and cuisine are inseparable will be strengthened.

Allergy

The rules of pedagogical feeding are such that when allergy symptoms appear, they do not stop it. This technique allows you to introduce children prone to allergies to food provocateurs.

If the baby is allergic, for example, to buckwheat, give him one grain of cereal. If the baby has an intolerance to pears, cook the compote, in the proportion: 1 pear per 3 liters of water. This way of getting to know allergenic products is relevant, since: the dose of the allergen is minimal and cannot cause serious consequences, but it is quite enough to help the body adapt to "uncomfortable" products.

If the baby, after the introduction of pedagogical complementary foods, shows symptoms of a strong allergic reaction, all possible allergenic products are withdrawn from the family's diet. With further progression of symptoms, the mother will have to cancel the pedagogical complementary foods. Feedback from experienced mothers confirms that such a development of the situation is rare, but it does take place.

It should be borne in mind that it is forbidden to use pedagogical complementary foods when artificial feeding a baby. When breastfeeding, mother's milk contains enzymes that help the baby's digestive system to break down and absorb new foods. When artificially feeding a child, it is better to start feeding according to the pediatric method.

conclusions

Pedagogical complementary foods are designed to acquaint the baby with the culture of food intake and the variety of dishes that he will eat throughout his life. Follow the rules and technique of complementary feeding, and your baby in the future will not face the problem of lack of appetite and rejection of certain foods.

Refuse this technique if the child is bottle-fed, or when complementary foods are introduced, the development of an allergic reaction progresses, without a tendency to improve.

Dear readers of our blog, share the link to the article with your friends on social networks and leave your comments about your attitude to pedagogical feeding of your baby.

When the time is right to introduce the baby to adult food, each parent seeks to choose the option and method of feeding that is optimal for their child.

There are two types of complementary foods that are perfectly adapted for babies:

is the introduction of separately prepared food for the child according to a special scheme. At the same time, all the dishes offered to the baby are thoroughly ground into a homogeneous puree.
Pedagogical complementary foods or prefeeding is the introduction of micro-doses (doses that are placed between the mother's thumb and forefinger) from the mother's plate to the child. The main task of such complementary foods is to familiarize the child with the food that is consumed in his family, that is, the baby is fed not with separately prepared food, but, as they say, with a common “kazanka”. In this case, daytime breastfeeding is not canceled.

Often, breastfed babies refuse to eat anything other than breast milk for quite some time. As many mothers note, it is with the help of prefeeding that they can successfully cope with this problem.

The essence of pedagogical feeding

The concept of "pre-feed - nutrition as education" was invented by the center for children's education "Rozhana". This technique has such a name because its purpose is not to satisfy the baby's hunger, but to give him the opportunity to get acquainted with the rules of behavior at the table, learn how to chew and use cutlery.... In the process of introducing pre-feeding, the child understands that food can be obtained not only from the mother's breast.

When introducing pedagogical complementary foods, parents are obliged to stimulate the baby's nutritional interest, which, as a rule, is based on the desire to imitate their parents, and by no means on the feeling of hunger.

The main conditions for introducing pedagogical complementary foods:

the baby must be breastfed... It is believed that enzymes that come from breast milk, which contains information about the foods eaten, help support the infant's gastrointestinal tract, since both mom and baby eat the same thing;
food for the whole family should be correct and varied: various smoked meats and other unhealthy foods should be completely excluded from the family diet.

Advantages and disadvantages of pedagogical complementary foods

The advantages of prefeeding include:

The child has the opportunity, focusing only on his desire and taste preferences, to choose products from the table. With this approach, a certain type of food is not imposed on the baby, as is the case with the pediatric system.
From an early age, the child joins family traditions, learns to eat and use cutlery on his own.
The introduction of pre-feeding contributes to the rapid mastering of chewing skills by the child.
Children who were fed according to the pedagogical system almost never have problems with appetite.
The baby is introduced to new foods without compromising breastfeeding.
There is no need to spend time and money on organizing a separate meal for the baby, since he eats what his parents eat.

It should be noted that the pedagogical system also has its drawbacks:

When to start feeding your baby

A few years ago, complementary foods were introduced starting from 3-4 months of age. Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends starting breastfed babies no earlier than 6 months, since in the first half of the year, breast milk, due to its nutritional properties, fully satisfies all the needs of the baby. In addition, the child's enzyme system and nutritional interest also matures only by six months.

It should be noted that in nature everything is quite wisely arranged, and a human child, like, in principle, a baby of any other mammal, when it is ready to digest new food, always gives appropriate signals to its parents.

You can make sure the child is ready for the introduction of complementary foods by the following signs:

The kid sits confidently.
The push reflex fades away.
The baby's weight is twice his birth weight (for premature babies, this figure should be slightly higher).
He knows how to turn his head, and, if necessary, turn away from unpleasant food.
A “food interest” has appeared: the child reaches for the mother's plate to take food from it and put it in his mouth.

It is possible to determine that a child has a “food interest” and not a simple curiosity by the following behavior. During a family meal, the toddler is drawn to food that adults eat appetizingly.... He is not interested in other items on the table: neither napkins, nor tableware, nor bedding for hot dishes. And if the child tries to give something to the pens to calm him down, then he angrily throws the object given to him and continues to get food. This behavior of the baby is repeated every time he gets to the table with the adults, acquiring a stable character.

Note! The emergence of "food interest" is due to the presence of digestive enzymes that have already ripened in the baby's digestive tract, which send a signal to the brain about their readiness to work. In turn, the brain, responding to the received signals, produces the appropriate reactions, "pushing" the child to conquer a new, more complex food.

It should be noted that the presence of "food interest" guarantees a good appetite and a healthy attitude to food for the whole life of a still little man. Therefore, in no case should the child be forced to eat and try to feed him, if he does not want it and does not ask for it himself. In this process, the initiative must come entirely from the baby himself: he must be an active participant in complementary foods. If the child's gastrointestinal tract is quite ready to digest adult food, but there is still no food interest as such, then it is worth postponing the introduction of complementary foods until it appears.

When not to start introducing complementary foods:

The child or mother is sick. During such a period, it is much more important to feed the baby with mother's milk, which will help ensure the antiviral protection of the baby.
Moving or changing environment. The child should be allocated at least two weeks to adapt to a new place.
Mom's exit from maternity leave.
The appearance of a new person in the child's life (for example, a nanny).
Active.
A stressful situation in the family, which can be provoked by repairs, divorce of parents, etc.

The technique of introducing pedagogical complementary foods

Pedagogical complementary feeding does not affect breastfeeding in any way: it is an absolutely parallel process that complements the main nutrition... It should be noted that in the mind of the child, these concepts are also quite clearly separated. For example, he understands that it is not 50 grams of curd mass that will help him fall asleep, but sucking on his mother's breast. But when he sees a delicious banana, which he usually observes once a week, the baby, of course, will reach for the tempting fruit, and not for his mother's breast, to which he has round-the-clock access.

Typically, the entire complementary feeding cycle takes about a year, during which the child should taste the food that he will deal with throughout his life. The kid gets to know the products and studies them:

by consistency and temperature;
a variety of tastes, sizes and shapes;
methods of preparation and consumption;
seasonality and so on.

It's important to know! If, for some reason, during the complementary feeding period, the child was unable to try some foods, then in the future he may refuse them altogether until a certain age, or still eat them, but reluctantly.

Therefore, you should initially introduce the baby to that ecological and social niche in the field of nutrition, to which his family belongs.

The food offered to the child may be of different consistency, but you should not specifically make it puree. Pre-feeding implies acquaintance of the baby with food through micro-doses (micro-samples) of products, which stimulates him to successfully master the skills of chewing and swallowing already in the first months of the introduction of complementary foods. In addition, in the process of getting to know food, the child learns independence, which is important to encourage:

he can take the pieces of food offered to him with his pens and send them into his mouth;
he tries to "wield" a spoon;
learns to hold a cup and drink from it.

The parents' task is only to make sure that the child's movements are correct and, if necessary, help him, but in no case try to feed him on his own. This process should not turn into a passive mouth opening in front of the next spoonful of food that mom offers.

The child can sit at the dinner table to get acquainted with food with his mother up to 5-6 times a day. At one time, the baby can be given no more than two or three microdoses. One dose of soft food should be placed between your mom's thumb and forefinger, or on the tip of a teaspoon.

Microdoses should be given as follows:

It is important that the baby holds the spoon himself, and the mother only helps to operate the handle! As a rule, self-scooping becomes available to most children only after they master independent walking.

Stages of pedagogical feeding

In general, the prefeeding process consists of three stages:

Adaptation period- from the first to the eighth month of complementary feeding.
Energy period- from the eighth to the fourteenth month of complementary feeding.
Transition period- from the fourteenth month to 3 years of age of the child.

On the first, adaptation stage , only the first acquaintances of the child with a new food occur: first, he is given micro doses of 1-2 grains of rice, after a week - the micro dose increases and can already be 1-2 peas, etc. According to this principle, the baby is introduced to each individual dish. As a rule, in a month the child manages to taste almost all the products from his mother's menu. Starting from the second month of complementary feeding, those products that have successfully passed the microprobe stage can be offered to the child in an increased dose - up to 1-2 teaspoons. As for new products (for example, seasonal vegetables or fruits), we do all the adaptation work with them. No more than one new product should be given to the baby per day, while any “sample” is given to be washed down with breast milk. Only if within a week the baby's body has not given any negative reactions - we increase the volume of the proposed product to 1-2 teaspoons.

It is very important that at the first stage, during the meal, the child is in the mother's arms, and not in a separate place. This is due to a number of reasons:

Starting from the second, energy phase , the child begins to treat food as an energy source and a way to satisfy the feeling of hunger. During this period, the volume of one product consumed can be 2 tablespoons. If the child is not full, he is offered other dishes in the same volume, and the baby himself chooses how he will satisfy his hunger. At this stage, the child no longer drinks food with breast milk, and his stool has a more formalized character.

During the energy period, the parents of the baby:

should try to maintain the food interest of the crumbs, and not try to feed the child if he himself does not ask;
should not spoon feed him;
should not offer him food themselves, but you can simply inform that you are going to sit down at the table for a meal. The child must determine his own state of health, and understand whether he is hungry.

At the second stage of the introduction of pedagogical complementary foods, the child should already be allocated a separate place at the common table. You can check his readiness for independence by the following criteria:

The child has mastered the skills of handling everyday utensils (plate, cup, spoon and fork).
Doesn't play with food or spit it out.
Does not overturn or throw a plate and cup off the table.
Tries to eat carefully with a spoon.

As a rule, children are ready to move to a separate seat at the table closer to their first birthday.

However, it should be remembered that restlessness is characteristic of one-year-old babies. Therefore, during this period, special understanding and patience is required from parents. A child can eat for five minutes, and then lose interest in food and run away about his business; after a while, come back and ask for food again. There is no need to fight this, over time everything will pass and the child will learn all the rules of behavior at the table, but still you should not allow the child to leave the boundaries of the kitchen with a piece of food in his hands.

At the third stage of pre-feeding the child completely switches to eating at a common table. In addition, the baby:

excellently wielding cutlery;
he takes care of cleanliness while eating;
copes with drinking and eating without assistance;
is still actively interested in food;
has its own seat at the table.

The maximum meal duration can be from 10 to 15 minutes.

By the age of three, a child should have learned everything that adult family members do when they eat. By imitating their behavior and movements, the baby learns:

eat the food that everyone in his family eats;
use cutlery and napkins correctly;
give thanks for food and ask for more if necessary;
clean up dirty dishes, etc.

Pedagogical complementary foods and allergic reactions

Here, the so-called method of "accustoming to" is used, which allows the baby's body to adapt to products that are inconvenient for him. For a better understanding, consider this method with an example. If a child is allergic to an apricot, you can cook compote for him in the ratio: one apricot to three liters of water; and offer it to the baby in micro doses. Or the child is allergic to buckwheat, then you can give it no more than 1-2 grains. Thus, an almost homeopathic dose is obtained, which is not enough for the manifestation of allergies, but quite enough for the organism to get used to it.

It is important to note that reddened cheeks that appear during the introduction of complementary foods are not an alarm signal. It is not customary to pay attention to such manifestations, and you can continue to feed the baby. This behavior is explained by the fact that the baby's body is very sensitive, so the cheeks can react with redness to anything.

The body's alarms include:

the appearance of crimson spots instead of the usual blush;
rash of an extensive nature;
weeping type diathesis;
scabs.

When these symptoms appear, foods with a high allergenic potential should be removed from the child's diet, but complementary feeding does not stop. If, two weeks after the introduction of a hypoallergenic diet, the symptoms persist or, even worse, worsened, complementary foods should be completely canceled.

The list of rules that must be adhered to when pedagogical complementary foods

Tokareva Larisa, pediatrician

I found a very interesting article about pedagogical complementary foods, I have already heard about it and, moreover, a lot of positive things. Has anyone tried this?

Everything that is written in this article applies only to a baby who is breastfed in a natural way!

When to start complementary feeding for a breastfed baby? Now there are many opinions on this issue. From some doctors you can still hear the recommendation to start injecting apple juice, starting at three weeks. Many still continue to insist on the introduction of mashed vegetables, fruit and cereals from 3-4 months of age. There is also an opinion that the child should be fed after the first teeth appear.

Breastfeeding consultants recommend that you start introducing your baby to new food only after the baby has shown interest in it. Such complementary foods are called pedagogical, because the main purpose of complementary foods is not to feed the child, but to acquaint him with new food, teach him how to chew, teach him how to get food not only from the mother's breast. At about six months of age, babies begin to show interest in the contents of their mother's plate, and try to taste it, it is this behavior that is called active food interest and indicates the baby's readiness to get acquainted with new food. The baby's nutritional interest is not associated with the feeling of hunger that arises in him, but with the desire to imitate his mother. He wants to do what she does, take some pieces from the plate and put them in his mouth.

What are the principles of introducing complementary foods with natural feeding, if the mother wants to follow the biological line of behavior of the child? Here they are:

An acquaintance of the baby begins with the introduction of microdoses (microprobes) of products, namely, acquaintance, without the goal of feeding the child with some kind of portion. A microdose for soft foods is about the same as the mom's between the pads of her thumb and forefinger, if she squeezes them, or at the tip of a teaspoon. For liquid products - one sip, poured into a small cup on the bottom.

1. A child can "in one sitting" try what his mother eats and what he is interested in up to three micro doses.

2. Only hard pieces are given to the baby's hand, from which he himself will not eat much (hard apples, carrots, stump, drying, etc.)

3. Microtests are given within 3-4 weeks. During this time, the baby can already get acquainted with many products used in his family, and learn to drink from a cup.

4. Complementary feeding never replaces latching on to the breast! The baby can become familiar with new foods before, after, and during breastfeeding. Children often wash down microsamples with their mother's milk.

5. Gradually increase the amount of food, allowing the child to eat more.

6. Mom needs to keep the child's interest in food, keep the desire to try. From six months to one and a half years, the child should get acquainted with all the products that are eaten in his family. To keep the desire to try, the mother must limit the child's food interest until 8-11 months: if the child has eaten 3-4 teaspoons of one product and asks for more, he needs to be given something else.

7. From the side, the introduction of complementary foods should look something like this: the baby begs for pieces, and the mother dresses him, sometimes. In such a situation, the child is always happy to get acquainted with new food and does not overeat.

8. The child must learn to work with cutlery. Up to 8-11 months, these are spoons (there should be a lot of them, because they fall all the time), the child's plate appears when he begins to eat separately, usually after 8-11 months. Until this age, the baby can eat while sitting in the mother's arms and from her plate.

9. If the child is tired of eating, has lost interest, it is necessary to take him away from the table.

The introduction of complementary foods to a child requires certain knowledge and experience. There will be no problems if the baby is healthy, breastfeeding is properly organized, and his mother was shown how to introduce such complementary foods. This really needs to be shown, as with anything about the practice, such as breastfeeding and caring for a toddler. If another experienced mother did not show her mother how to start feeding the baby correctly, she may make some mistakes, not even suspecting that she is making them. Some mums succeed. These are the lucky moms. How lucky, for example, mothers who have never seen how to breastfeed a baby correctly, but who managed to arrange feeding. You can make mistakes related not to feeding itself, but to the behavior of the baby at the table. For example, a baby eats for some time, to put it mildly, not very carefully, prefers to take food with his hand, put it in a spoon, and then carry it into his mouth. Many mothers consider this behavior unacceptable, take away the spoon from the child and begin to feed him. The baby loses the desire to eat on his own. The child may really like some product and he may demand more and more for himself and the mother concedes to him, getting the baby's digestive upset the next day. With the correct introduction of complementary foods, the baby's well-being does not deteriorate, the tummy is not “upset”, it continues to develop normally. If the mother knows the options for the normal behavior of the baby and adequately assesses them and corrects them in time, if necessary, the baby never grows out of the baby who does not know how to behave correctly at the table, is sloppy or with poor appetite. Unfortunately, what all women knew how to do 150 years ago, now almost no one remembers ...

Signs of incorrectly introduced complementary foods: the child eats very well for a while and then refuses to try or eat anything. So, the child was overfed, he overeat. A way out of the situation: take the child with you to the table for 5 days, do not offer him anything, do not give him and eat with appetite in his presence.

Very often, mothers do not cope with the introduction of complementary foods just because they really want to feed the baby with other food. In the minds of modern mothers, there is a firm conviction that breast milk, in terms of its qualitative composition, is not a very reliable liquid and it must be supplemented with other food. The fact that milk is a perfect product created by evolution specifically for feeding human babies is completely ignored, absolutely complete in its digestibility and nutritional value. Studies have shown that the early introduction of other food impairs the absorption of nutrients from milk, and the child begins to fully absorb these substances from other food only after a year. The baby's eating behavior is not artificially invented, but is due to the peculiarities of the development of his body, primarily the gastrointestinal tract. Mothers should remember that their task is not to feed the child with food, but to introduce him to it and keep the child interested in food. If you want your baby to have a good appetite in the future, never try to feed a baby after he has lost interest in the process of eating. For a mother who has spent half a day making mashed potatoes or opening a ready-made jar, it is difficult to watch the child run away after eating two spoons. I just want to catch him, distract him with a book, toy or TV, just to open his mouth. Do not do that! A baby who has the opportunity to kiss his mother's breast will never suffer from hunger and thirst! If breastfeeding is organized correctly, then everything that the child needs will be taken from the mother's breast.

What about the pieces of food, if the baby's food is not mashed, he can choke?

Food for the baby does not need to be chopped, but you need to start with small pieces, micro doses. If the child is given something from which he can potentially bite off a large piece, the child sits on his mother's lap and the mother watches him and as soon as a large piece bites off, the mother makes a crochet finger and takes it out of her mouth. The child is actively learning and gradually learns to chew with his still toothless jaws, and then toothy ones.

What if the baby spits out even very small pieces, or tries to regurgitate them, instead of swallowing?

Many children behave exactly this way: for a week or two they spit out all the pieces and periodically “choke”, then they begin to spit out the pieces “after one”, they swallow half of them, then, finally, they begin to swallow all the pieces. Mom needs to be patient and not insist. At the same time, the child must definitely observe how other people eat without spitting out pieces.

When does complementary food stop being just an introduction to new products and begin to replace feeding?

Breastfeeding and the transition to food from a common table are parallel processes. There are no substitutions for complementary foods. The fact is that the main feedings from the breast in a child of 6 months and older are associated with dreams. Babies suck a lot when falling asleep for day and night dreams, apply to the breast when waking up from daytime dreams and in the morning, suck at night, especially closer to morning. And acquaintance with complementary foods and food from the common table take place during mother's breakfasts, lunches and dinners. A child eats relatively large portions of food already at the age of about a year and older. But even at this age, babies can often drink food from the breast. The child continues to receive vitamins and other useful substances with breast milk in sufficient quantities and in optimal forms for assimilation, provided that his breastfeeding is properly organized, and the mother does not lack nutrients.

What about salt, sugar, spices, and, possibly, harmful substances (for example, nitrates) contained in adult food, which the baby will try? In baby food, all this is not, and therefore it can be healthier for the baby than food from the common table?

Food does contain salt, sugar, nitrates, and more. And baby food contains. Baby food is made in such a way that the child assimilates it without adapting to the products that make it up. There is no adaptation of the digestive system to taste, consistency, or ingredients. The mother's task is not to feed the child with other food, which can be done with baby food, but to continue the slow process of adaptation of the child's gastrointestinal tract to other foods. This adaptation began when the child began to swallow amniotic fluid, the taste of which changed depending on the mother's nutrition, and continued with the beginning of breast milk feeding, the taste and composition of which changes not only during the day, but even during one feeding, and the mother eats not baby food. While the child eats small amounts of food, he adapts to its components: to salt, and to sugar, and to nitrates, as well as to its other components. And when he eats significant amounts of food, he will already be quite able to cope with all this.

Does the baby need extra fluid in connection with the initiation of complementary foods?

The baby continues to receive the main liquid from breast milk. The child usually begins to take an interest in water and drinking itself after a year. Usually, the baby is interested in the contents of his mother's cup and tries it if you pour a little drink into his cup, on the bottom.

What about a child over one year old who has no food interest? Until a year, all attempts to introduce complementary foods did not lead to anything. The child cried, turned away, even vomiting. Now he eats very poorly and not everything, but only certain types of canned food. How to accustom a child to adult food and increase appetite?

This is how children usually behave when they have not seen what other people eat and how. Often this happens if a separate process is arranged from feeding the child and he is fed with something special.

You need to stop feeding the baby separately. It is necessary to put him at the table with everyone, or at least with his mother, not to try to feed him. Everyone should become indifferent whether the child eats or not, at least it is necessary to "pretend" that this is so ... Let him watch for several days how other family members eat. If he starts asking to try something - go ahead. Put on a plate the same as everyone else. In the presence of the baby, it is necessary to eat with appetite. Do not try to distract you with TV, books, or toys. Do not scold or punish if the child spills or smears something, remove immediately and demonstrate that everyone is eating carefully.

If the baby is almost 5 months old, he is very interested in any food, looks into everyone's mouth and demands to try, is it possible to introduce pedagogical complementary foods to him now?

The kid is a developed and inquisitive child. He really wants to do with food the same as his mother. But we must remember that the child's gastrointestinal tract, in not the full 5 months, is not yet very ready to get acquainted with other food. Enzyme systems are just beginning to mature. The situation in the intestines is now stable, it is rather dangerous to intervene in it ahead of time. It is the mom's job to protect this stability from premature interventions. Food interest in a baby of this age should be limited, in other words, take him out of the kitchen and not eat in his presence. If you don't really like this advice, you can do something, but only at your own peril and risk. We have already encountered a situation when a mother, even who knows how to properly introduce complementary foods, shows impatience and as a result of which the child received a breakdown in the digestive system, which had to be fought for a long time later. If the mother has the opportunity to introduce complementary foods under the full-time guidance of a breastfeeding consultant (the best option), then it will be possible to do this from 5.5 months of age. If you can only act on your own, it is not recommended to introduce complementary foods before the baby is six months old.

Are there any peculiarities in the management of pedagogical complementary foods, if the baby or his parents are allergic?

There are, of course, features. For such a baby, foods are introduced more slowly, starting with hypoallergenic ones, the amount of complementary foods is increased much more slowly than usual. The rate of introduction of products can be characterized as follows: "one step forward, two steps back." Mom should follow a hypoallergenic diet, excluding foods that cause her allergies or any other inconvenience. A mother who is breastfeeding should not introduce new products to her baby against the background of an exacerbation of her own disease. All food samples should be completed with attachment to the breast. It is necessary to introduce no more than one product per day and monitor the baby's reaction to it for at least 3 days.

Why babies eating baby food at 7-8 months can eat 100-200 g of mashed potatoes or cereals, but children who started with pedagogical complementary foods do not do this?

A child in the second half of his life eats little because he does not want to fill up yet. He only imitates his mother in her actions. He eats milk. Perhaps the human baby has a genetically built mechanism that does not allow him to eat much at this age. A couple of thousand years ago, a child probably would have gotten big problems in the digestive system if he had been fed 100 g of game meat brought by dad from the hunt. Another thing is that then no one would have thought of doing this to a child. Even our great-grandmothers, 100 years ago, who cooked food for a family of 5-10 people on a stove or wood-burning stove, did not think (and it was not possible), on the one hand, to feed the child with something specially prepared separately from everyone, but with on the other hand, it was not even in my thoughts to give the baby more common porridge or soup to eat ... Baby food is made in such a way that the child can eat a lot of it. And any baby can be fed with it, but is it necessary? There are children who, for the time being, eat this "baby food" a lot and with pleasure, however, most of them have to be entertained during the feeding process to open their mouths. It takes a long time to entertain many in the process of eating, some until adolescence. Often there is a situation when a child who has eaten with pleasure and a lot, up to a year or a little over a year, becoming older, begins to refuse food and turns into a baby, feeding which is simply torture for the parents. Such children are not at all interested in food. There are, of course, children who pass the stage of infant nutrition relatively "safely". "Safely" is enclosed in quotation marks, since Now the long-term consequences of introducing large amounts of baby food to a child are just beginning to be studied when he is biologically not quite ready for such a load, the results will not be soon ...

Olezhka is already 6 months old and everyone around his mother Sveta is worried that she still feeds him exclusively with breast milk. The pediatrician has been saying for 2 months that it is time to give the crumbs apple juice, yolks, and vegetable purees with cereals just in time. Of course, the mother-in-law and mother are also not lagging behind - they echo the doctor. Sveta is still holding the siege, she read somewhere that complementary foods should be introduced just after 6 months. The only thing that worries her is how to inject it. The recommendations of Olezhenka's pediatrician and grandmothers do not instill confidence in her, there is something unnatural in them. All the time, the thought arises - how did women deal with these problems 100-200 years ago? Did they give the baby apple juice drop by drop and porridge from a bottle with a special tip in the form of a spoon? Unlikely…

At that moment we met Sveta. She told me why she was embarrassed by the traditional system of introducing complementary foods - her sister in this way introduced complementary foods to her son. And in the memory of Sveta there were vivid images: the sister sits in front of the baby: then she knocks with a spoon, then she crows, then she puts a newspaper in the hands of the crumbs - if only he, carried away by this, opens his mouth for another spoon. The nephew's attention will faint slightly - he stops opening his mouth, even turns away, so she starts to invent something new. Is it correct?

Modern introduction of complementary foods

The current system of introducing complementary foods, alas, does not take into account many factors - the age period when complementary foods are introduced, the age characteristics of the baby's psyche, the little appetite of babies, interest in a variety of foods. The child is introduced to certain foods at the appropriate age period in strictly defined quantities. There is a whole, when, what and how much a crumb should eat. If a baby is drawn to food that is not yet old enough for him, for example, his mother eats a cutlet, and a 7-month-old baby, looking at her, also wants to try a new dish, then he is not given it. The child is given food, grated and more than once - to make it easier for him to swallow. There is also a special food for kids - vegetables in jars, meat in jars, fish in jars and so on. "Treats" in them without a specific color, smell and taste.
This system is a product of our time, invented in laboratories by more than one medical scientist, an attempt to improve nature and necessity for artificial children.

Back to basics ...

Unfortunately, our mothers have stopped trusting their instinct, they trust the authority of doctors more, who, in their opinion, are better informed about what is needed and useful for a new family member. Mothers have forgotten the traditions of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, but they knew how to introduce the baby to new food for him.

If you imagine a family 200 years ago, in which there were 10-12 people, and a mother at the stove, who, even if she wanted to, would not be able to cook something separate for her grown up baby. This is how they taught the children to new food: he wanted a crumb of bread - on, try a crumb, grabbed a piece of cabbage from mom's plate - to your health!

We are trying to revive the old "old-fashioned" way of introducing complementary foods, which was formed in more than one century, based on the observation of babies, many generations of mothers. Now it is called natural complementary foods, and more and more young mothers are beginning to use this tactic of introducing a baby to new food.

Its difference from the traditional "can" is that the child maintains an interest in food at a common table. And this will allow in the future, after the baby turns a year or more, parents to be calm that their baby will be happy to participate in family meals. After all, he will already independently manage a spoon and a cup, he will not have to worry that the child has not eaten, he will not have to run after him with persuasion, and with various tricks to push some food into the little one.

Natural complementary foods

This system takes into account that a child is not saturated with new products until one year old - he simply tries them, as if creating for himself a bank of new tastes of those products that are customary to eat in his family, and his main food continues to be breast milk. This system is based on the child's natural interest in new food, on the imitation of the baby by adults - he strives to take the same food with his pen and send it into his mouth just like mom or dad, on the gradual adaptation of the crumbs' body to the new food.

If the baby is already 6 months old and he is actively interested in the contents of his mother’s plate, then it’s time to acquaint him with the family menu, however, only if it is a healthy diet. That is, the family eats a lot of vegetables, fruits, cereals and cereals, as well as dairy products, moderately meat (not necessarily every day), fish. As little as possible fatty, fried, absolutely no or a minimum of any sausages, sausages, cakes, sweets, soda ...

If the baby shows interest in the mother's food before half a year, there is no need to rush. It is better to start feeding your baby a couple of weeks later than before 6 months. The digestive system may not yet be ready for new foods and starting early complementary foods can disrupt natural maturation.

The described method of introducing complementary foods can only be used if the child is breastfed naturally: it is applied on demand, is not drunk with anything, does not suck on a dummy. In the case of improperly organized breastfeeding, for example, feeding according to the regimen at regular intervals, before introducing complementary foods, it is necessary to change the way of feeding the baby to natural.

We put it into practice

This method of introducing complementary foods is quite simple and any mother can use it, however, before starting to introduce it, it is advisable to consult with a specialist who owns this method of introducing complementary foods to clarify the details.

As you can imagine, such feeding does not require any special tricks. The main thing is to feel the child, not to insist on your own, but to listen to his needs, interests, desires. Do not forget that the introduction of natural or pedagogical complementary feeding occurs against the background of breastfeeding. The baby continues to receive breast in the same way as before, i.e. on demand. A baby at the age of 6-8 months does not yet need solid complementary foods that replace some of the breastfeeding - he has enough mother's milk, because it contains all the necessary vitamins, trace elements, antibodies and much more. Complementary foods can become energetically significant at about 9-10 months, and sometimes even later. Before that, the main food of the child is mother's milk.

A mother should not worry and take the child's active interest in new food for a lack of milk: even with such an interest, the love for breast milk and breastfeeding does not disappear.

How does acquaintance with new food come about? For example, if a mother is going to have breakfast, she takes her grown-up baby to the table with her. In front of Mom is a plate of food, such as pancakes with cottage cheese, apples, tea, and cookies. It is better to sit the baby on her lap and put a teaspoon on the table in front of him (keep more spoons in stock, in case the baby drops them). So, the baby is busy with a teaspoon - takes it, transfers it from handle to handle, knocks, drags it into his mouth - studies, in a word. At this moment, mom starts eating - she takes a pancake and starts eating it with appetite. The baby, if he has an interest in what his mother is doing, will begin to reach for her food, trying to literally pull it out of his mother's plate. So that the baby does not misbehave in his mother's plate, his actions must be limited. The baby should sit on the mother's left knee, if the mother is right-handed and eats with her right hand, and the mother's plate should be pushed back so that the baby cannot get food out of there. If the baby is actively trying to get food for himself, this behavior is called food interest. How to react? Give your baby a taste of what you are eating - pinch off a very small piece from the pancake and put the crumb in its mouth. The baby can chew a little piece a little, and swallow, or maybe spit it out of his mouth, this is a normal reaction at first.

When the baby does not react to the fact that the mother is eating something, but is exclusively engaged in a spoon, this means that he has no interest in adult food yet and it is too early for him to introduce complementary foods. Take your time, just try to eat more often with appetite in front of him.
What if the baby, having tasted one bite, does not reach for the next? Do you need to give the baby this product again so that he tastes it? No, mom in no case should insist. After all, your task is to maintain the crumbs' interest in new food, and not to feed him a pancake.

And so my mother eats further. Now she took a juicy apple and took a bite of it, and the baby was attracted by the appetizing crunch and the bright color of the fruit - he reaches out to him. Offer him a microdose for a sample, if he liked it and it still lasts - well, give it a couple more times, and then remove the apple so that the baby does not overeat. The crumb needs very little for the first time. The kid only gets acquainted with new food, adapts to it, he does not seek to gorge himself on even the most delicious product in his opinion.

It is important that the baby tries the same dishes that mom eats. Since during this age period the properties of mother's milk change: now it helps the baby to assimilate new food, supplying the necessary enzymes for this. Thus, latching to the breast makes it easier for the baby to switch to a new type of nutrition.

And our mother, meanwhile, began to drink tea with cookies. And the baby wants it too! Pour one sip for him to sample. It is better to start a separate cup - made of unbreakable material, so that you can safely give it to the baby in your hands. While the baby is just learning to drink from a cup, hold it by the bottom and regulate the flow of liquid into the baby's mouth. By the way, most likely, the kid himself will not want to try everything at one time, but will limit himself to one of the products he likes. After the baby tries, or the mother considers it necessary to finish his tests, the baby goes down to the floor, and the mother continues to eat quietly.

Independent table crumbs

In addition to joint lunches with mom or breakfasts with dinners at a common table, it's time to accustom the baby to independent nutrition. By this age, the baby is already able to hold small objects in the handles, so you can offer him pieces of hard vegetables and fruits for testing, those from which the baby himself cannot bite off a lot, for example, carrots, zucchini, apples, or bagels, drying, crouton. Children especially love the chicken bone, with which the mother first removes all the meat and cartilage. About her, you can brush your gums, and it is very tasty!

Of course, during independent meals, the mother should be close to the baby and monitor the process. In case the baby has bitten off a large piece, you need to take it out of the mouth with your index finger.

Allergic children

The introduction of complementary foods for children suffering from food allergies is a very delicate question. It is necessary to act carefully, carefully monitoring the process, according to the principle "you drive quieter, you will continue on."

Since the mother herself must adhere to a hypoallergenic diet, then the baby begins to get acquainted with food that does not cause allergies. For example, fruits and vegetables are neither orange nor red, he doesn’t need to taste cow's milk yet, and start acquaintance with meat with turkey, then you can try veal and so on. On one day, give the child one product, for the next 2-3 days, observe: an allergic reaction may appear not from the first, but from 2-3 tests. It turns out that the mother will be able to give the next new product to the baby only after 3-4 days.

Do not forget that in such a baby, the trial of new products should end with attachment to the breast.

An allergic child needs a particularly gentle and gradual adaptation to the food of adults, since his gastrointestinal tract and enzyme system are especially sensitive. It should also be borne in mind that the child begins to fully absorb vitamins and other useful substances from other food only after a year, and before that, all this supplies the baby's mother's milk, so you can not rush with complementary foods.

We continue to taste the food of adults

If the trial of new products was successful and the child was active in this process, then at about 8-10 months, the baby may already have one or two basic complementary foods. For example, breakfast or lunch. True, they can still begin and end with attachment to the breast, because the baby drinks adult food with mother's milk like water or juice. The child should not be weaned from this. The need to drink something else besides mother's milk arises only after a little over a year, just then from the crumbs you can hear something similar to: "Give me some water!"

After 9-11 months, the baby can already be put on a separate chair and offered to him a separate plate (before that he ate from his mother's). Mom helps the little one to handle the spoon - she helps to fill it with food, and the baby himself tries to bring it to his mouth. Be patient - this process is not easy for both the baby and you - spilled soup, fallen potatoes ... But this process is necessary, because you did not immediately learn to eat neatly. If the baby spills something, immediately try to wipe it up: let him get used to eating clean.

How do we eat after a year

After a year, the child shows great interest in the food of adults, he, like them, sits at the table 3-4 times, and eats the same food, no different from everyone else. He can eat both the first and the second course, if he wants.

If the toddler really likes what was put on his plate, but he is already tired of eating on his own, then he does not refuse if his mother helps him to finish the rest. In other situations, children do not like to be fed, they tend to eat everything on their own: put a piece in a spoon with their hand, and only then send it into their mouth.

In between meals, the little ones can eat something else - eat a carrot, crouton or apple.

Breastfeeding also remains: long-term - when the baby goes to bed or wakes up from sleep, short-term (these attachments for contact with the mother - for 1-2 minutes) - depending on the condition of the baby. On some day there may be few of them, but on some more.

The kid receives a microdose of the product that interests him. Microdose - the minimum amount of food that the mother places between the pads of the index and thumb (the size of a match head).
For breakfast, a crumb can receive three microdoses of each product he likes, this is where the acquaintance with this product ends, it will be possible to continue at lunch or dinner.
If the crumbs show a steady interest in a certain product for 3-5 days, then the microdose is increased to one teaspoon.
Do not overfeed your baby with one favorite product so that he does not lose interest in him. If the baby is persistent in trying something specific, offer him something else.