The first fruit food. Fruit puree: when to start complementary foods and what to choose

03.08.2019

From 5-6 months, the child's need for additional vitamins and minerals increases. During this period, breast milk and artificial formula no longer fully satisfy the needs of the baby, which is why many introduce fruit puree into the diet.

Why is it administered at 5-6 months? This is due to the fact that before that, the body of children is not yet ready for denser food. If complementary foods are introduced later than six months, they may have problems with adaptation to "adult" food.

What are the types of fruit purees?

Interestingly, during this period, fruit puree becomes an indispensable element of the children's diet. It is one of the best sources of both nutrients and minerals.

Puree can be of two types:

one-component;
combined.

Puree complementary foods, in contrast to juices, have a denser consistency. This is due to the increased content of pectin and plant fibers, which are responsible for regulating the motor function of the intestines of the baby. For a slightly older child, complementary foods are puree containing rice starch, guar gum or pectins. These thickeners are natural. They are even added to adaptive infant formula for those children who have problems with the digestive system.

The introduction of thickeners of natural origin in the first purees contribute to the addiction of the baby to thick food. As a result, the baby will develop chewing and swallowing skills, which becomes an important stage in the transition to adult food.

How much fruit puree to give?

The first complementary food should be started with one product. Give preference to a pear or apple dessert. Start giving one teaspoon a day, gradually increasing the volume to the required amount. The increase in volume for the baby occurs within a week.

To find out how much puree is needed for a baby, multiply its age in months by 10. As a result, you will get the required volume in milliliters. So, if the child is 5 months old, he will need fruit puree in a volume of 50 ml. If he is 6 months old, the required volume of complementary foods is 60 ml per day.

Remember not to give a full amount of puree to babies right away. Introduce it gradually. But fruit will always be just a dessert. For this reason, they should only be given after the main feed.

Choosing a treat in the store

Manufactured fruit formula for babies is usually sold in convenient jars. If you plan to start complementary feeding with it, you need to take into account the physical abilities of the baby. And they are determined by his age. Fruit puree is packed in glass jars, the volume of which is from 190 to 360 ml. A whole jar should be given to a child no earlier than a year. A 5-6 month old baby needs a couple of spoons.

Store the jar in a cool, dark place if unopened. A closed kitchen cabinet is a good place to do this. If the child has eaten two spoons, place the open jar in the refrigerator. But it can only be stored in this way for a day. If the treat has lasted longer, it is best not to give it to your child. But there are some brands that can be stored for 36 hours.

When buying fruit puree, always read the information on the label carefully. It indicates the age of the baby from which this product is given. Treat this information carefully, because the puree may contain cereals. And such products are not suitable for babies - they are designed for older children.

You also need to pay attention to the degree of crushing of the fruit. It will be maximum for children aged 5-6 months. And after three months you can give a puree containing small pieces of fruit.

Fruit Puree Recipes

It is not necessary to buy ready-made puree for complementary foods. You can and yourself can prepare a monocomponent or fruit and berry puree at home in the required amount. What fruits are right for you? It can be an apple or a pear. They should be steamed. This will preserve the beneficial properties, and the complementary food will turn out to be richer and thicker.

The following recipe will do. Peel and core the fruit. Cut into slices, they are laid out on a sieve, which is placed in a saucepan of boiling water. Cover the pot for 6-8 minutes. Then the resulting mixture is rubbed. You can make peach puree in the same way, but the cooking time is limited to 5 minutes.

You can also make a multi-component puree at home, which includes the following options.

Dried apricots and an apple. The recipe involves the use of 100 g of dried apricots, which fit into a small saucepan. It is poured over with water and left overnight. Then you need to peel two apples, remove the core and chop them. Place the apples in a saucepan, bringing the water to a boil. They are boiled for 10 minutes, stirring all the time. Rub the mixture.
Papaya and pear. This recipe uses ripe and soft pears. You need to peel and cut them. Then they are put in a double boiler for 10 minutes. Take a papaya and cut it in half, removing the seeds. Scrape out the pulp. It should be mixed with pears and rubbed for good complementary foods.
Bananas with berries... To prepare this fruit and berry puree, you will need 200 g of berry mixture. You can use strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Use the following recipe - toss the berries with ripe banana slices. Then grind the mixture.

To make the fruit puree more satisfying, add natural cream or yogurt to it just before serving. It can also be mixed with porridge if you make it at home. And remember that not only citrus fruits, but also berries can cause allergies in babies. Therefore, they should be given carefully and the reaction should be monitored.

Therefore, it is best to start complementary foods with fruit puree. The main thing is that the child is already 5 months old.

- this is a crucial moment for parents, because they must know not only what is meant by complementary foods, but also at what time it should be introduced into the child's diet. Until recently, pediatricians recommended starting complementary foods with fruit and / or vegetable juices, and giving them to the baby in an amount of a few drops from the second month of life.

With breastfeeding, complementary foods are introduced at 6 months, with artificial feeding - not earlier than 4 months. (in agreement with the pediatrician);
it's better to start complementary foods with mashed vegetables and / or fruits, but only if the child is gaining weight well;
if the baby is underweight, then first you need to introduce porridge into his diet, and only then fruit / vegetable purees;
are introduced as a last resort - not earlier than 7 months.

Important! Parents should remember the "golden" rule: the first portion of complementary foods should not exceed one teaspoon in volume. If the child does not have a negative reaction from the body to the given product, the one-time volume can be increased.

Rules for the introduction of vegetable puree into the diet of an infant

Pediatricians say that it is exactly the best option for complementary feeding, since babies rarely develop this product, and there are almost never problems with digestion. You can enter the first vegetable dishes from 6 months and you should always start with a one-component puree. This is in the future, when the baby gets used to the new product, it will be possible to diversify his diet.

Separately, it is worth emphasizing that there are types of vegetable puree that are allowed to be given to a baby from the age of four months, but without reducing the proportion of breastfeeding. These include:

children food... To cook it, you need to boil the carrots until cooked and grate on a fine grater. Then a little milk is added to the resulting mass and passed through a sieve.
Cauliflower slurry... Cauliflower inflorescences are scalded with boiling water, then washed under running water and placed in hot water, boiled until tender. Then the water is drained, the inflorescences are poured with milk and crushed with a blender to a very liquid porridge.

Note:pediatricians allow adding oils to the above vegetable purees - a small amount of butter is perfect for carrot puree (literally at the tip of a knife), but for cauliflower, unrefined vegetable oil (half a teaspoon) will be the best choice.

As soon as the baby gets used to one type of vegetable puree, you can introduce another type of vegetables into the diet. Even if the baby has some preferences, it is necessary to make his menu varied and teach him to use different types of products.

We recommend reading:

Rules for making fruit puree for babies

Fruit puree from one product is recommended to be introduced into the diet of a newborn at the age of 4 months, and if the baby is breastfed and gaining weight well, then at 6 months. The basic rule is that fruit purees should in no way replace the main food, they should act as a tasty and healthy dessert. The only exception is one dish - carrot puree with added fruit mass.

In general, fruit baby food can be purchased ready-made and in retail outlets, but natural products are always better absorbed, so you should learn how to make fruit puree yourself.

Things to remember:

Fruits for making mashed potatoes should not only be thoroughly washed, but also doused with boiling water.
Even the softest fruits must be peeled off.
It is better to grind the pulp of the fruit through a sieve, since when using a blender, it is impossible to achieve an absolutely uniform consistency of mashed potatoes.
Choose sweet and sour fruit for puree.

If the baby is given complementary foods from fruit puree from the age of 4 months, then by 6-7 months you can add cream heated in a water bath, prune pulp (steamed) and boiled rice porridge to the dish.

Introduction to the diet of babies apple puree

Pediatricians recommend giving apple juice to babies at the age of six months. Only after the baby has developed an addiction to apple juice will it be possible to introduce applesauce into the diet. Why do doctors recommend starting complementary foods with an apple? Everything is explained by the truly unique properties of the fruit:

Applesauce can be made with fresh or baked fruit. It is recommended to give the baby fresh apple puree first and observe the reaction of his body. For example, if there is increased gas formation, then next time it is better to give mashed potatoes from baked apples - it will act as a mild laxative, relieving the baby from constipation. For mashed potatoes, it is better to choose green sweet and sour apples, because allergies can develop to red ones.

Note:red varieties of fruit are recommended for children with increased fragility of blood vessels. But such nuances should be explained by the pediatrician! Otherwise, parents should follow the classic scheme.

How to make applesauce: grate the fruit on a fine grater and pass through a sieve several times so that there is not even a small lump in the finished product. Of course, before preparing the dish, the apple must be thoroughly washed, peeled and removed from the seeds.

Mashed potatoes and carrots in the diet of a newborn

15-20 days after the baby is used to apples, you can begin to introduce into his diet and / or carrot puree. Usually this period coincides with the age of the baby 6, 5 months. The type of puree in question will be radically different from what adults eat!

First, you need to pay special attention to the choice of root vegetables for making mashed potatoes:

vegetables must be fresh and self-cultivation without chemical additives would be the best option;
it is strictly forbidden to use fruits with sprouts, signs of greenery or rotting under the skin for making mashed potatoes for a newborn;
it will be necessary to remove a sufficiently thick layer of peel from the root crop and soak it for a day in cold water. Freshly peeled potatoes cannot be cooked for a baby - they contain too much starch.

Secondly, mashed potatoes with herbs will be the best option for babies. It is simple to cook it: the prepared tuber is cut into small cubes and boiled for 10 minutes, then either greens or white cabbage in the amount of 2-3 tablespoons is added to the water and everything is boiled until tender. All that remains is to drain the water and turn the vegetables into puree either with a blender or by grinding them through a sieve. To improve the taste and consistency of the dish, you can add a tablespoon of milk to it, but it is strictly not recommended to salt the mashed potatoes.

Thirdly, mashed potatoes can be diversified, you just need to wait for the moment when the baby gets used to its original taste. For example, you can add carrot puree to mashed potatoes (they are also prepared) - this will not only add a new taste to the dish, but also provide the child's body with useful vitamins and nutrients.

Prune puree

At the age of 7 months (with artificial feeding - 5 months), doctors recommend adding dishes from. This fruit contains vitamins and nutritional components, even the most capricious children like its taste, and regular intake of prunes improves the digestion process and prevents the development of

The period of introduction of complementary foods baffles many parents. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out when and in what form you can give your baby certain foods. A few years ago, in the second month of life, it was recommended to introduce vegetable and fruit juices. Today, experts say that it is best to start with mashed potatoes. True, this option is only suitable for children who are not underweight. If the child is gaining weight more slowly than the optimal schedule, it is better to first introduce cereals and after them - vegetable or fruit puree. The meat dish is introduced last, and this happens only as you get used to all light foods, not earlier than 7 months of age. The introduction of any new ingredient should be carried out according to the rule: the first portion should not exceed one teaspoon in volume! Only in the absence of a negative reaction from the body can the one-time volume be increased.

Features of the introduction of applesauce into the diet of infants

Pediatricians are allowed to give a newborn apple juice as early as 2 months of age. When the child develops an addiction to it, you can gradually introduce apple puree into the diet. This usually happens at 3-4 months. It is with this fruit that it is recommended to start the introduction of complementary foods. This is due to the unique composition of the product and its properties.

The apple dish has excellent taste when fresh and processed. Sweet and sour juicy fruits are best suited for a child. It is better to refuse very sweet apples: after them it will be difficult to persuade the baby to eat neutral foods (for example vegetables).
The fruit contains pectins, tannins, vitamins, mineral salts, trace elements, organic acids, fructose and essential oils.
Applesauce is quickly and easily absorbed by the child's body, activating digestion.
The components of the fruit accelerate the growth of the child.
Special enzymes stimulate the baby's appetite, which makes it possible to gain weight in case of its deficiency.

Apple food can be prepared from fresh or baked fruits, and the second option is preferable in case of intense gas formation after eating fresh apples. The baked ingredients have a laxative effect, gently relieving constipation in children. Apples that are darkened in the air (oxidized) can relieve the symptoms of anemia. Experts recommend using green fruits, red ones more often cause intolerance in infants. Red sweet fruits are shown only with increased fragility of blood vessels.

The cooking process is very simple. Thoroughly washed, peeled and seedless fruits are rubbed on a fine grater and passed through a sieve several times. Even very small pieces should not remain.

Mashed potatoes and carrots in the diet of a newborn

About half a month after the child is used to apples, zucchini or cauliflower (but not earlier than 3.5 months), you can try to introduce mashed potatoes into the diet. The product will be slightly different from the usual adult food.

Particular attention should be paid to the preparation of the main ingredient.

Vegetables should be fresh, nitrate-free (best from the garden).
For cooking, do not use fruits with sprouts, signs of greenery or rotting under the skin.
For a children's meal, you must first remove a thick layer of peel from the vegetable and soak the peeled tuber for a day in cold water. You can not give children a freshly refined product, there is too much starch in it.

The best option for babies is mashed potatoes with herbs. The prepared root vegetable is cut into cubes, placed in a saucepan with boiling water and cooked for at least 10 minutes over low heat. When the product is almost ready, add three tablespoons of finely chopped cabbage or herbs to the pan. The vegetables are boiled to completely soften the ingredients. After that, the water must be drained, and the thick part must be passed through a sieve or chopped with a blender. For taste and a pleasant consistency, you can add a tablespoon of milk. Salting potato food is not recommended!

Over time, you can start adding carrot puree to the dish, this will not only have a good effect on the taste of the product, but also provide the child's body with useful vitamins and nutrients.

Rules for the introduction of vegetable puree

Pediatricians argue that it is vegetable food that is the best option for complementary feeding; children very rarely develop allergies or side reactions in the form of digestive disorders to it. You can enter the first courses as early as 3.5-4 months. You need to start with one-component formulations, gradually combining them with each other and accustoming the newborn to complex dishes.

There are types of vegetable puree that can be offered to babies from 1-2 months without reducing the proportion of breastfeeding.

Carrot baby food... To prepare the dish, use carrots, milk, a little butter and saline solution. The root vegetable is first boiled until cooked and grated on a fine grater. Add butter on the tip of a knife and a little saline solution (a teaspoon of salt diluted in a glass of water) to the mass. Everything is passed through a sieve and given to the child.
Cauliflower slurry... Cauliflower inflorescences are first scalded with boiling water, then washed and placed in hot water. Vegetables are slightly salted and boiled until tender. Then the water is drained, the boiled inflorescences are poured with milk and crushed with a blender to a very liquid porridge. You can add a few drops of unrefined vegetable oil to ready-made vegetable meals.

When the child gets used to one ingredient, a new vegetable dish is introduced. A newborn should have a varied diet, so do not dwell on one component and give it all the time, even if his baby loves more than others.

Rules for making fruit puree for a newborn

One-component fruit puree is recommended to be introduced into the diet no earlier than three months, and breastfed babies with stable weight gain can be offered it even at six months. The main rule for fruit dishes is that they should not be given as a main course, only in the form of a vitamin dessert. An exception is carrot food with the addition of a small amount of fruit pulp.

Fruit baby food can be purchased ready-made, but natural products are always better absorbed.
Self-preparation of fruit puree is based on the following rules.

The fruits need not just be washed, it is recommended to pour over them with boiling water.
The rind is always peeled off, even from the softest fruits.
It is better to grind the pulp through a sieve, do not abuse the blender (the structure of the mass with two types of processing is noticeably different).
You need to start with apples of a light green (yellowish) color or pears. The taste of the fruit should be sweet and sour. You should not give your child sugar from the very first months of life. This can provoke the development of addiction, which in the future will negatively affect the state of health.

Prune puree: characteristics and features of the introduction of complementary foods

At six months, the baby's diet is recommended to be replenished with prune dishes. A huge amount of vitamins and nutritional components will have a beneficial effect on the child's body, and even the most capricious baby will appreciate the taste of dried fruit. No less important is the fact that prunes contain substances that have a mild laxative effect on the intestines.

Stages of preparation of mashed prunes

Rinse the berries, scald with boiling water, rinse again and pour boiled water. The product must be allowed to stand overnight.
The next day, the prune berries are taken out of the water (liquid is still needed) and rubbed through a sieve. If necessary, you can gently peel off the skin.
In the resulting thick mass, you can pour a little water drained from the berries and stir well. No salt or sugar is added.

When the child grows up a little, it is recommended to slightly modify the recipe. The berries of the prunes are not soaked, but boiled, whipped with a blender, added a little sugar and boiled again. A few minutes before turning off the stove, add a little starch, it will give the dish a pleasant consistency.

The correct and responsible approach to the introduction of new products will significantly reduce the risk of developing a digestive upset in the newborn. The gradual addiction of the body will protect the child from allergic reactions, vitamin deficiencies and dyspeptic syndrome.

You will need

Baby feeding plate Flexible plastic spoon so as not to hurt your baby's gums. For home cooking, you need a blender and a sieve.

Instructions

Vegetable mashed potatoes is the first<<взрослой>> food for the baby. For children, or enter the first vegetable supplement no later than 6 months, when the child's digestive system is already capable of digesting fiber, starch, proteins and fats, but not earlier, because digestive upset and allergic reactions may occur.

Start complementary feeding mashed potatoes from vegetables with delicate fiber, for better assimilation in the child's body (cauliflower, broccoli). Later, introduce vegetables with coarser fiber (white cabbage, potatoes, carrots).

Offer your child 1 tsp to start. mashed potatoes, or dip your finger in a plate and thus let him taste the new food. To get used to a new product, it is necessary, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, from 5 to 7 days.
Increase the number of spoons of vegetable mashed potatoes gradually, bringing to 7 to 100-150 g.

Try a new dish on your second morning feed so you don't overlook possible allergic reactions.
Do not start introducing the first complementary food if the baby is after or is sick

If the baby refuses to try the vegetable mashed potatoes, dilute it with breast milk or milk. Temperature mashed potatoes should be the same as breast milk 37oC.
If the child still does not eat, do not force, postpone it for 2-3 days and try again.

Do not continue introducing complementary foods mashed potatoes from vegetables, if you suddenly have a rash, itching, anxiety of the child, gas, diarrhea.
By 8 - 9 months with a vegetable mashed potatoes add cottage cheese or. According to the Moscow Research Institute of Pediatrics, these products can be combined from 5 to 6 months.

note

If you decide to start introducing complementary foods after 4 months, consult your pediatrician. It is possible if the child is interested in the sight of food, to strive to taste what the parents eat.
Do not sweeten mashed potatoes - this can cause the child to become addicted to sweets, as a result, the baby refuses to eat other foods.
Do not use salt and spices as food additives.

Helpful advice

To increase the nutritional value of the vegetable puree, add breast milk or formula, which will also give a thinner consistency to the food for better absorption.
By the age of 9 months, the child is able to eat rougher foods, so vegetables can be given in the form of small soft pieces for the timely development of chewing skills.
If the child is quickly gaining weight, start complementary foods with homogenized vegetable or fruit purees, if not gaining weight to normal, then with cereals.

Sources:

What are the types of complementary foods

The older the baby becomes, the more he needs useful microelements. Fruit mashed potatoes is a source of natural vitamins and nutrients. In order for this product not to harm the health of the child, you need to know how to properly introduce it into the baby's diet.

Instructions

Introduce fruity mashed potatoes it is necessary to start with 6 to ¼ teaspoons and gradually increase this volume to 60-80 grams over a week. This amount will be enough for a child up to 8 months, then increase to 100 grams.

With great care it is necessary to enter mashed potatoes from cherries, strawberries, raspberries, wild berries and currants - they can provoke allergies.

As the first fruit mashed potatoes you can use: -apple mashed potatoes containing pectin and iron;
- pear mashed potatoes containing acid, calcium and magnesium;
-banana mashed potatoes containing calcium, iron and phosphorus;
-mashed potatoes from apples and apricots, containing pectin, potassium, carotene and vitamin C;
-mashed potatoes from prunes, containing potassium, vitamins B1 and B2;
- blueberry mashed potatoes containing pectin and beta-carotene.

For the preparation of fruit mashed potatoes it is necessary to use exclusively fresh fruits of domestic production. The fruit must be thoroughly washed, peeled and grated on a fine grater.

With the start of complementary feeding, parents have a lot of questions about what to feed the baby and at what age. Sometimes moms and dads hesitate when to give a child puree from vegetables and fruits.

First feeding: when to give your baby vegetable puree

Just a few decades ago, vegetables were not the first complementary foods pediatricians recommended to start with. Acquaintance with new tastes began with juices, which were given almost after the expiration of the first life. Today, the point of view of doctors has changed and it is believed that breast milk or adapted formulas fully meet all the needs of the baby's body, which makes it possible not to overload his digestive system with concentrated juices. Therefore, now they start complementary foods with vegetables, fruits or cereals.

Vegetable complementary foods are recommended for those children who have no problems with weight gain, since when there is a lack of it, cereals are added to the menu first. Puree from vegetables should be given no earlier than the child turns, and for babies who are on, this period can be safely pushed back to six months. The first to choose the least allergenic vegetables, which include zucchini and broccoli or cauliflower.

You should not take all the recommendations on the introduction of certain vegetables literally, since only his mother and the attending physician, whose opinion about complementary feeding is based on knowledge of health characteristics, can best know the baby's needs.

When to give your child fruit puree

In principle, it is possible with fruits. Apples and pears are great for this. But the difficulty lies in the fact that after the sweet taste of these fruits, not all children are happy to eat neutral zucchini or cabbage. As for the timing of acquaintance with fruits, they are similar to those reserved for vegetables, that is, before the child reaches 4 months, you can take your time. And, unlike vegetables, fruits are given in much smaller quantities, therefore it is much more convenient to give them not in pure form, but as an addition to other dishes, first to cereals, and then to cottage cheese.

For allergenic fruits such as citrus or red berries, even later dates are set for introduction into the diet and you should not rush with them up to six months, even if the child is not prone to allergies.

Shop or homemade puree: advantages and disadvantages

Many people believe that in terms of their mashed potatoes, prepared by the hands of a loving mother, they cannot compare with the store ones, because no one knows what really lies in and how all the technologies are followed. But it is not so. The production of baby food is tightly controlled and if you compare it with homemade food, then the latter can only lead if it is made from fruits grown in their own garden and cooked in the season of their growth. In winter, even their own apples lose most of their properties, so the advantage is on the side of factory production.

Vegetables are recommended to be introduced into the child's diet as the first complementary foods at about 3 - 4 months (the exact period will be indicated by the pediatrician). This can be mashed zucchini, turnips, pumpkin or potatoes. The little ones who, as the first complementary foods get porridge, especially purchased, often get too used to the sweet thick mass and then reluctantly eat fruits and vegetables.

You will need

- vegetables;
- juice;
- vegetable oil;
- milk;
- salt.

Instructions

Vegetable puree as the first complementary foods especially significant, which were born prematurely, as well as for diathesis and rickets. Start serving the vegetable puree before one of the feedings, suggesting just a couple of teaspoons to start. The next day, you can give already 4-5 teaspoons - etc. Gradually, in 7-10 days, you can bring to the norm - 100-150 g. After the vegetable, you can give a little juice.

When the crumb gets used to mashed potatoes from one vegetable, it is worth starting to cook dishes from 2-3 vegetables, which is more expedient, since the mixed mashed potatoes contain a full range of useful substances. It should be remembered that potatoes should not make up more than half of the volume of the dish, because they contain a lot of starch and too little calcium. In this case, it is better to soak the potatoes before mashed potatoes.

It is not difficult to make mashed potatoes. Let's take mashed carrots as an example. To get 100 g of a dish, you will need 100 g of carrots, 25 ml of milk, a teaspoon of vegetable oil and a pinch of salt. Carrots must be washed with a brush, peeled, cut into pieces, pour boiling water over and simmer under a tightly closed lid until the water boils off completely. Warm carrots should be grated and heated with milk and salt added to them. The resulting mixture is needed within 2-3 minutes. It is recommended to add vegetable oil to the finished puree.

Vegetable puree soup

Foods you will need to make this mouth-watering soup:

250 ml of boiled water;

1 ripe carrot;

Half an onion;

1 tuber of young potatoes.

Rinse all vegetables thoroughly, peel and peel them. Chop finely, place in a convenient saucepan. Then add water and cook until completely cooked, do not forget to cover the pan with a lid. Remove the cooked vegetables, wipe with a blender and gently dilute with vegetable broth. Then bring the resulting soup to a full boil. You can add a small piece of butter if you like.

Vegetable soup with fish

Vegetable soup products:

50 g fresh hake fillet;

60 g cauliflower;

1 potato tuber;

1 PC. onions;

60 g broccoli cabbage;

1 ripe carrot.

Pour water, better filtered, into a saucepan, put the washed hake fillet there, cook it for 20 minutes. Close the lid during cooking. During this time, rinse, peel the vegetables and cut into small cubes. When the hake is done, add all the vegetables to the pot and cook for another 20 minutes (remember to stir). Beat the resulting soup with a blender. Then pour into a bowl and let the soup cool slightly.

Moving on to exploring new tastes

The diet of a newborn baby consists of mother's milk or an adapted formula, matched to his needs. All pediatricians in a voice say that it is necessary to establish breastfeeding for the health of the baby. Indeed, breast milk contains all the complex of vitamins, microelements and other useful substances necessary for a growing body, which help to strengthen the immune system. Therefore, if you managed to establish this process, then you can not worry about the first complementary foods for up to seven months. Some moms do not introduce new foods into their diet until they are ten months old.

But crumbs on artificial feeding should be the first to introduce complementary foods much earlier, although even pediatricians themselves change their opinion on this issue from time to time. For example, in the Soviet period, doctors strongly recommended introducing the baby to new products at three months. This was due to some of the dietary habits of the mothers themselves. They lacked vitamins, fresh vegetables and fruits, and the diet itself was not varied. Therefore, one should not expect that the baby would only have enough breast milk.

Today, pediatricians are guided by the recommendations of the World Health Organization. According to her research, formula-fed or mixed-fed babies should be fed at five to six months of age. And babies who eat breast milk should be introduced to vegetables and fruits closer to seven months.

However, in any case, prior to the introduction of the first complementary foods, consultations with a pediatrician are necessary. After all, only he is able to determine whether the digestive system of the crumbs is ripe for the intake of adult food.

Factors indicating the possibility of introducing the first complementary foods

Once again, we note that only your pediatrician should make such an important decision. But nevertheless, there are a number of signs indicating that it is time to expand the diet of the crumbs.

This is evidenced by the child's ability to sit well. If he feels confident sitting, then it’s time to buy beautiful cutlery and children's dishes with bright pictures, which make it easier to teach the baby to a new way of eating.

It is important that your child takes an interest in adult food. By the time they are five or six months old, many children begin to try to look at their mother's or father's plate during lunch or dinner.

You should also pay attention to the chewing reflex. The kid, ready to change the diet, often watches the parents while they eat and tries to repeat all the movements, including chewing ones, after them.

In addition, the pediatrician must confirm the formation of the digestive system. This can be judged if the baby eats well, gains weight, does not get naughty because of colic and pain in the tummy.

Where to start complementary foods?

Today pediatricians do not recommend starting complementary foods with fruit puree. They believe that a variety of fruits cause allergic reactions, and are absorbed by the body much worse than vegetables. In addition, the child's first feeding with fruit puree practically excludes vegetables from the baby's diet, since their taste will not seem pronounced to the baby, and he will refuse them, being capricious. As a result, the child will develop clear taste preferences that will last for a long time.

According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, it is necessary to start introducing the baby to new food with vegetable purees, consisting of one vegetable. But it is better not to use one-component fruit puree for the first feeding. It can enter the diet only after vegetables, dairy-free cereals and meat purees.

Rules for dating new dishes: list of allowed foods

When to add fruit puree to baby food? Let's step by step analyze the scheme of acquaintance of the crumbs with food products that are new to him.

If the baby is gaining weight well, then his first puree should be vegetable. Young zucchini, cauliflower, or broccoli work well for him. However, do not forget that the dish for the crumbs should consist of only one vegetable until you get used to the new menu.

Then you can expand the diet with corn and millet porridge without milk, as well as delicious pumpkin puree. Usually, the listed dishes become familiar to the crumbs in two to three months.

If all the products are absorbed by the child's digestive tract well, then by the age of seven to eight months he should be given the first meat puree from a rabbit or turkey. After about a month, you can switch to fruit purees. It is important to keep track of possible allergic reactions and not mix fruits with each other. Only after the crumb adapts to the new diet, you can not only give him puree from several fruits, but also mix them with vegetables. We will give some interesting recipes for fruit purees for the first feeding a little later.

By the time your baby is one year old, you should be familiar with the following foods:

bread;
dairy and dairy-free cereals;
fruits (apples, bananas, pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots);
vegetables (squash, pumpkin, broccoli, cucumber, beets, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower);
cottage cheese and dairy products;
light soups with vegetable and meat broths;
meat purees from turkey, chicken, rabbit and beef (some parents give their one-year-old kids homemade meatballs for steam, which is not prohibited by WHO);
fish (pollock or hake).

In the following months, the diet of the crumbs is constantly expanding, but pediatricians recommend not to get too carried away with the introduction of new food products. They advise moms to diversify their diets through cooking options. Let your child get used to the fact that vegetables, fruits and fish regularly appear on the table. Over time, the child will express his preferences and he will have his favorite dishes.

How to add fruit puree to complementary foods?

Not all mothers understand exactly how to expand their baby's diet correctly. As you can imagine, starting with fruit puree is not the best option for your baby. But if you have already mastered vegetables and cereals, then you may well move on to new gastronomic discoveries. However, this must be done so as not to harm the baby.

Fruit puree for the first feeding must be one-part. And it is necessary to take from seven to ten days to get used to it. Until this period has passed, new fruits should not appear on the table.

Fruit puree should be given to your baby once a day, preferably with breakfast. Moreover, at first, the portion cannot be more than half a teaspoon. You need to feed the baby with breast milk or a mixture. Gradually, the amount of puree increases, reaching the maximum amount. It is very easy to define it. Parents simply need to multiply the child's age by ten. The resulting number will denote the maximum amount of puree that the baby can eat per day.

While the child is getting used to the new product, the mother should carefully monitor his condition. If the crumb absorbs fruit puree well, then the consistency and color of his stool will not change, the skin will remain pink without rashes, and the tummy will be soft. Only taking into account all of the above factors can the child be transferred to a new product or another fruit or vegetable can be added to the already familiar puree. But getting used to it will also take from one week to ten days.

What fruit puree to choose for the first feeding: recommendations of pediatricians

Parents need to remember that all fruits available to customers in stores can be divided into several groups according to the degree of allergenicity:

Weakly allergenic. These include pears and green apples, as well as berries such as gooseberries.
Moderately allergenic. This group includes yellow apples, bananas and peaches.
Particularly allergenic. Red fruits, including pomegranates, and wild berries.

What fruit puree should you start with? Naturally, pediatricians recommend using apples or pears for the first feeding. Moreover, both those and others are better to choose green. This several times reduces the risk of developing an allergic reaction.

Usually, red fruits are introduced into complementary foods after a year, when the body of the crumbs is adapted to various products and dishes prepared from them.

Shop or homemade puree: make a choice

So, you decided to introduce fruit puree into the complementary foods. Which is better - in jars from the store or homemade? On the forums, moms argue about this almost to the point of hoarseness, giving a lot of pros and cons. Each mother should independently answer the question of which fruit puree is best for the first feeding. The article only sounded the arguments of each of the parties.

Those who support the option of complementary foods through store-bought cans of baby food say they are a godsend for busy moms. After all, this frees up time that would have to be spent on cleaning and preparing vegetables and fruits for puree.

The range of baby food is very wide and the manufacturer does not have a concept of fruit seasonality. And this is a huge plus.

It should also be borne in mind that mashed potatoes in production are prepared in compliance with all standards and all useful properties are preserved in the finished product. And besides this, the risk of microbes and pathogenic microorganisms getting into the baby's plate is practically reduced to zero.

However, the store-bought fruit puree also has its downsides. Mom, purchasing another colorful jar, cannot be absolutely sure that the fruits are grown in an ecologically clean area, and the manufacturer has not added something like that to them.

Mothers who prefer to make fruit puree for the first feeding with their own hands note that they always have complete information about the freshness of fruits, their ripeness and quality. In addition, they significantly save the family budget, since store-bought baby food is always quite expensive.

However, homemade puree also has its drawbacks. And they relate to raw materials for the preparation of baby food. It is usually purchased in the store, which means that moms cannot be completely sure that it was grown without adding chemicals.

How to choose a jar of baby fruit puree?

If you decide to feed your baby with store-bought puree, then do not neglect the advice on the choice of food.

Purees are usually sold in glass and tin cans. The first option is more environmentally friendly, however, without observing the storage rules, useful substances are lost in the product. It is better when the glass jar is wrapped in an opaque package.

Often in the composition of fruit puree, you can see components such as starch and vitamin C. The latter acts as a natural preservative, but the latter significantly reduces the absorption of puree by a child's stomach.

Among the wide range of fruit purees, parents distinguish several products that babies like and are great for the first feeding:

Williams pears. This puree, supplied to Russian counters by the Gerber company, is perfectly absorbed in crumbs from four months and does not contain any extraneous components other than vitamin C.
Apple puree with cottage cheese. This product from "Spelenok" can be given to babies from six months. It contains low-fat cottage cheese, which adds a special taste to the fruit puree.
Fruit puree with cream. The Tema company offers six-month-old babies a delicious product made from apples, peaches, cream and sugar.
Pear puree. This product from "Human" can be given to children from four months. Puree contains nothing in its composition, except for pears grown according to all EU standards.

Features of making homemade puree

It is very simple to prepare fruit puree for the first complementary feeding with your own hands. The fruit is always peeled and cut into small cubes. It is best to steam it, but as a last resort you can resort to boiling as well. There should be no more than two tablespoons of water in the saucepan, and the process itself lasts about ten minutes. In a double boiler, fruit should also not be overexposed - fifteen minutes will be enough.

The finished raw materials can be kneaded with a fork or placed in a blender. The child should be offered warm puree.

Keep in mind that it is important to use separate utensils and keep pets out of the kitchen when cooking.

The mashed potatoes do not need to be sweetened. For kids who have already appreciated the taste of fruits, you can make mashed potatoes in the form of a mix with vegetables. In such dishes, it is good to use pumpkin and, for example, zucchini.

Cooking for the baby at home

Children are very fond of pear puree. It is being prepared identically to the description from the previous section, but there are several secrets here. Not all babies react well to grains in mashed potatoes, and a pear has just a similar consistency, which persists even when grated. Therefore, do not be too lazy to punch the fruit in a blender two or three times. To make the dish easier to digest, add a little milk mixture or pear broth to the puree.

Try to make mashed zucchini and apples for your crumbs. This option is ideal even for allergy sufferers and is a treasure trove of vitamins. Zucchini contains potassium. This substance helps the heart muscle work. Apples contain substances such as iodine, phosphorus, iron and vitamin C. Together, they protect the baby from colds and viral diseases. The zucchini are steamed for ten minutes, and the apples are about fifteen. For normal cooking, add five minutes to the specified time.

Mango is an exotic fruit and is not sold in every store. But if you have the opportunity to purchase ripe mango fruits, then be sure to make mashed potatoes from them for your crumbs. This fruit contains twelve amino acids, one of the pleasant side effects of which is the normalization of sleep. Puree is made from fresh fruits. They are cut into cubes and mixed in a blender with two tablespoons of boiled water. Then the resulting puree is heated on the stove, but not brought to a boil. The kid needs to offer it warm.