The first step for healthy growth of babies: scientific feeding for infants aged 0 to 1

Author: Hu Fang, deputy chief physician, Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University

Reviewer: Hu Yan, researcher at Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University

Good nutrition can help children prevent acute and chronic diseases and is beneficial to their physical and neuropsychological development. 0 to 6 years old is an important period for children to establish and develop their eating behavior. Healthy eating behavior can benefit children throughout their lives. Parents' feeding behavior directly affects their children's eating behavior.

So, for babies aged 0 to 1, how should parents feed them scientifically to cultivate good eating habits in their children? Let's learn about it together today!

1. Scientific feeding strategy for infants aged 0 to 2 months

(1) Feed on demand. Feed your baby whenever he is hungry.

(2) Parents should learn to recognize their children’s hunger and fullness signals and respond to their needs in a timely manner. This is the key to establishing good eating habits in the early stages. Parents should feed their children when they are upset and open their mouths or look for food. Avoid feeding them only after they cry, as this will increase feeding difficulties. When a child stops sucking and opening his mouth or turns his head away, it often means that the child is full. Do not force-feed your child.

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(3) Breastfeeding should be done when the child is relatively awake. Parent-child interaction can be carried out during breastfeeding to prevent the child from falling asleep while eating.

2. Scientific feeding strategy for infants aged 3 to 5 months

(1) Regular feeding: Generally speaking, for infants aged 3 to 5 months, infants who are exclusively breastfed can be fed once every 3 hours, and infants who are formula-fed can be fed once every 3.5 hours. The duration of each feeding should be controlled within half an hour to prevent the child from falling asleep while eating.

(2) For infants aged 4 to 5 months, the number of nighttime feedings can be gradually reduced.

3. Scientific feeding strategy for infants aged 6 to 12 months

(1) After the child is 6 months old, gradually stop nighttime feeding and clean the child's mouth before going to bed.

(2) After the child is 6 months old, when breast milk is insufficient and the child needs formula feeding, the substitution feeding method should be adopted. That is, when breast milk is insufficient, one or several meals can be completely replaced by formula feeding to prepare for weaning from breast milk in the future.

(3) Add complementary foods gradually according to the principles of complementary food addition, such as increasing the number of food types from one to multiple, and increasing the amount of complementary foods from a small amount to a large amount.

(4) The texture of complementary food changes from fine to coarse. When you first feed your child complementary food, you need to use a spoon to feed him/her. The complementary food should be in a paste-like state. Paste-like food is not easy to drip when scooped with a spoon. When the child is 7 months old, the complementary food is porridge with meat and vegetables in a minced state; when the child is 8 months old, the complementary food is granular food, and you can give the child finger food to eat by himself; when the child is 10 months old, the complementary food is in a mashed state; when the child is about 12 months old, the complementary food should gradually approach the texture of adult food. This allows the child to gradually learn to swallow and chew food, effectively reducing the problems of the child holding food in the mouth for a long time, swallowing difficulties, and slow eating in the future.

(5) When feeding complementary foods to children, the children should be placed on a safe and comfortable table or chair. During the feeding process, the children's attention should be distracted to avoid being distracted. For example, the children should not be allowed to watch TV or play with toys while being fed.

(6) Gradually let your child drink milk or water from a cup. At first, you can use a cup to feed a small amount of breast milk or water. When the child is 12 months old, he or she can drink water from a straw cup.

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References:

[1] Editorial Committee of Chinese Journal of Pediatrics, Child Health Group of Pediatrics Branch of Chinese Medical Association. Feeding recommendations for infants and young children aged 0 to 3 years (for primary care physicians). Chinese Journal of Pediatrics, 2016, 54(12): 883-890.