This article teaches you how to add complementary food to your baby scientifically

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

Reviewer: Zhang Yue, researcher at the Maternal and Child Health Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Complementary food refers to food other than milk given to babies during breastfeeding or formula feeding. As the baby's body grows, the digestive tract function and the nerves and psychology gradually mature, and the nutrient requirements increase, complementary food needs to be gradually added to the baby, gradually realizing the transition from pure milk at birth to solid food.

1. The importance of adding complementary foods

1. Meet your baby's growing nutritional needs

When the baby is around 6 months old, the nutrition provided by breast milk and formula milk, including energy, protein, vitamin A, iron and other trace nutrients, can no longer fully meet the baby's growth and development needs, so complementary foods need to be added in time.

2. Promote the development of eating and digestion ability, cultivate good eating habits, and promote the baby's psychological and behavioral development

The period of adding complementary food is a critical period for babies to learn to "eat". Adding complementary food at the right time will allow babies to gradually adapt to different foods, promote the development of taste, exercise chewing, swallowing, and digestion functions, and cultivate good eating habits for babies, avoiding picky eating and partial eating. In addition, the baby gradually transitions from passive breastfeeding to independent eating, which is also an important process for the baby's psychological and behavioral development.

2. Basic principles of complementary food addition

1. The age at which your baby first starts eating solid food

There is no strict rule on the age of first introducing complementary food to babies, which should be determined according to the baby's developmental maturity. At present, various countries recommend that babies should first add complementary food at an age of 4 to 6 months. Adding complementary food too early (before 4 months) or too late (after 8 months) may cause adverse effects.

2. The types of food gradually diversified from one to many

When you start adding complementary foods, add them one by one. When your baby is used to one food, start adding another new food. It usually takes 3 to 5 days for your baby to adapt to a new food. Pay attention to whether your baby has vomiting, diarrhea, rash, etc. after eating the new food. In addition, some foods may require your baby to try several times (even 10 to 15 times) before he is willing to accept them.

3. Food texture changes from fine to coarse and then gradually becomes rough

At the beginning, complementary foods are usually soft purees or pastes, such as iron-fortified rice paste, vegetable purees, and fruit purees, and gradually transition to coarse-grained semi-solid foods to help babies learn to chew and eat. Adding complementary foods can also ensure the energy density of intake and meet the baby's energy needs.

4. Gradually increase the amount of complementary food from a small amount to a large amount

Start by adding complementary food once a day, then gradually increase to 2-3 times a day. The amount of complementary food per meal should also be increased gradually from a small amount to a large amount, such as adding 1/2 spoon of rice paste at the beginning, and gradually increase to 2-3 spoons.

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3. Methods of adding complementary foods to different age groups

From the beginning of complementary food to the time when the baby can fully eat normal food independently, it takes about 1.5 years, which is an extremely important and complicated process. According to the general process of the baby's acceptance and intake of complementary food, the addition of complementary food is divided into four stages. The number of times the baby eats milk, the type, quantity, shape of complementary food, and the feeding skills that need to be cultivated in each stage are detailed in the table below (Table 1).

Table 1 Principles of adding complementary foods at different stages

4. Misunderstandings about adding complementary foods

1. Rice soup is nutritious, you can use rice soup instead of high iron rice paste

No. When trying to add complementary foods, you should generally introduce iron-fortified (high-iron) rice cereal, and you cannot use rice soup instead of high-iron rice cereal. Because the iron stored in babies aged 4 to 6 months has been basically consumed, they are prone to iron deficiency anemia, so you need to supplement your baby with iron-rich foods. In addition, rice cereal is easy to swallow, suitable for exercising the baby's swallowing function, and is not easy to cause allergies.

2. You need to add salt to your baby's complementary food, otherwise your baby will have no strength.

Before the age of 1, vegetable oils such as peanut oil, rapeseed oil, and walnut oil can be added to complementary foods, but salt, soy sauce, and other condiments should not be added. After the age of 1, babies begin to try other home-cooked foods, and appropriate amounts of salt can be added at this time. Light-flavored foods are helpful in improving babies' acceptance of different natural food flavors and reducing the risk of partial and picky eating. At the same time, they can also reduce the risk of childhood and adult obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases.

In summary, reasonable and balanced nutrition is essential for the healthy growth of children. By adding complementary foods, the baby's nutrition is comprehensive and growth and development are promoted. The principle of adding complementary foods is gradual, from less to more, from one to many, from thin to thick, from fine to coarse, and slowly transitioning to a normal diet.