Baby food from 6 months. What to feed the baby from the age of 9 months? 9 to 12 months Baby Food. Cerelac for Children

 Assalamu Olaikum,

Today I will talk about a different topic that is baby food, from 6 months onwards. Many people think about this issue. I am presenting the opinion of the experts. Let's get started then.

A baby's first food is mother's breast milk, which protects the baby for 5-6 months. From the age of 7 months, the baby should be given nutritious and healthy food along with mother's milk. Because the baby's physical growth and intellectual development require increased nutrition, which cannot be met by breast milk alone.

Iron and zinc are stored in the body for up to five months after a baby is born. After that, he should be given a new diet rich in iron and zinc. Many times mothers don't understand what kind of food to give the baby and what to feed. And suddenly children don't even want to eat new food. So gradually he has to get used to new food. In medical science, this condition is called 'weaning'.

Between 6 and 9 months, 'test buds' develop on the baby's tongue to help the baby accept and understand new tests. Therefore, even if the food is small, it should be tasty and filling.

The first meal should start with sugar. For example, soft rice, potatoes should be boiled and chewed little by little with finger tips and given to the baby's mouth. If there is no reaction within 2 hours of eating food, it should be considered that the food is being digested properly. Also ripe banana, ripe papaya, apple etc. can be pickled. Children aged 9 to 12 months should be fed five to six times a day.

Rice, pulses, some light vegetables like potato, papaya, sweet pumpkin along with a small piece of chicken meat and oil (it is important to use oil in children's food) etc. should be boiled and mashed well and fed in small amounts. There will be breast milk and then a boiled egg should be given gradually. There is no problem in not eating the whole egg. If given in small quantities, it will facilitate digestion.

Cerelac for children

With so much adulteration around, many of us are worried about what we will eat and what we will feed our children. From semolina, rice powder to Cerelac everything is available for purchase but it becomes difficult to believe which is really good and which is not.

There is no end to adulteration on all fronts including adulteration of unfit food, supply of expired food. Therefore eating and feeding cannot be stopped.

In the case of children, therefore, try to feed home-made food as much as possible. Because nothing can be healthier than homemade food. In addition to breast milk, children should be given additional food from the age of 6 months. So we all should try to give homemade food to children. But many people do not understand how to give or prepare food.

Generally, it is not appropriate to give only rice cereal as the first complementary food of children. Because it does not contain all the necessary nutrients for the baby. Because these are low protein rich carbohydrate foods. So it is best if rice is mixed with something else to make cereal and feed it.

Here are some delicious homemade soft cereal recipes for babies:

Whole rice cereal

Boil 1 cup of water, stir in half a cup of red rice or basmati rice and keep it on low flame for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Take it down when done. After it cools down, mix it with breast milk or formula milk to make a paste and mix it with soft vegetable puree and eat it. If the child has a problem eating like this, then give it a blend.

Oatmeal cereal

Boil a cup of water and stir in 1/4 cup of oatmeal powder. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Be careful not to stick to the bottom. Then take it down. Cool it and mix it with breast milk or formula milk and a fruit puree of your choice. It will not taste good if it is cold.

Barley cereal

Boil a cup of water and stir in 1/4 cup of barley powder. You can also mix oatmeal or rice powder with barley if you want. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Then cool it down and mix it with breast milk or formula milk and any fruit juice and give it to the children.

Suji serial

Boil 1 cup of water and add 2 tablespoons of semolina and cook on low flame for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Care should be taken not to stick to the bones. Take it down when done. After it cools down, mix it with breast milk or formula milk and feed it. You can add banana or other fruit puree to it if you want.

How long and how to keep the serial

These homemade cereals can be kept in normal refrigerator for 72 hours. Take it out of the fridge and reheat it. In that case, do not mix fruit juice or milk. Mix them while feeding the baby. Instead of heating the whole cereal together, take out and heat as much as you can give to the child.

Tips

As the baby grows older, you can mix a little bit of dal powder, some oil and beaten egg while cooking with these cereals. Then the nutrition of cereals will increase more.

Besides, there are some other foods that can be fed to children.

Apple/carrot/pumpkin/sweet potato puree or puree

Ingredients:

Half an apple / a carrot / half a cup of grated pumpkin / half a sweet potato

1 teaspoon cardamom powder.

Method:

Peel the vegetable you want to make Bhartha.

Take the vegetable or fruit in a bowl and put it in the pressure cooker and wait for 3-4 ticks.

Once it cools, spoon it into a batter and add cardamom powder as required.

If you want to dilute it, mix it with a little breast milk or the formula that the baby eats.

2. Apple filling

Ingredients:

2 apples

Half a cup of water

Method:

Wash the apples well, peel them, chop them and put them in a cooking pot.

Add half cup of water.

Cook on medium heat for a while

Let the mixture boil.

Can give cardamom or nutmeg, if baby likes the taste.

Cook until soft and then make a paste.

Author: Public Health Nutritionist; X Dietitian, Persona Health; Food and Nutrition Science (Post Graduate) (MPH); Melaka City, Malaysia.