How to arrange complementary food for a baby over five months old?

As the baby grows older, he can no longer just eat breast milk or drink formula. Doing so cannot meet the nutritional needs of the baby's body and will also have a certain impact on the baby's development. So how should complementary food be arranged for babies over five months old? This is a question that many friends who have just become mothers are particularly concerned about. Let's take a look at some of the introductions in the following article.

Why add complementary food

1. After 6 months of breastfeeding, the mother's milk secretion will gradually decrease, and the baby's appetite will also begin to increase. At this time, drinking breast milk alone is not enough to provide the baby with one day's nutrition.

2. Babies aged 6-12 months are in the critical period of developing chewing and swallowing. For babies, the ability to chew and swallow needs to be learned. If they are not practiced, they will refuse to try after the age of 1. Even if the baby is willing to eat, sometimes he will spit it out immediately, causing feeding difficulties.

3. Complementary foods can provide more diverse and complete nutrients, including calories, iron, vitamins, and even trace elements such as zinc and copper. Giving different types of complementary foods gradually can help your baby get used to a variety of flavors and avoid picky eating in the future.

4. When the baby is 4-6 months old, gastrointestinal amylase and various digestive enzymes have begun to be secreted, indicating that the digestion and absorption functions have gradually matured. At this time, you can start practicing eating complementary foods to increase gastrointestinal function. At the same time, the baby must have enough nutrition to thrive.

Five-month-old baby food arrangement

For the complementary food of a five-month-old baby, parents can arrange liquid and pureed food, rice cereal (can be prepared with breast milk, formula milk or apple juice), vegetable puree (3-4 kinds), fruit juice or fruit puree (the juice should be diluted with water at a ratio of 2:1 or 1:1, then the original juice, followed by fruit puree), egg yolk (5 months old), fish puree, chicken puree, duck puree, pork puree, etc.

The complementary food for five-month-old babies should be in a mushy state, soft and easy to swallow. Do not add any seasonings (such as salt, MSG, chicken essence, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, etc.). Feed with a small spoon. Choose a spoon that is the right size and has a soft texture. At the beginning, just scoop a little food on the front of the spoon, gently stretch the spoon out, place it on the tip of the baby's tongue, and then withdraw the spoon. Avoid inserting the spoon too deep into the baby's mouth or pressing the spoon on the baby's tongue, as this may cause disgust in the baby. Start with 1 to 2 spoons in the first two days. If the baby digests and absorbs well, slowly increase the amount.

Each time you add a new food, do so after the baby has been eating the previous food for 3 to 5 days and has not shown any abnormalities. You can start by adding baby rice cereal, which is the least allergenic.

It is sufficient to add complementary food once a day, usually after the baby wakes up from a nap. At the beginning, for babies who don’t like to eat mushy food very much, you can feed them mushy food first and then breastfeed them; for babies who particularly like to eat mushy food, you can feed them breastfeed first and then mushy food.

At the same time, parents should note that milk and dairy products are the main food for babies. The daily milk intake is about 600-800 ml, not more than 1000 ml. Carry out regular breastfeeding training in advance. It is generally advisable to breastfeed 5 times a day with an interval of 4 hours.

How much complementary food should a five-month-old baby eat?

The amount of complementary food added starts with 1 to 2 spoons and then gradually increases. Mainly provide liquid and paste food. Offer rice noodles, vegetable puree, fruit juice or puree (juice should be diluted with water first, then drink the original juice), and then fruit puree.

Rice noodles: Feeding egg whites to babies should be done at least until the baby is 1 year old. For babies with a family history of allergies, feeding egg yolks can be postponed until after 6 months. Doctors recommend starting with pure rice noodles to prevent allergies.

Fruits: Do not give sour fruits such as oranges, lemons, and kiwis to your baby.

Vegetable puree: such as carrots, potatoes, green beans, and pumpkin.

How to arrange complementary food for babies over five months old? After reading the above explanation, have you mothers understood it? In order to allow our babies to grow up healthily and strongly, we must pay special attention to the addition of complementary food. We must choose food suitable for babies and do not blindly feed babies some adult food, which will be harmful to the baby's health.