What is the order of adding complementary food to babies?

Babies can be given complementary foods when they are four months old. The order in which complementary foods should be given is also particular. It must not only adapt to the baby's gastrointestinal absorption capacity, but also avoid indigestion. However, most mothers do not understand the order in which complementary foods should be given to their babies. Next, I will share my little knowledge with you, and I hope it will be helpful to you.

1. Full-term babies should start supplementing vitamin AD half a month after birth. Vitamin AD drops (commonly known as cod liver oil) can be used. The dosage is calculated based on the amount of vitamin D, 400u per day, equivalent to about 1 to 2 drops. Premature babies with a birth weight of less than 250Og should start supplementing vitamin AD one week after birth and continue throughout the infancy and preschool period (that is, before entering elementary school) without interruption.

2. Vitamin K can prevent bleeding, especially intracranial hemorrhage, and should be supplemented for infants within 3 months after birth. There are two ways to supplement vitamin K: one is for breastfeeding mothers to take vitamin K1 once a week, 10 mg each time. Vitamin K1 can be supplemented to the baby through breast milk; or vitamin K1 can be directly fed to the baby, 2 mg once a week, until 3 months, a total of 10 times. After 3 months, the baby's intestines can produce vitamin K due to the action of intestinal bacteria, so there is no need to supplement it. In addition to supplementing vitamin AD and vitamin K, the addition of other complementary foods is also important. The addition of complementary foods should be determined based on the baby's age and digestive ability as well as the local supply of complementary foods. The minimum standard is "eggs at 4 months, vegetables at 6 months, and meat at 8 months". Foods of similar nature can also be used.

3. The staple food for babies after four months is breast milk, cow's milk and cereal foods, which can provide basic nutritional needs. In addition, supplementary foods (referred to as complementary foods) are used to make up for the lack of nutrients in the staple food, which is called complementary food addition. When adding eggs, start with the egg yolks. After the eggs are cooked, take out the yolks. Start by feeding 1/4 of an egg per day, then gradually increase to 1 egg yolk per day, then add egg whites. This is because egg yolks contain a variety of nutrients and are easy to digest, and are more nutritious than egg whites. Egg yolks contain high levels of iron, but the absorption rate of iron in egg yolks is low. Eggs are a good complementary food for babies. They are easily available in both urban and rural areas and are convenient to eat. They can be cooked into egg custard or egg soup. Feed the baby an egg every day until he grows up to develop a good habit of eating eggs.

4. Babies aged five or six months can be fed vegetables. Green leafy vegetables are rich in vitamin C and iron. At the beginning, they can be made into vegetable puree and cooked with rice paste. Later, they can be fed with chopped vegetables to make porridge. Other foods such as carrots and tofu are good complementary foods for babies aged 5 to 6 months.

5. Babies aged seven or eight months can be fed poultry. Pork liver, chicken, fish (boneless) and lean pork are all nutritious foods. They should be chopped into puree at first, then cut into small pieces and cooked. They can be cooked with porridge, rice or noodles. The amount of complementary food added to the baby should be from small to large. Wait until the baby is used to one type before adding another type. The baby's ability to digest complementary food can be observed through the stool. If the stool is normal, it means that the baby has a good digestion and absorption ability and the complementary food is added correctly. If the baby has loose stools, it means that the baby has indigestion. You can stop adding or reduce the amount of complementary food, and then slowly add it after the stool is good. When adding complementary food to your baby, you should explore and observe at the same time, proceed step by step. When you first feed your baby complementary foods, since the baby is not used to eating complementary foods yet, you can feed the baby complementary foods first and then breastfeed when the baby is hungry, so that the baby can gradually get used to eating complementary foods and develop new eating habits.

After learning the order of adding complementary foods to babies, I believe mothers will have a new understanding of feeding babies. In addition, the baby's diet needs to pay attention to diversity, and the taste should not be monotonous as much as possible, which is not conducive to the baby's eating interest. In addition, according to the baby's different physique, you can also follow the nutritionist's plan. I hope this can help you and wish you good health.