Taking care of babies is not only an interesting work but also a responsible job too. It involves intense care to take care of the tender babies and this is the phase when they absorb nutrients quickly; so giving healthy food is a must thing to follow.
This article is going to cover following objects:
· Indication to start solids
· 6 Months to 1 year – problems and the fixation
· Food chart
Also Read:- Drumstick Leaves Dosa : To Enhance Milk Supply In Feeding Moms
Indication To Start Solids:
- It is suggested that the babies must have mother’s milk only for the first six months, but if you can realise that your baby is ready for solids, then you can start with apple juice. So, while discussing apple juice for babies, it is highly suggested to not cook them, instead make a nice puree and feed them little by little.
- This is another interesting indication, that they pick things with their forefinger and the thumb. For example, if you place any baby snacks on the plate then they will pick it with their forefinger and thumb.
- Tongue thrust is a nice indication to know that the baby is ready to take in solids.
- Another easy indication is that, they will be more attracted to foods, like when you feed some food they will see it interestingly or they will salivate. These are nice indications that your baby is ready to take in solids.
6 Months To 1 Year – Problems And The Fixation:
There is always a doubt whether or not to give water to babies, but it is important for the babies to have water. But why is there a misconception like babies should not have water? Like everyone, water is a must for babies which help in maintaining their tender skin hydration. People without the awareness might give normal water to the babies, but this should not be followed. As people don’t have this knowledge doctors often say not to give water to babies. So it’s better to ask your pediatrician, whether we can give the baby water and the water should be boiled and again it should be warm while feeding the baby.
The most important thing is that to avoid artificial foods, they don’t have any strength to give to the baby. So it is better to have natural food for drink powders prepared naturally in our house.
Constipation problem is one of the difficult things for babies. So, in order to avoid this, soak dry grapes or raisins in water overnight and the next morning give the dry grape soaked water to the baby. This helps a lot in reducing the constipation problem in babies.
Overfeeding is another major problem that leads to improper digestive system. Overfeeding might increase the size of the intestine, so that the motion won’t get excreted properly. If the intestine size gets bigger, then only if the intestine gets filled, motion will be excreted. This leads to more problems. So in order to avoid this, you can give the baby a few drops of Mosambi juice with warm water.
Also Read:- Breastfeeding Diet – Foods To Increase Milk Supply
Food Chart
Give soaked dry grapes juice 30 ml everyday in the morning by 7 or 7:30 am. This is a must food for the babies to avoid constipation.
So, by 8:00 AM you can give them idli steamed in house with side dish to the preference of the child, like if the baby loves some spicy flavors then you can give them sambar (Add water in the sambar to reduce the spiciness in it) or if the baby like sweets then you can give mashed idly with jiggery or our can mash the idli with water and feed them if they like the salty taste.
Apart from idly, you can also give them mashed rice with sambar to the preference of the baby. Ragi is also a better option for breakfast. Ragi must soaked overnight and grinded to get a nice batter and this batter must be boiled to porridge consistency and can be given to the baby. You can add salt with curd or sugar with milk to the porridge. After feeding them breakfast, you must give them warm water for digestion.
After an hour, you can feed them with mother’s milk. By 11:30 AM, you can give country chicken eggs to them. This food helps them a lot with bone growth. After this, give them warm water for better digestion. After food, sleep is a must for babies.
By 12:30 PM, you can give them vegetable soup followed by warm water. By 3:30 PM you can feed them mother’s milk or you can give them small bananas. Add the bananas to water boiling in a medium temperature. Once the skins of the bananas start to turn black you can take them off. Once the bananas are in normal temperature, mash them in a mixer. Add milk to it and feed them to the baby.
By 5-6 PM feed them with seasonal fruit juices added with warm water. Say watermelon, grapes, pineapple, mango pulp, guava, orange and more… Else feed them with mother’s milk. This is optional and depends on the baby’s needs.
For their dinner, you can give them steamed food like idli with moong dhal, sambar or rasam before 7:00 PM. This is all enough for them for the day. After this by 9:00 PM before going to sleep, you can give them mother’s milk and make them sleep. And in the middle of the night you can feed them when you wake up.
You can also give them fish by their 8th month. For this, take a small piece of fish, marinate it with turmeric powder and salt and fry it well. You can mash this thorn-less fish with white rice and feed them. You can also feed them fish soup.
After the 8th month you can start to give them pomegranate juice. But before feeding them with the juice, place the container with juice in a bowl of hot boiled water. This helps to avoid catching a cold. You can also give them carrot juices for better skin. So these are some of the foods that can be given to the babies while starting solids for them.
Also Read:- Growth And Development Of Newborn Baby!