A 6 month old baby must eat. Introducing the first complementary foods if the baby is bottle-fed

Your baby is already six months old, it’s time to introduce complementary foods. All children are different, so it is difficult to predict how your baby will react to this. Sometimes it takes time for your baby to get used to different textures and different tastes of foods. But perhaps your baby will like complementary foods right away.

Some mothers are in no hurry to wean their babies from the breast and leave the initiative to them, others quite quickly switch to spoon-feeding all kinds of purees. We will explain which foods are best introduced at a given age so that the baby gradually gets used to regular food.
Why should you give something other than milk?
At six months of age, baby begins to need additional nutrients from solid foods - especially iron. However, he will need breast milk or formula for a long time - at least up to a year.

Over the first six months of life, the child’s digestive and immune systems gradually become stronger and more resilient. By six months, the child’s body is ready for solid food. And physiological readiness means that he is unlikely to have a reaction to what he has eaten.

If you want to start introducing complementary foods before six months, you must first take your baby to the doctor. At this age, the baby cannot yet digest many substances, including gluten, which is found in cereals, cow's milk and eggs.

When your baby is six months old, you can give him many foods - and introduce them quite quickly. Here's where to start:
Mashed or well-mashed boiled vegetables - for example, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower;

Fruit puree - poached ripe apple, pear, mashed banana;

Boiled rice or other porridge with the addition of the milk that the baby usually drinks;
At first it is better to give the child puree, although some babies can already cope with small lumps - provided that the product is well mashed. Children quickly learn to crush soft food with their gums, even if they do not yet have teeth.

When the child learns to eat from a spoon, complementary foods can be varied with new foods. Children, like adults, get bored of eating the same thing. Instead of constantly offering your child pureed vegetables and porridge, try the following:
Puree of meat, fish or chicken. Boil the meat thoroughly and make sure there are no bones.

Lentils, peas, chickpeas or other legumes, pureed or well mashed.

Whole milk yogurt, cottage cheese, homemade cheese. But remember that a child should not be given cow's milk (or goat's or sheep's milk) until he is one year old.

Vegetable puree with a more intense flavor - for example, from green peas, cabbage or spinach.

Try to feed your child homemade food. Try to use baby food jars only occasionally and not for everyday feeding.

Although it is generally recommended that solid foods be introduced at six months, you may see baby food for 4-month-olds in the baby section of the store. A child of six months can also be given the food that says “from 7 months.” But it may need to be further mashed or crushed.

Whatever baby food you buy, read the labels carefully. Choose the one that has the least salt and sugar.
What foods can be given to a 7-9 month old baby?
Now the baby can be seated at the common table during family meals. Several reasons why homemade baby food is better than store-bought food:
you know exactly what ingredients are in the dish;
the child gets used to your cooking.
If you are breastfeeding, your baby may be able to taste the food you eat. Therefore, he will most likely quickly get used to the food that you prefer.

A baby of this age can already be given mashed or finely chopped food instead of puree. It was noticed that children who were given heterogeneous food after 10 months rejected it more often. Such children become more picky, and in the future it is more difficult to persuade them to try food with a new taste or texture.

A significant portion of a child's diet should consist of starchy foods. For example: porridge, baby bread, potatoes, couscous, bread, pasta, rice. But, of course, starchy foods should be supplemented with protein. You can give your child something from this list:
fish (not shark, swordfish or marlin);
hard-boiled eggs;
dairy products;
lean red meat;
bird;
legumes
If your child eats a lot of beans and lentils - for example, if you follow a vegetarian diet - be sure to give him bread, rice or pasta. Too much fiber can make a small stomach feel full, and your baby may not be able to absorb other important nutrients.

If your child likes to eat small pieces and take them with his hands, encourage him. Perhaps he likes to feel that he is in control of the process. Try giving your baby boiled green peas or carrots, cubes of cheese, slices of banana or soft pear.

The child may still drink a lot of milk, but this does not stop him from trying other drinks. Give him cooled boiled water from a glass with a soft spout. If you decide to give your child fruit juice, save it for lunch and dilute it with water in a ratio of 1 to 10. It is better to pour the juice into a glass or sippy cup, rather than into a bottle. Giving your child juice with their meals helps them absorb iron from foods, and their growing teeth are less affected as a result.

You can supplement your baby with formula milk after meals. But this is not necessary if you have a balanced diet.

What to feed a baby 10 months and older?
Now your baby's food is more like an adult's. Products no longer need to be ground into pulp; they can simply be chopped. The child can be fed thoroughly two or three times a day, and given something to snack in between.

If you are breastfeeding, your baby can be offered regular feedings. Perhaps now he will not ask for the breast as often as before. If you bottle feed your baby, you can eliminate one or two daily feedings. But a child under one year old should still receive 500–600 ml of formula per day.

What foods should not be given to a child under one year old?
Some foods should not be given to a baby if he is under one year old:
Salt. The baby's kidneys cannot cope with salt yet. In addition, it is generally better not to accustom him to salt for as long as possible. Do not give your child pureed food prepared for adults if it already contains salt.

Honey. Even if the baby has a cough, he should not be given honey until he is one year old. It may contain bacteria that are toxic to your baby's sensitive intestines.

Sugar. If you wish, you can sweeten the dessert with mashed banana or puree of soaked dried fruits.

Artificial sugar substitutes. Diet drinks and ready-made porridge containing artificial sugar substitutes are not suitable for a child. They are not nutritious at all and only provoke a love of sweets.

Whole nuts. The child may choke.
Certain types of fish. A child should not be given shark, swordfish or marlin meat. These types of fish may contain mercury.

Tea or coffee. Do not rush to add tea to a bottle of milk. The tannin contained in tea can interfere with the absorption of iron from food. Do not give your child any drinks containing caffeine.

Low-fat foods. Butter, yoghurt or low-fat cheese are not suitable for a child. Give your baby foods that contain the usual amount of fat. He needs calories.
Some foods can cause poisoning. To play it safe, do not give your child:
soft blue cheeses, such as camembert or brie,
raw or poorly processed seafood,
soft-boiled or raw eggs,
liver paste.
What about food allergies?
If there is a history of allergies in your family, it is best to discuss your baby's diet with your doctor.

It makes sense to introduce foods that often cause allergies one at a time. This way you can immediately see if your child has a reaction and can quickly rule out allergens. Start with very small portions - and do not give these foods to a baby under six months old. Products that should be administered with caution, separately from others:
cereals containing gluten – wheat, rye, barley and oats,
Fish and seafood,
citrus fruit,
peanut butter,
cow's milk
soybean,
eggs.

The nutrition that the baby receives in the form of mother's milk or an adapted formula becomes insufficient for all the needs of the grown-up toddler. The time is coming to get acquainted with new food, that is, complementary foods. Let's look at what new foods you can give your six-month-old baby to try.

What foods can you already eat?

Six months is the right time for the first feeding of a baby who was previously exclusively breastfed. The toddler’s gastrointestinal tract is already ready to taste vegetables, cereals and fruits.

Parents should decide which product to introduce first together with their pediatrician. Babies who are gaining weight poorly are recommended to start with cereals, and well-fed babies with frequent constipation should start complementary feeding with vegetable dishes. Check out the table for introducing complementary foods when breastfeeding.

Calculate your complementary feeding table

Please note the following:

Vegetables are given in the form of puree from one type of vegetable, offering the baby 5 grams for the first time. Next, the portion is carefully increased to the age-appropriate dosage - 100 grams per day. When the baby has become accustomed to one vegetable, they begin to offer him a second type of vegetable, again starting with 5 grams.
Porridge at 6 months of age is prepared without milk, but can be diluted with human milk or formula. The first portion of porridge will be 10 grams, after which the total amount of porridge eaten per day is increased to 150 grams.
Babies who are accustomed to vegetables and cereals begin to offer fruits. They are also given in the form of a one-component puree - first 5 grams for the first sample, and then every day more up to a daily dose of 30 grams.

There are also many supporters of using fermented milk products for first complementary feeding. Among them is the famous pediatrician Komarovsky. A popular doctor recommends starting to give kefir to a healthy 6-month-old baby.

The product is offered during the second feeding, gradually increasing the portion to 160 ml. From the fifth day of introducing kefir into the baby’s diet, Komarovsky advises starting to add cottage cheese to it. Its daily portion for a 6-month-old baby is 30 g. Read more about introducing complementary foods according to Komarovsky in another article.

In situations where the mother does not have enough breast milk or is not able to feed the baby with an adapted formula, introduction to vegetables and cereals is postponed to an earlier date - 4-5 months (we recommend following our table for introducing complementary foods when artificial feeding). Artificial babies also begin complementary feeding at an earlier age. By the age of 6 months, such children have already tried fruit purees and cereals (dairy-free), as well as vegetable purees with vegetable oil. At 6 months of age, they only increase the portions of these dishes and begin to add butter.

Rules for introducing complementary foods
You should start with one product, and each subsequent new product can be introduced only after habituation (lasts on average 3-5 days) and the absence of allergic reactions.
You cannot give two foods at the same time that the child is not familiar with before, because if a reaction occurs, you will not be able to understand which product provoked it.
The volume of product for the first test is half a teaspoon.
The new product should be washed down with breast milk or formula.
It is worth giving a new dish in the morning feeding, then by the end of the day it will become noticeable whether the child tolerates it normally.
Introducing new food should be postponed if the baby is sick, as well as during vaccination (three days before vaccination and several days after it).
If your baby refuses to try a new dish, don’t insist.
In a situation where a product has caused an allergy or other negative reaction, new dishes are not given until the painful manifestations disappear.

How much should a baby eat?

The total amount of food per day for a six-month-old child is calculated based on his body weight. Children over 6 months of age should eat 1/8 to 1/9 of their body weight per day.

Diet

At six months of age, a child has an average of 5 meals a day, with breaks between them ranging from three and a half to four hours.

Sample menu

For a child who was exclusively breastfed until 6 months, at 6 months after the introduction of new products, the menu will look like this:

For a baby whose mother, due to a lack of milk, began feeding from 4-5 months, the daily menu will be as follows:

For a formula-fed baby, the diet at 6 months is as follows:

Any new product should be given before feeding.
A 6-month-old baby should use a sieve, mixer or blender to prepare food, as it is important to achieve a uniform structure. A very thick dish is diluted with milk (mother’s milk or formula), vegetable broth or boiled water.

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Nutrition for a 6 month old breastfed baby

Today, pediatricians recommend, in accordance with WHO regulations, to feed the baby with breast milk for the first six months. For a normally developing, full-fledged baby, only in the six-month age period can the introduction of complementary foods begin.

Reasons for introducing new foods at 6 months while breastfeeding:

The child already sits independently, stays awake for a long time, and, therefore, expends a lot of energy. Breast milk cannot provide the baby with the necessary nutrients and vitamins;
The digestive system has also already formed; the child can digest various foods other than mother’s milk. New food will help further develop the motility of the digestive system and promote the production of enzymes;
At this age, the baby begins to show interest in products that are consumed by adults, and the process of learning about the world begins. Interest in food in this situation does not always mean a manifestation of hunger; rather, it is an expression of the desire to imitate adults.

Upon reaching 6 months of age, the child must be gradually transferred to 5 meals a day with 4-hour intervals between meals. Read more about introducing complementary foods. The erroneous point of view of some mothers is that if there is insufficient milk in the breast, complementary feeding can be done from two to three months of age. At this age, the baby’s digestive system cannot yet fully function; in addition to mother’s milk, it cannot digest various foods. If there is a lack of lactation, the doctor selects a special milk formula for the baby.

Features of baby feeding

New food for a child, which is added when he reaches six months, is recognized as a stressful condition for the state of the whole organism - usually the baby is fed with caution, gradually accustoming his gastrointestinal tract. Experts recommend giving new food for several days; after the baby gets used to new foods, the diet should be further enriched with other foods. The diet of a 6-month-old breastfed baby should be supplemented with prepared pureed vegetable and fruit mixtures.

For bottle-fed children, complementary foods can be introduced as early as 4 months - various formulas containing milk powder do not have the normal volume of necessary elements. The menu of a 6-month-old child is supplemented with the previous established nutritional balance.

From the first days of the complementary feeding process, you should not give up breastfeeding; the baby receives up to 70% of its energy and a large amount of various nutrients from mother’s milk. Complementary feeding is not a substitute, but an addition to breast milk.

If a baby refuses new complementary foods, continuing to eat only mother's milk, he should not be refused, but it is worth being persistent - if on a certain day the baby does not want to eat new foods, after a few days he should be offered new complementary foods again.
New food is usually offered to the baby at lunchtime; complementary feeding components should not be given to the baby before bedtime.

If your baby is worried after taking a portion of new foods, you should supplement him with breast milk (formula).

The process of complementary feeding begins with small portions - half a teaspoon, then the dosage of complementary feeding increases, reaching the daily norm - 150g.

All questions and problems that arise regarding a new diet should be discussed with the pediatrician.

Experts offer the following advice to mothers:

The new dish is given to the baby in small portions, no more than once a day. It is necessary to monitor the manifestations of the infant’s digestive structure in response to this product. Many children are prone to the rapid formation of exudative diathesis, for example, to orange-red vegetables, meat components;
The process of taking unfamiliar food for a baby begins with half a teaspoon, gradually increasing the serving size to the required norm;
Experts do not recommend giving cow's or goat's milk to children under one year of age, due to the high content of fats and proteins in it, which will be a big burden on the functioning of the child's kidneys. Any dishes prepared with this milk (porridge) can provoke an allergic reaction and increase the likelihood of developing diabetes mellitus;
Usually, when preparing porridges, baby milk powder is used.

Menu for a 6 month old breastfed baby

Six months of age rebuilds the baby’s body to accept new foods:

Digestive enzymes are created that are able to accept different foods;
Immune properties are strengthened;
The need for other proteins, minerals, vitamin complexes increases, the first teeth appear;
Swallowing reflexes are improved - the baby masters the skill of swallowing food from a spoon.

According to modern medical observations, children at six months of age are already ready to receive “adult” food, but in a homogeneous form.

After breastfeeding, the nutrition of a 6-month-old baby is supplemented with juices, pureed vegetables, and fruits during the lunch period, before breastfeeding. Further, as children age, food consumption occurs without mother's milk.

In the menu of a 6-month-old baby, a regular one-component pureed vegetable or fruit mixture is considered a safe item. Gradually, with the process of getting used to the modified diet, the baby can already be given them in combination, for example, potatoes and carrots are boiled, then whipped using a blender.

Also, after pureed mixtures, you can add different porridges to the menu of a 6-month-old baby - oatmeal, buckwheat, rice.

Possible variability of lunchtime complementary foods for a child

Experts highlight the following modified nutrition options for breastfed children 6 months old:

Cooked porridges with vegetable broths, soups;
A mixture of vegetables with rice - for example, broccoli, parsley, carrots, cauliflower, celery;
Adding half a chicken yolk to the pureed mixture (hard-boiled eggs), you should observe the manifestation of the child’s digestive structure. Give the yolk twice a week;
A mixture of potatoes with zucchini, broccoli, beets, celery, carrots, onions;
After the digestive structure gets used to the vegetables, gradually, from a couple of drops to 1 teaspoon, add olive oil to them;
From the age of six months, a child’s diet should be varied with low-fat chicken and meat broths, and also make a pureed vegetable mixture using these meat broths.;
Experts also allow veal, chicken, and rabbit. The volume of broth should not exceed 30 ml for a six-month-old baby.

Menu for a 6-month-old baby on artificial feeding

For a child fed with powdered milk formula, additional nutritional components are necessary. Therefore, complementary feeding for such children usually occurs earlier than for babies who are breastfed. This age period allows for a wide menu; the lunch meal is provided with vegetable soup, usually with the addition of meat broth.

Milk porridge, pureed vegetable soup, in the normal amount - 150 g, as well as 20-30 ml of fruit juice are included in the meal. Different varieties of cereals are used - first the cereal is washed, then it is boiled in water, then a diluted milk mixture is added to the resulting porridge.

Formula-fed babies eat soups made with meat broth before infants. Also, reception of cape and fermented milk products is organized earlier for them. It should be remembered that any new foods for six-month-old children are introduced in small portions, from half a teaspoon, gradually increasing the volume of the dish.

A six-month-old child can be given no more than 1 liter of food per day. The feeding regimen for a 6-month-old bottle-fed baby is 5 times approximately every 4 hours with a sleep break at night for up to 8 hours. The nutrition of a bottle-fed baby at 6 months will include formulas that replace breast milk and complementary foods that are introduced at this age.

What to feed a 6 month old bottle-fed baby?

If the child is on, then to add missing vitamins and microelements to the diet, complementary foods can be introduced 2 weeks faster than with breastfeeding. After all, even when feeding with formulas that are well balanced in calories, vitamins and microelements, there is no full compliance with breastfeeding, and there is a decrease in immunity. Therefore, the menu of a 6-month-old mixed-fed baby should include fresh juices and fruit purees in a timely manner, and the first complementary food is usually vegetable puree, to which yolk and cottage cheese begin to be added as early as 5.5 months.

By 6 months, the second complementary feeding is introduced, and you need to know what a bottle-fed baby can eat at 6 months. By this time, 10% porridge (150 ml) had already been introduced, in addition to complementary foods, fruit juice should be introduced (according to the formula - 10n, it is believed that n is the number of months of the child, counting from 4 months, that is, already 60 ml of juice) and the same amount of fruit puree.

If vegetable puree (up to 170 ml) was introduced as the first complementary food, then porridge was introduced as the second complementary food. And to vegetable puree they can add 10-20 g of cottage cheese, and first half, and then a whole yolk (in the absence of allergies).

Menu for a 6-month-old bottle-fed baby by the hour

A 6-month-old child should have 5 meals approximately every 4 hours with an 8-9 hour break for nighttime sleep. Morning and evening feedings are mixtures. For artificial feeding, they recommend balanced formulas in terms of calories and nutrients, enriched with vitamins and microelements, and hypoallergenic.

Of course, if the question is what else can you feed a bottle-fed baby at 6 months, then you shouldn’t forget about whole cow’s milk, but this increases the risk of malnutrition due to its lower calorie content. Sample menu for a 6-month-old bottle-fed baby:

at approximately 6.00 am - milk formula 200 ml;
10.00 am – 10% homemade porridge or ready-made porridge 150 ml, juice (fresh fruit) 60 ml;
14.00 - grated vegetable puree 170 ml, egg yolk;
18.00 – cottage cheese 20-30 g, fruit puree 60 ml, supplementary feeding with formula milk 110-120 ml;
22.00 – last feeding, milk formula 200 ml.

If desired, complementary feeding can be done with the third and fourth feedings. The diet of a 6-month-old bottle-fed child should include various porridges (buckwheat, rice, oatmeal), but the least common type of cereal can be cooked, which contributes to the development of rickets and excess weight in the child.

You can cook the porridge yourself or make it from a special ready-made porridge diluted with milk according to the recipe on the package. Also, various vegetables are introduced into the menu of a mixed-fed baby at 6 months: potatoes, carrots, beets, zucchini, boiled cabbage, grated with the addition of mashed boiled egg yolk. Products for vegetable puree must be fresh and not cause allergic reactions in the child.

The same requirements apply to fruits from which fresh juices and purees are prepared; you can also use special ones prepared for children of this age. From fruits, only those that do not cause diathesis are used. The most commonly chosen fruits are apples, pears, plums, apricots or peaches.

Let's consider what products are included in a child's menu at 6 months and when it is necessary to introduce a child to new foods. A few decades ago, complementary feeding began to be introduced to infants at 3 months. This was due to the short period of breastfeeding and the lack of analogues of infant formula on sale. The child's nutrition at 6 months was limited to supplemental feeding with cow's and goat's milk, which does not contain sufficient trace elements and vitamins for the full development of the baby. Today, doctors of the World Health Organization fully agree that if a nursing woman receives a complete, balanced diet, the baby does not need complementary foods until 6 months, because the baby’s gastrointestinal tract is not yet ready to receive any food other than breast milk.

When to introduce complementary foods

First of all, it is necessary to understand the fundamental difference between the terms complementary feeding and complementary feeding.

Supplementary feeding is required in cases where the baby does not have enough mother's milk. And after a portion of breast milk, he is supplemented with formula milk. This is necessary if the baby does not eat enough, cries, or does not gain enough weight.
And complementary foods are what are given instead of the main food. Replacing breast milk with more adult foods.

The main mistake is that bottle-fed infants need earlier introduction of complementary foods. Modern analogues of breast milk (dry formulas) are quite capable of providing adequate nutrition for a child up to 6 months.

When should you start complementary feeding?

The child has doubled his weight;
The child knows how to sit and turn away, indicating that he does not like the food;
The child learned to eat from a spoon, the reflex effect of pushing food out with the tongue disappeared;
The first tooth appeared;
The child spends more energy and weight gain decreases.

What kind of approximate menu can you create for a 6-month-old child?

But regarding what the first complementary foods should be, the opinion of pediatricians is divided, it could be:

kefir and cottage cheese;
fruit purees and juices;
vegetable decoctions, soups, purees;
cereal porridges (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal).

Definitely, you should not start complementary feeding with meat broth and puree, but choose any of the above products.

Whatever product you choose, there are basic rules for introducing complementary foods.

Basic rules for introducing a new product

They begin to introduce a new product into the child’s diet only when he is absolutely healthy, and there is no chance of getting sick in the near future. If an older child or one of the parents is sick, you should wait to expand the diet.

Vaccination also becomes a reason not to introduce complementary foods on this day; it is better to wait 3–4 days.

Moving for a child can also be stressful; if you changed your place of residence or went to visit for a few days, you don’t need to introduce new food on top of everything else.

Erupting teeth.

A new product is introduced in very small doses, starting with 1⁄2 tsp, carefully observing the body’s reaction. Redness, rash, abnormal stool or stomach colic, any of these symptoms causes the introduction of complementary foods to stop. If the child has absorbed the new product normally without negative consequences, the next day the portion is doubled. The second time you can give it will be 1 tsp. new food. Within 10 days, the portion is increased to 150 g, this volume will become a complete feeding.

Important thought. New foods are introduced into the child’s diet one at a time. If you decide to feed your child oatmeal with an apple, then first the baby is accustomed to the porridge, then to the apple. And only after the baby gets used to the two ingredients separately can they be given together.

When introducing a new product into the diet, give it to your child at the same time. When you manage to completely replace one breastfeeding with complementary foods, you can begin to introduce your child to the next product.

Salt. Of course, salt is a huge burden on the fragile kidneys of a 6-month-old baby. But during the hot season, along with sweat, some of the salts that need to be replenished are washed out of the body. But these are very small doses, practically undetectable by the taste buds of an adult.

Genetic predisposition to food. There is no need to introduce overseas delicacies to your baby. Children from poor families are much less likely to have allergic reactions, simply due to the inability to purchase certain products.

Feeding begins with complementary foods, and then supplements the baby with breast milk or formula.

There is no fundamental difference between purees for a 6-month-old baby bought in a store or prepared independently at home. The main thing is that the products are of high quality and fresh.

Vegetables

Before introducing vegetables into the menu of a 6-month-old baby, you should give him vegetable broth, but not immediately from all the ingredients available in the house, but, for example, only from cabbage. If the child accepts the food adequately, next time increase the amount of decoction to several spoons. After a few days, the boiled cabbage is ground through a sieve or crushed in a blender and given to the baby in the amount of 1⁄2 tsp.

Cabbage may not necessarily be white, but also broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, but not blue cabbage. Zucchini is also a great product for the first time. But vegetables with a bright yellow or red color should be abandoned at first.

When the child gets used to cabbage, gradually add potatoes, onions, carrots, zucchini and a little refined sunflower oil, getting vegetable soup for the child for lunch.

All vegetables are cooked according to the two-water rule. The ingredients are immersed in boiling water, wait until it boils, and after a minute, drain. And the blanched vegetables are transferred to a saucepan with new boiling water and brought to readiness.

Boiled vegetables are ground through a sieve, diluted with broth to the desired consistency and cooked again.

Pumpkin and carrots are introduced into the menu very carefully, since too much coloring pigment can cause an allergic food reaction.

Fruits

Usually fruit feeding starts with an apple. And it’s not a bad idea to use a baked apple for this purpose. Bake it first in the oven or in the microwave until soft, and then grind through a fine sieve.

The apple can also be used raw. Grind it before use on a fine grater or in a blender.

Information. It is good to use a plastic or plastic grater. After all, upon contact with metal, vitamin C is instantly destroyed, and this way it will be possible to preserve its maximum amount. Feeding should be done immediately after cooking; oxygen also destroys the vitamins in ground fruit. This is especially noticeable on apples and bananas; they simply darken in the air.

Although banana is a non-local fruit, babies usually digest it well and rely on it. Allergic reactions and side effects from the digestive system are practically not observed when eating bananas. Despite the fact that they contain a huge amount of useful microelements and vitamins, we must not forget that bananas are high in calories and quite heavy for a child’s stomach, so you should not indulge in fanaticism, everything is good in moderation.

Apricot and pear are introduced into the diet carefully and preferably at a later age. But melons, watermelons and citrus fruits are out of the question in the diet of a 6-month-old baby.

Porridge

The best cereals for feeding a six-month-old baby are buckwheat, rice and oatmeal. But such semolina, beloved by all children, is not at all necessary at this age. It practically does not contain microelements necessary for development and growth, and the gluten included in the cereal can disrupt the functioning of the stomach.

Porridge can be cooked in 2 ways:

Grind the raw cereal in a coffee grinder until it reaches the consistency of flour. And then cook it according to the principle of semolina porridge, pouring it into boiling water in a thin stream.
Boil the cereal and puree the prepared porridge in a blender. Adding the required amount of liquid, bring the mixture to the desired consistency.
You can dilute porridge for babies with water, breast milk, vegetable broth or formula.

Kefir and cottage cheese

In cases where your neighborhood has a dairy kitchen for children, the issue of purchasing children's kefir is resolved by itself. All you need is for your pediatrician to write a prescription.

Warning. Under no circumstances should you purchase regular milk and ferment it without heat treatment. If you decide to prepare kefir for a six-month-old baby yourself, remember that the milk must be boiled for several minutes before cooking, and the dishes must be sterile, scalded with boiling water.

Conclusions

You should not switch your child to adult food just because your friends and acquaintances do it or your mothers and grandmothers did it. There is nothing better than breast milk, but only if the nursing mother eats well and has a varied and balanced diet. Introduce complementary foods slowly, giving the baby time to adapt to food. But you shouldn’t delay the moment of accustoming your child to adult food, and six months is the optimal age for this.