What should be included in the daily diet of a 5 month old baby? Sooner or later, this question begins to worry many parents. Plus, pediatricians agree that 5 months is the age to start complementary foods. The main thing in this matter is not to overdo it, as there is a danger of allergic reactions. If you notice a baby's reaction to any product, cancel complementary foods and be sure to contact a specialist.
Correct feeding
At five months, the baby's main food is still breast milk or formula. A child eats about a kilogram of food per day, an average of five feedings per day. It is important that the baby receives the necessary minimum of vitamins, especially D and C.
The introduction of complementary foods should be started with half a teaspoon, carefully observing the reaction and gradually increasing the portion as the child gets used to the new taste, and with the obligatory absence of allergic reactions. Where do you start? And you can start with cereals, juices or mashed potatoes, at your discretion.
Porridge
Starting complementary foods with porridge is especially good for those children who are slowly gaining weight. The first porridge for your baby can be oatmeal or buckwheat. You can cook at home yourself or buy ready-made porridge at the store. If you decide to cook porridge for your child yourself, you have two options: the first is to boil the cereal and grind through. The second is to grind the cereals into flour and boil. With the second method, the porridge is more uniform.
Puree
If your child is not bothered by frequent regurgitation, there are no problems with weight and development, one-component purees can also act as the first complementary foods. First, offer your child a scraped apple. Take an apple, peel and scrape the pulp with a teaspoon. In the same way, you can introduce the child to banana, pear, apricot, and after all these fruits are introduced into complementary foods and allergies have not followed, you can mix tastes.
You can also add vegetable purees from broccoli, pumpkin, zucchini. You can cook it yourself, or you can buy ready-made puree in jars.
Juices
Start giving juices one-component, from half a teaspoon, and preferably dilute with water in a proportion of 2/3, gradually bringing the daily volume to 30 ml. First, introduce your baby to apple juice, then plum, apricot, cherry, carrot juice.
Remember, fruit juice is not a complete substitute for fruit puree: fruit puree is much more nutritious!
Sample menu for a child of 5 months
Starting from the second half of the fifth month, your child's daily diet can be as follows:
6.00 - breastfeeding;
10.00 - vegetable puree (150 g), 1/2 yolk and 3 tablespoons of fruit puree;
14.00 - breastfeeding, 2 teaspoons of cottage cheese, 5-6 teaspoons of juice;
18.00 - breastfeeding; 5-6 teaspoons of juice;
22.00 - breastfeeding.
Or you can try this menu:
6.00 - breastfeeding;
10.00 - milk porridge (150 g), a few teaspoons of cottage cheese, 5-6 teaspoons of fruit juice;
14.00 - breastfeeding, fruit puree (50 g);
18.00 - vegetable puree (150 g), 1/2 yolk, 5-6 teaspoons of fruit juice or 3 tablespoons of one of the fruit purees;
22.00 - breastfeeding.
For a bottle-fed baby, the following menu is recommended in the fifth month:
6.00 - mixture (200 g) or kefir (200 g);
10.00 - milk porridge (for example, oatmeal or buckwheat) - 150 g, cottage cheese - 2 teaspoons, fruit puree - 3 tablespoons;
14.00 - mixture (200 g) or kefir (200 g), fruit juice - 5-6 teaspoons;
18.00 - one of the vegetable purees (150 g), 1/2 yolk, fruit juice - 5-6 teaspoons;
22.00 - mixture (200 g) or kefir (200 g).
Remember, eating habits are established in the first 3 years of a child's life - teach your baby to "unfamiliar" healthy tastes in time - and he will always love them!
Most importantly, remember that there is simply no better food for a five-month-old baby than mother's milk.
