Complementary foods, which are food supplements prescribed to the child in addition to formula milk or breast milk, makes it possible to introduce the baby to new taste sensations. At present, the early introduction of complementary foods can be justified only by extreme need, since all the nutrients necessary for the child in the most assimilable form are contained only in breast milk or formula.
According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, complementary foods should be introduced at the age of 6 months in addition to breast milk. Food should be liquid or thoroughly wiped. The child should be given it 2 times a day in the amount of 2-3 full tablespoons. At the age of 7-8 months, it is recommended to feed mashed food three times a day, each time increasing its amount to 2/3 of a cup. From 9 months, the child can be offered finely chopped food or one that he himself can take with his hand. Three meals a day, up to ¾ of a standard cup, are supplemented with one light snack between meals. From 12 months, the child is offered 250 milliliters of regular food for the whole family, which, if necessary, is wiped or cut into small pieces. The frequency of feeding remains the same, but the number of snacks is doubled.
Children who are bottle-fed are offered pedagogical complementary foods a month before the start of the main complementary feeding, giving out microdoses of any products used by the parents. The goal of pedagogical complementary foods is to maintain interest in food when it is too early to introduce the main complementary foods, but the child develops signs of a nutritional interest in what adults eat. In the event that the child liked any product, he is invited to try something else.
Despite the recommendations of specialists in the field of baby food, it must be borne in mind that a child's readiness for complementary foods depends not only on age, but also on a combination of several factors. Among them can be noted doubling the weight from birth, the child's ability to sit, firmly hold a small thing in his hand and direct it to his mouth, showing interest in the parents' food and asking them to try it, eruption of the first teeth, disappearance or weakening of the protective reflex of pushing out solid food particles with the tongue. In addition, there are contraindications for the introduction of complementary foods: manifestations of allergies, recovery from previous gastrointestinal diseases, intestinal diseases, preparation for vaccinations and the period after them.
