All mothers have to make vegetable soup for their baby sometime. It is eaten by everyone: from a baby to a teenager. You can find out how to properly introduce this dish into the children's diet, choose vegetables for it, and also get acquainted with recipes for delicious meals in this article.
Children's puree soup
Why are vegetable soups useful for a child
In the childhood of modern mums and dads, there were always soups. Their parents (today grandparents) considered this food incredibly healthy. Even when disobedient children were capricious and did not want to eat soup, they were forced to do it for the sake of children's health.
Soup is a liquid, often very satisfying dish, which is often served as a main course for lunch. It is really very useful and not only for children:
- Soup is always served as the first dish, followed by the second course. This is because hot liquid food stimulates the production of gastric juice, improving the digestion of the first and then the second.
- The abundance of fluid in soups is beneficial in keeping the body hydrated.
- This dish is made in vegetable broth. During cooking, useful substances are released from them into the water, and all of them do not disappear, but enter the body.
- If you make cereal or pasta as one of the components of the first, then along with the benefits of vegetables, the body will receive a dose of vegetable protein, starch.
Interesting. Usually soup is given for lunch, as it "accelerates" digestion. If you make a cream soup (it is considered softer), then the dish is suitable for an evening meal.
Composition and nutritional value
It is impossible to give a clear composition of vegetable soup, because there are many different recipes for it. The components are vitamins and minerals, their proportions can also vary, depending on which vegetables to cook the first on.
Vegetable soup
Whatever the components of the vegetable soup, they all contain fiber, which has a beneficial effect on the digestive tract. That is why liquid dishes are recommended for those who are often fortified.
How to choose the right vegetables
Wanting to cook soup for the child, mom begins to think about what vegetables can be given to the child and how to choose them correctly. Today, in order to reduce the cost of production, grown products can be treated with nitrates and pesticides that have a negative effect on health. In order not to buy such vegetables, you need to pay attention to the following when buying:
- Perfectly even, large and beautiful, as in the picture, plant foods, most likely, have been processed by something.
- They should have a natural smell (bad when there is none) and color (avoid overly bright shades).
- Keep track of the seasonality, everything has its time. The watermelons grown in January, for example, were fertilized with something bad.
- Large and light fruits = chemical processing. You should take what is heavier.
- If possible, get a nitrate tester and check everything you buy.
When choosing which soup to cook for a child, a parent must follow the rules for choosing its components:
- Babies can use those vegetables that they are already familiar with, that are included in their diet.
- For older children, there are two restrictions - the absence of allergies to the selected components and personal taste preferences.
When fed with vegetable soup
It's time to cook the first vegetable soup for a child after 7-8 months, when the baby is already familiar with some vegetables. True, at this age it is strictly forbidden to give babies such heavy soups, for example, borscht. The soup should be strictly from the products introduced into the complementary foods and on the dietary (vegetable) broth.
Feeding the baby with soup
Important! In the first years of life, soups for babies cannot last longer than a day. Mothers cook them twice: for lunch on the first, second days, only two portions (if no one else eats it).
Popular vegetable soup recipes
The second dilemma parents face is recipe choice. At first glance, it seems that choosing which soup to cook for a child is very simple, but it is not. Below are liquid recipes that you can make for kids.
Soup for a 9 month old baby (up to one year old)
Components:
- Small potato tuber;
- Several cauliflower or broccoli florets;
- Small carrots.
Preparation:
- Wash and peel vegetables thoroughly. Put in water and cook until tender.
- When they are cooked, take them out (do not drain the broth), make mashed potatoes from them using a blender.
- Bring the resulting puree to a creamy soup by adding broth and a teaspoon of olive oil.
Bright soup for older children
Ingredients:
- A couple of potatoes;
- Small carrots;
- 100 g rice;
- 1 small bell pepper;
- A handful of frozen green beans;
- Onion feathers and other greens to choose from;
- One and a half liters of water;
- Salt and spices to taste.
Prepare like this:
- Potatoes are peeled, cut into small cubes, placed in water. The pan is placed on the stove with it.
- After boiling, peeled and diced carrots are added to the potatoes.
- A few minutes after that, finely chopped peppers and chopped herbs are placed in the broth.
- After the potatoes are half cooked, rice is added to the saucepan.
- Beans, salt and spices are placed last in the pan. After a few minutes, the delicious soup can be removed from the stove.
Bright vegetable soup
Complementary feeding rates up to a year
Children should get acquainted with soups before the age of one. Moreover, each month of life has its own norms that must be observed.
How often to give
After the introduction of a full portion of soup (read about its size below), this dish is allowed to be given daily, provided that it is cooked from products familiar to the baby and does not include animal fat. It is permissible to give poultry, rabbit broths, diluted beef broths as part of vegetable soup to an infant after 9 months (after the addition of the added product to the diet is complete). Pork broths are too fatty, therefore they are not recommended for children.
Number
Soup portions also vary depending on the age of the baby.
Rates of portions of first courses for children under one year old
| Age | 7-8 months | 9 months | 10 months | 11 months | 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A portion | 100 g | 120 g | 150 gr. | 180 g | 180-200 gr. |
The above data are approximate, they finally change depending on the baby's appetite, as well as the availability and volume of the second course.
The kid eats the first and second courses
What can be combined with
In order for the baby to receive vitamins and minerals in full, they should be given after the first and second courses. If the soup for the child is cooked on some vegetables, then it is better to give him a portion of porridge and meat puree (if it has already been introduced into the diet). On the contrary, if there are cereals in a liquid dish, the side dish should be made purely vegetable. It is not recommended to give bread to babies for soup.
Possible problems with soup feeding
Light vegetable soups for babies are dietary food, that is, the risk of complications is low. Yet he is. Therefore, you should know about what problems can accompany complementary feeding with liquid dishes:
- Allergy. To avoid this, you need to give the baby only components familiar to him, to which there is definitely no allergic reaction.
- Rashes, redness. This can happen due to low-quality products. You should pay attention to the shelf life of the ingredients, carefully choose vegetables, and also do not store the soup cooked for a child for longer than a day.
- Stool problems. The baby can be strengthened or weakened, depending on the chosen soup composition. The way out is to pick up other components or postpone complementary foods with soups. If there is blood in the stool, you should see a doctor.
Mom and baby at the doctor's appointment
Note! If the child does not want to eat liquid, it is not necessary to force-feed him, so as not to form an aversion to this type of food. It is better to choose such a vegetable soup recipe for a child so that he wants to eat it.
First courses are very useful for the children's gastrointestinal tract, therefore they should be included in the baby's menu. For older children, this rule also applies. A variety of recipes will allow you to choose the best option for each child.
