Cabbage is one of the healthiest vegetables for young children. It contains a high concentration of vitamin C, helps to improve digestion and helps in the production of gastric juice, increasing appetite. However, you need to be careful when introducing this vegetable into complementary foods, because all children react to it in different ways.
Cabbage is a very useful product for children and adults
The benefits of white cabbage for a child
This beloved vegetable is very useful for babies because:
- Stimulates digestion and metabolism;
- Contains a lot of fiber;
- Gives the body useful energy;
- Contains antioxidants and helps remove harmful substances from the body.
Also, do not forget about the high taste of the product.
Nutritional value
Cabbage is rich in vitamins and healthy carbohydrates. However, most of the vitamins disappear as a result of heat treatment, so it is best to eat this vegetable fresh, as a salad. Then all vitamins will be preserved and the child will receive the maximum benefit. Vitamins are also lost if shredded cabbage is frozen in the freezer (many housewives do this to speed up the process of making soups).
This vegetable is not inferior to oranges in vitamin C concentration
How to choose a good cabbage
A quality product is characterized by the following important features:
- Elastic head of cabbage;
- Nice greenish-white color without gray coating;
- Lack of dry or rotten leaves;
- Pleasant characteristic smell of fresh vegetable.
Too large a head of cabbage may indicate a large amount of nitrates.
How can a child be given
It is necessary to introduce the product into the child's diet gradually, in small portions. If you immediately give your baby a large amount of cabbage, you can provoke an upset stomach. If any symptoms of distress appear, the product is temporarily excluded from the diet.
This favorite vegetable is often found in industrial baby food.
From how many months to introduce
Parents often ask pediatricians when to give white cabbage to their child. Also, women often think about whether the cabbage used by the mother is harmful when feeding a baby. To avoid problems, you need to follow certain rules.
When breastfeeding
Breastfeeding mothers often ask if stewed cabbage can be used while breastfeeding a newborn. Eating stewed cabbage while breastfeeding a newborn is not prohibited if the mother has consumed this product during pregnancy. Then the baby is already familiar with the dish, and the baby is unlikely to feel any discomfort after feeding.
If the mother did not eat cabbage during pregnancy, it is better not to introduce this product into the diet during feeding, because unpleasant consequences such as:
- Colic in a newborn baby;
- Stomach upset;
- Stool disorder;
- Individual food intolerance.
Cabbage can provoke stomach fermentation in young children.
Attention! If a breastfed baby is gaining weight well, there is no need to change his diet until 5.5-6 months. You can introduce complementary foods after the child begins to sit on his own, this happens closer to six months.
With artificial
When asked how many months a child can be given white cabbage if the baby is artificially fed, doctors answer: from 5 months, as part of vegetable puree. You can cook mashed potatoes yourself or buy ready-made ones.
Puree
Vegetable puree is usually the first baby food. It is introduced gradually, starting from half a teaspoon. For a baby of the first year of life, it is better to start complementary foods with cauliflower or broccoli - they have a milder effect on the digestive system. Then add white cabbage as part of mashed vegetable soup.
At what age do they give stew
Stewed cabbage can be given to children from the second year of life. This dish is invariably included in the menu of kindergartens, and children usually eat it with pleasure.
Important! If parents prepare this dish at home, you should not add spices with a bright taste to it. Also, do not serve semi-finished sausages with cabbage; it is better to make mashed cutlets for the child.
Is it possible to sauerkraut up to a year
It is known that many young children enjoy eating salty foods, such as lightly salted cucumbers or sauerkraut. However, doctors forbid giving babies such food, both homemade and industrial. Any canned food may be of poor quality. In addition, no one can guarantee that all the proper precautions were taken when preparing the dish, and that the jar was hermetically closed during storage. You need to feed your baby only with fresh food.
It is prohibited to feed children under one year old with any canned food
Attention! Sauerkraut is a kind of home preservation, and any canned food is strictly prohibited for children under three years old. The reason is the high risk of botulism, an infectious disease caused by eating improperly prepared vegetables, meat or canned fish.
How to cook cabbage properly
Young children can enter the product in the form of:
- Puree;
- Mashed vegetable soup;
- Stew;
- Raw, in the form of a salad.
Before cooking, the vegetable must be thoroughly washed and the stump removed, because it contains the largest amount of nitrates and nitrites.
What can be combined with
Each housewife knows which dish of this vegetable is the most delicious. Every mom has her own signature recipe for her baby. Cabbage goes well with any other vegetables: potatoes, carrots, zucchini. Also, this product is often used as a side dish for meat dishes. It combines worse with fish. Fresh cabbage salads are seasoned with olive or sunflower oil. You can stew various vegetables in a slow cooker by making a stew.
Complementary feeding rates by month
It is necessary to increase the rate of complementary foods gradually. The volume depends on the age of the baby. Always start with a small amount so as not to overload the digestive system. To solve the question of exactly how much vegetable complementary foods to give your child, you can consult with your local pediatrician.
How often to give
If a young child does not have digestive problems, it is allowed to include fresh and thermally processed cabbage in the diet every day, this product will not do any harm. On the contrary, it will enrich the child's body with vitamins and other useful substances.
Number
The first cabbage lure begins at about six months with half a teaspoon of vegetable puree or mashed vegetable soup. At eight to nine months, the recommended serving is 80-100 grams. By the year, the portion volume is brought to 120-150 grams.
Possible Power Problems
Some children may have an individual intolerance to the product. In this case, after eating a vegetable, the following consequences are possible:
- Bloating;
- Flatulence;
- Children's intestinal colic;
- Other adverse reactions.
Usually, with the development of the children's digestive system, individual intolerance gradually disappears, so you should not be afraid of this problem. The child will "outgrow" her. By the age of seven, when the development of the digestive system is completed, a healthy child usually eats any vegetables without negative consequences.
Cabbage has one big advantage over other vegetables and fruits: it almost never causes allergic reactions. Therefore, this product can be safely given to allergic children without fear of hives, diathesis and other undesirable consequences. It is best to give children vegetables bought in the market, not in the supermarket - they are less nitrates and other harmful substances.
