By about four months, the baby begins to lack vitamins and minerals found in breast milk. From this time it is recommended to enter complementary foods in the menu. Parents often ask which complementary vegetables are the healthiest for their baby and if they will cause allergies.
Complementary feeding with vegetables
The benefits of vegetables for a child's nutrition
Vegetables are a source of vitamins and minerals necessary for the full development of an infant. They contain a large amount of organic acids, tannins, essential oils, enzymes.
Some vegetables are high in fiber and pectins. Once in the digestive tract, pectins envelop toxins, which promotes their elimination. Dietary fiber entering the gastrointestinal tract contributes to the development of beneficial bacterial flora.
Nutritional value
Fresh vegetables are comparatively low in fat, carbohydrates, and protein. However, they contain a complex of vitamins and minerals. Their calorie content is quite low: for example, 100 g of cucumbers give only 14 kilocalories.
How to choose the right vegetables
There are simple rules for choosing vegetables for baby foods. When buying vegetables on the market, you need to look for sellers who sell them from their own garden. They have environmentally friendly products without the use of agricultural chemicals. You should choose products without rot, damage. A quality product can be a little more expensive, but you shouldn't save on children.
Council. When shopping in a supermarket, you do not need to collect vegetables that are on the shelves. It is advisable to buy frozen products of well-known brands.
The sequence where to start
Parents are often interested in which vegetables to start with. The first vegetable complementary food should be started with vegetables that do not cause allergies and stomach discomfort: zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli. After the child's body gets used to them, you can proceed to other vegetables.
Zucchini - the first vegetable to feed
Pediatricians recommend introducing complementary vegetables in this order: squash, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, beans, then green peas.
What should not be introduced into the diet of a baby
According to Dr. Komarovsky, there are no vegetables that should not be given to an infant. Until the age of one, he should get acquainted with all vegetables.
Important! Bright red vegetables have a potential allergenic risk to babies. Therefore, they need to be introduced into the diet somewhat later.
From how many months can you give vegetable puree
The optimal time to introduce complementary foods from vegetables for a breastfed baby is 6 months. With artificial feeding, you should give vegetable puree from the age of four months.
Note! Vegetable puree is not a substitute for breast milk or formula.
When a child just tries mashed potatoes, you need to give it very little. For the first time, half a teaspoon is enough. With a good response to complementary foods, the amount can be gradually increased. By the age of six months, you can give a child up to 50 g of vegetable puree per day.
Vegetable puree
The rules for the introduction of vegetable puree are as follows:
- Give it in small doses. If you have signs of allergies, you should contact your pediatrician.
- A new product is best given in the morning. So you can see the reaction to it throughout the day.
- The first complementary foods are best made with one-component products.
- Puree is best given before breastfeeding.
Important! You don't need to force your baby to eat puree if he doesn't want it. It is best to put off such a product for a few days and then offer it again.
How to cook vegetables
The ideal mashed potatoes for the first feeding are from zucchini. Later, you can introduce mashed potatoes from carrots, pumpkin or broccoli into the diet. Before making mashed potatoes, you need to wash the vegetables well and peel them. They can be cooked in a steam bath, in the oven, or boiled in water.
Important! For a child, baked and steamed vegetables are preferable. They retain a maximum of useful substances.
Cook vegetables until soft. The finished product is crushed with a blender and diluted with water, milk mixture or breast milk to a mushy state. The presence of small pieces of food is the reason that the baby refuses to eat the dish.
The rules for preparing baby puree for complementary foods are as follows:
- use only fresh vegetables and filtered water;
- choose only whole frozen foods;
- utensils for preparing children's meals must be perfectly clean;
- vegetables need to be soaked in water for several hours to remove nitrates from them.
Recipes
Here are some simple, detailed recipes for making homemade puree.
Zucchini puree
This is the best puree for the first feeding. Peel the zucchini, cut into rings and steam. Grind it in a blender, additionally rub it through a sieve and dilute with water if necessary.
Pumpkin puree
To make it, you need to take a small pumpkin. Cut it in half and then into small wedges. Boil the pumpkin in water or a double boiler, beat in a blender and, if necessary, dilute with water or milk mixture.
Pumpkin puree
Broccoli puree
Disassemble the cabbage into small pieces, rinse it, steam it. When it becomes soft, grind with a blender. A tasty complementary food product is ready.
Pea puree
Boil water in a saucepan, add frozen or fresh peas, bring to a boil and cook until soft. Throw in a colander, transfer to a blender and chop, adding a little water to make a gruel.
What can be combined with
For an older child, puree vegetable products can be combined. So, boiled vegetables go well with fish and meat. You can also add vegetable or butter to them. Fresh puree vegetables are combined with sour cream and vegetable oil.
Broccoli puree with sour cream
Rating of store-bought baby purees
You need to know which baby food is best for complementary foods. This rating of baby puree for complementary foods is made up of products from the best domestic and foreign manufacturers:
- Grandmother's basket is a high-quality domestic product for full and healthy nutrition of babies. There are cauliflower, broccoli, pumpkin and squash puree.
- Frutonyanya is one of the most popular brands of baby food. The composition contains only the main product without preservatives and fillers.
- Gerber is a Polish company. The composition of vegetable purees is ideal for the first feeding. They contain only the main product, water and vitamins.
- Hipp is a quality product from Germany. To improve the consistency, a little rice flour is added to the vegetable purees. The relative disadvantage of the product is its rather high cost.
- Semper is a Swedish brand. The offered products are multi-component.
- Vkusvill is well suited for the first feeding. Purees are made in season and contain only the main product.
Knowing which infant formula is best for complementary foods can help you avoid dangerous reactions.
Norms of vegetable complementary foods by month
It is recommended to give complementary foods to the child strictly according to the norms. From 4 months, it can only be administered to those children who receive formula, and not mother's milk.
How often to give
Vegetable dishes are allowed to be given to the child daily. Up to 7 months of age, one feeding can be combined with breast milk or formula. In the future, for the full development of the baby, the introduction of one complementary food per day is enough.
Number
At 5-7 months, you can give up to 150 ml of one-component vegetable puree. Of course, this amount is the limit. The first feedings start with half a teaspoon.
Combined vegetable dishes can be given from the age of seven months. For one feeding give up to 170 ml of puree. By the age of one year, this amount can be increased to 200 ml.
Possible Power Problems
With the introduction of vegetable dishes, the child may experience constipation or diarrhea. If you have problems with digestion, you should postpone complementary feeding with a new dish for a while. Medicines are given as directed by a doctor.
Sometimes the child refuses to eat new food for him. Almost all young parents face this problem. Don't force your baby to eat. The vegetables most "unloved" by the child can be skipped for a while and introduced later.
Signs of allergies
Ingestion of an allergen contained in vegetables may have the following symptoms:
- rash;
Manifestation of allergies on the face and body
- peeling of the skin on the cheeks;
- diaper rash;
- nasal congestion and runny nose;
- regurgitation;
- vomiting;
- difficulty breathing.
In the rarest cases, a baby may develop Quincke's edema - one of the most dangerous conditions characterized by swelling of the skin and mucous membranes.
Knowing how to introduce complementary foods from vegetables is essential for all parents. The best option for this is vegetable puree. High-quality vegetable purees for the first feeding do not contain preservatives, they have all the necessary vitamins. You can easily prepare them at home.
