Most children like potato dishes, so mothers who have begun to introduce complementary foods are always interested to know when to make mashed potatoes for a baby and how to properly give it to a baby.
Pros
Potatoes have a positive effect on the digestive as well as the cardiovascular system. This vegetable contains a lot of potassium, iron, iodine, phosphorus and other elements, as well as organic acids, antioxidants and vitamins.
Most of the nutrients are stored not in boiled, but in baked potatoes, therefore, it is recommended to bake the vegetable for children's puree.
Another plus of potato dishes is the pleasant taste that children like.
For the benefits of potatoes for children and adults, see the program “Living Healthy”. You will also learn about what is worth eating raw potatoes, which, unfortunately, is not accepted in our country.
Minuses
- Potato tubers are rich in starch, which can cause allergies and digestive problems.
- Boiled potatoes have a very high glycemic index.
- If the mother did not pay attention to the green spots on the roots, then there is a risk of poisoning the baby with solanine.
At what age is it better to give?
Children who eat only mother's milk are given potatoes from 6 months. The introduction of this vegetable into the diet of artificial babies is possible from 5 months, but it is better to postpone the first complementary foods until 6 months. Often, acquaintance with potatoes occurs after the introduction of zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli into the children's menu. Chopped greens in mashed potatoes can be added from 10 months of age.
E. Komarovsky's opinion
A well-known pediatrician recommends introducing vegetable complementary foods in the form of mashed potatoes after the baby gets used to fermented milk dishes and cereals.
According to Komarovsky, it is necessary to give potatoes to a baby from 8 months, if the baby already has at least one tooth. The doctor advises to start acquaintance with vegetables with decoctions, and then move on to mashed potatoes and a variety of soups.
Introduction to the diet
For the first time, a child should try mashed potatoes in an amount not exceeding a teaspoon. For a baby who reacted normally to such a vegetable dish, the next time the portion is increased. If mom noted any negative or warning signs, acquaintance with potatoes should be postponed.
How to choose?
For baby mashed potatoes, use small tubers that do not have spots and defects. It is best if mom can cook dishes from potatoes grown in her garden. If mom is not sure about the quality of market or store potatoes, she can purchase canned food. In this case, a one-component product is preferable to which salt and cream are not added. The mashed potatoes, with which the mother decided to introduce the baby, should only contain potatoes and water.
Homemade recipe
Potatoes can be baked, boiled in a double boiler or in boiling water under a lid. Grind baked or boiled potatoes to a puree state, then add some milk to the dish.
If this is the first sample of potatoes, then it is worth adding breast milk, a decoction in which a vegetable or baby formula was cooked to the puree.
A little later, chopped potatoes can be combined with cow's milk. You should also add oil to the potato dish (preferably vegetable).
Useful Tips
- Before cooking, potatoes should be soaked in cool water. This will cause the loss of some of the vitamins, but will rid the vegetable of both nitrates and some of the starch.
- The best way is to boil the potato "in its uniform", so its useful substances will be preserved in greater quantities. Unpeeled potatoes can also be steamed. After removing the skin from it, the vegetable is crushed into a gruel and given to the baby.
- It is preferable to chop mashed potatoes by hand, since after processing with a blender there will be a lot of gluten in the dish.
- The baby should be given only fresh puree that the mother prepared before feeding.
- Salting the first mashed potatoes that a baby tries is not advised.
- Due to the large amount of starch, potato dishes are recommended for small children only 2-3 times a week.
Find out if your child's weight is normal using the following calculator.
