When choosing a drink for a baby, mom thinks about the benefits of juices and often prefers homemade compote. Is this drink useful when you can introduce it into the children's diet and according to what recipe is it better to cook it for the crumbs in the first years of life?
Pros
- Due to the content of vitamins and minerals, the use of such a drink supports the health of the baby, in particular, it helps to strengthen the immune system in the winter.
- The child will benefit from its ingredients. For example, in raspberry compote, the ability to lower the temperature is noted, in lingonberry - to help in the treatment of colds, and in peach - a positive effect on vision.
- The product acts as a source of pectin.
- This drink will help diversify the child's drinking regime. By including it in the child's diet, the mother will give additional liquid to the baby who refuses clean water.
- A drink containing dried fruits in the recipe has a positive effect on the digestion of children, as well as on their cardiovascular system.
- The sweetness of the fruit eliminates the need to add sugar to the drink.
Minuses
- Some of the mineral salts and vitamins are destroyed during cooking.
- If the recipe contains sugar, then it will be a source of extra calories for the baby.
At what age is it better to give?
Pediatricians advise giving a taste of compote to a child over 6-7 months old. Up to this age, breastfed babies do not need extra fluids at all unless they are in very hot conditions and their body temperature is normal. Artificial kids can cook it at an earlier age.
Introduction to the diet
The first sample of compote should be no more than one teaspoon of the drink. If the crumb has tolerated the new product well, the daily amount is gradually increased to the age recommendations. At 7 months, 100 ml of compote is recommended per day, dividing this amount of drink by two to three times. Children over a year old can not be limited, especially with high activity.
Compote is best served warm or at room temperature. Note that it can be given to the child both before meals and during meals or immediately afterwards. The opinion that a liquid drunk with solid food interferes with its digestion is erroneous.
How to choose products for compote?
- The water should be clean - preferably for children or filtered.
- The best option is when mom can cook compote from fruits collected in her garden or in the country. In this case, in the summer-autumn period, mother should think about harvesting berries and fruits for preparing a drink in winter. It can dry up a summer crop or freeze it.
- It is better to buy dried fruits in packages, and not by weight. Choose a product that is soft, as bright colors can be a sign of dye added.
- When preparing food, they should be thoroughly washed and cleaned, stalks and seeds removed. It is also recommended to scald fruits with boiling water in order to surely get rid of harmful microorganisms.
Homemade recipes
The first compote that can be prepared for a baby is advised to choose an apple one. Over time, you can add pear, prunes, rose hips, various berries, dried fruits to his recipe.
From apples
After washing and peeling a small green apple, cut it into small cubes, pour a glass of water and put on a small fire. When the liquid boils, turn off the fire, close the container and leave for 1 hour. The present drink is filtered and given to the baby.
From fruit
For kids who are accustomed to apple compote, you can make a drink from a mixture of fruits. First, a fresh pear is added to the apple recipe, and then other fruits, as well as a variety of berries (both fresh and from the freezer). You can experiment with the amount of water added to the fruit. Its volume will depend on the taste of the raw material and on the infusion time of the drink.
From dried fruits
Dried fruits (you should start acquaintance with one of them, and later you can prepare a compote from a mixture of them) should be rinsed well. It is also recommended to steam them with boiling water for a few minutes and rinse again. Then 50 grams of dried fruits are poured with 500 ml of warm water, covered with a lid and left for 8 hours. Without draining the water, the liquid is brought to a boil over low heat, and then insisted for another hour.
Useful Tips
A feature of the preparation of children's compote is the minimum boiling of the ingredients. It is best to remove the container from the heat immediately after boiling. If mom wants to boil the fruit, 5-10 minutes is enough for this.
- The kids should be introduced to the compote, in which sugar is not added. You can sweeten drinks that are prepared for children over a year old. However, many parents avoid adding sugar even after one year of age, replacing it with fructose, grape sugar or raisins.
- A ready-made drink for children can only be stored for one day. If the drink lasts longer, it becomes less useful. Plus, it can ferment and deteriorate.
- Fruit from compote can also be eaten. Give them to children over a year old.
Find out if your child's weight is normal using the following calculator.
