As a father or mother have you ever been in a dilemma about what to feed your tot with at their initial stages of development? Ever wondered when their nutritional chart should be reviewed? Confused about what is good for them at the right time? Then this blog is entirely for you. Through this blog we try to help you with answers to find yourself what is good for your child. It will help you to make a healthy diet chart and ensure the growth of the tot to its full potential. Parents often confuse with when to stop breast feeding and start other food.
Unaware of facts some people starts foreign foods at an early stage which deprives the child from the essential nutrients and immuno-efficient elements from the lactogen produced within the mother’s body naturally. It is suggested that the child should be given only breast milk till an age of six months and slowly introduce other homely food items to them. We should not either stop breastfeeding at an early age nor should we have a sudden to it. It is usually better to reduce the quantity of milk and increase the other foods by time.
With the confusion of the parents on the correct timing of feeding their kids with the proper foods, many leading brands came up with ideas help in them with different baby food products for varying ages. For making this much simpler, the brands have come up with an idea of listing the ages of children to 3 stages. Now the brands will be aware to maintain specialized products for each of the levels of development of a child.
The Stages Of Food Provision On Kids
Researches say that any food irrespective of their content can be given to yours kids, whatever their age is. What matters is the form that you provide them the food . Like for example you cant give your six month baby a handful of almonds to them, but you can powder them and use it as an ingredient in the baby foods. And thus evolved the stages of feeding your baby. There are some restrictions in the so called food menu for the kids though they have to be provided and enriched with nutrients and other elements of growth. Honey- cooked or rgiven raw to the children below an year of age may cause infantile botulism. There is a well known myth that still some parents believe, introducing the solid food in a particular order like the old single cereal first, and one. Actually researches have reviled that this fact is neither rooted nor do this practice have any medicinal advantage. Now as said earlier it is better to give kids with different forms of solid food. This can be illustrated by dividing the whole process into different phases.
Stage 1
Here the babies between the age group of 4 and 6 months is provisionally considered. The solid food under this category should be thin and is recommended to have a smooth texture, without lumps of solid matter. Having chunks of food in their diet may result in choking as they swallow the food as such. These purees are suggested to be iron-rich one to eliminate the risk of anemia.
Stage 2
During the period between the 7th and 9th months of development kids acquire the ability to digest food better than the former stage. This is the time where you can allow a certain amount of soft chunks to enter your babies food. A these stage the infants start developing themselves for the act of chewing but their physical nature are not yet ready for the same. So allowing them to practise with the small chunks in the medium textured purees won’t be a matter of risk.
Stage 3
This is the stage where your child develops to that particular level that you really wanted them to. They urge to their need or self-feed. Here you can feed them with bits of harder pieces. You can have them together with your meals and let them have a plate of what you have. But make sure they are still in their development stage and are not as aware and experienced in eating food as you are. Let them have the portion that is free of too-hard pieces.
The main question that arises from the parent’s side is when to start solid foods for their toddlers. The answer is a bit vast here. Till six months of development the kid gets the required nutrients, iron content, minerals, vitamins, and all from the mother’s breast milk alone. After a period of six months, the mother’s body tends to become weak due to the delivery-related issues. Moreover, after this period the quantity of breast milk also starts deteriorating. The amount of milk now available will also lack in the former quality, as the nutrient content starts decreasing as the mother’s body itself starts absorbing the same before getting it to the kid’s milk. At this time the baby’s iron reserve starts to witness a depletion along with a deep decline in nutrients. This condition may worsen if additional food is not given to the child and end up in anemia or malnutrition and related issues. This is the time when the kid actually shows interest in foreign foods. And this marks the start of stage one of feeding solid foods.
If the child is deprived of food due to the continuation of breastfeeding alone they may show signs of iron deficiency such as:
- Paling of the skin
- Breathlessness
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Irregular heartbeat
As a result of deficiency of iron in the blood, haemoglobin content, that helps in the transfer of oxygen between blood vessels also decreases. This finally reduces the rate of breathing. Further it may end up other diseases along with the mentioned symptoms. The iron-rich food should be introduced to the kid far before this stage. Once you are aware of the time of changing your baby’s feed, next doubt will be on how to feed them? The child will be automatically get attracted to the new tastes and the new methods of serving will also increase their enthusiasm. The textures of food at different stages will differ from each other. Discussing it separately,
Stage 1 Foods
Do you observe your child staring at your meal? Then it indicates their interest towards having solid food. This is the time when we can start with the stage 1 baby puree. Sitting in a posture where they do not need an external posture is also a way through which they gives you key to the transformation from only breastfeed to the stage 1 baby foods. Many people suggest adding a bit of breast milk to the feed to make it feel similar and gives a bit more consistency to the puree. Its better to try the baby food meal after a course of breastmilk feed.
When its time for the babies to start with the stage two baby food , they themselves start showing natural signs. This includes, the existence of hunger even after feeding with a whole meal of stage 1 food. This urge to have new foods can be taken into consideration and the parent can trustfully proceed into the stage foods if and only if they have tried incorporating all kinds of foods like vegetables, fruits and other such edibles to the liquid stage 1 food and confirmed that the child doent show symptoms of allergy for any.
This is the stage where the child shows clearly visible changes to a different stage. Here he begins to pick up the tiny little solids hidden within the puree and take it himself to the mouth. At this stage the child starts to grab away the spoons that you use to feed them, indicating they are grown up to feed themselves. In this stage too, it is mandatory to avoids mixing foods to the diet that might lead to chocking effects in the child, like adding raisins, popcorn, whole grape etc. should be avoided.
Apart from the 3 stages mentioned above additional levels are there to ensure complete growth of your child until they reach a time where they accompany you at the dining table. By the end of the stage three mist of the children would have attained the skill of eating chunks of food and in a more dry manner. At such a situation you can encourage your child feed themselves, but here too, don’t leave them alone. Always have an eye on them, proving yourself they wont swallow and choke taking up the large pieces within the meals. In case of babies who reached the age a bit later due to slow adaptability to the former stages, this stage could end up being rewarding. Having a supervision over the children while they are capable of eating alone would redce the risks that may happen
From all the descriptions above it can be inferred that from the start of feeding the child with solid foods, the diet plan of the child must be incorporated with almost all kind of food products that can yield all the proteins, vitamins and minerals needed for their body, almost within a few month’s time. After making sure that the baby doesn’t show any allergic symptoms to any of the food particles. Though solid foods are introduced along with all the mentioned stages it is adviced to continue breast-feeding to ensure complete reach of all nutrients. It is always better to prepare the kids meal at home with all the mentioned ingredients at different stages. Wish the parent reading this article and their baby have a good time in their development of parenthood and childhood.
