Human milk is an ideal food product for children in the first year of life. Its main advantages:

1. milk contains all useful material in required quantities;
2. nutrients are almost completely absorbed by the body;
3. biologically active substances obtained from natural feeding, protect the baby’s gastrointestinal tract from the influence of pathogens;
4. optimal temperature for feeding.

Natural nutrition has a direct impact on the development and growth of children, the formation of intellectual potential, and the learning ability of children in the future. Due to constant close contact with the mother during feeding, the baby’s correct behavioral and mental reactions are formed.

Why is complementary feeding needed?

Natural feeding has undoubted advantages, but the child grows, his development progresses, and his needs change. The World Health Organization recommends complementary feeding at 6 months of age. Complementary feeding means the gradual introduction of other products into the baby’s diet: purees, juices, compotes, cereals, etc. Why is it necessary to change your diet? This is due to several factors:

1. the baby lacks the energy obtained through natural feeding;
2. some substances necessary for the child at a certain stage of development, human milk does not contain, for example, vitamin K;
3. it is necessary to develop the digestive system, train the chewing apparatus, the development of intestinal motility of the baby must continue;
4. You can expand the qualitative composition of nutrients in a baby’s diet due to those contained in cereals, compotes, and purees.

Physiologically, already at three to four months, the baby’s intestines have sufficient immunity to the effects of new foods, and the maturation of the ability to swallow semi-liquid and solid foods is completed. But it is impossible to give purees and compotes too early, since complementary feeding will displace breast milk. At the same time, it is also undesirable to introduce new types of food later, since difficulties often arise in getting used to denser foods.

When introducing your child to denser foods, you should focus on “ Guidelines on feeding of children of the first year of life”, developed by WHO for the European Region. According to these recommendations, complementary foods can be given if the child is completely healthy and has not had vaccinations before introducing new foods. In hot weather, it is also not advisable to make changes to the diet and its regime.

The introduction of the first complementary foods is aimed at developing the skills of a new type of nutrition:

• One of the main goals at this stage is to teach the baby to eat food from a spoon. The volume of dishes prepared for a baby is very small: at first, 5-10 g is enough for him. Usually, food is given to the baby on the tip of a sterile teaspoon. Sometimes a cleanly washed finger is used for this.
• The baby will gradually learn to grasp food with the lips and move it with the tongue to the back of the mouth to swallow. Therefore, at first, the food will partially flow down the chin, and also, due to the unusual taste, the baby may spit it out. But this does not mean at all that the baby will not get used to it and will not eat new dishes and drink compotes. You need to be patient and give the baby time.
• Special need for fluid in a child who is on breastfeeding, does not experience. But you can give a teaspoon of still mineral water and juice obtained from fruits that do not cause allergies during daytime feedings.

When the child has become a little accustomed to the changes in his diet, a transition period begins. The baby is prepared with puree from one type of vegetable or fruit for several days to determine whether there is a food allergy to this food product. You can add mother's milk to the puree for softness. There are the following features of the recommended complementary feeding regimen:

1. additional dishes, in addition to milk, are offered 1-2 times a day;
2. It is recommended to offer new food only after breastfeeding, as otherwise milk may be replaced with complementary foods.
3. all utensils must be sterile, and food products must be free of nitrates and other harmful substances.

Sample menu for complementary feeding

1. vegetable puree – 150 g;
2. fruit puree and juice – 60 ml (g)
3. porridge with milk – 150 g;
4. low-fat cottage cheese – 40 g;
5. chicken egg yolk – 0.25 pcs.;
6. whole milk (for cereals and purees) – 200 ml;
7. crackers and cookies – 3-5 g;
8. vegetable oil (for cooking) – 3 g;
9. oil drain (for cooking) – 4 g.

Approximate list of food products for the menu of a 6 month old child artificial feeding Almost the same, with the following exception:

1. an adapted or subsequent mixture is added - 300-400 ml;
2. meat puree is introduced - 5-30 g;
3. fermented milk products (kefir, etc.) are used - 200 g.

Baby's diet

At the age of 6 months, the baby is already accustomed to uninterrupted night sleep, which is important for its development, so the diet includes 5 meals during the day:

1. at 6 o'clock in the morning - the first feeding, including mother's milk or a substitute (for children at artificial nutrition);
2. after 4 hours it’s time for the second feeding, when you can give fruit puree;
3. at 2 p.m., feeding begins, including several dishes: vegetable puree or porridge and fruit juice;
4. at 6 pm the baby can be fed fruit puree;
5. before bedtime, as well as in the morning, the child eats only mother’s milk (a substitute for artificial feeding).

This regime is also good because the prepared child will gradually calm down next to his mother before going to bed and will quietly fall asleep without any problems.

What to feed a 6 month old baby

The basis of food for a six-month-old toddler remains mother's milk, acquaintance with new food products is underway, so it is impossible to create an exact menu for a child at 6 months, since everything depends on the baby's reaction to each type of puree, porridge or compote.

Pediatricians do not recommend using salt, sugar, various spices and food products in cooking that can provoke an allergic reaction. For little gourmets, you can prepare simple but tasty dishes - pureed vegetables or fruits, compote.

Cauliflower

Rinse thoroughly and finely chop 2 inflorescences (100 g), add a small amount of water and cook until tender. Pour the cabbage into a blender bowl, add 40 ml of milk, 3 ml of vegetable oil. butter, then grind everything to a puree.

Carrot

Wash, peel, cut small carrots into small cubes, add a small amount of water to a saucepan, and simmer until they boil. Rub the vegetable through a sieve or blend in a blender, add a little breast milk. Boil the resulting mixture for 2-3 minutes, add 3 g of plums. oils Let it cool and you can feed the baby.

Dried fruits

For the compote, sort dried fruits (20-40 g), rinse in warm water several times, and soak for 2 hours. Boil 2 glasses of water, add the soaked fruits, cook for 15-20 minutes over low heat. Leave for 1-2 hours in a closed saucepan, cool and strain 2-3 times. Then give the drink to the child.

Apple

To make the compote, wash a fresh apple in warm water, cut off the skin and remove the core. Then cut it into slices, throw it into boiling water and boil for 5-8 minutes. Set aside to cool, then strain 2-3 times. If the drink is not very sweet, do not add sugar to it. You just need to increase the portion of fruit and let your baby get used to the new taste.

If the baby refuses new dishes, then I recommend that you stop feeding them and try to return to the same menu after 10-14 days.

Finally

In order for children’s adaptation to changes in diet and nutrition to be painless and the introduction of complementary foods to achieve its main goals, several recommendations should be taken into account (regardless of whether the baby is on artificial or natural nutrition):

1. It is advisable to maintain the feeding regimen completely to help the child’s body adapt to it;
2. The place for feeding should be chosen in a bright room, isolating it from distractions, so that the baby concentrates specifically on nutrition;
3. it is necessary to create a friendly atmosphere;
4. it is necessary to encourage the child’s desire to eat the food offered and drink compote;
5. To feed calmly and not be upset about dirty things and the table, lay an oilcloth around it, which can be easily washed from food that falls during feeding.

If new types of food in the baby’s diet do not cause allergies, then after a month it will be possible to introduce a second complementary food.

The first food a newborn tries in his life is breast milk. However, despite the storehouse of vitamins and beneficial microelements that not only help the baby grow, but also improve its immunity, mother’s milk can replace “adult food” only until the child is six months old. Feeding a baby at 6 months often becomes a problem for young parents. To benefit your child and develop good taste for food, you definitely need to seek help from a specialist who will tell you where to start complementary feeding.

Don't be afraid to vary your 6-month-old baby's feeding habits. Reaching this age, the baby becomes more active, inquisitive and interesting. He is able to distinguish mom and dad from strangers. Now the baby expresses joy or disappointment (smiles or violently expresses his protest), tries to make some sounds and pick up toys. Such signs of normal development indicate that it is time to immediately develop a new menu.

Feeding a 6 month old baby. Introducing new dishes

A child who eats only breast milk and does not lag behind in development can be breastfed for up to 6 months. It should be remembered that in this case there is no need to offer the baby fruit, vegetable purees or juices. Before introducing a new product into your baby’s usual feeding regimen at 6 months, you should consult with your pediatrician. It is the doctor who will tell you which allergenic fruits and vegetables should be put off for several months, and which can be given now.

The situation is completely different with artificial children. Being on such a diet, the child should learn about the existence of juices and fruit purees from 3.5 or 4 months, that is, traditional complementary feeding begins a little earlier. Children with allergies are often forced to consume formulas made not from cow's milk, but from soy protein. Such babies feel a lack of animal protein, which meat puree helps fill. It should be given at 5 or 5.5 months. The only condition for the correct preparation of such a dish is that the meat must be cooked in a second broth and thoroughly chopped.

Feeding a baby at 6 months may include beef or veal puree. If you are individually intolerant to these proteins, they can be replaced with lean pork, chicken, turkey, rabbit or horse meat. You can prepare this puree yourself or buy it ready-made at the pharmacy. When making your baby’s menu more varied, monitor every reaction of his body to prevent future allergies.

Feeding regimen for a 6 month old baby. Switching to a new diet

A child who is 5 months old should get used to eating not 6, but 5 times a day. The break between meals should be a maximum of 3-4 hours. You should also take a 10-hour break at night. It is best to introduce a new product into the feeding of a 6-month-old baby at lunchtime (at about 13:00) to monitor its tolerance. It is not recommended to give complementary foods early in the morning or late in the evening. By adhering to this rule, the baby will more easily get used to the unusual dish and will not overeat at night.

To introduce your baby to non-dairy products, you need to give them when the baby is hungry (immediately before breast milk). Feeding a baby at 6 months should not start with large portions of juice or fruit puree. Limit yourself to half a teaspoon, gradually increasing the amount of new food over 10-12 days up to 150 g.

Feeding a 6-month-old baby will start successfully if mom and dad are patient and attentive to their baby. We must not forget that at this age the baby still does not know how to swallow thick and solid food. For convenience, buy a silicone spoon that will not injure your baby’s gums and cause him discomfort while eating. Do not offer your child several foods at once. Stop at one first, and then gradually mix in other components. Thus, over time, zucchini can be supplemented with peas, onions, potatoes, etc. If the baby refuses any ingredient, do not force him to accept it, as this may cause a deliberate protest for a long time.

It is best to start feeding a baby at 6 months with vegetable puree (in cases where there are signs of rickets or anemia) or porridge. If your baby has allergies, complementary foods should not include brightly colored vegetables. You should limit yourself to cabbage, zucchini, peas, potatoes and green beans. Potato allergy can be avoided if its amount in the total mass of vegetables does not exceed 20%. Sunflower, olive or corn oil will help make the dish more healthy and tasty.

You can start feeding your baby with porridge at 6 months when the baby is underweight or has frequent and profuse regurgitation. It is recommended to purchase special gluten-free porridges (rice, corn, buckwheat) enriched with vitamins and microelements from pharmacies. To prepare such porridges, just pour them hot water and do not bring to a boil. When introducing it into the feeding regimen of a 6-month-old baby, it is necessary to take into account that the porridge should be very liquid (5 g of cereal per 100 ml of liquid). Before 8 months, you should not cook porridge with cow's milk. It is better to replace it with breast milk or a suitable formula. Children with severe allergies can receive porridge cooked in water or dairy-free formula. Butter or a piece of egg yolk will help make this dish very healthy.

Sample menu for a 6 month old baby

The feeding regimen of a 6-month-old baby can be very varied depending on the characteristics of each baby’s body. Let's consider an approximate menu for feeding a child at 6 months, which is suitable for children who are breastfed. It includes 5 meals:

• Mother's milk;
• 150 g vegetable puree (porridge) and 3 g vegetable oil, juice;
• 30 g fruit puree + mother's milk;
• Mother's milk.

Children who receive formula can gradually switch to a feeding regimen consisting of the following 5 meals:

Feeding a 6-month-old baby with a cow protein allergy may consist of the following 5 meals:

• Mother's milk, fermented milk product, 180-200 ml of soy mixture;
• 170 g dairy-free porridge + mother's milk or fermented milk product, 3 g sunflower oil, 20 g fruit puree;
• 3 g sunflower oil + 150 g vegetable puree, 30-50 g meat puree, 20 g fruit puree;
• 150 g of vegetable dish with the addition of cereals and 3 g of sunflower oil, 30 g of meat puree and 20 g of fruit puree;
• Mother's milk, fermented milk product or special dairy-free formula.

Focused on the physiology of the baby. And despite the fact that you really want to give your baby everything delicious and more, you should be very careful in choosing the menu. Fortunately, there are ready-made recommendations for breastfed and bottle-fed babies, as well as for babies with developmental problems and allergic reactions.

Nutrition for a healthy baby

The menu for a six-month-old breastfed baby is determined by the usual pediatric standards. There are 3 types of foods that can be given to a baby when they reach six months - fruits (in the form of purees and juices), vegetables and cereals. You should start introducing complementary foods with vegetables, because once you introduce your baby to something else, more tasty, it will be very difficult to return to vegetables.

The correct menu for a 6-month-old child may include white and green vegetables, in particular: zucchini, cabbage, peas, potatoes, green beans. Start complementary feeding with zucchini, as it has the most delicate structure and will not harm the baby’s intestines. Mashed potatoes should not be given on their own, as this vegetable is an allergen. It should be added to other vegetables, no more than 20% of the volume of the dish.

Rules for making puree

When preparing purees for a 6-month-old baby, follow these rules.

• Do not boil vegetables. It is better to steam them until soft. Then mash with a fork, or better yet, beat in a blender.
• Do not salt the puree, do not add milk to it.
• Don’t expect the baby to “pounce” on your dish from the first spoon. Accustom him to the new menu gradually, without violence. Offer puree before the main feeding, starting with half a spoon. Daily increase the portion by 2 times, bringing it to 150 grams.
• A week after getting to know one vegetable, add a few drops of refined and deodorized vegetable oil to the puree.(sunflower, olive or corn). After another week, add a second vegetable to the puree, for example, add half a spoonful of young pea puree to zucchini puree with vegetable oil.

This is how the baby’s menu is formed at 6 months. mixed feeding, infants and artificial babies with normal weight. It is considered ideal to introduce vegetables first if you are overweight. It is also suitable for children with food allergies, signs of anemia and rickets.

Diet for underweight babies

In the nutritional menu of a six-month-old child who is prone to underweight or often spits up after eating, it is preferable to first introduce porridge. They are higher in calories than breast milk and formula and will help the baby develop properly. Porridges for 6-month-old babies are prepared from gluten-free grains, in particular buckwheat, corn and rice. The very first thing to eat is buckwheat porridge for a 6-month-old child, prepared not by a caring mother, but under industrial production conditions.

Why? Because in production baby food Strict sanitary standards apply. Cereals approved for the production of baby porridge must be environmentally friendly, steamed, and retain all useful components. It is also very convenient: you don’t have to cook 1 spoon of porridge, just pour boiling water over it and cool.

Rules for preparing porridge

Diet for children with allergies

You should choose the first products for children prone to developing allergic reactions with the utmost caution. Their first food should be vegetables (in particular, zucchini and peas). And then you should introduce dairy-free porridge. Among cereals, choose buckwheat, corn or rice. You can use oatmeal or barley. There should be no powdered cow's milk in this porridge. But it is not prohibited to add breast milk or an adapted formula (with protein hydrolyzate or soy-based) to it.

Fruits are also included in a child's diet at 6 months. The menu may include apple, pear, and plum puree. They are introduced according to the residual principle, after familiarization with vegetables and porridge. Industrially produced “jars” are more preferable here than fresh fruit, as they have a balanced taste and are sure to please the baby.

By six months, a newborn baby already begins to sit up independently, confidently holds a spoon in his hands and spends more time outside of sleep, for which he requires a lot of strength and energy. To diversify the child’s menu at 6 months, parents begin to introduce new products, for example, vegetable and meat purees, dairy and dairy-free cereals, as well as fresh vegetables and fruits.

You should begin introducing adult food into your baby’s diet no earlier than 4 months, since until this time the fragile body is not able to digest regular products. In addition, the nutrients from mother's milk are sufficient for the development of the baby, and he does not need additional nutrition.

The very first complementary food is vegetable puree, since vegetables do not cause allergies and are quickly digested. Along with vegetables, you can offer your child fruit juice and milk porridge, if you are not allergic to dairy products. From five months of life, it is recommended to add canned meat to the baby’s menu, for example, puree with turkey, rabbit or young beef. It is quite possible to prepare such complementary foods yourself, using fresh meat as a basis. The boiled piece should be ground in a blender until creamy, since the baby will not yet be able to chew the food in pieces.

At six months, the baby’s menu will be more varied, but don’t forget about breastfeeding, since mother’s milk contains numerous beneficial minerals and vitamins, and also helps the body adapt to the introduction of new foods into the diet.

At six months, you can offer your baby the following products:

• boiled vegetables: potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, beets, cauliflower, zucchini;
• fruits: apple (baked or fresh), banana, peaches, apricots;
• porridge: oatmeal, rice, buckwheat, corn, semolina;
• broths: vegetable, meat;
• meat: rabbit, turkey, beef (lean), chicken;
• juices: apple, carrot, apricot, pumpkin, cherry;
• tea: with chamomile, with mint, with lemon balm, children's herbal tea with a few drops of lemon.

It is worth remembering that complementary foods are introduced gradually. When introducing new foods, start with a small dose - for the first time, give your child only 1-2 spoons of unfamiliar food. If no side effects are observed, the next time the portion can be increased 2-3 times, gradually bringing it to normal. If a new product causes an allergy, stop giving it immediately; usually this phenomenon disappears on its own, so you should try to diversify your diet with such food after a few weeks.

With each subsequent month, the number of infant feedings per day decreases, but portion sizes increase accordingly. So, at six months a child’s nutrition should consist of 5 breastfeeding with a long break for night sleep and 1-2 snacks with adult food.

The optimal time to introduce complementary foods is considered to be lunch, since by an hour or two you are already hungry enough and are able to eat the maximum amount. adult food. Be sure to offer the baby porridge or puree first, and then supplement the diet with breast milk, otherwise, after eating mother’s milk, the baby will no longer want anything else.

You can offer your child adult foods a second time in the evening, but you should not overfeed him immediately before bed, since a full stomach will not allow the baby to get a good night's sleep. It is best to treat your pet with sweet porridge or fruit puree 2-3 hours before bedtime, and place it on your chest before going to bed.

It is important to establish a constant diet for your child, and be sure to stick to it. Having adapted to one feeding schedule, the baby will eat in the right amount, and problems with colic and bloating will no longer bother you.

Porridges are useful not only for children, but also for adults, as they contain many useful microelements and vitamins. Starting from 5-6 months, the child’s menu should contain all kinds of cereals, and they can be prepared both with milk and in a dairy-free way.

Few people know how to properly prepare baby porridge, but in fact there is nothing complicated about it. The main thing is to follow the algorithm of actions exactly:

• firstly, cereals for preparing baby food must be thoroughly washed with boiled water;
• secondly, the porridge should be cooked over low heat so that it does not burn, but at the same time is sufficiently boiled;
• thirdly, when there is no longer water in the pan, the swollen porridge must be rubbed through a fine sieve. If a child is allergic to milk, this is where the cooking process ends; the porridge can be supplemented with a small amount of high-quality butter or a spoonful of sugar syrup;
• fourthly, to prepare milk supplements, pour the pureed porridge with hot milk and put it back on the stove for about 5-10 minutes, constantly watching so that the dish does not burn.

The menu of a 6-month-old baby should be as varied as possible, so don’t stop at just porridge. Try the most different types cereals, since the taste preferences of all people are different and one product that is not to your taste may delight your baby.

To ensure that your little gourmet enjoys new products, follow these basic tips:

• prepare food for the newborn immediately before meals, since heated porridge will no longer be as tasty;
• complementary foods for a 6-month-old baby are prepared only from high-quality fresh products;
• buy beautiful baby dishes; for a 6-month-old child, such an innovation will be an additional incentive to eat;
• do not force the baby to eat foods that he does not like, try offering such complementary foods another time;
• before feeding, be sure to try all the dishes yourself, as they can be hot or cold, salty or spicy, etc.;
• Involve your child in cooking, let him hold spoons and peeled vegetables in his hands; during cooking, the baby can suck on fresh food a little, which will give him the necessary amount of vitamins, and will save you from whims and tears;
• adjust the feeding regime to suit the baby, if he is awake in the morning, organize a nutritious snack around noon, and if the baby is active until late at night, complementary feeding with adult food should be given closer to 6 o’clock.

Choose foods that your baby likes, gradually diluting them with healthy vegetables and meat - this will make it easier to teach him a healthy diet.

It’s one thing to know about a child’s nutritional problems “theoretically” and quite another to face them in practice. How to organize? At what time, in what form and in what quantity should they be offered? These questions often confuse moms and dads. We hope that the sample menus for a growing child, which we are starting to publish in this issue, will become a model that will help you create an individual menu for your baby.

TO 6 months baby He grew up noticeably and became more active and energetic. He is interested in objects that come into his field of vision, looks at them carefully, and increasingly makes guttural, melodious sounds, repeating them with different intonations. The child’s emotional reactions have become much richer: he smiles joyfully at his mother, father, and other people whom he often sees, and is wary at the sight of strangers, reacting to the intonation of adults. Of course, you are still breastfeeding your baby, but the composition of breast milk can no longer fully meet his needs. This means that it is time to think about complementary feeding.

Menu for a 6 month old baby: new dishes

If a breastfed baby develops normally, then until 4-6 months he does not need any additional food products, including fruit puree and juices. This also applies to those children who are breastfed prone to allergies: if the pediatrician does not identify any deficiency nutrition for a 6 month old baby, then complementary foods are introduced at the usual time, taking into account individual tolerance of the products.

Artificially-bred children quickly begin to experience a lack of a number of substances necessary for normal height and development. Consequently, the need for additional nutrition for children 6 months old. Therefore, new products in the form of juices and then fruit purees are introduced into their diet at approximately 3.5 - 4 months. Children receiving formulas made from soy protein or protein hydrolysate (this happens in the case of an allergy to cow's milk proteins) experience a lack of animal protein earlier than others. Therefore, meat puree from twice-cooked meat is introduced into their diet already at 5 - 5.5 months. If you are intolerant to beef, veal, the proteins of which are similar in composition to cow's milk proteins, it is recommended to use lean pork, horse meat, rabbit, turkey or chicken, as well as baby food containing horse meat or pork. However, these products must be introduced to children with allergies carefully, taking into account individual tolerance.

Menu for a 6 month old baby: new diet

On 5 months of baby's life should be fed not 6, but 5 times a day at intervals of 3.5 hours and a 10-hour night break. Complementary feeding is best given at lunch (about 13 hours), and if for some reason this is inconvenient, then at any other feeding except the first and last. In this case, it will be easier for the child to wean himself off the first feeding (at 6 a.m.), and overeating at night is just as harmful for children as it is for adults.

A non-dairy product should be offered before breastfeeding or formula feeding - while the baby is still hungry and attracted to food. Start with a small volume (a few drops of juice, half a teaspoon of puree or porridge). Over the course of 10 - 12 days, gradually increase the amount of food to the desired volume (for complementary foods, this volume is about 150 grams). In order for a child to learn to swallow thick food, he must be fed with a spoon patiently and carefully; It is advisable that the baby’s first spoon be soft (for example, silicone).

If the child does not like the dish, do not insist; Force feeding is unacceptable!

Let your child get used to one dish first and only then introduce him to another. Introducing the new kind complementary foods, try one product first, gradually increasing its quantity, and then gradually “dilute” this product with a new one. For example, vegetable complementary feeding can be started with half a teaspoon of zucchini puree. For a week, give your baby only this puree, gradually increasing its volume. After a week, add half a teaspoon of pea puree to the zucchini puree. Continue to gradually increase the volume of the zucchini-pea mixture, etc.

You should start complementary feeding with either porridge or vegetable puree. In cases where a child has signs of rickets, anemia, or food allergies, we recommend starting with vegetable puree. Part puree for children with food allergies, it is necessary to include only green and white vegetables (zucchini, cabbage, green beans, peas, potatoes). Since potatoes have fairly high allergenic properties, their amount should not exceed 20% of the total volume of puree. To prepare puree, you can use both natural (including frozen) vegetables and canned vegetables for baby food from the above light-colored vegetables. Vegetable oil (sunflower, corn, olive) is added to the vegetable puree - preferably refined and deodorized.

Menu for a 6 month old baby those with insufficient body weight, as well as children who regurgitate frequently, can be given porridge as their first complementary food. In the diet of healthy children, porridge is usually introduced after vegetables. It is better to start with gluten-free milk porridges (buckwheat, corn, rice). In this case, preference should be given to cereals for baby food industrial production, which are prepared from environmentally friendly raw materials, enriched with vitamins, mineral salts (including iron) and do not require cooking. Even if your baby is healthy, has no signs of allergies, and you prefer to prepare porridge yourself, it is advisable not to use whole cow’s milk to prepare porridge until 8 months. It can be cooked breast milk, the mixture that the baby is fed, if necessary - with water. Many industrially produced cereals already contain milk powder; you can also give them at 5-6 months. In the first days, the porridge is prepared at 5 percent strength (5 grams of cereal per 100 grams of liquid): the porridge should be liquid - such that it flows from a spoon. Gradually cook the porridge thicker. You can add butter (from 5 months) and 1/4 hard-boiled egg yolk (from 6 months) to the finished porridge.

For children suffering from cow's milk protein intolerance, a second complementary food - dairy-free porridge - is introduced from 5 months. It can be buckwheat, corn, rice, oatmeal, barley porridge (the range of cereals is selected individually). When purchasing ready-made porridge, make sure that it does not contain powdered cow's milk. Porridges are prepared with water or with a specialized mixture that the child receives (based on soy or protein hydrolysate).

Menu for a 6 month old baby

Option 1. If your baby received exclusively breast milk up to 5 - 6 months and was growing and developing normally, then now is the time to start introducing new foods into his diet. Depending on the individual characteristics of the child, the doctor’s recommendations and your personal wishes, this may be juice, puree - fruit or vegetable. If a child has a tendency to allergic reactions as the first, new for baby product in some cases, vegetable puree can be recommended (from half a teaspoon, gradually increase the serving volume to 150 g). 2 - 3 weeks after this, the child can be offered another new product. A month after the baby started receiving new foods, his menu may look something like this:

Option 2. If your child starts receiving additional nutrition and complementary feeding in more early dates(from 4 - 4.5 months) as prescribed by the doctor, then by 6 months his diet may look something like this:

Option 3. Approximate daily diet for a 6-month-old child who is bottle-fed and receives new foods from 4 months:

Option 4. Approximate daily diet for a 6-month-old child with an allergy to cow's milk proteins: