Since the baby began to eat complementary food, mothers have tried their best to give the baby a whole meal. It is said that meat-eating knows the taste, no meat is not happy, meat is nutritious, can make the baby's body grow stronger, and can also improve resistance.
But we also know that meat is not easy to digest and absorb for babies with imperfect gastrointestinal development. Therefore, many mothers have been hesitant to wait for the baby's stomach to be raised before arranging the meat.
That day, I went to my neighbor's house to borrow a flower raising tool and found that my neighbor's mother was feeding her baby in her early 1 year. I looked at the food in the bowl, and then saw that the baby was not interested and had been eating passively, so I couldn't help but ask more: "Why are they all vegetarian dishes, and don't give the child a whole amount of meat?" ”
Bao's mother said helplessly, "Recently, the weather has started to get hot, the child has a bad appetite, and indigestion, and it is easy to get angry when eating meat, so I haven't given her anything to eat." ”
Eating meat will still get hot? This is the first time I've heard of it. However, there are indeed some parents around me who always feel that the baby's stomach is weak, and they are afraid that eating meat will be difficult to digest and absorb, so they have not added meat supplements to the baby for a long time, and even some have not tasted meat for more than 1 year!
When can babies eat meat? Generally no later than this month
The latest "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" released by the Chinese Nutrition Society mentions that infants can gradually introduce a variety of foods from the age of 6 months, and the first bite of complementary food should start with iron-rich pureed foods, such as meat puree, egg yolks, and iron-fortified baby rice noodles.
That is to say, when the baby starts to add the first bite of complementary food, you can add meat, but it is just to make pureed meat.
This also shows that under normal circumstances, the baby has the conditions to "eat meat" at about 6 months, if it is not arranged, it may make the baby lack some nutrients (such as iron), affecting the normal development of the body.
Of course, this also depends on the baby's own situation, such as the gastrointestinal function gradually stabilizes, and you can slowly start eating meat. At first, add some meat puree, meat floss or minced meat, etc., which is more conducive to the baby's digestion and absorption.
Generally speaking, 6-7 months is the best time to add meat to your baby, and no later than 8 months. Otherwise, if you don't eat meat for a long time, the nutrition in the body is unbalanced, and malnutrition may occur, resulting in stunted growth and development.
How do babies eat meat? Dietitian advice: There are 3 principles to follow
Follow the principle of "order of addition of complementary foods".
Any complementary food added to the baby should follow the principle of from less to more, thin to thick, from fine to coarse, and from one to many. Therefore, the state of meat for babies should be: thin paste, puree, foam, granular, lumpy.
And before the baby is one year old, it is recommended to give the baby a meat supplement, without adding any seasonings, you can put a small piece of ginger when cooking to remove the smell of meat, and remove it when eating.
Every time we add a complementary food (including meat) to our baby, we need to pay attention to his adaptation, such as whether his digestion is normal, whether he has allergic symptoms, etc. If you can't adapt to it temporarily, you can try again after a while.
Follow the principle of "just in the right amount".
The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents recommend the following daily intake of meat for babies of different ages:
✔️July-December: about 50g of meat, poultry and fish per day;
✔️1-2 years old: can eat about 50~75g of meat, poultry and fish per day;
✔️2~3 years old: the total dietary demand for livestock and poultry meat, eggs, and aquatic products is about 50~70g per day;
✔️4~5 years old: The total dietary demand for livestock and poultry meat, eggs, and aquatic products is about 70~105g per day.
It should be noted that some babies are allergic to eggs, seafood, etc. This situation needs to be paid great attention to, so it is recommended to carefully observe the baby's reaction every time you add a kind of meat to your baby, and stop feeding immediately if you are not suitable.
Follow the principle of "health preservation".
Dietitians suggest that to give the baby complementary food, do not feed a spoonful of meat puree and a spoonful of vegetable puree, but it is best to mix meat, vegetables and staple foods together, so that the nutrition is more even, and the baby is not allowed to develop the habit of picky eating.
Moreover, you don't have to pick lean meat for your baby to eat, and don't dislike fatty meat. Fat is also an important nutrient element in the baby's body, as long as it is not excessive, eating some appropriately is conducive to growth and development.
Nutrition experts pointed out that to make meat supplementary food for babies, the first priority is to recommend the way of frying, which can best retain the nutrients in the meat, followed by steaming, and the cooking method of frying is the least recommended.
Finally, the ingredients for the meat you choose for your baby must be fresh. The meat is firm and shiny, and the color is uniform and elastic. Fish and poultry are naturally freshly slaughtered!
To give your baby meat to help grow, you also need to avoid 5 pits
There are many benefits to eating meat for your baby, but you can't do it casually, don't step on some pits! Otherwise, it will not only bring a little trouble to feeding, but most importantly, it will affect the growth and development of the baby.
⚠️ Don't give your baby large pieces of meat
Sometimes watching the baby gluttony, the parents don't say a word and hand a chicken leg or meat bone to the baby to gnaw. It is important to know that the baby's digestion and chewing ability is not yet to the extent that he can eat large pieces of meat. This may make it difficult for your baby to chew and swallow, and they will be prone to indigestion, so it is better to make pureed meat, diced meat and small pieces that they can eat.
⚠️ Don't just add seasonings
In order to let the baby eat more, it is not advisable to add seasonings to the complementary food to add flavor and freshness. Because the baby's visceral system is not fully developed, eating seasonings (especially salt and soy sauce, etc.) will increase the burden on the body and may also affect the development of taste. Therefore, the complementary food for the baby should be as original as possible.
⚠️ Don't make complementary foods the way adults do
Adults have heavier tastes and prefer to cook, fry, grill, stew and other ways to cook food, but babies can't. Especially for babies under one year old, it is best to puree or cut the complementary food into small cubes, and then use fried and steamed methods to make complementary food, which is simple and nutritious.
⚠️ Don't add multiple meats at once
Give the baby to eat complementary food step by step, each time a new ingredient is added, it is necessary to observe for about 2 days to see if the baby has adverse reactions. If you add several at once, it is not conducive to observing the reaction, and if there is discomfort, it is not easy to judge which ingredient is causing it.
⚠️ Don't use bone broth as a complementary food
Many parents feel that thick soup is nutritious, especially bone broth, so they often make it for their babies. But in fact, there are very few nutrients in the soup, and most of the nutrients are still retained in the meat, so don't always give the baby bone broth, no nutrition still occupies the stomach, it is better to give the baby more meat is more realistic.
epilogue
Well, these are some of the things you need to pay attention to when giving meat to your baby. Don't look at the trivial matter of eating meat, it's actually quite exquisite. In fact, adding complementary food to the baby really needs to pay more attention, so that the baby can eat well, and it will be healthier. In this way, you will find that the road to feeding and parenting will be much easier!
@莞家妈妈 A health manager/family education instructor, go to the homepage to learn more about parenting knowledge and baby raising skills!