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0-1-year-old child nutrition



The ideal food for a newborn baby is 'breast milk'. You can continue to breastfeed your baby until the age of 2. Breast milk meets all the nutritional needs of the baby for the first 6 months. There is no need to add additional nutrients during this time. However, after the sixth month, supplementary foods should be started for babies who are breastfed. Thus, you will make your baby meet other foods and contribute to its healthy and balanced development. In the first 6-month period when the baby is fed only with breast milk, it does not need to be given water except for the diseases that cause water loss because your baby meets this need from breast milk. (About 90% of breast milk is water.) If a condition such as diarrhea is absolutely necessary, boiled and then chilled water should be given.


A few behaviors that show your baby is ready to try additional nutrients;

· If your baby has begun to take their own hands or objects around her mouth too often,

· If he has started waking up at night or waking up more often while sleeping without holes before,

· If she consumes more breast milk than before, she may be ready to try additional nutrients.

Some babies may not perform these behaviors, but this does not mean they are not hungry or ready to try additional nutrients. Just like in adults, eating behaviors can be shaped differently in babies.


Baby Nutrition and Food Allergies

It is very important that your baby's diet is diverse. But there is also the possibility of being allergic to one or more foods.

It is very important that you try it separately from other foods and never give it to your baby before the 6th month (especially some of them from an older age), especially since the following foods may have allergic effects:

· Cow milk (Recent approaches suggest waiting for cow milk until 1 year old.)

· Egg

· Gluten-containing foods such as wheat and rye

· Foods containing oilseeds such as nuts and peanuts (Children under 5 years old should not be given unbroken oilseeds due to the risk of suffocation.)

· Fish and shellfish


When your baby is ready to consume solid foods, you need to make sure that they do not show any allergic reactions by trying small amounts of new foods. These allergic reactions; eczema, different skin rashes, asthma, fever, diarrhea, etc. It can be observed.

More attention should be paid to allergic reactions when switching to supplementary food, especially if there are individuals who are allergic to a particular food in the family.



Starting Supplementary Food

In the transition to supplementary food, try not to get stuck on how much your baby eats. For example, 6 months old baby breakfast in the first place may consist of trying 1/8 boiled egg yolk. The main purpose here is to introduce the baby to the egg.


Some days your baby will be eating more, while others may choose to eat less or completely refuse some foods.


The process of transition to supplementary food:

· Let your baby touch the nutrients so that they will have opportunities to eat with all the sensory organs.

· When your baby wants to hold his or her own food and take it into his mouth, let him do it in a controlled way.

· It may take time to accept a new food. In some cases, you may need to try some foods over and over again.

· Do not force your baby to finish the meal you prepared, you will have the chance to try new foods the next time they are interested.

· If you are going to feed your baby using a spoon, wait for it to open its mouth by itself. Do not force your baby to open his mouth.

· Since the digestive system is not yet familiar with solid foods, your baby may want to keep food longer in the mouth and the feeding process can take longer than you. This is completely normal, you have to be patient.

· In the first days when you start supplementary food, try to try a single type of food only with small pieces or teaspoons 1 or 2 times a day.

· If you need to cook the food you give, give it to your baby by testing that it is not too hot.

· Do not add salt, sugar, and bouillon to your meals.

· Never leave your baby alone while trying new foods. Observe the process of eating very well against the risk of suffocation.



Supplementary Food With Which Foods To Start?


0-6 Month Baby Feeding

During this month, your baby should only be fed breast milk or baby food.

Follow-on meals are not suitable for babies younger than 6 months, and if no extra need is needed, it will not be necessary to use follow-on meals after 6 months.


Baby Nutrition From 6th Month

The mother is generally very sensitive about the foods she will introduce to her baby for the first time and can confuse many sources she read.


First Foods

· The first foods you will introduce to your baby should consist of fruits and vegetables that you have mashed and, if necessary, cooked.

· You can give your baby breast milk and baby food when necessary, but it is not recommended to give the milk of cows, goats, or another animal raw until the age of 1.

· While feeding some babies, you can take advantage of the foods that you gently crush. But in some babies, foods that are not crushed well can stimulate the gag reflex. In such cases, you can try better crushed and smoothed foods. 6-month-old baby soups can also be made from vegetables that you boil, lightly crush and keep the juice.

· It is important to switch from mashed foods to crushed foods as quickly as possible so that your baby can try different foods. To make this decision, you need to observe how successfully your baby is turning nutrients in his mouth.

· Continue to offer different foods periodically, even if your baby has previously rejected them. You may need to try one food more than once to get used to the new supplementary food options.



Foods You Can Hold and Eat (Finger Foods)

· Once your baby starts trying solid foods, you can give them the nutrients in your hands, as soon as you think that hand coordination is sitting in order to gain self-feeding behavior.

· You can start these experiments with the size that your baby can hold and with easily degradable foods. For example, ripe bananas or avocados may be suitable options for this process. Foods the size of your own finger will be large enough for them to grasp.

Foods You Will Use Next

When your baby gets used to eating crushed fruit and vegetables, you can start the red meat cooked towards the 7th month, chicken in the 7-month-old baby feeding, and fish around the 8th and 9th months. It is very important to make sure that the meat is boneless or boneless. You can start experimenting with 1/8 of the egg by boiling the yolk from the 6th month. You can gradually increase the amount and give 1 full egg yolk in the 8th month. Starting from the 9th month, you can also try foods such as lentils, bread, and pasta.

It can also be included in your baby's nutrition in full-fat yogurt from the 6th month. It is important to make sure that the yogurts you will use are not sugar added. If you do your cheese trials with unsalted goat cheese within the 7-month baby breakfast, you can minimize the risk of allergic reactions. It is very important to make sure that all milk and milk products are pasteurized to protect against infections.


Use of Cups

It is important for your baby to learn to use cups or drinkers. You can start these trials with small sips of water.






Baby Nutrition From 8th and 9th Month

Your baby can now start feeding with at least 3 meals a day. These foods can be chosen as the foods that they can hold with their own hands or in the crushed/pureed form.

8 and 9-month old baby meals should contain the following nutrients:

· Fruits and vegetables

· Bread, rice, pasta and other foods containing starch

· Meat, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs

· Dairy products


From the 12th Month

Starting from the 12th month, your baby should definitely be fed with at least 3 meals a day. In addition to the main meals, which are made up of shredded foods as much as needed, snacks that they can hold with their hands, which may consist of fruits and vegetables, will also be useful. As she turns 1 year old, her intestines will be ready for full-fat cow's milk. Therefore, you can now give your baby milk as additional food. It is very important not to give honey against the risk of botulism up to 1-year-old.



An aged baby can start eating at home with his family, sitting at the table. In order not to strain your kidneys, it is useful to avoid adding salt to their meals in the first place.

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