INFANT CARE
A new born baby needs lot of love, care and nourishment .The best nourishment for the baby is mothers milk which should be compulsorily given at least for the first 3 months. At times if the mother feels that the baby is hungry and milk produced is not sufficient then she can add top feed. The child at this age does not require any water, juice,fruit,pulses etc. Care should be taken not to add any sugar to the top feed.
Upto the age of 6 Months
If the mother is not working in the first 6 months, then ideally continue feeding the child only breast milk for the first 6 months in a gap of 2.5 – 3 hours during the day and 4-5 hours at night.This habit is to be developed after 2.5-3 months of age.
Digestion and Food in 7th Month
Start giving Apple / Banana in the 7th month starting with one fruit giving it daily for a week and then starting the second one. The child’s body need to understand what kind of enzymes / acid are required to digest that particular fruit. So one needs to be careful that out of enthusiasm we should not keep giving the baby new foods every day. After 15 days rice can be started in the form of puree.Make sure no salt is added to the cereal. Boiled rice can be added to little milk and pureed. Then carrot can be introduced in the rice.While boiling rice one can add carrot and puree in it with little milk. Carrot gives a nice color , texture and taste to the rice cereal.
Protein Rich Diet and 8th Month
In the 8th month we add proteins to the baby’s diet in the form of Lentil, boiled chicken pieces or boiled fish. Boiled potato is a good option for the baby as it gives lot of fat required by the baby to grow and move around. Again making sure no salt is added to this diet. The baby’s body till this time does not know how to process the sodium. So salt which is rich in sodium is avoided till the age of 1 year. Added sodium to the diet can cause trouble to the baby’s kidney’s and later in life may cause kidney problems.
At the age of 9 Months
At 9 months we can add egg and green vegetables like bottle gourd (can be added to rice), ridge gourd, pumpkin etc.In the fruit category papaya, watermelon and musk melon can also be given.
At the age of 10 Months
At 10 months we stop pureeing the food and instead we start mashing the foods so that they are in a semi solid state and the baby learns how to chew the food.Care should be taken not to give any citrus fruit or vegetable like Oranges, tomatoes, grapes, pineapple, mango etc. till 12 months
At the age of 11 Months
Its time now for the baby to start eating wheat product like stuffed parantha, paneer, vegetables without salt in the 11 month.We can start giving curd to the baby at this age.
At the age of 12 Months
At 12 months the baby has sufficient teeth and is ready to chew the food, so we stop mashing the food and start giving small bits of roti soaked in dal, small pieces of fruits, boiled vegetables. After the first year slowly introduce salt in the diet of the baby’s food and also start adding one citrus fruit per week. Now the baby’s diet should ideally have Two fruits, One raw vegetable ( cucumber), Three glasses of milk, Two meals of cereals ( either rice or wheat)with dal,chicken, fish or egg, the portion size would be small and the baby would be eating every 2.5 – 3 hours.If the mother wants she can continue breast feeding the child for another year once a day.
Breast feeding improves the immunity of the child and can be slowly weened off as decided by the parents.
to be continued...
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