No one disputes that the longer the mom should feed the baby with breast milk, the better. And the first months of life, except for mom’s food, the baby does not need anything else.
However, domestic scientists, relying on the opinion of ESPGHAN (the European Society of Specialists in the field of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and nutrition), believe that exclusively breastfeeding does not always provide a sufficient level of micronutrients — especially iron – into the baby’s body. Therefore, in their opinion, the first complementary feeding should be started at five months, and already in six months meat should be added to the diet as a source of this very iron.
The popular instamama and food blogger decided to go the other way. The woman teaches subscribers proper nutrition, and, apparently, she is sure that she knows better than to feed her child. Therefore, for more than a year, the blogger’s baby was fed exclusively with breast milk. At the same time, the mother herself ate only fruits and vegetables.
As a result, the adept of «proper nutrition» brought the child to such a state that the baby needed urgent medical care. The breast milk diet rewarded the baby with a whole bouquet of diagnoses: rickets, hypovitaminosis, anemia, poor appetite, problems with the esophagus and motor functions.
Now the baby is being pumped out in the hospital under a drip. And the guardianship service and law enforcement agencies are engaged in the mother herself.
For the normal development of the child in the diet of a nursing mother, in addition to vegetables and fruits, proteins (meat, fish, cottage cheese) and fermented dairy products must be present. According to WHO experts, breastfeeding can continue with benefits for the baby up to 2 years of age and even longer: the first 5-6 months – without supplements, and then — in combination with new products.
Rules for the beginning of complementary feeding
Each new product should be introduced into the baby’s menu gradually: start with a small amount and within 5-7 days increase this volume to the desired portion. At the same time, carefully observe how the child reacts to the innovation. If there are signs of intolerance to the product, exclude it from the list of «invited».
Remember that the first «dish» should consist of one component, to which other ingredients can then be added.
Do not start getting acquainted with the products if the child is sick or you are planning (or have already done) vaccination.
It is proved that in order for the baby to agree to eat a new dish, sometimes it needs to be offered not 1-2, but 10-15 times. If, after receiving a refusal, you give up trying to woo the child, he will lose the opportunity to expand the range of his taste sensations.
Since all children are different, try to take into account the taste preferences of your own child, and not be equal to the experience of relatives and friends. Let the kid choose the products that he likes and decide on their quantity.
