As a parent, you should pay close attention to your child’s nutrition. During the first six months of life, babies get all the nutrients they need to develop from breast milk or formula. Gradually, at exactly six months of age, nutrition also comes from solid foods. This stage of giving solid food is also known as complementary food for breast milk. The complementary food menu for breast milk should combine various food sources to meet children’s nutritional needs. To provide adequate nutrition for children, provide a variety of food sources. This is because one type of food is usually not enough to meet a child’s daily nutritional needs.
Important nutritional content for children in complementary foods for breast milk
It needs to be understood, there is no such thing as unimportant nutrition or nutrition. It’s just that, some nutrients play a bigger role in baby food than others.
The following are the nutrients a growing baby needs:
- Proteins
When entering the Complementary Food phase, the time is right for babies to start tasting other protein-rich foods, including eggs, meat, chicken, fish and some grains that contain protein. - Calcium
Baby-friendly and calcium-rich foods such as whole milk cheeses (cheddar, muenster) and whole milk yogurt, ricotta and cottage cheese are delicious and nutritious additions. - Whole Grains and Complex Carbohydrates
This food contains important vitamins and minerals, as well as some protein for the baby’s daily intake. Food choices that can be introduced are whole wheat bread, whole wheat cereal, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, lentils, beans and peas. - Vitamins A, B, C, and E
These four vitamins play an important role in baby growth, promoting healthy brain and nerve development, as well as good function and development of the eyes, skin and immune system.
These vitamins are contained in several foods, such as:- Carrots and sweet potatoes (vitamin A)
- Green vegetables, bananas, and nuts (B vitamins)
- Tomatoes, strawberries and melons (vitamin C)
- Cereals and grains (vitamin E).
- High Fat Foods
It is important to ensure that fat and cholesterol intake does not fall too low. That is the reason most dairy products served to babies (cheese, yogurt) must be full fat or made from whole milk. Healthy doses of fat can also be obtained from avocado or olive oil. - Iron
Baby cereal is believed to be able to meet their needs easily. Additional iron can come from iron-rich foods such as meat, egg yolks, wheat germ, whole-grain breads and cereals, cooked dried peas, and other legumes when included in the diet. - Omega-3 Fatty Acids
The essential fat group, omega-3 (including DHA), is essential for optimal growth, vision and brain development of babies. Once your baby’s eating habits begin to form, add other foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish (salmon), meat, tofu, flaxseed, canola oil, and DHA-enriched yogurt, cereal and eggs. - Fluid
Once babies start being given complementary foods at the age of 6 months, fluids do not only come from breast milk or formula milk. In small amounts, other sources begin to enter, such as drinking water with meals, as well as juicy fruit and vegetables.When the weather is hot, the fluid should increase. If necessary, offer water when the temperature soars.
That’s what you need to know about children’s nutrition that must be met when given complementary foods for breast milk. Maybe there are still many other insights about children’s nutrition, fathers and mothers can discuss it with a specialist pediatric nutritionist.
