Introducing baby foods: You should know that

The first spoons of complementary foods - an exciting moment for both the baby and for mom and dad. We have compiled the most important key points so that you know when and how you should handle the introduction of complementary foods.

First complementary food: How to find the right time

The right time for the introduction of complementary foods is between the beginning of the fifth and seventh month of life. You can also tell from your child's behavior whether it is time to try the first baby porridge in addition to breast milk or bottle milk.

• If your child is generally interested in what is happening, when you are sitting at the table and eating, then it may already be curious to eat. If it watches you while eating and "complains" a bit, it signals: I want to try it myself.
• Your child cannot sit free at five or six months. However, it should be able to keep its head still and turn very well if it is in the car seat or in a seesaw.
• Test the first spoons carefully and in a "well-rested" moment. You can first give your child the spoon, which is only lightly wetted, to try out.
• After the first taste, your child will continue to open your mouth curiously and willingly, as soon as the filled spoon comes towards you, that's a good sign. Do not overfill the spoons at first.
• If, on the other hand, your baby immediately pushes the porridge out with his tongue and does not want to swallow, you can confidently wait a little longer with the complementary foods and try again after about a week or two.
• Stay a little more persistent with your meal offerings if you notice that your child is no longer adequately cared for by breastfeeding or bottle feeding.
• Faster hunger after the last meal and shorter bed times than before can indicate that a "plus" of food is now needed.

From the first spoons to a complete meal

Basically there is no "must" when introducing complementary foods, at best a "can", because every child is (s) t different. There are good experiences if, in the first step, you replace the lunch meal with a vegetable porridge from the five meals a day.

• In the first week of complementary foods, start with a simple vegetable porridge made from one ingredient. This can be carrot, pumpkin or parsnip, for example. All three have a slightly sweet taste and are therefore usually well accepted by complementary food children.
• After the first spoons, you will quickly feel when your child has enough. Then offer breast milk or the bottle if necessary as a supplement for the first few days. This also makes it easier for your body to gradually adapt to the falling demand for breast milk.
• If it works out well with the first vegetable porridge, you can supplement it with fortifying potato or sweet potato in the second week.
• In the third week of the introduction to complementary foods, you will be offering vegetable porridge with a little meat two or three times a week. This ensures your baby's iron supply.
• However, it is also possible without meat: Then you should mix vegetable iron suppliers into the porridge. For example, tender-melting oat or millet flakes are suitable in combination with a tablespoon of apple or orange juice.
• In a final step, you can also vary the vegetable and potato porridge by scheduling sea fish instead of meat once a week. In the following weeks, you can also try to place noodles or rice as a filling carbohydrate carrier instead of potatoes.

Try again after about a month

If things go well with the first full meal - this is usually the case after four to six weeks - you can start changing to meal number two. If this is also done, replace food number three and finally give your child only one to a maximum of two milk meals.

• Especially if you want to breastfeed your child until the end of the first year of life, you should make sure that the last two breastfeeding meals are far apart in time. This way your body gets used to a lower milk demand.
• Now offer your offspring a cereal-fruit porridge or cereal-milk porridge in the evening. After another four to eight weeks, replace the afternoon meal with the cereal-fruit porridge.
• You can quickly and easily prepare the cereal porridges yourself. They heat water or milk and add baby melt flakes or fine flakes (be careful, let them swell well). Oat, millet, rice or spelled flakes are well suited for this.
• You can prepare the cereal with or without milk. For a long time, cow's milk was a "no-go" during the child's first year. In the meantime, however, the general recommendations have changed. Up to 200 milliliters of whole cow's milk are now also accepted in children from the seventh month.
• If you decide not to use cow's milk in the porridge, you can mix the cereal with water or - as soon as your child has got used to the cereal porridge - with vegetable milk such as coconut milk, oat or rice milk.
• With a vegan porridge alternative, you should also include a source of fat and energy in the evening porridge. Linseed or rapeseed oil is very suitable as a supplement. In addition, nut or almond butter, which also provide calcium.
• Add some grated or crushed fruit to the cereal porridge. For example, apple or pear are good for this. With bananas, you should note that they can have a slightly filling effect.

Which complementary food is the best?

Every child is already characterized by taste substances in late pregnancy and breastfeeding. Therefore, it will be easier for some children to accept new things on the spoon, while others remain hostile to many things. Both is possible. However, as a parent, you should know the following:

• Contrary to what has been claimed for a long time, according to current knowledge your child will not be better protected against allergies if he gets as little different foods as possible in the first year of life. On the contrary, your offspring will benefit from a little variety.
• Whether you want to cook baby porridge yourself or use ready-made glass food is certainly a question of your time - but it is important that the ingredients are high-quality and freshly processed and as little as possible overcooked. You should also make sure that there is no additional salt in the food in the first few months.
• If you want a vegetarian or even vegan diet for your offspring, this is also possible. However, you then have to find out exactly how to provide your child with sufficient nutrients such as iron, iodine, vitamin B12 and essential fatty acids. Be sure to talk to your pediatrician about this.
• As soon as your child can sit on his own - this is often the case at nine months - you can give him a snack as "finger food" in the morning as a snack. Rusk, bread crusts, fruit such as pear and apple or vegetables such as carrot are suitable for this.
• With every new food that you incorporate into your child's menu, there can be reactions of the digestive tract or the skin. You should not watch your child carefully during this "changeover" period.

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