Complementary Feeding for Babies

Complementary Feeding

(Recommendations for Parents)

Your baby's nutrition from the mother's pregnancy period onwards, especially in the first two years; within the first 1000 days of your baby's life, affects the overall health condition.

What is Complementary Feeding?

Complementary feeding is providing foods other than breast milk or formula milk alongside with breast milk, to meet your baby's nutritional needs during the period when breast milk alone is insufficient.

When Should Complementary Feeding Start?

For the first 6 months, breast milk meets all your baby's needs. Breast milk is crucial for your baby's healthy development. Breast milk also strengthens the emotional bond between the mother and the baby.

After 6 months, breast milk continues to be the main source of nutrition for your baby. However, after 6 months, your baby's energy and nutrient needs increase. Therefore, complementary foods should support breast milk after 6 months.

In exceptional cases where some mothers' breast milk is insufficient, complementary feeding can be started at the earliest by the end of the 4th month. Starting complementary foods before the 4th month may be risky due to the immature state of your baby's kidneys and intestines.

After the 6th month, your baby should gradually get used to more dense and solid foods than breast milk. If desired, introducing yoghurt and watery porridges can be facilitated as the first transition. The aim here is to accustom the baby to swallow denser, more solid food than milk. After 1-2 weeks, it will be easier to transition to more chunky vegetable/fruit purees.

Starting complementary feeding is very necessary for meeting your baby's increasing nutritional needs and developing oral skills (swallowing, chewing).

What to Consider When Starting Complementary Foods?

• Complementary foods should always be given as a separate meal and when your baby is hungry.
• Each new complementary food item should be given alone.
• The first complementary food given to your baby should be trialled in very small amounts and the quantity should be increased gradually. For example, 1 teaspoon on the first day, 1 tablespoon on the second day, 2 tablespoons on the third day, and so on...
• Do not try to force-feed a food that your baby does not like.
• Give complementary foods to your baby with a spoon or cup, do not use a bottle.
• Make sure that the complementary foods are clean.
• Do not use metal grater or blender while processing foods. Instead, use a glass grater.
• Make sure that each food you give to your baby is natural and fresh. Also, make sure that the food you give is seasonally appropriate.
• Canned, frozen, packaged foods, ready-made fruit juices, carbonated drinks, ready soups, foods containing dyes, sweeteners, or artificial flavors are not suitable for your baby; never give them.
• Do not keep the prepared foods at room temperature for more than 2 hours, store in the refrigerator.
• Give freshly squeezed fruit juices to your baby only for the meal you prepared.

The Golden Rule When Starting Complementary Feeding!!!

1. When you start complementary feeding, let the baby decide when to eat what food.
2. The baby will decide whether to eat or not and how much to eat.

Remember, forcing your baby to eat is not a good idea and may lead to eating and appetite problems in the future.

How to Tell If Your Baby Is Ready to Start Complementary Foods?

• If your baby shows interest in what you are eating,
• If your baby watches you while you are eating,
• If your baby tries to reach for your food, and sometimes moves his mouth as if chewing,
• If your baby can sit unsupported,
• If your baby can finally hold the food in his mouth, chew it, and push it back when starting complementary foods,

these are the main signs that your baby is ready to start complementary feeding.

What Should Be the First Foods You Introduce?

Yoghurt and Cheese:

• Yoghurt is an ideal complementary food to start with. You can start around 4-6 months unlike cow's milk. Remember, you should not give cow's milk to your baby before 1 year old.
• Cheese made from pasteurized milk is also a good source of protein and calcium. You can start giving it to your baby from 6 months onwards. Make sure it is unsalted.

Pudding:

• Usually, puddings made with rice flour are nutritionally weak, so you can start with pudding made of oat flour first.

Vegetable Puree/Soup

• The vegetables chosen for vegetable soup should be selected from seasonal vegetables.
• For allergy risk, start with one type of vegetable and slowly enrich the content following the 3-day waiting rule. Vegetables should be heated and stored properly to preserve their nutritional value.
• The puree/soup should be slightly chunky.
• To ensure that your baby accepts the vegetables, you need to try them at least 8-10 times.

Fruit Puree:

• You can also start with vitamin-rich fruits as the first solid food.
• The 3-day rule also applies to fruits.
• Use a glass grater when mashing to preserve the nutritional value, and use the puree immediately after it is prepared.

What Is the 3-Day Rule?

When introducing a new food to babies starting complementary foods slowly, if you are giving a food for the first time, introduce another food after 3 days. Thus, within the past 3 days;

*You can easily understand allergic reactions

*Possible side effects and which symptom is caused by which food can be easily determined.

How Much Solid Food Should Your Baby Take?

Between the 6th and 8th months, in addition to breast milk, 2 meals of complementary foods should be given. That is, approximately 1 percent of feeding should be breast milk, and the remaining 99 percent should be complementary food. Since your baby's need for iron is high, you can add 1 teaspoon of lean beef to vegetable soups from the 6th month. This way, your baby gets to know red meat. After cooking with vegetables, strain them through a sieve first, then mash with a fork. Do not use a 'blender.' Vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, potatoes, and leafy greens can be offered first.

Egg Yolk:

Rich in cholesterol, protein, and vitamin A. Due to the high risk of egg allergy, start with boiled egg yolk at 6-7 months with an 1/8 ratio and gradually increase the amount. Full egg yolk is reached on the 8th day. Egg yolk should be prepared in an apricot-like consistency. The egg white should not be given before the 11th month.

Other Foods:

Starting at 7-8 months, in addition to beef and meatballs, you can also start fish and chicken/turkey meat. Especially starchy foods like rice and pasta are easily digestible by the digestive systems of babies. They can be consumed easily by the baby who is learning to chew.

Foods That Can Be Given Between 6-8 Months (listed)

• Fruits: Apple, avocado, apricot, banana, mango, nectarine, peach, pear, prune, plum, pumpkin
• Vegetables: Carrot, green beans, peas, zucchini, potatoes, leafy greens
• Grains: Wheat, barley, oat, rice
• Meat and Dairy: Yoghurt, cheese, butter, kefir, egg yolk, red meat

Food Recommendations for 9-12 Months:

Between 9-12 months, in addition to breast milk, 3 meals of complementary foods can be given. In this case, it would be beneficial to feed 1 percent as breast milk and the remaining 99 percent as complementary food. During these months, your babies can sit at the family table and consume foods prepared for you.

Foods That Can Be Given Between 9-12 Months (listed)

In addition to the foods given between 6-8 months;

• Fruits: Grapes, cherries, melon-watermelon, fig, kiwi, date, orange, tangerine, strawberry, grapefruit, pomegranate
• Vegetables: Celery, cauliflower, tomatoes
• Vegetables: Carrot, green beans, peas, zucchini, potatoes, leafy greens

What Foods Should Not Be Started Before 1 Year?

Sesame (tahini), honey, cocoa, blueberries, olives, cream, egg white, salt and sugar should not be started before 1 year old.

How to Tell If Your Baby Is Full?

The amount your baby eats can vary from day to day. You can understand if your baby is full or not through some signals he/she gives:

• If your baby leans backward on the high chair,
• If your baby turns his head away when you offer the spoon,
• If your baby refuses to open his mouth when you offer the spoon,
• If your baby starts to play with the food/spoon,

he/she probably does not want to continue eating.

How Much Water Should You Give Your Baby?

After starting complementary foods, you can try to give water to your baby every 3 hours or after each feeding. Eventually, the amount will increase. Giving water before meals can cause bloating and inadequate nutrition. Therefore, it is useful to give water after meals.