How to make vegetable purees for children. Recipe for making vegetable puree for babies at home. The choice of vegetables for puree and its benefits. Green bean puree

Vegetable puree for babies is recommended first and foremost as complementary foods. Not juices or cereals, as some parents think, but vegetables. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, they contain enough dietary fiber, which will provide the child with soft and delicate digestion and will be a good preventive measure for constipation.

In this article we will talk about how to introduce vegetable complementary foods, how to prepare tasty and healthy purees for babies, what vegetables to give and in what quantities.

What vegetables does the first complementary feeding start with?

Breast milk and adapted milk formulas satisfy the child's requirements for approximately the first six months of life. Then the baby’s diet should expand. Pediatricians recommend introducing vegetable purees into the diet first.. But not all vegetables are acceptable for a baby’s introduction to new foods.

If the child is breastfed, it is recommended to introduce vegetable complementary foods from 5-6 months. For a child who, by coincidence, is deprived of breast milk and is fed formula, it is better to introduce vegetables into the diet at 4 months of age.

It is recommended to introduce vegetables in a certain sequence. For the very first acquaintance with new food Vegetables that usually do not cause allergies are recommended, so-called low-allergenic. These are zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower. At the same time, the first baby vegetable puree must be one-component, that is, contain only one type of vegetable crop - only squash or only cauliflower puree.

pumpkin;
carrot;
potato;
squash.

Another month later, at the age of 7-8 months, cabbage, beets and cucumbers are added, in a year - tomatoes, and at 1.5 years - beans, peas and other legumes. It is recommended to introduce eggplants after one and a half years, closer to 2 years.

Manufacturers rating

Ready-made baby puree in a jar is convenient and safe. Manufacturers make sure that the composition of the product is hypoallergenic and balanced. To start complementary feeding, puree in a jar is the best option., because preparing homemade puree for the sake of half a teaspoon that the baby will eat is impractical. In addition, puree in a jar is convenient to take with you on a walk or on a trip.

Choosing a particular brand of baby food is a matter of family income and preferences. A pediatrician can only recommend certain manufacturers, but parents will still choose themselves, taking into account, among other things, the preferences of their own baby, because it happens that a child refuses to eat one brand of puree, but is delighted with the same puree from a different manufacturer.

safety and risk of allergy to the product;
taste qualities;
reviews from parents and pediatricians.

Based on these three criteria, we can arrange the currently existing brands in the following order:

Humana;
Gerber;
“Grandma’s Basket”;
Nutricia;
"FrutoNyanya";
"Subject";
"Swaddle";
"Agusha";
Hipp.

When choosing ready-made puree, be sure to pay attention to the age label and expiration date. If the jar does not make a pop when opening, you should not feed your baby this puree. If you wish, you can prepare vegetable puree yourself, but a number of important conditions must be met.

Selection and preparation of ingredients

To prepare homemade vegetable puree that can be given to an infant, you need to choose only fresh vegetables, the appearance of which is not satisfactory. If a zucchini or pumpkin has darkening, unevenness, areas of rot, cracks, or “damaged” sides, they are not suitable for baby food.

Vegetables can be bought at the market, in a store, but the best option is fruits and roots collected on your own site. If you don’t have a dacha or a vegetable garden, choose only those purchased that are grown in your area. Imported and imported vegetables and fruits are usually stuffed with a large number of chemicals to preserve their presentation. You need to be especially careful when choosing vegetables if they are not in season in your area. Instead of store-bought zucchini in the middle of winter, it’s better to buy ready-made puree in a jar from a trusted manufacturer of baby food.

You should not select vegetables whose sides are shiny for baby puree - it is possible to use wax, which is used to rub vegetables to retain moisture when transporting them from afar.

Homemade recipes

Making puree is easy. The task will be made easier by having a blender and steamer in the kitchen. A good puree can also be made in a slow cooker. In order to make a one-component puree for the first feeding, take a zucchini, wash it well and peel it. Cut the vegetable into large pieces, after removing the seeds and core.

If you cook vegetables in small pieces, they will retain almost no beneficial substances during heat treatment.

Place the zucchini pieces in a multicooker bowl, steamer or small saucepan with a small amount of water. Bring covered until done. Using a blender, turn the boiled zucchini into puree. If it turns out to be thick, add a little vegetable broth that remains after heat treatment, or boiled water. It is not recommended for infants to add salt and pepper to vegetable puree., but you can add a couple of drops of extra virgin olive oil. Ready puree is not stored. Before the next feeding, which includes additional feeding with vegetables, it is prepared again.

After 8 months the child will be able to eat multi-component purees. In this case, you can immediately cook several types of vegetables in a similar way, and then make a single puree from them. Zucchini and carrots, zucchini and broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, beets and carrots go well together. Almost all types of vegetables go well with mashed potatoes., which is prepared in the same way, but with the addition of milk or water (with the permission of the pediatrician), without butter. As your baby grows, you can use regular vegetable purees to create pureed soups, as well as vegetable mousses, for example, from boiled pumpkin and cottage cheese, from zucchini and boiled carrots.

Calculate your complementary feeding table

Norms and rules of use

Complementary feeding always begins with a minimum amount of a new product. For a baby, acquaintance with vegetables should begin with half a teaspoon. During the day, the mother should carefully monitor the baby. If allergies and intestinal disorders do not appear, the next day you can increase the volume of vegetable puree to a teaspoon.

The infant feeding scheme does not imply adding more than one new product every two days. This is important in order to keep track of possible negative reactions of the child’s body to food. It will be beneficial for the baby and his parents if the amount of complementary feeding meets the standards.

A table indicating the minimum and maximum amount of vegetable puree acceptable at a given age will help you determine them.

The table shows the daily value. Parents can split this amount into two or three meals if the child loves vegetables. Thus, a child at 5 months can be given vegetables twice a day, 15 grams per feeding, and at 6 months, he can be given two times 25 grams.

Before one year of age, it is important to teach your child to eat vegetables., otherwise, later, at an older age, the baby may refuse to eat these foods and dishes that are healthy and necessary for his growth and development. But only in theory, children should eat this or that amount of food. In practice, everything may not turn out this way - the child will demand vegetables more often and more, or refuse them altogether. With the latter problem, parents most often turn to pediatricians.

What to do if the child does not want to eat purees?

A child who does not want to eat pureed vegetables at his tender age has many reasons for this behavior.

Here are just some of the reasons why children refuse this dish.

Complementary foods are introduced too early, the child is not psychologically and physiologically ready for it - you need to postpone the idea and return to it in a week.
The child does not like the taste of vegetables– try giving another vegetable. If he doesn’t eat zucchini, give him broccoli; if he refuses store-bought puree in a jar, prepare it at home.
The type of vegetables is unclear or unpleasant– place your child more often in a high chair at the adult table during dinner or breakfast; he should see how adults eat their food. This will form an idea of why his mother bothers him with a spoon and a strange substance in a plate or jar. Serve the puree in a beautiful children's plate, use an interesting spoon with animal figures, and interest the baby in the process of eating.
The child has no time for vegetables– he’s teething or his stomach hurts, he gets sick. In this situation, it is impossible to offer new products so as not to increase the load on the baby’s body.
The baby is not hungry– in this situation, wait until the child is hungry and offer vegetable puree at the very beginning of the meal.
Already have a negative experience– if the baby was forced to eat vegetables, a spoon was pushed into him by force, the taste of the puree will be unpleasant for understandable psychological reasons. In this situation, give the child the opportunity to choose for himself whether to eat or not. And the vegetables that are so needed can be mixed into other types of food, for example, into vegetable puree soup, into porridge.

In order to prevent situations in which the child hates vegetable dishes, it is important to do everything in a timely manner. You should not too blindly follow the advice of relatives and pediatricians about the timing of complementary feeding. If a child refuses zucchini once in his six months, no need to insist. Try offering him complementary foods a little later.. All children develop at different rates and according to their own schedule. This applies not only to height and weight, but also to metabolic processes, processes of production of necessary enzymes in the body, because without them, the absorption of new food is impossible.

The same recommendation applies to the amount of vegetables eaten. The child doesn't owe anyone anything. He may well have his own tastes and needs in the amount of complementary foods. And his real needs do not always exactly correspond to pediatric standards and tables.

To learn how to prepare vegetable puree at home for a 7-8 month old baby, watch the following video.

For the first six months of his life, a small child eats only breast milk, which contains all the substances and calories necessary for the development of the body. But after six months, this food becomes scarce and the mother needs to gradually accustom the child to complementary feeding. It is best if the first “adult” food is vegetable puree for the baby. It is very easy to prepare, but you need to follow some rules during the process. Good recipes for these dishes can be found on the Internet.

Vegetable puree is good for diversifying the diet of an older baby. Proper nutrition at the beginning of the first or second year will have a beneficial effect on the child’s health in the future. Fertilizer prepared at home, according to simple recipes, is preferable to commercial ready-made mixture.

When and how to start feeding your baby vegetables?

The approximate time to start a partial change of diet depends on the type of feeding: if the baby is fed breast milk, then the first complementary feeding is given at the age of six months. If the child eats artificial food, the introduction of pureed vegetables is already acceptable for a four-month-old baby.

It is believed that a child is ready to start eating vegetables when he is gaining weight normally, has learned to sit and is trying to make chewing movements with his jaws during feeding. At this time, he needs to prepare and offer to try new food - no more than one spoon per day before starting milk feeding. If he accepts a new product and eats it without whims, the portions are gradually increased. If your baby refuses purees, you should wait a while (a day or two) and again offer him a new dish.

It must be remembered that before one year of age you should not deprive your baby of breast milk - just reduce its proportion in food. Even if he is no longer breastfeeding, milk can be added to the formula.

First, the baby is asked to taste a small amount of one-component puree, each time checking his reaction to the product. To make this easier, you should experiment in the first half of the day. With normal absorption, allergic manifestations, digestive problems and other symptoms should not be present. It is forbidden to give several completely new “flavors” at once.

A couple of months after the successful start of complementary feeding, you can try mix recipes by mixing several types of purees from already proven and harmless vegetables. After some time, they begin to introduce fruit into the diet, and then meat and fish options, in exactly that sequence.

Rules for preparing a vegetable dish

A good start to complementary feeding would be a puree of green vegetables - zucchini, broccoli, green peas, cauliflower, squash, as well as carrots and pumpkin. These plants are low-allergenic and easily digestible.

Carrot. An excellent vegetable for the very first complementary foods. It does not cause allergies, is well tolerated and goes well with other foods. Plus, carrots are very easy to prepare.

Potatoes should be given very carefully and not immediately. This product is difficult for a baby to digest, so even in a puree mixture only 20-50% is required.

Cabbage. Some types of this vegetable - broccoli, cauliflower - are ideal for the very first puree. But you shouldn’t give a separate product from the white cabbage version.

The first purees, until the baby is a little over six months old, should be monocomponent (only one vegetable ingredient). It is better to use fresh vegetables; ideally, purchase them from a direct manufacturer. But if the start date for complementary feeding is in the winter, fresh-frozen options are also suitable.

Each type has its own recipes. What all vegetables have in common is that they are thoroughly peeled (if possible) and soaked in water for several hours. It is better to steam them, and bake the pumpkin in the oven. After the products have become soft, they are crushed with a blender or ground through a sieve and immediately “served.”

Recipes for the very first meal should not include salt and sugar; only a few drops of vegetable oil are acceptable. At this age, seasonings are harmful to the baby. In addition, when he eats, he should recognize the natural taste of vegetables.

It is advisable to feed a child up to one year with freshly prepared product. But, if you have prepared too much puree, you can freeze it in molds for luda or in silicone molds for baking. Only in this case the mixture should be water-based, without butter or milk. To feed it to your baby, you need to defrost it and warm it up well, and then cool it to the desired temperature.

Complementary foods are best prepared at home, but if this is not possible, ready-made baby food in jars is also suitable; usually every child eats them well. But when choosing them, you should pay attention to several important points:

The mixture is purchased according to the age of the baby.
The packaging must clearly display information about the manufacturer, his contact details, and the expiration date of the contents.
The complete composition is indicated, which should contain a minimum of thickeners, preservatives and similar additives. Ideally, the product should consist only of puree and water.
Assess the integrity of the packaging, the condition of the lid (it needs to fit tightly to the jar) and the appearance of the food itself, if the container is transparent.

From seven to eight months to one year, the child can eat more complex mixtures - such an introduction is made only from several proven vegetables. Now you can expand the list of starting products to include potatoes, corn, spinach, and bell peppers. Mashed potatoes should not be given separately from other vegetables, as they are too heavy for the baby’s digestive system.

Vegetable puree in the diet of children of different ages

4-5 months

This is the start time for complementary feeding. Now the baby is learning to eat in a new way, gradually getting used to new food. In the first days he is given a spoon or two of puree, and by the end of five months of age he normally eats at least 120 grams of the product, in addition to breast milk.

You should not start complementary feeding if the child is not feeling well: he is sick, has been vaccinated, or something similar has happened. But if the baby is healthy and does not eat puree, you need to be persistent - offer him the dish for several days, smiling, persuading him and praising the new food.

In order for the child to perceive the new product more positively, it is worth protecting him from stress and distractions during meals. Let him focus only on the spoon of mashed potatoes and his mother’s joyful face. You can think of feeding as a game.

6 months

The amount of food a six-month-old child eats is already quite varied. You can already include a little oil in the vegetable puree. If the baby is accustomed to such food, eats it with appetite and reacts well, mixtures are made from two or three products. At this age, the child already eats 150 grams of puree, among other things.

Some of the best are recipes for vegetable mixes, for example, cauliflower and carrots (150/100 g). It is good to prepare a complex dish of zucchini, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli (50/50/50/50), diluted with milk and vegetable oil. After six months, you can add unsweetened yogurt, rice or pasta decoctions to your food.

7 months

At the age of seven months, children begin to cut their teeth, and this gives impetus to a qualitative expansion of the list of possible food products. You can already give your baby crackers and pieces of cheese - their introduction into the diet will not only diversify him, but will also ease the unpleasant sensations from the growth of his first teeth. In addition to vegetable puree mixes, the child eats porridge, well-cooked and finely chopped lean meat and poultry, eggs, grated cottage cheese and cheese. The menu becomes what it should be in the first two years of his life.

All recipes with new products must be tested experimentally to ensure that the child is tolerable to them. Each supplement is given to try in small quantities, monitoring the baby’s condition.

8 months

Having received the first set of teeth, the baby can already cope with pieces of boiled vegetables, soups with herbs, and meat and fish ingredients, oil and salt are added to complex vegetable purees. Moreover, the volume of mixes should reach 200 grams per day. Vegetables contain fiber necessary for digestion, so such purees should be eaten in sufficient quantities.

9 months to a year

The baby is already so accustomed to “adult” food that breast milk can only be given to him at night and in the morning, when he usually eats, and there is no freshly prepared product at hand. The main categories of products, including vegetable purees, are approximately equally distributed in the diet. And among new “tastes”, a child can be introduced to fish. The amount of feeding decreases, but the portions increase.

As you can see, vegetable puree is a necessary food product in the second half of a baby’s life. It performs both a nutritional and educational function, accustoming the baby to new, varied foods and facilitating weaning.

Pay attention to the video, which explains in a clear and accessible form how to prepare vegetable puree soup for your baby.

For the first months of their lives, babies drink only mother's milk or formula, so introducing new foods to their diet is a big step in a child's life.

When introducing complementary foods, it is important to offer the child a large amount of vegetables in order to obtain useful vitamins and micronutrients. This is also necessary for the baby to develop a habit of new tastes.

Early introduction of complementary foods will prevent the child from being too selective in food in the future and will give parents the opportunity to monitor food allergies.

It is better to introduce vegetables first. They contain most of the beneficial minerals and vitamins that a growing body needs. Only when the child’s body gets used to vegetables can you offer the baby fruit. Vegetables have a neutral taste, they do not affect metabolism, and do not have a destructive effect on tooth enamel.

When can you give your child vegetable puree?

Experts recommend starting to introduce baby vegetable purees into a child’s daily diet at the age of six months. By this time, the children's digestive tract is able to effectively absorb the ingredients of the puree without causing flatulence.

Before introducing your baby's first vegetable food, make sure it is ready. The young digestive system needs time to develop before it can digest adult food.

your baby should be able to hold his head up on his own, open his mouth for a spoon, chew food in his mouth and then swallow it;
Another indicator that the child is ready for the first complementary feeding is a doubling of the body weight that was at birth.

Carefully monitor your baby's stool after eating new foods. Refrain from introducing complementary foods if you notice watery stools. Perhaps the digestive tract is not mature enough for vegetable purees.

If the baby does not want to try an unfamiliar product, postpone its introduction until later. Try again after a few weeks.

The initial portion of the introduced product should be no more than a teaspoon. If the baby does not have any problems with digestion, the dose of complementary foods must be increased every day by a teaspoon until the portion is equal to the age norm.

For children 4 to 6 months old, monocomponent purees made from hypoallergenic steamed vegetables are suitable.

First, give your child a small amount of puree from a soft spoon. Do this for several weeks. Start with small portions of food, half a teaspoon. Puree for infants should be given after.

Don't worry if your baby doesn't swallow the entire amount of food. Babies often refuse food or spit it out. Don't forget, every child develops at his own pace. Some will learn to spoon-feed quickly, others will have very little interest. Don't give up, try again.

Pediatricians usually recommend starting with green vegetables because they are less sweet than yellow vegetables.

Instead of buying puree for children in the store, you can prepare vegetable puree for your child at home using complementary feeding recipes. If you do this, you will know exactly what is in your baby's food. In addition, this can save money, since store-bought baby vegetable purees for a child are usually more expensive than those made at home.

The best vegetable purees for first feeding

Zucchini puree for first feeding is the best choice. It is perfect for children from 4 months. It has a soft and delicate taste due to fiber and high pectin content. This vegetable contains a lot of potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, which are of decisive importance for the metabolism of a growing child.

Zucchini is one of the few vegetables that has hypoallergenic properties. Folic acid, iron, copper, contained in large quantities in zucchini, play a significant role in hematopoiesis.

Squash puree

Very nutritious puree for babies. Squash is rich in calcium, fiber and vitamins and can be given to children from 4 to 6 months. This is another sweet tasting food that is very soft and easy to swallow.

Pumpkin puree

Rich in ascorbic acid, iron and many nutrients. Pumpkin is a great addition to a child's diet, an ideal companion to less sweet vegetables such as squash and green beans. It also goes well with fruits and meat. In addition, pumpkin is high in fiber, low in fat and has very few calories.

Cauliflower puree

From about six months you can give your baby cauliflower. This is a vegetable high in vitamins C and K.

Green bean puree

If you think that your baby is ready to try green vegetables, baby green bean purees are a good option for the first feeding of a 4-5 month old baby.

Beans are rich in vitamins A and K, which helps build the baby’s immunity. Using it as the first green vegetable in complementary foods will help the child get used to vegetables of this color.

Pea mash

Even if the parents don't like peas, the child is more likely to eat them. Peas are another favorite among young children because they have a slightly sweet taste. This food is high in protein, contains a lot of fiber and improves digestion. Peas are also rich in vitamins A and C.

Broccoli puree

Broccoli is one of the most advanced green vegetables. Typically administered over 8 to 10 months. This vegetable contains a lot of fiber and ascorbic acid. Useful for constipation.

Mashed potatoes

This is one of the best first purees for babies. The potatoes are very soft and pleasant to taste. It contains a lot of beta-carotene and ascorbic acid, which helps strengthen the child's immune system. Due to its high coarse fiber content, this vegetable will help with digestion.

Carrots are another favorite vegetable for babies. This is because carrots also have a sweet taste. Rich in beta-carotene, carrots are a nutritious addition to a child's diet.

The high content of vitamin A helps maintain healthy vision and helps the body resist infection. In addition, carrots are versatile - they can be mixed with various fruits, meats and other vegetables.

Turnip puree

As soon as your baby crosses the 6-8 month mark, try giving him a turnip. It is rich in ascorbic acid and calcium, and has a high content of coarse fiber and protein. Turnips have a sweet taste and are easily digestible.

Eggplant puree

Eating eggplant saturates the body with vitamins A, B6 and folic acid. This vegetable also contains minerals such as potassium and calcium. The high fiber content will help the child improve bowel movements with constipation.

Spinach puree

Rich in calcium and loaded with antioxidants, spinach is ideal for older children. This leafy green vegetable contains many nutrients, including vitamin A, selenium and iron.

Spinach has high levels of nitrates, so it should be consumed in moderation.

Beetroot puree

You can add variety to your baby's diet with antioxidant-rich beets. Once the child has tried various yellow and green vegetables, it is time to taste this wonderful root vegetable. Beets contain a lot of calcium, potassium, vitamin A and coarse fiber. This vegetable is nutritious and will delight the baby with its colorfulness.

Asparagus puree

Vibrant and delicious, asparagus is loaded with vitamins and nutrients, including iron, calcium and vitamin A. But like cauliflower and broccoli, this fiber-rich vegetable can be difficult to digest.

Wait until your baby is a little older (10 months or older) before offering this puree. Asparagus can be eaten as an independent dish or mixed with other vegetables.

To prepare puree for the first feeding, follow these steps:

For your baby's first feeding, choose fresh, ripe vegetables. The most delicious and nutritious baby vegetable puree for complementary feeding is made from the freshest vegetables that are at the peak of ripeness.
Choose vegetables with firm flesh and bright color. Avoid bruised or blemished vegetables.
Frozen or canned vegetables can be used to puree baby foods, but they will not have the same nutritional value or taste as purees made from fresh vegetables.
Any type of vegetable should be pureed, although it is more difficult to puree green vegetables into a smoother puree. Carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, zucchini and any other vegetables with pulp become softer when cooked.
Wash the vegetables. By handling them under cold running water, make sure that all traces of dirt are removed.
You can use a herbal cleanser if you are cleaning vegetables that have been treated with pesticides.
If necessary, peel the vegetables. Cut off the top and bottom ends of the vegetables with a knife and remove any bruised areas.
Cut the vegetables into thin slices. Cutting vegetables into slices rather than cubes will reduce their cooking time, and the baby puree will have a more uniform consistency.
Boil some water in a deep bowl. There is no need to fill it completely, you just need some water to steam the vegetables. Two to four glasses of water are enough, it all depends on the size of the dishes used.
Steaming vegetables is the best way to preserve nutrients. Boiling vegetables is another option for preparing them, but cooking has been shown to destroy some beneficial vitamins.
Steam vegetables for 15 - 20 minutes. Fill a special basket with vegetable slices and place it in the pan. Cover the pan to allow the vegetables to begin cooking.
Avoid too many vegetables in the cooking container. You may have to do this in batches.
After 15 - 20 minutes, the vegetables should be quite soft.
If you don't have a special basket, place the vegetable slices in boiling water. Cook for a quarter of an hour or until soft.
Use a blender. Place 1 cup of cooked vegetables in a blender, adding a little water if necessary to achieve a smoother texture.
Transfer the puree from the blender into a container used for feeding the baby.

The beginning of complementary feeding plays a decisive role both in the functioning of the digestive system and in the overall health of the child. Parents should be very careful about the nutrition of their babies to avoid further problems.

And our series on different types of complementary foods ends with the topic of self-cooking. It would seem that there is nothing simpler than homemade dishes: you cook them, chop them in a blender, and serve them out. But the modern mother is not looking for easy ways, she goes to the forum and asks a lot of questions: how best to cook, what to chop, what to add, how to preserve. She also reads about scary winter vegetables that have nothing healthy in them, and then they scare her about genetically modified foods...

How to decide and choose the best for your child? Everything is very simple. If you have increased suspiciousness, and every carrot contains dangerous herbicides and genetically modified tops, feed your child with canned food. It is no more harmful than daily worry about the usefulness/harmfulness of natural products. Regarding the eternal debate about GM foods, most of the vegetables and fruits we consume have already undergone genetic changes over hundreds of years of hybridization. Scientists are constantly developing something new, adapting to the desires of the producer to grow vegetables that will be unpleasant to malicious pests. Now science has stepped far forward, and the process of genetic engineering has accelerated hundreds of times, hence the panic. Whether this is good or bad - the answer has not yet been found even by scientists who understand this better. Feed with cans, and sleep peacefully - there is nothing wrong with industrial food. In winter, do not buy imported vegetables (zucchini, cauliflower) for complementary feeding - they are absolutely overfed with chemicals for long-term storage and transportation in commercial form. There are no healthy imported vegetables and fruits in winter. With ours, too, alas, not everything is clear to the common consumer.

But if you still want to prepare complementary foods yourself - or have the opportunity to use your harvest, this collection of tips may be useful.

VEGETABLES

To make vegetable puree, choose the best looking vegetables without spots or cracks. For the first complementary feeding, use vegetables that do not contain coarse fiber: zucchini, cauliflower, carrots. Mixtures of vegetables are introduced when the child has already tried all their components during the week. Vegetables should be rinsed well under running water - if you are in doubt about the quality of water, use boiled or purified water. Try not to cook vegetables on the stove to retain maximum nutrients. It is better to steam it - or use a double boiler. Cooking in a microwave oven is acceptable, but it will dry out the vegetables - nowadays there are microwave ovens with a double boiler function. They can also be baked, in which case the loss of nutrients is minimal. When cooking on the stove, place vegetables only in boiling water. Frozen ones are under no circumstances pre-defrosted. In winter (and early spring) it is beneficial to use a variety of frosts for complementary feeding. There are many stereotypes about their usefulness, all of them are more or less debunked here:. In winter, frost literally saves you, but check their quality at least by touch, so that you don’t feel large pieces of ice inside.

Nothing is added to the very first vegetables; after a month they begin to add vegetable oil (sunflower or olive). Ready vegetables are rubbed through a sieve or modern means are used: a blender or other chopper. You should not soften the first vegetables (that is, for the first complementary foods at 6-7 months) with a fork or masher; they cannot cope with the fibers, and the complementary foods will come out undigested.

What can be added for taste: vegetable broth, a little expressed breast milk or the usual formula. Vegetables do not need to be salted. The child does not have salt receptors, this taste is forcibly imposed. Whatever taste you accustom to will be your priority in the future. If a child refuses vegetables, this does not mean that they need to be salted - it means that the vegetables were introduced too early. Each child has his own individual feeding schedule. You can start introducing vegetables at 6, 10 or 12 months, it all depends on the desires of the child himself. In the process of introducing vegetables, the main thing is not volume, but variety. If a child eats a crumb of this and a crumb of that (a spoonful of zucchini, two spoons of carrots) – great. And in terms of benefits, it is much better than those fed by force - with the release of a family choir of grandmothers or “for advertising” - the hundred grams prescribed according to the instructions.

Possible mistakes: Do not wash vegetables with soapy water. This is an unnecessary precaution. The soap is not completely washed off, and its remains are not at all beneficial for the child. Try to prepare the vegetable puree immediately before serving - and only for one time. The prepared puree should not be reheated, this will increase the loss of nutrients. What vegetables are not introduced until a year: white cabbage, beets, tomatoes, cucumbers - and greens. They are quite aggressive for the stomach, and a child up to one year old will have enough of those vegetables that can be introduced: zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, green beans, carrots, pumpkin, potatoes; closer to a year - corn, peas. Some vegetables have a hard shell, such as corn and green beans. But in a double boiler, the shell softens easily and quickly. Mashed potatoes are a heavy dish; it is advisable to mix potatoes with any other vegetables.

PORRIDGE

For the first complementary foods, take low-allergenic cereals: rice, buckwheat or corn. Corn porridge is the heaviest, so in homemade conditions it is better to take rice or buckwheat. Rice is washed not with cold, but with warm or hot water, then the starch will separate. The cereal is ground in a coffee grinder to flour and boiled in water. In principle, you can grind ready-made porridge, but in this case, vitamins and microelements are lost much faster. Cereals (the resulting cereal flour) are placed only in boiling water; ideally, they are not cooked until tender, but are left to swell. Otherwise, there is a chance that it will continue to swell in the child’s stomach.

To properly prepare healthy porridge, you need to maintain the ratio of water and cereal. Do not add water during the process. All porridges - except buckwheat and rice - are stirred during the process. For the first complementary feeding, make liquid porridge: a teaspoon of cereal (cereal flour) per 100 ml of water. After 1-2 weeks, the amount of cereal is doubled. Cow's milk is not added to porridge until a year, only a little breast milk or formula immediately before serving, and a month after introduction - butter (3 g). Sugar or fructose are not needed. Acceptable additives: fruit puree; closer to the year, ground dried fruits, pumpkin, and carrots are added to the porridge.

When the child has tried all three types of low-allergenic cereals, mixtures are made from them. At 10 months you can try oatmeal; other gluten-containing cereals in homemade complementary feeding are introduced no earlier than a year. At home, whole grains cannot be processed perfectly; they will still be heavier than children's instant cereals in boxes, so it is better to postpone all deadlines. Semolina porridge is not introduced until two or three years of age; recently, experts agree that this porridge is more intended for fattening, rather than feeding. Semolina contains 70% starch, proteins and very few vitamins and microelements. And also phytin, which binds calcium salts, that is, it prevents calcium from entering the blood. When there is little calcium in the human body, the parathyroid glands “remove” it from the bones and send it into the blood. All porridges, one way or another, bind calcium - which is also why they are recommended to be introduced after vegetables and meat. But semolina tries harder than anyone, having a pronounced “ricketogenic” effect, it contributes to the formation of rickets in children in the first two years of life.

Is it possible to grind flakes rather than whole grains for the first complementary feeding? Flakes are flattened grains that have been steamed. The grain is not only flattened, but also sliced, kept under infrared rays, and dried. Grinding the flakes will make a poor porridge. Small flakes (“Nordik” or any others marked “small”) are introduced after 10-11 months in the usual form, the child is quite capable of digesting them if he has not previously had problems with digestion of food.

FRUITS AND JUICES

The introduction of fruits begins with green apples and pears. It is advisable to find your own native fruits, such as Semerenko, Kuban Champion or Antonovka apples. They are more sour (and much healthier) than imported ones, and the acid is “knocked down” by baking. Most imported fruits ripen along the way, being picked unripe, this already depletes their composition, not to mention the chemical additives to preserve their appearance. Fruits for import are grown separately and under special conditions - those plantations that pass by buses on vacation over the hill are purely for their own. Do not use apples with dark (black) spots for complementary feeding; one such spot indicates a loss of vitamins by a third.

Apples and pears are given fresh, scraped, or baked; the acidity of the baked fruit decreases and the amount of pectin, a beneficial substance that removes toxins, increases. How to bake: peel, cut into pieces and remove the pitted part. Or bake the whole thing: add a little water to the container, cover loosely with foil and bake at 200 degrees for 20 minutes, time depending on the type of oven and the number of apples. You can also “bake” in microwaves for 2-3 minutes, while the fruit is covered with cling film.

The fruit is made into a puree, offered as an afternoon snack, then added to porridge or cottage cheese - or left as a separate dish. They also give out fruit in pieces; in this case, make sure that the child does not choke. Fruits need to be peeled and pitted. The peel is peeled not only because it may contain paraffin residues, but the peel is too hard, it simply cannot be digested. Banana is introduced next after the green fruit; it is fibrous and starchy, so it should be chopped with care. Peaches, apricots and berries are tasted last. The berries contain a lot of fiber, tiny seeds, they can cause serious intestinal upset, hence the moral: the norm of berries for a child is exactly as much as he can hold in his handful, and that’s a lot.

Freshly squeezed juices are introduced no earlier than one and a half years and only in a diluted form (50:50).

MEAT

Meat is a heavy product, it takes a long time to digest, so there is no need to rush to introduce it, especially if the child is breastfed. Begin adding meat puree with half a teaspoon. You can give this dose for three days and monitor the reaction. It is advisable to immediately mix the meat with vegetable puree (for best absorption). Just add meat to the puree little by little, gradually increasing the dose.

For the first feeding, rabbit, lamb, and turkey meat are ideal. Veal, pork, chicken and red fish are introduced after a year. At 10 months, the child can be offered meatballs, and after a year - steamed cutlets. Meat broths are not used in children's diets; they contain harmful substances boiled from meat. The broth has the ability to be quickly absorbed into the intestines; the children's liver is not able to filter out all carcinogens. The kidneys also suffer: due to the huge amount of salts, urolithiasis can develop. Therefore, before cooking, the meat must be separated from the bones, the finished dish should not be filled with the remaining meat broth, and when cooking the soup, the meat broth is half diluted with water - or the prepared pureed meat is added to the vegetable soup.

Home cooking method: the meat, passed through a meat grinder twice, is steamed until cooked (depending on the meat itself, the process may take different times). Or the already cooked meat is passed through a meat grinder (blender, mini-processor). The minced meat is rubbed through a strainer (or a blender). Steam cooking method: add water to raw minced meat (the more water, the more tender), put it in a deep bowl and place it in another bowl with boiling water. Cover with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes. Non-steam method: cook the meat for 20 minutes, then drain the broth, add hot water a second time and cook until done. Do not salt the meat puree under any circumstances - there is already plenty of salt in meat.

Meat contains a lot of coarse fibers; at home it is impossible to turn it into an easily digestible dish. And in stores it is difficult to find meat for the first feeding, which can be considered healthy in composition. Therefore, homemade is homemade, but jarred is still better, especially up to a year.

FISH

Boil the fillet in a small amount of water for 15-20 minutes, cool, pass through a meat grinder, and then grind with a blender. For baby food, you need to buy only fillets of low-fat fish (hake, cod, pollock). It is better to thaw in salt water to reduce the loss of minerals during defrosting. It is not recommended to completely defrost the fillet. Slightly thawed fish is washed in cold water and subjected to heat treatment, which, unlike meat, should not be too long. Place the fish only in boiling water, after which the heat is immediately reduced.

SOUR MILK

Homemade kefir

Method 1. The starter can be pharmaceutical bifidumbacterin, lactobacterin, “Narine”, “Evita”, or ready-made store-bought biokefir, acidobiphilin and any “live” yogurt. Add the starter to a liter of warm milk, close the jar with a tight lid, wrap it in a terry towel and send it to a warm place (for example, to the bathroom - it’s always warm there) for 6-10 hours. When a kefir clot forms, place the jar in the refrigerator for a few more hours.

Method 2. Boil half a liter of milk, cool to 35 - 36 degrees (so that you can safely hold your finger in the milk) and add 5 - 6 tablespoons of old kefir to it. Stir, wrap the bottle in a blanket and leave for 5 - 6 hours in a warm place, and then keep in the refrigerator for several hours. If instead of old kefir you add yogurt to milk, the taste of the drink will be slightly different. If you don’t have any old yogurt or kefir at home, you can use a piece of black bread as a starter.

Homemade cottage cheese

Method 1. Cottage cheese made from kefir (fermented milk) is easier to digest and assimilate. To prepare it, pour kefir into an enamel saucepan (mug) and place on the lowest heat. When a clot forms on top, place it on a sterile gauze pad to drain the whey.

Method 2. Calcined cottage cheese is prepared by adding a solution of calcium chloride to cold pasteurized or boiled milk; it is sold in pharmacies. The amount of calcium chloride in all recipes is different, there is this one: to get 100 g of cottage cheese, add 1.5 teaspoons of calcium chloride to 600 ml of milk. Another recipe: bring milk to a boil and remove from heat. When it has cooled a little, add calcium chloride dissolved in a small amount of boiled water with continuous stirring, cool the curdled milk, strain through cheesecloth, and allow the whey to drain. Per liter of milk – 1 tbsp of calcium chloride. Well-known pediatrician in forum circles Natalya Rashidovna Vasilyeva (Rusmedserver, and other forums) recommends the following recipe: for 1 liter of cold raw milk, 1 ampoule (10 ml.) 10% calcium chloride - pour in - boil - cool - strain through a sieve or gauze - calcined the cottage cheese is ready.

There is an opinion that it is better not to give such cottage cheese to a child; in fact, this recipe came to us from veterinary medicine; cottage cheese made from calcium chloride is given to baby animals. At the very least, calcined cottage cheese should not be given every day. It can taste noticeably bitter, and its consistency is not suitable for first feeding. Try it and form your own opinion.

Method 3. Boil milk, cool to body temperature. Add the starter, previously shaken in a small amount of the same milk. This is for its even distribution. Place in a warm place for a day or two. In this case, it is better to stir it, disturb it several times during fermentation. Then heat it in a water bath, and not just put the pan on the fire. The higher the heat, the more casein coagulates. If you heat it over a fire, it can curl into such nasty-hard lumps, that is, it will be a very dry and hard cottage cheese. And for tender cottage cheese you need to warm it up very carefully, in a water bath. Then cool and discard: put gauze in a colander, pour the previous semi-finished product into it, wait until the whey drains, and then collect the ends of the gauze on top and begin to twist to squeeze out the whey. For greater density, you can then put this bag in a colander, pressing it down with a weighted board on top.

Method 4. Take the most low-fat milk that is on sale. Pour it into a large bowl or pan. Squeeze lemon juice into the milk (for each liter of milk - from half to a whole lemon). You can also use ready-made lemon juice or diluted citric acid. Pour boiling water from the kettle into a saucepan with milk and lemon juice. There should be about the same amount of boiling water or even a little more than milk. Stir calmly and watch with interest as the milk curdles before your eyes and the whey begins to become transparent. Do not wait until the milk clots become dense. This will give your curd an unwanted graininess. Use a spoon with holes to catch the tender clots and place them in another bowl. A little more whey may come out, so you pour it off. All.

Method 5. 4 glasses of sour milk, 2 glasses of fresh milk. Boil fresh milk and pour it into a vessel with sour milk. Mix thoroughly and leave to cool. Once the mixture has cooled, pour it into a sieve and strain through a fine sieve.

How to store homemade puree

Knowledgeable people loudly say: there is no need to store ready-made vegetable (meat and vegetable) purees. These are dishes with a broken structure; ideally, they are prepared strictly for one meal. At home, it is impossible to provide shock freezing - beneficial substances are inevitably lost. You need to freeze whole (cut) vegetables and fruits, and then puree them. Vegetables are stored at a temperature of - 6°C for a week, at - 12°C for 1 month, at - 18°C for 3 months.

But still, sometimes there is a need to freeze meat or vegetable puree. One simple way: fill the ice container and put it in the freezer. Do not freeze hot or warm food; it must be cooled first. Once food is frozen, immediately place it in an individual plastic bag. Don't forget to label and date when you did it. In this form, the puree can be stored for 3-4 weeks at a temperature no higher than -18. Never refreeze food.

Freezing cottage cheese at home is not recommended, since such freezing is slow, which significantly disrupts the protein structure and deteriorates the taste and other qualities of the product. As an exception, this can only be done in freezer compartments with two and three stars on the lid or in freezers with a temperature of - 18°; Cottage cheese should be stored in such conditions for no more than two weeks.

How to reheat frozen food: Transfer it to a suitable container and place it in a pan of boiling water, stirring occasionally. You can also use heating in the microwave. Food should be well heated, never warm. Do not reheat food more than once; any remaining food should be thrown away.

Household appliances to help homemade complementary feeding

The most important assistant in preparing baby food is, of course, a blender. Read tips for choosing it here:. Modern manufacturers offer many interesting devices to make work easier. Most of them are pure indulgence, but they will be nice to have. For example, blender-steamer-warmer for baby food Tefal BH 7400, multifunctional processor Petit Terraillon (sterilizer, steamer and warmer in one), Philips/AVENT steam center (steamer + sterilizer + warmer), mini-processor for baby food Maman. There are also special containers in which you can store food in the refrigerator or freezer, and, if necessary, heat it in them (in the microwave). These are AVENT/Philips, Tupperware, BabySteps, Brother Max containers.

In the photographs: 1. Georgy (mother Pudjik ), 2. Danis (mother NatashamaDanisa ), 3. Masha (mother Ryaba ), 4. Andrey (mother Altair ), 5. Dima (mother Meow… ).

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When the time comes for introducing complementary foods to your beloved child, it would seem that no problems arise with this. After all, today it is not a problem to buy the necessary products for complementary feeding. But you want to feed your baby something special, healthy, and most importantly, foods that you are confident in.

Thus, when preparing complementary foods, mommy is given the opportunity to demonstrate not only her culinary abilities, but also her creative ones, because it is important not only to prepare a tasty dish, but also to serve it in a way that is interesting for the baby.

In complementary feeding, some parents are guided by the information that is indicated on jars of baby food, but after the baby reaches six months, they have problems preparing meals. There are a number of simple rules that will help make a mother’s life easier regarding complementary feeding.

About products

Today, for some mothers, preparing meals does not arise because you can buy a variety of food intended for children in the store. But most mothers are still inclined to believe that the child needs to cook and eat himself.

To prepare such dishes, it is advisable to take products that were grown in the garden, but it is not always possible to find such. The main thing to remember when purchasing food is most likely that the vegetables bought at the market from grandmothers were grown with the help of numerous chemical fertilizers.

Cooking

The consistency of the first courses should be uniform and liquid-like in consistency, this will help prevent the baby from causing the urge to vomit. Any vegetables and subsequently meat must first be stewed, possibly steamed, and then mixed with a small amount of the broth in which they were cooked; you can use milk for this.

It is not advisable to cook vegetables in a large amount of liquid, since all the vitamins from the product go into the broth. You can grind the dish using a blender, this will help give it a certain homogenized consistency.

Necessary kitchen equipment

To prepare food for your baby, use a separate saucepan, preferably with a thick bottom, enameled cast iron, about half a liter in volume. It would not be amiss to have separate equipment, such as a cutting board, spoon, knife, but preference should be given to a wooden board; the spoon should not be aluminum.

At first, while your eye is developing, it is advisable to have a kitchen scale. A kitchen timer can also be an excellent helper; it will notify you when the stove turns off.

How should frozen complementary foods be stored and prepared?

An important point remains not only the correct preparation of products, but also their storage. Many caring mothers prepare various dishes just before eating it, this is absolutely correct, but sometimes, taking into account the walking schedule and sleep time, this is not always possible. You need to know that yesterday's portion of food, stored in the refrigerator in clean containers, is not a particularly dangerous product. In a number of exceptions, such a product can be given to a baby.

But to prevent such moments from becoming frequent, you can use a convenient option - cut meat and vegetables into small pieces and freeze them. This will help preserve all the valuable properties present in the product.

To know how to properly and quickly prepare a particular dish, we offer you a food preparation table:

Product	How should I cook and freeze?	Note
Pumpkin, zucchini	Simmer for five to ten minutes. To freeze the pulp, cut it into cubes no larger than 2 cm.	They can be combined with other vegetables; it is also permissible to add oatmeal or chopped cereal at the end of stewing.
	You need to cook for five to seven minutes. Before freezing it must be disassembled into inflorescences.	Pairs well with a variety of vegetables.
Carrot, , turnip	Before freezing, it is necessary to grate with straws or a coarse grater. You need to simmer or cook for ten minutes.	Can be combined with various other vegetables.
	This product should be soaked in water, this will help reduce the amount of starch, then cut and add water.	To prevent mashed potatoes from becoming too thick, it should be diluted with the water in which the food was cooked.
Porridge: buckwheat, rice	It is necessary to cook in water for fifteen to twenty minutes, then grind with a blender and add butter.
Cereals	Boiled in water, a milk-water mixture, or filled with hot water.	Can be added to vegetable puree.
Rabbit meat	The carcass needs to be boiled, cleaned of bones, and then chopped with a blender or passed through a meat grinder; for consistency, you can add the broth where the rabbit was cooked.	A meat dish that can be an excellent addition to vegetable dishes and porridges.
Meat: beef, veal, turkey fillet, chicken	We turn it twice in a meat grinder and form meatballs or sticks of minced meat.	Meatballs or sticks of minced meat.

Such homemade semi-finished products will help make the cooking process as easy as possible. Thus, the mother saves herself from routine processes, and besides, a creative approach and proper organization will help prepare healthy food for the baby, which will bring him maximum benefit.

Technology for preparing vegetable dishes used as complementary foods

At the beginning of the baby’s introduction to purees made from vegetables, you should take only one product; subsequently, the diet should be expanded, adding new, but already familiar products that are well tolerated by the body.

All vegetables must be washed; however, except for potatoes, you cannot leave them chopped, since then you may lose a large number of vitamins.

The best way to prepare food is by steaming, since then all the useful vitamins and elements are preserved in the vegetables. “Steaming” is a function that is available in many kitchen appliances.

If there are no such devices, then you can stew the vegetables; to do this, add water to the chopped vegetables and cover with a lid; the food will cook within twenty minutes.

Potatoes take longer to cook than other vegetables, so you need to add them first, and then add other vegetables. There is no need to defrost frozen vegetables before cooking. They must be immersed in a small amount of boiling water and cooked covered over low heat.

It is necessary to chop vegetables while hot; a blender will be an excellent assistant for this; with its help, a homogeneous puree without lumps is obtained, this will contribute to good digestion, as well as the absorption of food in children.

For older children who already have several teeth, vegetables can be softened with a fork. The first vegetable dishes should be served in their pure form, seasoned with vegetable broth; two weeks later, before meals, you can add any vegetable oil. Vegetables can also be seasoned with mother’s expressed milk or a milk substitute.

Video recipe for making zucchini puree for complementary feeding:

Proper preparation of porridge

It is advisable to start getting acquainted with cereals with gluten-free cereals - rice, corn. Before cooking, porridge can be ground in a coffee grinder to obtain cereal flour. You can also grind ready-made ones in a blender. These cereals must be soaked in water for a while, then drained and rinsed thoroughly.

When preparing baby cereals, it is important to adhere to the correct ratio of water and cereal. There should be approximately two times more water than cereal. The porridge is poured into boiling water and cooked over low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes. To make the porridge crumbly, you do not need to stir it during cooking.

First courses of porridge for babies should be liquid; they are cooked at the rate of one teaspoon of cereal per 100 milliliters of water. Over time, when the baby grows up, taking into account the maturation of the baby’s chewing apparatus, the porridge needs to be cooked thicker and two teaspoons of cereal flour should be boiled in 100 milliliters of water.

For babies up to one year old, porridge is prepared in water, with the further addition of formula or breast milk just before meals. To avoid food allergies, it is better not to use until the child is one year old.

No earlier than two weeks after the start of complementary feeding with porridge, you can add butter. Initially, the norm should be at the tip of a knife, then bring it to an amount corresponding to age.

Cooking meat

A product such as meat is the main source of not only iron, but also animal proteins. Therefore, after introducing vegetables and cereals, it is recommended to start introducing meat. Preference in complementary meat feeding should be given to one type of meat that stands out for its hypoallergenicity - turkey, rabbit, chicken, horse meat.

If the baby tolerates these foods well, then closer to the age of one, you can switch to beef, chicken and veal. Before cooking meat, you need to rinse it well, but it is not advisable to leave it in a container with water, since this risks that all the beneficial substances from the product will pass into the water.

An excellent way to heat treat meat is to steam it. You can cook meat in a double boiler in pieces, as well as in the form of minced meat. When boiling meat, it should be lowered into water that is already boiling, this will help preserve the maximum amount of nutrients in the product.

By dividing the meat into small pieces, you can put it in bags and then freeze it. This will make it easier to prepare dishes in the future, because a small piece will defrost faster. To quickly defrost meat, it must be placed in a container with cold water, but not in hot water.

In order for all the unnecessary extractive substances to come out of the meat during the cooking process, the broth must be drained twice. The duration of cooking meat depends directly on the product itself, for example, chicken, turkey and lean pork are boiled faster for half an hour, in contrast to rabbit, beef and veal, which are cooked for about an hour.

Using a blender or meat grinder, you can grind the meat. If the puree turns out to be somewhat dry, you can add vegetable broth or just boiled water.

The preparation of meatballs can be done as follows - prepare small balls from the minced meat, then place them on a cutting board, and then freeze them in the freezer. When the products are already frozen, they should be divided into portions into bags to store in the freezer. When children reach one year of age, they should not receive crushed food, but they should be given purees containing small pieces of food.

How to prepare fruit dishes?

Today, children's dietetics does not consider fruits to be the first foods that should be introduced during complementary feeding. It is recommended to introduce them after vegetables, cereals and meat. Getting acquainted with fruits should begin with fruits that are distinguished by their hypoallergenicity, such as pears and green varieties of apples.

After this, bananas, apricots, and peaches can be gradually introduced into the diet. Fruits are offered to children fresh in a puree form, they are washed, then pitted and peeled and crushed using a blender.

Green garden varieties are saturated with vitamin C, pectin, they have a certain sourness, which can be removed by baking. To do this, the peeled fruit can be left whole or cut into slices. Add a small amount of water to the container where the apple will be cooked, cover with foil, then bake in the oven for fifteen to twenty minutes at a temperature of 180-200°C.

The same dish can be prepared in the microwave. To do this, you need cling film in which you need to wrap the apples, make holes in it and in five to seven minutes the dish will be ready. There is no need to add sugar when preparing fruit puree.

About fermented milk products

If a caring mother decides to feed her baby everything that she prepares herself, then special starters and appropriate kitchen utensils, for example, a yogurt maker, can help her with this. The correct preparation of fermented milk products (and other products) is written on the starter box.

When preparing meals for your baby, remember that by doing so you are passing on your energy and positive attitude to him.