What to feed a 5 month old baby. What does the diet of a five-month-old baby consist of when breastfed, bottle-fed or mixed-fed? Rules for feeding a child of this age. Babies on breast milk

Previously, it was believed that a formula-fed or mixed-fed baby could start eating its first complementary foods in the form of fruit, vegetable purees and cereals at 5-5.5 months. But according to the latest recommendations of the World Health Organization, this age has been shifted to 6 months. Why is this so: because in the intestines of a child in the 5th month of life, enzymes have not yet fully matured and the immune system has not formed.

A 5-month-old child can eat only breast milk or a highly adapted milk formula (plus clean boiled water as needed), and it doesn’t matter whether the child is breast-fed or completely formula-fed. The introduction of complementary foods before 6 months of age, even in small doses, is fraught with:

• stomach ache;
• gastrointestinal dysfunction;
• stool disorder;
• regurgitation, vomiting up to serious disruption of the entire digestive system;
• delayed consequences in the form of allergies.

Remember: juices in boxes, purees in jars and all kinds of cereals marked “available from 5 months” are, first of all, a business.

How much should a five month old baby eat?

A five-month-old child should eat 180-210 ml per feeding (no matter formula or breast milk), a volume equal to 1/6 of his own weight per day. The number of bottle-fed feedings is approximately 6, so the baby will drink a liter of formula or a little more per day. With breastfeeding, the norm is the same, but the principle of feeding is “on demand”, so the baby can eat 8 times a day.

Is it possible to give a 5 month old baby yolk or fruit juice?

Yolk, fish oil, vegetable puree, porridge, even in small quantities, should not be given to a child under 6 months. Of course, those around you will advise you to “introduce normal food quickly,” but all this advice is based on the experience of our grandmothers and mothers, 30-40 years ago. Just 30 years ago there was no talk about highly adapted milk formulas; it was believed that a child from birth, as well as at 5 months, could eat boiled cow’s milk or donor milk.

And the children were indeed fed this, but most of the vitamins in this milk were destroyed during the necessary heat treatment. The kids lacked vitamins, iron, and mineral salts, which resulted in hypovitaminosis, low hemoglobin (anemia), rickets, low weight, and developmental delays. Therefore, for that time, early complementary foods in the form of juices, fish oil, yolk and soups were justified. In particular, such complementary foods were introduced early to breastfed children, since in the USSR few nursing mothers could provide themselves with a complete and varied diet and breast milk often did not satisfy the needs of a rapidly growing body.

In the modern world, if a child is breastfeeding and the mother eats a nutritious and varied diet (vegetables, fruits, eats fish, meat), or if the baby eats formula, and the parents can afford to buy a highly adapted formula, as close as possible in composition to breast milk, then nothing There is no need to feed the baby until the age of 6 months.

Juice up to 6 months of age, even freshly squeezed, even one teaspoon per day can cause gastrointestinal upset, allergies, dysbacteriosis, problems with the kidneys and pancreas (based on research by the American Academy of Pediatrics, information about which was published in the magazine "MAMA info" ", October 2001 (No. 5).

The baby's main diet is still breast milk or formula. A child eats about a kilogram of food per day, on average at five feedings per day. It is important that the baby receives the required minimum of vitamins, the most important of which are D and C.

Introducing complementary foods should begin with half a teaspoon, carefully observing the reaction and gradually increasing the portion as the child gets used to the new taste, and in the absence of allergic reactions. Where to start? And you can start with cereals, juices or purees, at your discretion.

Porridge

Starting complementary feeding with porridge is especially good for those children who are slowly gaining weight. The first porridge for your baby can be oatmeal or buckwheat. You can cook at home yourself or buy ready-made porridge in the store. If you decide to cook porridge for your child yourself, you have two options: the first is to cook the cereal and grind it through. The second is to grind the cereal into flour and cook. With the second method, the porridge is more homogeneous.

Puree

If your child is not bothered by frequent regurgitation, there are no problems with weight and development, one-component purees can also be the first complementary food. To begin, offer your child a scraped apple. Take an apple, peel it and scrape out the pulp with a teaspoon. In the same way, you can introduce your child to banana, pear, apricot, and after all these fruits are introduced and no allergies occur, you can mix the flavors.

You can also add vegetable purees from broccoli, pumpkin, and zucchini. You can prepare it yourself, or you can buy ready-made puree from.

Juices

Start giving single-component juices, with half a teaspoon, preferably diluted with water in a ratio of 2/3, gradually increasing the daily volume to 30 ml. First, introduce your baby to apple juice, then to plum, apricot, cherry, and carrot juice.

Remember, fruit juice is not a complete replacement for fruit puree: fruit puree contains much more nutrients!

Sample menu for a 5 month old baby

Starting from the second half of five, your child’s daily diet may be as follows:
10.00 - vegetable puree (150 g), 1/2 yolk and 3 tablespoons of fruit puree;
14.00 - breastfeeding, 2 teaspoons of cottage cheese, 5-6 teaspoons of juice;
18.00 - breastfeeding; 5-6 teaspoons of juice;

Or you can try this menu:
6.00 - breastfeeding;
10.00 - milk porridge (150 g), a few teaspoons of cottage cheese, 5-6 teaspoons of fruit juice;
14.00 - breastfeeding, fruit puree (50 g);
18.00 - vegetable puree (150 g), 1/2 yolk, 5-6 teaspoons of fruit juice or 3 tablespoons of one of the fruit purees;
22.00 - breastfeeding.

For a child on artificial birth control, the following menu is recommended in the fifth month:
6.00 - mixture (200 g) or kefir (200 g);
10.00 - milk porridge (for example, oatmeal or buckwheat) - 150 g, cottage cheese - 2 teaspoons, fruit puree - 3 tablespoons;
14.00 - mixture (200 g) or kefir (200 g), fruit juice - 5-6 teaspoons;
18.00 - one of the vegetable purees (150 g), 1/2 yolk, fruit juice - 5-6 teaspoons;
22.00 - mixture (200 g) or kefir (200 g).

Remember, eating habits are formed in the first 3 years of a child’s life - teach your baby in time to “unfamiliar” healthy tastes - and he will always love them!

The main thing is to remember that for a five-month-old baby there is simply no better food than mother's milk.

The number of feedings per day depends on what the mother feeds the baby: breastfeeding or an adapted formula, because this can affect the length of the period between feedings.

With the birth of a baby, new mothers change a lot: joy can be overshadowed by various experiences, including those related to feeding. Many mothers are not sure about the correctness of their actions and the number of feedings per day. So how many times a day should you?

Breastfeeding

It must be said right away that there are differences in feeding with breast milk and adapted formulas. It is difficult for mothers who breastfeed their babies to figure out the number of feedings per day, since the baby may ask for the breast not because he is hungry, but because he is scared and lonely, and he wants to feel the warmth and care of his mother. Therefore, it is recommended to allow the baby to be at your breast as much as he wants. As for the meal itself, as a rule, from birth to 3 months they feed every two to three hours, including at night.

Formula feeding

Formula milk is processed by the baby's stomach longer than mother's milk. Therefore, a bottle-fed baby from birth to 3 months should be fed a little less often - every 3 hours, trying to gradually increase the break for night sleep. In general, it is worth reassuring overly anxious mothers and telling them that the child will set the feeding time himself. If he cries, it means he is hungry or wet. If it is dry, then you can definitely say that he wants to eat, of course, provided that the child is absolutely healthy and nothing bothers him.

If a young mother continues to worry about how many times a day her baby should eat, she should focus on her baby’s weight gain. If the baby gains about 500 grams per month, then the mother has nothing to worry about - she is doing everything right. When a child is malnourished, he becomes capricious, irritable, pulls at the nipple as if it were a pacifier, and may even bite out of frustration. A baby who receives mother’s milk in the amount necessary for its growth and development urinates up to 12 times a day and “walks around” up to 3-5 times a day. He is cheerful and calm.

Mothers feeding their baby formula should focus on the volume consumed at one time. To do this, the number of days from the birth of the child must be multiplied by 10. Thus, a 10-day-old baby should eat 100 ml of formula at one feeding. If you get approximately this consumption, then there will be no reason to worry about how many times a day the baby should eat.

Up to 6 months, a child can be completely breastfed without harm to health and development. However, there are situations in life when this is impossible. In such cases, early complementary feeding is quite appropriate.

Before you start introducing complementary foods, you need to make sure that the baby is able to eat it, otherwise you can develop a persistent aversion to “adult” food. There are certain signs of not appreciating food. The main thing is that the child’s ejection reflex is triggered, this is a kind of protective reaction against accidentally swallowing foreign objects.

Features of the child's body

An important factor is the readiness of the child’s digestive system. Breast milk can be completely absorbed by the body; to digest “adult” food you need a sufficient amount of enzymes and good intestinal motility. It is believed that the gastrointestinal tract matures earlier, since they receive “foreign” food from birth. Therefore, complementary foods are introduced to them a month and a half earlier.

The choice of products for early complementary feeding is of no small importance. Many parents, sometimes on the advice of Soviet-trained pediatricians, begin complementary feeding with juices. Juices, even for an adult, are unhealthy food; they contain a large amount of sugar (fructose), about 3 tbsp per 100 grams of water. l., even homemade. In addition, at 5 months the child does not have enzymes that would help him digest fruit juice. As a result, diarrhea or allergies may occur.

Where to start and how to cook

Early complementary feeding begins with vegetable homogeneous (liquid, without lumps) puree. You can use it yourself or use it in a jar. When choosing industrial purees, you must pay attention to the composition and packaging. There shouldn’t be any extra ingredients other than vegetables and water. If the lid does not make a popping sound when opening the jar, the puree should be thrown away immediately. You can store an open jar for no more than a day, so if you don’t want to finish eating for your child, you need to mercilessly throw it away.

When preparing puree yourself, you should remember that food should not be given to a child until he is one year old. He gets the required amount of sodium from his mother's milk (or formula). Of course, no adult will eat bland food, but the child does not yet have his own taste preferences and should not be imposed. The purpose of complementary feeding is to introduce new foods and gradually accustom them to a common table.

Vegetables for are selected from the white and green groups: broccoli, cauliflower or zucchini. Cooking yourself is quite simple. A piece of the selected vegetable is steamed or in water until soft. Then it should be ground or crushed with a blender. Before feeding, the puree must be cooled to body temperature.

In rare cases, complementary feeding starts with porridge, but you need to choose dairy-free ones, they are bland, but this is not a reason to “improve” the taste. For the first acquaintance, gluten-free porridges are suitable: buckwheat, corn, rice. The selected cereal is ground to flour and brewed.

Amount of complementary foods

Complementary feeding begins with 1/2 tsp, gradually increasing the portion, carefully monitoring the child’s condition. Within 10 days, the serving size increases to 80 grams, for a week the child gets used to the introduced product, and then a new one is offered. If the baby does not want to eat the food offered, there is no need to force it; the child has the right to choose what to eat. In this case, something else is offered, and you can try giving the product you don’t like in a month.

A healthy child should be introduced to new foods during the interval between vaccinations. A negative reaction can appear not only to the product itself, but also to its quantity, so you should not try to feed as much as possible, even if the baby asks.

Sources:

• Rules and table for introducing complementary feeding to children of the first year of life

Of course, during the first year of life, there is nothing better for a child than breastfeeding. Breast milk contains the most nutrients that the baby needs, and which are not found in any other product. It contains a large amount of vitamins, enzymes and various microelements that are needed for the functioning of all systems of the child’s body.

Instructions

Doctors recommend feeding the baby only breast milk during the first month of life. When it is consumed, antibodies appear in the little person’s body that protect such a still fragile organism from various diseases. If the child is breastfed, the number of such feedings depends on how many times the baby wants to eat. In this case, there are no strict dietary restrictions.

A nursing mother needs to adhere to a certain diet in her diet so that any food eaten does not cause an allergic reaction in the baby. She should exclude foods with a strong and specific taste from her diet. These include onions, garlic, cauliflower. A breastfeeding woman should not take medications that are contraindicated during breastfeeding. A woman should lead a healthy lifestyle. Smoking and drinking alcohol are simply unacceptable when breastfeeding a baby. If the nursing mother does not follow these recommendations, the child may refuse breastfeeding.

If for some reason formula feeding occurs, then it is imperative to follow the feeding schedule, otherwise the baby may develop unwanted excess weight. It should be noted that you need to feed a month-old baby no more than 6 times a day.

At the age of one month, the baby may often wake up at night from hunger. Perhaps the baby simply does not have enough milk. In this case, the mother needs to reconsider the baby’s nutritional intake. It is believed that a child of this age should receive approximately a seventh of his body weight. To accurately determine this figure, you need to weigh the baby and divide his weight by 7.

There are often cases when a mother, due to various circumstances, cannot fully feed her baby with breast milk, then it is necessary to consider several possible options for feeding the baby. The baby can be fed with milk from another mother, you can start supplementing it or completely switch to artificial feeding. Each woman chooses the option that she considers most suitable for her baby.

There are different opinions about whether a child who is not yet six months old should be given water or not. Pediatricians believe that there is no need to give water, because... Mother's milk is based on water. According to another opinion, it is believed that water must be given to a child up to six months old. There is no exact answer to this question yet. Whether or not to give water to a baby must be decided by his mother. If it happens that the baby cries for unknown reasons, then you can try giving him some water. Perhaps he's just thirsty.

To establish the correct feeding regimen, it is necessary to carefully monitor the condition and development of the baby. Only a sensitive and caring attitude towards the child will allow you to establish the correct diet.

A sweet, dear, helpless creature is a child in the first days and months of his life. He needs your love, your care. Whether your child will grow up cheerful and healthy depends on you. And how much a young mother should know! But the most important thing is how to feed. Food sustains life at any age, but it is especially important for an infant. With good and proper feeding, the child receives natural immunity against diseases and grows up cheerful.

Therefore, immediately after birth, a feeding schedule should be established. Try giving him food after a precisely defined period of time - 2.5-3 hours. Very soon the baby’s stomach acquires a reflex to secrete juices rhythmically, and the baby will get used to eating at certain hours.

Mother's milk

Every mother should breastfeed her child. With mother's milk, the child receives not only all the nutrients necessary for his existence and growth, but also protective ones from the mother's body, which protect him from diseases. In addition, milk obtained directly from the breast is free of germs; it is easier to digest and assimilate by a child’s stomach than any other food.

After childbirth, both mother and baby need rest. Only after 12 hours, during which sweetened boiled water (5% sugar) is given, can it be applied to the breast. Before feeding, you should thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water and wash the nipple (along with the pigment part around it) with a cotton swab moistened with a 3% boric acid solution. Express a few drops of milk - along with them, the microbes that have penetrated the canals will be removed. If you cannot sit after giving birth, feed your baby while lying down and leaning towards him.

Later, when your body gets stronger, you should feed while sitting on a chair with a back and placing a small stool under your foot - under the right if you are feeding with the right breast, and under the left if with the left. Hold the baby with one hand and hold the breast with the other so that it is between the second and third fingers. The baby's mouth should cover not only the nipple, but also the pigment spot around it. Often the baby presses his nose to the breast and therefore cannot suckle calmly. Make sure this doesn't happen. A runny nose makes sucking very difficult. In this case, before feeding, special drops should be placed in the baby’s nose. It is important to feed your baby silently, as talking distracts him. When the baby sucks well, the sound of sips can be heard.

After childbirth, the amount of milk (colostrum) from the nurse is very small - each breast is able to separate only 10-15 grams of colostrum during feeding. This amount increases after the 3rd day, reaching 700 by the 7th day, 800 by the end of the second month, and up to 1000 grams per day by the end of the 5th month. Whether the baby is getting enough milk can be determined by weighing. Weigh the baby before and after feeding at different times of the day, because there is more milk in the morning and less in the evening. By checking your baby's weight every week, you can determine if he is gaining enough weight. If a newborn has enough milk, he gains weight continuously - in the first 3 months about 800 grams, then 600 grams, and by the end of the year - 500 grams per month. As milk supply decreases, the baby urinates less frequently, and his stool changes from golden yellow to green and slimy.

Serious reasons for premature weaning of a child from the breast are cases of serious illness of the mother - severe anemia, chronic nephritis, mental and acute infectious diseases, cancer, diabetes, etc. If a nursing mother falls ill with typhus, dysentery, etc., feeding should be stopped, but care should be taken to ensure that the milk does not disappear. To do this, you need to express it regularly. After the mother recovers, feeding continues. If the mother is sick with whooping cough, you can feed the baby with specially expressed milk. If you have chicken pox, tonsillitis, catarrh of the upper respiratory tract, or pneumonia, you can feed the child while maintaining the strictest hygiene. In this case, the mother should wear a mask made of four layers of gauze. The appearance of menstruation is not a reason to wean a child. If a nursing mother becomes pregnant again, breastfeeding can be continued until at most 7-8 months. Further feeding can greatly exhaust her.

Video on the topic

And the list of foods allowed for each month has various controversial answers. After all, 20-30 years ago, children were given their first adult meals in the form of drops of juice in the second and third months of life, but today this is strictly prohibited, and the period of acquaintance with new products has been pushed back to 5-6 months. In addition, the rules and order of introducing complementary foods have changed. Some mothers find themselves in difficulty and cannot decide what can be given to a child at 5 months? To understand this, you need to consider the modern point of view of scientists, based on many years of experience and research activity.

When to start?

Having conducted major studies in the field of nutrition of babies in various countries of the world, WHO has developed recommendations with which most pediatricians and mothers with experience agree. They say that complementary feeding products are given from the age of six months in addition to breastfeeding.

In practice today, children's specialists adhere to the WHO methodology and for babies with normal indicators of height, weight, health and development, they recommend waiting until 5.5 or 6 months. It is recommended to start complementary feeding for a child at 5 months if the child is fed an adapted formula. This recommendation is especially relevant for babies with underweight, poor appetite or, conversely, with a constant feeling of hunger, as well as problems in physical development (if there is low hemoglobin, rickets, etc.).

Authorized Products

Having figured out the timing of administration, mothers ask the following question: what can be given to a child at 5 months? The main purpose of complementary feeding is to provide the baby's body with additional calories and energy, so the prepared portion of the new product should have high energy and vitamin-mineral value.

By this age, babies begin to develop a deficiency of iron and zinc, which means that one of the following dishes is suitable for introduction: vegetable puree or gluten-free porridge. The successful introduction of complementary foods has been completed - after 2-3 weeks you can choose the next product.

A child's diet at 5 months may include several components, porridge and fruit puree. Each dish has its own nuances, which should be understood so as not to harm the baby’s fragile body.

Meat complementary feeding will be next, but the child receives it already by the seventh month. Fish, cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt, eggs, cookies and juices are introduced later.

Diet

At the age of five months, the baby eats 5 times a day. at 5 months, with successful absorption of complementary foods, includes the following stages:

• The first time after waking up in the morning, the mixture must be given.
• After a year, the second meal will gradually develop into a full milk breakfast for the baby. After the porridge, you can offer dessert - fruit puree.
• For the third time at lunch, the baby receives vegetable mass.
• The fourth and fifth feedings are unchanged: the usual mixture.

When breastfeeding, the scheme is the same, only additional products are given at the second breakfast and fourth meal, since a break of 6-8 hours is fraught with a decrease in the lactation process in the mother’s body.

Vegetables

The most preferred first serving of adult food is vegetable puree.
It contains relatively a lot of fiber, minerals and vitamins. Vegetables for complementary feeding are chosen when the toddler has normal or overweight or has problems with bowel movements in the form of constipation. Such products have an excellent effect on the functioning of the insufficiently mature intestinal tract.

There is another nuance. Having tried the sweet porridge, which is so close in taste to the familiar milk, a little gourmet may perceive the vegetable with disdain.

It is important to know what vegetables can be given to a 5-month-old baby. When choosing the first product, it is better to give preference to zucchini, cauliflower, light pumpkin or broccoli, while other products are not yet advisable at this age. If the baby’s body accepts the new product well, then after 10-14 days you can try offering a mixture of two vegetable components.

Which is better: homemade meals or canned food?

Some mothers cook for their babies themselves, others choose vegetable purees for children in jars. In fact, both options are good.

Preparing a vegetable portion for a baby is not difficult, especially in the summer and autumn. Choose a seasonal vegetable, boil it without adding salt, and then blend until smooth and thick. It will also be useful to cook it in a double boiler - it cooks quickly and almost all the vitamin components are not destroyed.

Food from jars is no worse, it is especially useful in the winter-spring season, when the amount of vitamin and mineral components in natural vegetables decreases. When purchasing, you need to pay attention to the composition, age group, production date and storage period. A children's finished product for this age should not have artificial additives or a large number of ingredients. You need to be prepared for the fact that at first the mother will have to finish almost all the puree from the jar. It is suitable for no more than a day when stored on the refrigerator shelf, and if you are late with the meal by more than 24 hours, then the portion will no longer be suitable the next day.

Porridge

Most little gourmets eat this dish with pleasure. Porridge will gradually replace second breakfast, providing the baby with energy reserves, protein, fiber and vitamin and mineral components. It perfectly solves the problem with missing grams, therefore it is prescribed to babies with low body weight as a When introducing it, you should know what can be given to a child at 5 months from cereals. Buckwheat, rice or corn porridge is suitable for this age. Only such cereals are classified as hypoallergenic, since they do not contain gluten. This type of protein provokes tummy pain and problems with the completely immature digestive system in babies. Introducing healthy oatmeal should be delayed until eight months, and semolina - up to a year.

How to cook porridge?

At the age of 5 months, a baby should not cook porridge with cow's or goat's whole milk. It contains amylase, which the baby’s body cannot break down due to the lack of certain enzymes. There are two ways to prepare a portion of porridge.

• The first is to thoroughly boil ordinary washed cereals in water and grind them with a blender into the finished mass. Sweetening or adding salt is not recommended.

• The second is to purchase age-appropriate commercially produced dry porridge from the baby food department. It is enriched with vitamin and mineral components and has a balanced formula. This method is more reasonable, since such porridge not only cooks quickly, but also has a pleasant taste, which is why it is very loved by growing gourmets.

When to introduce fruit puree?

According to the recommendations of experts, complementary feeding of a child begins at 5 months and then porridge is added to the diet. After successfully introducing the listed items, you can offer your baby fruit puree as an additional dessert. It stimulates the secretion of certain gastric and intestinal enzymes. With this additional intake with other types of foods, a fruit portion not only does not irritate the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, but also helps to better digest other dishes.

Is it possible to give fresh juices and fruit purees?

Everyone knows that the most vitamin-rich food is fruit. In addition, they, as well as fresh juices or fruit purees, contain many different acids, coarse fiber and fructose, and therefore irritate the gastrointestinal mucosa.

As a result, the baby may experience an unfavorable reaction such as regurgitation, disorders such as diarrhea, intestinal colic, abdominal pain due to high gas formation, or allergic rashes on the skin. Because of this, the introduction of fresh fruits has been delayed until a later date and is not suitable for a five-month-old baby.

What should fruit purees be like?

At the age of 5 months, the baby can only consume fruit purees from jars prepared by industrial enterprises. They have undergone heat treatment, so they do not cause irritation to the gastrointestinal tract and in most cases do not have allergic consequences. Puree in jars contains thickening elements such as starch, pectin and guar gum, which are characterized by enveloping and softening functions. Thanks to them, the irritating properties of fruits are also reduced. Many types of purees are additionally enriched with mineral and vitamin components.

Before buying a jar of product, you need to pay attention not only to the period of suitability and recommended age, but also to the composition. Fruit puree should not contain sugar, sweeteners, various food acids, dyes and similar components. The opened jar can be stored for no more than 24 hours (only on the refrigerator shelf).

Mom can make puree in her home kitchen. To do this, fruits need to be baked or boiled, and then chopped with a blender or rubbed through a sieve.

The most suitable fruit purees for five months of age are made from apples, pears, plums or bananas.

Product table

To make the task easier for mothers, experts have developed a list of products included in a child’s diet, by month. The table below contains information on complementary foods, brief recommendations and serving sizes at the age of 5-6 months.

Product table

	Portion volume
Vegetable puree	Start with a one-component mass of white and green vegetables, after 2 weeks add another ingredient	The first time ½-1 teaspoon, then in 5-7 days the portion is about 150-170 g and replaces milk feeding
Dairy-free porridge	Only gluten-free cereals. After successfully introducing one type, you can try the next one.	Initially, the baby tries ½-1 teaspoon, later a single serving (150-170 g) will displace formula or breastfeeding from one feeding
Fruit puree	You need to start with a one-component dish prepared using heat treatment of fruits, and as you master it well, you can introduce the following type	The initial sample of dessert after porridge is ½ teaspoon; in 5-7 days the dessert additive increases to 60-70 ml

conclusions

WHO and currently the Russian Ministry of Health emphasize that feeding a child at 5 months mainly consists of breast milk or an adapted formula. Complementary foods from “adult” foods are introduced as needed. It simply complements breast or formula, but is by no means a complete replacement. That is why at this stage of development, the introduction of new dishes in the specified quantities should not become an end in itself for the mother.

Parents take care of the correct introduction of complementary foods for the baby. For each age there are separate products that you can feed your baby with. Ten years ago, children were given a few drops of juice starting at two months. But today the table for introducing complementary foods has changed and improved.

The World Health Organization is conducting major research into infant nutrition. The results of the study helped to develop a new scheme for introducing complementary feeding to infants. The first complementary foods should be introduced at six months of age, as a complement to breastfeeding and formula.

Pediatricians take into account the established methodology of the World Health Organization, which is intended for infants with normal growth, health, weight and general development. Parents wait up to six months, after which infants are introduced to complementary foods. For babies who are fed an adapted formula, the first foods are given at the age of five months.

These recommendations will be useful for a child who is not gaining weight, has poor appetite, or feels constantly hungry. The pediatrician will advise complementary feeding for children facing problems with physical development. This applies to indicators of low hemoglobin, rickets, as well as other problems.

Permitted and acceptable food products

Parents will figure out the timing of introducing complementary foods and begin to think about the list of foods that can be given to the child to eat. The main purpose of complementary feeding is to provide the body with necessary nutrients, healthy calories, and energy. A portion prepared by mother from the main product should include high vitamin, energy and mineral value.

By the age of five months, almost all children begin to experience a deficiency of zinc and iron in the body. To start introducing your child to food, you need to prepare pureed vegetables or gluten-free porridge. If the introduction of complementary foods is successful and there is no allergic reaction, after three weeks parents begin to introduce new foods.

The general diet of a 5-month-old child may consist of a vegetable mixture of several components, porridge and homemade fruit puree. All new dishes are prepared taking into account various features. This is taken into account so as not to harm the still immature children’s ventricle.

There is no need to rush into feeding meat, as it is introduced closer to the 8th month of life. Children eat cottage cheese products, fish, kefir, eggs, yogurt, cookies and juice later.

Approximate diet for a child

At the age of five months, babies eat about six times. Feeding a formula-fed baby:

• After sleep, the child eats an adapted formula that is appropriate for his age;
• The second feeding is porridge. Over time, this meal develops into a full breakfast prepared with milk. After porridge, the child is offered a delicious dessert - fruit puree;
• Evening feeding may include vegetable puree;
• Before going to bed, the child is offered an adapted formula that is familiar to him.

During breastfeeding, the scheme for introducing complementary foods is similar, but additional foods are offered to the baby only during lunch hours. This way you can prevent a decrease in the lactation process in the mother’s body.

Vegetables

Children's pediatricians recommend that parents begin introducing complementary foods with pureed vegetable purees. This food contains fiber, minerals and vitamins. Overweight or normal weight parents choose vegetables. They will help the child's stomach with constant constipation. These products have a good effect on the functioning of the immature intestinal tract.

Among vegetable products for complementary feeding, it is recommended to give preference to zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, light pumpkin and other products. If the child’s body accepts vegetable puree well, then after 15 days you can offer the child a mixture of two vegetables.

Making or buying jarred purees?

Mothers prepare food for their babies themselves or buy it from pharmacies. Both options are suitable for children aged 5 months. Preparing vegetable portions for kids is not difficult, especially in the summer and autumn months. The ripening season of garden vegetables is selected and cooked without adding salt. After cooking, the pieces are whipped until smooth and thick. Children's pediatricians recommend that young parents use steamers, which quickly cook vegetables and retain all the vitamins in the products.

Canned food is nutritious and healthy. It can be given to the baby in the winter and spring months. At this time, natural vegetables do not contain enough vitamins and minerals. When choosing a canned product, parents pay attention to the composition, production time, storage period and age of the child.

Baby products should not contain artificial additives or a variety of ingredients. After opening, purees and juices are consumed within three hours. The next day, food from cans is not suitable for consumption.

Porridge for babies

It is porridge that children eat with zeal and eagerness. This product will gradually replace breakfast and provide the baby with the necessary energy reserves, protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Porridge will solve the problem of missing weight. A 5 month old child can be given rice, buckwheat and corn cereals. These cereals do not contain gluten, so they do not cause allergic reactions.

Gluten provokes pain in children's tummy, problems with the intestines and stool. Oatmeal and semolina porridge are offered to children older than eight months.

Children grow up quickly. And now your baby is already 5 months old. He is already trying to roll over from his back to his tummy, holds his head confidently, tries to sit, but is still completely unsteady. She grabs toys with her whole palm, pulls them into her mouth and resists if someone tries to take her away. During this period, mothers have a question about what to feed their baby for 5 months. After all, his needs have already increased. His diet is changing, and perhaps it’s time to change his diet too.

What to feed a breastfed baby at 5 months

If the child is breastfed and is developing well, then the first complementary foods can be introduced at five months of age. The baby is already switching to five meals a day, with a ten-hour interval for night sleep. It is advisable to give complementary foods at lunchtime. But if something doesn’t work out, then you can do it at any other feeding except the last one, because overeating is harmful for the baby.

Many parents of infants often wonder what to feed their breastfed baby. By 5 months, your baby is probably already drinking fruit juices. If not, then you need to accustom him to juices, starting with a few drops, gradually increasing their amount to 40-50 grams. Fruit juices are good for children as they are rich in essential vitamins. It is advisable to start with apple or pear juice. Monitor the reaction of the baby’s body to avoid undesirable consequences if the child suddenly develops an allergy to any juices. When the child gets used to juices, you can switch to fruit puree. The rules are the same. That is, you start complementary feeding with half a teaspoon, gradually increasing the volume to full feeding.

What can you feed a baby at 5 months, except juices and purees?

It usually takes one to two weeks for a child to adapt to complementary feeding. After he gets used to a certain product, you can add vegetable purees to your child’s diet. Vegetables such as potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, and zucchini are suitable for this. Just don’t try to diversify your child’s diet by including all the vegetables at once or making a kind of assortment of them. Accustom your child to everything gradually.

Sometimes it happens that after breast milk a child eats reluctantly, and sometimes even completely refuses vegetables. Don't rush to switch to another product. Give your child a chance to get used to it. Naturally, the puree should be fresh, warm and thoroughly ground. You can add a few drops of vegetable oil and a little mother's milk or dairy milk to the puree.

What can you feed a 5 month old baby with delayed physical development?

If a child has a delay in the development of any functions, signs of rickets or anemia have appeared, when feeding in puree, you can begin to introduce lean beef meat. The meat must be absolutely fresh, free of fat and films. Boil it, twist it through a meat grinder and grind it with a fork so that your child’s stomach, which is not yet accustomed to such food, does not suffer. Add half a teaspoon of it to vegetable puree for several days. Within a week, you can increase the portion to the age norm, that is, up to one tablespoon per feeding.

At 5 months, the child can begin to introduce egg yolk into his diet. It is entered according to the same scheme. At the same time, be sure to monitor whether the baby has allergies, since often when children introduce yolk into complementary foods, signs of allergic reactions appear. When they appear, do not introduce new types of complementary foods and be sure to consult your doctor about what to feed your baby at 5 months.

When wondering what you can feed your baby at 5 months, don’t forget about grandma’s old feeding methods. Porridge is the most common dish when introducing complementary foods, especially since children react to them much more positively than to vegetable purees. Rice cereal is preferable, but children suffering from constipation should be given it less often. Neutral porridge is buckwheat, rich in all kinds of vitamins and iron. Try to cook water-based porridge; you can add a little milk. When introducing your child to cereals, do not forget that while the child is still small, grind them thoroughly. Then, just like in purees, you can add a little vegetable oil. But just start with a few drops.

Sample menu for a 5 month old baby

At 6 o'clock in the morning we breastfeed, at 10 o'clock in the morning we add half an egg yolk and 40 grams of fruit juice to the breast milk. Lunch at 2 pm can consist of 10 grams of vegetable puree, breast milk and grated apple (about 50 grams). For dinner at 6 pm, you can offer your baby breast milk and apple or pear juice (20) g. And feed your baby breast milk at night.

Artificial feeding of a 5 month old baby

With artificial feeding, the question of what to feed a child for 5 months is considered quite difficult. Artificial babies are more acutely lacking in various components for full development due to the fact that mother's milk is difficult to replace. In this regard, when feeding with mixtures, fruit juices and purees begin to be given to them starting from 3-4 months.

Formulas prepared on the basis of protein hydrolysis or on the basis of soy protein are insufficient to provide the child with animal proteins. Therefore, it is recommended for artificial babies to introduce meat puree into complementary foods at 5 months; the meat is boiled twice and ground well. When introducing meat complementary foods, it is advisable to use beef and veal meat. If for some reason this meat is not suitable for feeding a child, you can replace it with lean pork, horse meat, rabbit or chicken. This complementary food should be introduced carefully; consult a doctor first.

In any case, whether your baby is breastfed or bottle-fed, before you start changing his diet, contact your pediatrician and ask him about what to feed your baby for 5 months. Based on the development of your baby and his state of health, the doctor will help you create the right diet for your baby, since each child is individual.