How many times a day is enough for babies to eat solids?

This is an automatically translated article.

6 months old is the ideal time for your baby to start eating solids, because at this time breast milk does not contain enough nutrients needed for the baby's development. Although complementary feeding is done, it is still necessary to maintain breastfeeding or regular use of formula. So when the baby learns to eat solids how many times a day is enough?

1. How many times a day is appropriate for babies to eat solid foods?

Carrying out complementary feeding or solid food will depend on each specific situation as well as on each child. However, how many times a day the baby learns to eat solids will be based on the child's development, and can be based on some general recommendations as follows:
When the child is not stable, the child still needs parents' support when sitting. You can feed your baby 2 to 3 times a day and use foods that have been mashed or pureed or crushed, or semi-solid foods - neither too hard nor too soft When the child is able to sit firmly and does not need With the support of adults, children eat solids several times a day. At this time, the child can eat 2 to 3 times a day with foods that are close to the family's food. And baby food weaning will be used soft beams and no lumps. When the baby is crawling, the baby can be fed 3 to 4 times a day and the food used for the baby is similar to the family meal, the food can be soft, with small lumps or crunchy food, melts in baby's mouth when biting such as rice cakes. When the baby can walk, the baby eats solids several times a day. At this time, giving your baby 3 main meals and 2 snacks a day is considered quite ideal. Your baby's food at this stage may be a little bigger for your baby to bite, foods come in different forms, using foods cut into pieces with one bite of your baby. In addition to solid foods, babies still need to drink breast milk or formula milk.
Some general principles should be followed when giving solid foods to babies: When introducing solid foods, the first rule to mention should be to practice giving children foods from dilute to solid, and from small to large amounts. During the first solids, your baby may only eat 1 to 2 teaspoons of food. If your baby is eager to get used to food at mealtimes, you can gradually increase the amount of food at the next meal until your baby can eat about 50-100 ml/time.
During the first years of a child's life, in addition to increasing the amount of food in each child's meal, the number of meals is also gradually increased, starting with one meal per day and so on. As your baby's food intake increases, he or she will also drink less breast milk or formula. However, breast milk or formula still provides your baby's main source of nutrition. For a 1-year-old baby, milk should still make up about 70% of your baby's daily diet.

2. Some signs parents need to pay attention to when giving solid foods to their children

2.1 Signs of food allergy After each time when a child tries a new food, adults need to monitor as well as promptly detect signs of food allergy in children such as bloating, gas, rash. nipples in the face, runny nose, watery eyes, loose or mucusy stools, erythema around the anus, fussiness, vomiting or regurgitation more than usual. If the child has these symptoms, the food should be stopped and the child can be taken to the doctor.
To be able to quickly find foods that may cause allergies for children, each time a child tries a new food, the mother should wait at least 2 to 3 days to monitor and then switch to another food. . As recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, protein-rich foods including eggs can be introduced last because eggs can sometimes trigger allergic symptoms in children.
If there is a history of food allergies in the family, you can list foods that may be at risk of causing allergies for your child, this will help you recognize the signs of food allergies in your child. and can quickly find the cause of this condition in children.
2.2. Baby's poop changes As a child's diet changes, their stools also change in consistency, color, and odor. When babies eat solids, stools may be firmer, but because their meals contain sugar and fat, stools have a stronger smell. However, green vegetables can make stools colored according to the color of the vegetables used in the meal. Sometimes certain foods will be ejected in the same portion. Because, the baby's digestive tract is immature and it takes time for the baby to be able to tolerate foods.
Loose or watery stools or mucus with an odor mean that the digestive system is irritated. The amount of solid foods given to your baby may need to be minimized and let your baby get used to these foods.

3. Notes when giving complementary foods to children

Children under 6 months of age should be exclusively breastfed for the best development of the baby. When giving solid foods to babies, mothers should pay attention to adding water to their children, water can be given to children between meals or during snacks, or if the child is thirsty. It is necessary to avoid giving children orange juice and tangerine juice early because some children may be sensitive to fruits of the day. Drinking a lot of juice or eating a large amount of fruit can cause a rash, diarrhea, or excessive weight gain in your child.
When starting solid foods, parents should not give their children bone broth. Although bone broth can make children feel delicious, the nutritional composition of this water contains quite a bit of calcium. In addition, bone marrow contains a lot of animal fat that is difficult to absorb with the digestive system of young children, especially children under 1 year of age. So children eating bone broth can cause digestive disorders.
When children finish eating, parents need to pay attention to clean teeth, hands and feet for children to ensure good hygiene for children.

4. Some possible risks when giving solid foods to babies

When giving solid foods to babies, there may be choking situations, because young children do not know how to chew food into small pieces to facilitate the swallowing process. Therefore, children are more likely to choke when eating especially small, round or tubular foods such as sausages, carrot slices, nuts, hard candies....
Certain measures Helps to prevent choking when babies eat solid foods, including: Parents always monitor children during eating, children must sit at tables and chairs and concentrate, when using raw vegetables, parents should be chopped so that children can chew more easily, when cooking food should be cooked soft with hard fruits and vegetables, for round foods, it should be cut across,...
The careful preparation of food will make the baby's weaning process easier and more cooperative. This is extremely important in the baby's weaning diet.
Hope the above information has answered the question of parents wondering how many times a day baby learns to eat solids? As well as instructing how to introduce children to a complete weaning diet in stages.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.