A smart start for your baby's weaning food journey

For babies who only ate breast milk or formula since birth, weaning food is the cornerstone for “growth”. By starting weaning food step by step, baby will learn the taste and texture of various foods and learn how to eat with a spoon. And nutrients that cannot be filled with breast milk or formula alone are supplied through baby weaning food.

For mothers and fathers who want to provide the best food to their baby, choosing baby food is not an easy matter. In particular, nutrition supply is more important than ever since infants and young children grow rapidly. Parents usually are worried about when to start, how to cook, how to feed, etc. Though baby weaning food is prepared with great care and attention, the baby can spits it out without eating, an allergic reaction appears after eating, or when the child's weight does not increase normally, it is embarrassing and can lead to parents not know what else to do.
So, how should we prepare healthy meals for our children?

Baby food, why do you need it?

The biggest reason to have baby food is in terms of nutrition. Most of the minerals such as iron and calcium, which were supplied from the mother's body when the baby was born, start to become insufficient around 6 months of age. From this point on, if she doesn't get the minerals and vitamins through food, she can develop iron deficiency anemia and rickets from vitamin D deficiency. In fact, as the emphasis on breastfeeding has been recently emphasized, breastfeeding is hard and the progress of weaning food is delayed, children after 6 months of age are visiting the hospital for anemia and rickets, and there are many cases of improvement when insufficient nutrients are supplied through the process of weaning food.

An important purpose of weaning food, other than nutrition, is to practice eating solid foods. In other words, babies are training to gradually move from nipple to spoon, from sucking to chewing, and from liquid to solid food. Occasionally parents can grind baby food, put it in a bottle, and feed baby with a nipple, but it is not a good method in terms of feeding training. In addition, there are many cases of thinking that weaning food always needs to be ground, but if the child does not like ground food, minced and thoroughly cooked food also works. It is necessary to give up the idea that baby food must be grinded and provide feeding training using a spoon with a texture that the child likes.

When should we start weaning food?

Once parents feel like their baby is starving, they can become impatient thinking that my baby is not eating as well as I thought, or that he is not growing properly. However, it should be borne in mind that the baby's oral, digestive, and physiological functions may not be able to keep up with the impatient mind of the parents. If the child shows normal development, it is okay to start weaning after 6 months of age, and usually 4 to 6 months after birth is considered as the preparation period for weaning food, and from 6 months onwards, weaning food starts in earnest. If your kids have had an allergic reaction or have a family history of allergies, it is best not to over-progress weaning before 6 months of age, and it is necessary to consult a doctor for help. In the case of breastfeeding, it is known that breastfeeding at the same time as starting weaning food is beneficial for the development of intestinal immunity and prevention of allergies. 

 < Checklist for starting weaning food >

If you answer “yes”, move on to the next number. If you can reach question number 5, your baby is ready for weaning journey!

1. Does your baby have a family history of allergies?
2. Is your baby 4 months old and weigh more than 6 kg?
3. Does your baby try to grab objects around and bring the objects to his/her mouth?
4. When you feed your baby with a spoon, can he eat the food through tongue without spitting?
5. Are there any symptoms of hives or diarrhea after eating small amounts of food?

“There are a lot of news about hyperlipidemia these days, so I have to be careful. Therefore I try to avoid using oil as much as possible.”

Breast milk or formula consumed during infancy is a high-fat food with a fat content of 40-50%. Fat is an essential nutrient for brain and overall body growth and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and provides a lot of calories in small amounts. Therefore, if the intake of fat is not sufficient during the period of rapid growth in infancy, the growth of the child may be delayed.

As the amount of breastfeeding gradually decreases after starting weaning, the proportion of fat in the child's diet will also decrease, and when he becomes an adult, the recommended fat intake rate will decrease to 20-25%. In general, since fat is recognized as a factor that causes obesity, hyperlipidemia, cancer, etc., it is often avoided to supply separate fat to children.

However, it is necessary to cook with fat once or twice a day to supply the necessary nutrients to the child. In particular, children whose weight gain is slow compared to their age or who are not breastfeeding or formula feeding should increase their fat intake through meals. Any kind of vegetable oil (soybean oil, olive oil, sesame oil, etc.) commonly used at home can be used. Because the baby's gastrointestinal tract function is still immature, fried food can be burdensome to digest, but cooking methods such as stir-frying and steaming can make up for the calories that the child does not eat enough. helps development

Weaning food, the most important thing is to “promote to suit my child”. Because children are different from adults, we cannot give them the healthy food we eat. Just observing the growth and development of the child, proceed with weaning, and wait for the child even if the child does not meet the expectations of the parents. Wouldn't this attitude be helpful for successful weaning period?

Source: SNU