After 6 months, the infant's nutritional needs are not met with milk alone and it is necessary to start feeding the baby with semi-solid foods in addition to breast milk. The best starting age for complementary food is from the end of the sixth month. In addition to providing energy, supplemental nutrition during this time is crucial to build healthy eating habits and using family food.
If the complementary food starts later, the baby's desire for solid foods will be reduced and may be causing deficiencies in some minerals such as zinc and iron. Grains such as rice are good for starting supplementary nutrition.
Porridge is the best food to start as a complementary food and can be taken once a day with 1 to 3 tablespoons. After 7 days, the soup can be added to the baby diet. The following week, meals can be increased to three times a week and potato puree or carrot puree can also be started.
In the seventh month, the concentration of soup can be increased. Egg yolk, liver, yogurt, low-salt cheese, dates, fruit (banana and apple), or fruit juice can be added to the diet. Also in the seventh month oatmeal, barley and lentils can be added. It is recommended to start fruits from the middle of the eighth month.
At the age of 9 and 10 months, the baby can eat more concentrated foods such as Haleem and rice. Corn, bread, pasta, noodles, or snacks (except chickpeas) can be used in baby meals at this time.
At 11 and 12 months, increasing concentration and consistency of foods will help your baby chew and swallow. As most children have two or more teeth at this time, meals can be increased to four meals with two snacks.
For children under one year, do not use spinach, honey, egg white, milk, cherry and strawberry. The addition of salt, sugar and spice in baby food should also be avoided.
References
Soldavini, Jessica. "Krause's Food & The Nutrition Care Process." Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 51.10 (2019): 1225.