Introduction to complementary foods

When is the right time to introduce complementary foods? Which cereals are best to start with? The topic of complementary foods regularly poses many questions to new parents.

This is how the introduction to complementary feeding succeeds

In the first few months, milk meals are ideal for your baby. However, with increasing age and advancing development, the nutritional needs of your baby also increase. An exclusive diet with breast milk or starting milk no longer satisfies hunger: time for the first attempts at spooning!

You can start with the first spoon attempts at the earliest at the beginning of the 5th month and at the latest in the 7th month. At this age, most babies are already able to swallow pasty foods. But here, too, the following applies: you know your baby best and can accompany him individually as he learns to eat.

This is how you can tell that your baby is ready for complementary feeding

• Your baby looks curiously at you as you eat and sometimes reaches for your food.
• Your baby can hold its head up by itself: therefore swallowing the porridge is easy.
• Your baby can sit upright with support: In an upright position, it is easier for your baby to eat his first porridge. Only when they can sit on their own should they eat in the high chair.

The first spoon attempts - explained step by step

At the beginning, it is best to offer your baby porridge only at lunchtime until it has gotten used to the solid food. The rest of the meals for the day should still be milk as before. In this way, your child and their body slowly gets used to the new food. For the first spoon attempts, placing your baby on your lap is ideal. In this way, your baby feels safe and can devote himself to the adventure of eating with full confidence.

Step 1:
The lunchtime milk meal is first supplemented with a few spoons of vegetable puree.

Mild vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, zucchini or parsnip are suitable as the first porridge. This is steam cooked and mashed to a fine pulp.

You need to feed your baby only 3-4 spoons a day of the vegetable porridge so that the digestive system can slowly get used to it. You can increase the amount a little each day. The remaining meals are covered by milk meals as usual.

Step 2:
Once your baby has gotten used to the vegetable porridge, you can add some boiled potatoes to the lunch porridge after about a week. Your child's digestive system has to get used to the new components.

Step 3:
After another week, you can add steamed meat to the lunch porridge and slowly increase the amount of porridge up to 190 g. If your baby eats the vegetable, potato and meat porridge well, you can also change vegetables or add fish to the porridge instead of meat. In between, vegetarian porridges are also suitable - with oat flakes for good iron absorption. At some point your baby will eat a full serving, so you won't need to give him milk with that meal.

Step 4:
You can slowly start with evening porridges. The milk meal in the evening is replaced by a filling milk and cereal porridge.

Step 5:
The third porridge, the cereal-fruit porridge (dairy-free), is then fed in the afternoon: You can prepare this with approx. 100g of pureed fruit and offer this as a snack between lunch and dinner. Gently steamed apple or pear puree and mashed banana are particularly suitable.