Three most essential arrangements to keep your young children healthy and active...

 Three most essential arrangements to keep

 your young children
 healthy and active

Families of all children especially below the two years of age must know about the baby feeding facts in addition of complimentary foods.

As a parent, you must know here the effective management of baby feeding and it’s supplementary.

Feeding and food- management for your baby (same applied for young children):

1. Exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months: A baby must be given only breast milk till the age of six months, exclusively.

2. Complimentary feeding: When a baby completes its six months, you should add some complementary feeding remembering these five things:

1. Feeding consistency: At the initial level, when you start giving food supplements, the food contents should be soft and mashed. But later, give anything what an adult eat normally (but with less spices). Don’t dilute food. Keep it thick and fresh (give pulse, not separated curry-water of pulse).
2. Quantity of food: Gradually increase the amount of such food. Till at about one year, the child gets almost half as much nutrition as the mother.
3. Frequency: The amount of given complementary food should be equal to about half what an adult needs in terms of nutrients. Since the child’s stomach is small, this amount has to be distributed in to four six feeds, per day.
4. Density: The food has to be energy dense, low in volume but high in energy, therefore, add some edible oil or fats to the food. Family could add a spoon of it to every roti (chapatti)/meal. Whatever edible oil is available in the house is sufficient.
5. Variety:  It is very good to add Protective foods as green leafy vegetables and fruits in daily food preparations. The rule is that the greener it is or the redder it is, the more its protective qualities ( above one year child can also be given meat, eggs, fish etc. for better health but you should start with a limited ratio then go on according to choice).

 For the better health and nursing of children up to five years, you must aware about these food arrangements.

feeding during illness

3. Feeding your baby (and children) during illness: most of the families understand that a child should be given less meal during illness or it’s a natural way to recover from illness. But, especially for the children, it’s totally a wrong thinking.

           In fact, the children during illness should be given food normally as they demand or need. And, catching up their good growth after illness, they you should provide them extra diets.

       At the end of this review, I would say only this that ‘Have some valuable time for your kids. It gives you a good time to feel your children, right or wrong whatever is going on’.

Beside these, as a good parent, you must remember these feeding and food management to keep your baby and even young children healthy and energetic.

• Start complimentary feeding and food at six months, necessarily; but not before.
• Don’t dilute food, unnecessarily.
• Feed the baby at least up to one year and when you have started already the complementary after six months. (Six-month completed baby should be feed five/ six times/day.
• dAdd some fats and oil in baby food as, milk, eggs, meat and fish according to their need and choice.

Click to read more:

Parenting Skills/ Tips (all posts)

Infant Parenting ( all posts)

Pre-teen Parenting (all posts)

Teen Parenting (all posts)