Weaning or Deprivation

Weaning the child

The term weaning (or weaning) indicates the gradual and progressive transition to the experience of taking solid and liquid foods in ways different from breast sucking. this

requirement is linked to the progressive increase in the energy needs of the young organism, which also change in qualitative terms. The beginning of weaning is normally around the fifth month of life; In fact, the World Health Organization advises against taking this route before the fourth month (the digestive system is not yet ready to accept foods other than breast milk), but not to wait beyond sixth (so as not to run into nutritional deficiencies).

The transition from an exclusively milky diet to weaning is now facilitated by the presence of numerous and specific products, appropriately designed to ensure a correct and balanced diet for the baby.

Guidelines for proper weaning

Pediatricians advise introducing one food at a time into the child's diet and then waiting at least three or four days before introducing a new one. In this way it will be possible to identify with a certain ease all those foods towards which the child manifests sensitization or allergies.

Cereals represent the first category of food to be used during weaning; first those without gluten (maize and especially rice) are used and then later, from 10-12 months onwards, even cereals with gluten. From the earliest days, carbohydrate and energy needs can also be met by other starchy foods, such as potato and tapioca starch (now increasingly present in baby products).

Also with regard to fruit and vegetables there are foods to be preferred in early times and others that can be consumed only after time (strawberries and tomatoes, for example, because they favor the production of histamine, but also beets and spinach, as rich in nitrates). Apple, pear and later banana, they are typical and irreplaceable ingredients of the first baby food, as they are easy to prepare and important for the vitamin and mineral supply.

Also for the meat are given guidelines for a proper weaning. For example, it is advisable to start with lighter meats, such as rabbit, turkey and lamb, and then move on to less digestible cuts (pork, chicken, beef and veal).

In the same way, we will initially choose the leanest fish (trout, plaice, hake), while the fatter ones (eel and salmon) can only be taken belatedly (similar for shellfish which, as potentially allergenic, should be introduced only after three years of age).

During weaning, cow's milk should be introduced cautiously and in any case after the tenth-twelfth month, partly because of its high protein content and partly because of its low iron content. Therefore special, defined growth milks are preferred, with a nutritional composition more suited to the needs of the child. Alternatively or in association with them, the cheeses are important to ensure an adequate supply of calcium to the growing organism. This mineral, bone friendly, is also present in yogurt, a valuable food for its positive effects on the gastrointestinal balance.

The following are the optimal times for introducing the various foods during the weaning period; however, these are guidelines, which must always be adapted to the advice of the pediatrician and to the degree of acceptance of the child towards different foods. Once the beginning of the weaning is established, it is necessary to proceed with a certain gradualness, to give it time to discover new flavors and get used to chewing.

Indicative scheme on the introduction of various foods in the child's diet

Start of weaning = 4-6 months (recommended introduction time):

4-5 months

Breast milk or follow-on milk, rice, corn or tapioca flour, freeze-dried lamb, rabbit, turkey, potatoes, carrots, courgettes, celery, pear, apple, parmesan or parmesan, soluble gluten-free biscuits, extra virgin olive oil for seasoning

5-6 months

Maternal or follow-on milk, rice semolina, wheat semolina

Freeze-dried chicken, veal, beef, trout, squash, fennel, lettuce, pineapple, plums,

Hypolipid cheese

6-8 months

Pastina 00, all types of baby food, Crescenza, robiola, cow ricotta, trout, sole, cod, green beans, peas

9-10 months

Fresh meat: chicken, turkey, veal, beef, Tomato cooked in vegetable broth,

Spinach, chard, well-cooked egg yolk, cooked ham

Fresh fish, salmon, citrus fruits, lentils in vegetable broth

11-12 months

Pastina also with egg, rice, raw ham, apricot, peach, grapes

Beans and chickpeas in vegetable broth, dry biscuits

After 1 year

Cow's milk, egg white, salt and sugar

However, use salt and sugar sparingly so as not to negatively influence your child's dietary habits at the end of weaning.

Possible modifications may be necessary, for example, in the case of a family predisposition to certain food allergies.

"The child's energy needs

Milk or milk flours »