Introduction of complementary foods during breastfeeding according to Komarovsky

Thanks to his charisma and special view on the development of children and their health, Dr. Komarovsky has gained popularity among both new and experienced parents. His advice is listened to, dismissing the old school of pediatrics. Evgeniy Olegovich pays special attention to the issue of adult food in the baby’s diet.

Over many years of medical practice, he has received many recommendations, so in today’s article you will learn about when to introduce complementary foods, what dishes to offer your child, and what the nutrition of children under one year should be.

We also offer several videos for your viewing that will help you better understand the features and nuances on which complementary feeding according to Komarovsky is based during breastfeeding.

For the first six months of life, the baby does not need anything other than mother's milk (or an adapted milk formula, if he is artificial). But after 6 months, the child’s activity sharply increases, teeth begin to emerge, so it is during this period that it is necessary to plan the introduction of complementary foods. Mothers have many questions and fears: what to do if the baby has allergies, how to preserve breast milk?

How to introduce complementary foods into the diet month by month, where to start feeding: porridge, vegetable puree or cottage cheese diluted with kefir? Or perhaps the first food should be liquid and maximally fortified in the form of juices? What should you give after one-ingredient meals? The all-knowing doctor Evgeniy Komarovsky, who has his own view on the features of complementary feeding during breastfeeding, will help you find the answer to these questions.

Doctor Komarovsky’s opinion on complementary feeding during breastfeeding at an early age

Modern medicine believes that introducing new foods into the diet of a baby who is under 6 months old should not be introduced. Previously, children at the age of 3-4 months were already introduced to the diet of porridge with cow's milk, given an egg yolk and supplemented with water and juices. Nevertheless, Evgeniy Olegovich, like other doctors, believes that until the child is six months old, there is no need to either supplement or feed him.

If the mother does not have enough breast milk, then you can add an adapted milk formula to the daily menu. That's all he needs. Also, dear mothers, do not forget about your diet. It should be balanced and rich in vitamins and beneficial macro and microelements.

You may object: “But what about the baby food labeled “from 3 months” that is now filling supermarket shelves?!” Let's not forget that, first of all, this is a very profitable business. Therefore, such eloquent statements on packaging are beneficial to manufacturers who shamelessly take advantage of parental trust.

An international study showed that more than 40% of parents surveyed introduce complementary foods between the ages of 3 and 5 months.

Scheme for introducing the first products

Komarovsky believes that the best first complementary food is kefir, since it contains bifidobacteria that improve intestinal microflora. Kefir also boosts children's immune response.

This fermented milk product is introduced as follows:

1. For the first time, give the baby 2-3 teaspoons of kefir, then feed the baby with formula or breast milk.
2. Be sure to monitor the body’s reaction; if there are no negative symptoms, the next day increase the volume by 2 times.
3. Continue to increase the volume daily until you reach 160 ml - then you can completely replace one feeding.

Then start introducing cottage cheese into your baby’s diet. The norm for a 6-month-old child is 30 grams, a 9-month-old toddler should eat about 90 grams.

After adapting to fermented milk products, let your baby try a baked apple. The dessert helps improve immunity, development of muscle and bone structures due to the high content of vitamins and microelements.

After the apple, offer your little one oatmeal, buckwheat or rice porridge. Prepare it with a mixture appropriate for the child’s age or purchase a special children’s porridge.

The pediatrician recommends feeding the baby a hearty meal before bed at night, this will increase the duration of the child's sleep.

Harm of early introduction of adult food to a baby

Despite all the efforts of grandmothers and “old-school” doctors, Dr. Komarovsky insists that there is nothing good in early complementary feeding. It does not bring any benefit, but it has negative consequences. These include not only intolerance to certain components - for example, cow protein or milk sugar - lactose, but also allergic rashes, which often develop into the form of dermatitis. Also note that if a product causes discomfort to the mother or father, then it should be introduced to the little one as late as possible.

The doctor also advises not to forget that a four-month-old baby is not yet physically ready to absorb new food, and the liver is a rather vulnerable organ in babies. But it is he who is responsible for removing undigested food particles from the body.

Evgeniy Komarovsky is convinced that a child’s liver matures only at one year of age, so even the most harmless foods (such as vegetable puree or dairy-free porridge) can be given no earlier than the above age.

Rule #10. The period for complete feeding replacement is a week.

By and large, I must tell you that, as a rule, for a complete replacement of feeding - for example, we decided to give the child oatmeal - as a rule, the optimal period for completely replacing the mixture with oatmeal is about a week. It's clear? That is, we know that the child eats this milk formula. Today they gave 20 g, tomorrow 40, the day after tomorrow 80, etc. – a week to replace feeding.

The rules are over. Now these are very interesting things, because again, medical science does not stand still.

Complementary feeding and allergies

For example, in the USA there is a very acute problem associated with, for example, peanuts. They have a very common - you probably know - peanut butter. They have a huge number of children with peanut allergies. And all their lives they told mothers: “Never give peanuts to small children! This increases the likelihood of allergies!”

And suddenly, literally a lot of recent studies prove that, it turns out, if children from 6-8 months are given small quantities of peanuts, this sharply reduces the likelihood of allergies later when they are older.

That is, this is how everything changes. Another question is that if there are people with allergies in the house, if this topic is, in principle, relevant for the family, then it is better not to conduct such experiments.

Why am I saying all this? Very often, right now, your doctor can advise you on something that goes against what is written in many books. But science does not stand still and everything changes.

For example, fish. In many books they write that fish is better after a year: we start complementary feeding with meat, and then fish. And now, if a child receives fish soup or pieces of fish in broth, starting from 8 months, it turns out that there will be nothing wrong with it - please, good health!

And one last piece of advice for you.

Introduction of complementary feeding according to Komarovsky

If you like Evgeniy Olegovich’s scheme for introducing adult food into the baby’s diet, we advise you to listen to his recommendations, which will help make the complementary feeding period easier and more enjoyable for both the child and his parents:

• The introduction of new products into the diet should be smooth and gradual. To begin with, give the baby 2-3 tsp. treats. Then its amount is increased, but only if the baby is not bothered by the tummy, there are no problems with stool, and his body and face are not covered with a rash. If even the slightest signs occur, postpone the introduction of complementary foods for a week. Your baby has not yet grown up to adult food.
• You should not give the first complementary foods while breastfeeding during illness and a few days before vaccination. Also, do not treat your baby to purees and cereals if he has started teething.
• How to teach a child to complementary foods? First, dilute the new dish with mother's milk or an adapted formula.

Introduction to complementary feeding of vegetables

The next stage will help you accustom your child to vegetables. Before introducing any vegetable (broccoli, carrots), try making vegetable broth and giving it to your baby in a bottle. Add chopped cabbage, onions, potatoes and carrots to the broth.

In the absence of negative manifestations, it is allowed to give the child puree soup, vegetable puree, adding a few drops of vegetable oil to the dishes.

Before adding meat, it is also recommended to initially let the baby taste the cooked meat broth, and only then you can add a little meat to the vegetable puree. Feel free to add boiled chicken yolk (one fifth) to vegetable puree. Children tolerate this product well.

Cook or buy: what Dr. Komarovsky advises

Many mothers are often interested in what kind of food is preferable to give to their babies - store-bought or home-cooked in their own kitchen? Evgeniy Olegovich believes that it is much better, in order to save the mother’s time and effort, to buy finished products from baby food manufacturers who have gained trust among parents.

But at the same time, the doctor understands that for many parents, the constant purchase of sealed jars and packages of dry cereals may be too costly financially. Also, homemade meals can only be prepared at home, so if you are visiting with a baby who does not yet eat at a common table, the best option is to take a jar of ready-made food.

On the other hand, ready-made jars are not suitable when complementary foods are introduced. After all, any container with puree, after opening, is suitable for consumption only for 24 hours. And when the baby eats half a spoon, most of the product will end up in the trash.

It is believed that homemade purees are not as tasty as store-bought ones. But this is a myth, it all depends on the individual preferences of the child. Sugar is often added to vegetable purees from a jar, which is why children eat the new treat with pleasure. But you can cook no worse.

While whipping, add a little of your milk. This will help the baby not only quickly adapt to an unusual delicacy, but will also significantly improve the taste of the dish.

What is the best meat puree for first feeding?

Meat produced in industrial conditions is better suited for a baby’s first introduction to meat products.

Meat puree from jars sold in stores is better processed, the membranes of muscle cells are destroyed by high pressure. Hemogenized meat (subject to high pressure) is easier for children to digest.

At home, no matter how long we cook the meat or beat it with a blender, the cell membranes remain intact, and the puree will still be fibrous. Digestion and absorption will be more difficult, so homemade meat puree is not the best option for starting meat feeding.

It is better to give such meat to a child after a year, but for now we have found out that the best meat puree for the first feeding is store-bought. You can choose such well-known companies as Fruto Nyaya, Grandma's Lukoshko, Agusha, Tema, Gerber, Hainz. According to ratings and reviews, these are the most purchased brands of baby food.

Where to start complementary feeding

Most parents have a lot of questions: how to properly feed their baby adult food, and what foods to start complementary feeding with when breastfeeding. Komarovsky will help you understand this issue and express his opinion.

Feeding a baby at 6 months

Evgeniy Olegovich advises starting to feed your baby with fermented milk products. He believes that kefir is the closest analogue of mother's milk. In addition, it is rich in beneficial lactic acid bacteria, which normalize the functioning of the baby’s gastrointestinal tract.

Of course, many modern doctors do not agree that complementary feeding should be started with these foods, but since in this material we are talking about the diet according to Komarovsky, we will omit the details.

On the first day of complementary feeding, before the second breastfeeding, you should give no more than 20 ml. kefir Next time, if no negative reactions occur, increase the volume of the product to 40 ml. Not all children immediately like kefir because of its specific sour taste. Therefore, it is allowed to be sweetened.

Every day we increase the volume of fermented milk drink we drink by 20 ml. When the baby has grown to a serving of 150 ml, Evgeny Komarovsky recommends introducing cottage cheese into his diet - first 1 tsp. According to Komarovsky, it should be added to kefir in the first complementary foods and always in a ground form.

After a few days, the volume of cottage cheese increases to 30 g. This amount will be quite enough for the child at first. We replace one daily feeding with breast milk with a healthy protein shake. It can be sweetened if desired.

Feeding a baby at 7 months

In addition to the standard portion of kefir with cottage cheese during the day, according to pediatrician Komarovsky, it is necessary to replace one evening feeding with milk and cereal porridge. Rice, oatmeal and buckwheat are best suited for these purposes.

To begin with, give the little one 3-4 tsp. porridge, and then breastfeed. Every day the portion of porridge doubles and gradually the volume of milk and cereal porridge reaches 200 ml.

Milk porridge for babies: recipe

Of course, if you buy dry porridge, then you just need to dilute the dry product with hot water. And if you cook on your own, then our recommendations will definitely not be superfluous.

You will need:

• milk - 100 ml;
• cereal flour 1.5 tsp;
• boiled water - 20 ml;
• sugar - 0.5 tsp.

Rinse the cereal, dry it and grind it in a coffee grinder. Pour water into the saucepan, add sugar and cereal flour. Pour in boiling milk and cook the porridge with constant stirring for 3-5 minutes.

Doctors advise not to buy ready-made milk porridges. It is best to purchase dairy-free and dilute it with milk yourself. If you are cooking for your child at home, you can use the recipe provided.

Rules for complementary feeding at 8 months

If you ask a pediatrician at the clinic where to start complementary feeding, most likely he will answer that with vegetable purees. But Dr. Komarovsky believes that vegetables, as well as fruits, can be introduced into the menu only after the baby has its first teeth. And he advises doing this at the age of eight months.

There are no special restrictions regarding fruits. You can start with an apple, banana or pear. The main thing is that the fruit is local. It’s better to wait until meeting exotic overseas guests and familiar citrus fruits.

Evgeniy Olegovich advises delaying the start of complementary feeding with juices until 8.5 months. Start with 1-2 drops and be careful as some will cause constipation.

You can often find information that complementary feeding according to Komarovsky includes a vegetable decoction. And many mothers think about how exactly to prepare it. There is absolutely nothing complicated here. It can be given before introducing vegetables into the diet to understand how the baby reacts to an unfamiliar product.

Step-by-step preparation of the decoction

1. Cut pre-washed and peeled vegetables into small pieces. For the decoction you will need 50 g of vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots or pumpkin and cabbage) per 100 ml. purified water.
2. Place the multi-colored mixture in a saucepan and pour boiling water over it. Place over medium heat and cook until the pieces are cooked through.
3. Strain through cheesecloth folded in several layers. Boil again and pour into a bottle or cup.

If everything went well, then you can prepare a puree from one vegetable - potatoes or, if complementary feeding is in the summer - zucchini or pumpkin. To begin with, 20-30 g is enough. Then we increase the serving volume daily until it is 200 ml. At the same time, do not forget to give your child cottage cheese with kefir and cereal porridge prepared with milk.

Complementary feeding according to Komarovsky: recipe for vegetable puree

After some vegetables have been introduced into the baby's diet, you can prepare a multi-component dish. For the decoction you will need:

• mixture of vegetables - 100 g (including potatoes - no more than 20-25 g, cabbage, carrots and onions);
• adapted mixture or whole milk - 25 g;
• vegetable oil - no more than 5 g.

Preparation:

1. Finely chop the processed vegetables. Add a little water to cover the bottom and let it simmer.
2. Simmer until soft, adding a new portion of boiling liquid from time to time.
3. Blend the vegetables using a blender or grind through a fine sieve.
4. Pour lightly salted hot milk into the puree and return to the heat. Boil baby puree. Add vegetable oil to the finished dish. And if the baby is already familiar with cream, then you can replace sunflower with it.

After a week, you can prepare healthy soup for your baby using vegetable broth. And a week later - on chicken. If the body reacts normally, then add ground meat to this soup, and after 3-4 days, add ground chicken yolk, but not more than half.

After getting acquainted with such a wide variety of healthy products, you can safely increase the amount of cottage cheese you consume to 50 g.

The final stage of complementary feeding from 9 to 12 months: main rules

• Use a variety of vegetables to make vegetable purees. Add ground meat to them, but only not very fatty varieties. You can also enrich the puree with half the yolk and vegetable or butter.
• At 10 months of life, Komarovsky recommends offering the child fish. Also, it is during this period that you begin to prepare soups for him not only with meat, but also with fish broth.
• At this age, your baby can be offered cereal porridge with added fruit. If you are not allergic, alternate them with dried fruits. In this case, the amount of sugar can be safely reduced. The introduction of complementary foods in the form of highly allergenic foods (such as nuts and honey) is not recommended.

According to Dr. Komarovsky, after the baby turns one year old, there is no biological point in breastfeeding him. Some pediatricians categorically disagree with this statement and advise maintaining lactation by feeding an older child with breast milk at least several times a day. Of course, at the same time, the mother must eat high-quality and nutritious food.

Rules for first feeding

New foods are introduced gradually, in small portions, one food at a time. In this case, several rules are observed:

• You can give new foods to your baby only if he is healthy. It is better to postpone experiments with diet if you have recently had a vaccination or will soon be vaccinated, if the child was stressed for some reason or did not sleep well, if the weather is hot outside.
• Portions are increased gradually. For the first time, a few grams (half a baby spoon) is enough. This is enough for the child to try a new product so that his body prepares for an expanded diet. Even if your baby wants to continue eating, you don’t need to give him a lot of new food at once. The amount of complementary foods is adjusted to the recommended daily amount gradually, over about a week.
• It is better if the first products are pureed (usually vegetable purees). They should not be completely liquid or too hard. You need to switch to more solid foods gradually, over several weeks, so that your digestive organs have time to adapt.
• The amount of complementary feeding in the first weeks is small, but each feeding should remain complete. To do this, new products are introduced while continuing to feed the baby with formula or breast milk. This can be done in any order: first give complementary foods, and then supplement with milk or formula, or vice versa.
• It is better to introduce new foods before lunch, then during the day you can evaluate how the child reacts to them. In case of food allergies, it is better to introduce no more than one new food at a time. If there are two or more of them, it will not be possible to determine what caused the allergic reaction.
• If a child refuses to eat, there is no need to force him. The same product can be offered several times until the baby tries it. Also, you should not force a child to continue eating if he is already full (Fig. 2). It is important that the baby eats with pleasure.

Figure 2. How to understand that a child does not want to eat or is already full?
Source: MedPortal You need to introduce your child to new products in a calm environment. It is important not to be nervous, even if the baby refuses to eat. It is advisable that when complementary feeding is introduced, the child sits with other family members and eats, imitating adults, getting used to eating with everyone.

“When introducing complementary foods, a single scheme is used regardless of what feeding the child is on, because modern infant formula is largely similar in composition to breast milk”

Skvortsova V.A., Doctor of Medical Sciences

Table of introduction of complementary foods by month according to Komarovsky

School of Dr. Komarovsky: about complementary feeding (video)

We invite you to watch a video in which Komarovsky talks about the first complementary feeding. The videos will help you understand the principles of introducing new foods that Evgeniy Olegovich adheres to when working with his young patients.

So you have become familiar with the main recommendations of Evgeny Olegovich (among mothers known simply as Doctor Komarovsky), which relate to the issue of the baby’s first adult diet. As you can see, in the Komarovsky complementary feeding table there are enough recommendations that other doctors treat with distrust.

Therefore, it’s up to you to decide whose advice to listen to—the people’s favorite or the local pediatrician. But first of all, in matters relating to the introduction of complementary foods by month, you need to listen to your intuition and adapt to the individual characteristics of your baby.

By the way, don’t stop breastfeeding your baby. Many mothers continue to feed the baby with their milk even after the introduction of complementary foods. They find in this a lot of conveniences and advantages for the development of a small organism.

What products should you start with?

• You can eat dairy and non-dairy cereals based on various grains. For example, rice, oats, wheat, rye, barley or buckwheat. Remember that you should not prepare porridges based on whole cow's milk. Children under one year old are not recommended to use it at all.
• Vegetables, fruits and berries can be used raw, boiled or pureed. It is worth remembering that exotic vegetables or fruits can cause allergies, and they can also be treated with various chemicals. Therefore, you should start with familiar domestic fruits, for example, apples.
• Fermented milk products, such as low-fat cottage cheese or kefir, are considered an excellent choice. But, unfortunately, it is now difficult to find high-quality dairy products. And even brands that produce children's products cannot boast of naturalness and complete safety for children.
• Bird eggs are also good for complementary feeding; most often the yolk is used for this, as the least allergenic part of the egg.
• Meat-based foods are very healthy, they are rich in proteins, as well as iron and zinc. However, you should not start feeding your baby with these foods. You should start with cereals, vegetables and fruits, and only then introduce meat and fish.
• Fish dishes are also rich in protein and contain essential fatty acids. River and sea fish are practically the same in composition, but sea fish have more iodine.