Misconception 1: Not paying enough attention to the addition of pureed food
Expert analysis: At 4-6 months old, pure breastfeeding or formula feeding is no longer sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of infants. It is necessary to add pureed foods that contain a large amount of nutrients needed for growth and can be digested by infants as "complementary food". However, parents have insufficient awareness of its importance. Some breastfed babies have not developed the habit of eating pureed food by 8-9 months. Delaying the introduction of pureed food not only fails to provide comprehensive nutrition to the baby, but also affects the development of chewing function and taste during the critical period of 4-6 months, leading to delayed development of chewing function, feeding difficulties, and potential problems such as delayed language development, cognitive impairment, and lower operational intelligence.
Therefore, we encourage the addition of pureed food to infants at 4-6 months old, preferably fortified rice cereal with various vitamins and minerals. Use a small spoon to feed, and with persistence every day, babies can learn to eat rice cereal after about 10 times. At the same time, it is important to ensure the quality of pureed food and gradually add foods of different colors, flavors, and textures, such as egg yolk, vegetable puree, fruit puree, fish puree, liver puree, and meat puree, to stimulate the baby's taste buds and meet their growth and development needs.
Misconception 2: Insufficient intake of heme iron
Expert analysis: Iron deficiency anemia is a common disease in infancy, mainly caused by iron deficiency. In infants and young children, iron sources largely depend on food. There are two sources of iron in food. One is heme iron, which comes from foods high in animal protein, such as lean meat, animal liver, animal blood, and fish. These foods not only have a high iron content but are also unaffected by other foods in the diet during absorption. The other source is non-heme iron, which comes from plant-based foods such as vegetables, grains, and red beans.
Currently, parents prefer to feed their babies fish and shrimp (which have a lower iron content) because they believe that meat is difficult to cook and chew, and that liver contains many "toxins" and should not be given to babies. As a result, the intake of heme iron is insufficient, and the absorption of non-heme iron is also reduced. To prevent iron deficiency anemia, in addition to encouraging breastfeeding (which has a high iron absorption rate), formula milk should be used when breastfeeding is insufficient. Fortified rice cereal should be added after 4 months, and liver puree and meat puree should be gradually added after 6 months to increase heme iron intake. In addition, vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C, such as oranges, kiwis, and strawberries, should also be supplemented, preferably immediately after meals to enhance iron absorption.
Misconception 3: Too monotonous food types
Expert analysis: Many parents do not pay enough attention to the diversification of food types and cooking methods for children, and the food they give to their babies is too monotonous. For example, some parents feed their babies with only vegetables, fish, and egg yolks every day. Some parents mix vegetable powder, fish powder, and liver powder in rice cereal every day, preventing the baby from distinguishing the taste and texture of different foods. Over time, the baby not only fails to obtain comprehensive nutrition but also refuses to accept new foods, and may even develop food aversion and picky eating. There is no natural food in the world that contains all the necessary nutrients for the human body. Only by eating a variety of foods can one obtain comprehensive nutrition. Mothers can vary their cooking methods to cultivate the baby's habit of eating various foods.
Currently, we advocate that children over 1 year old should eat at least 10 or more different foods every day, and gradually increase it to 30 or more. Various types of foods can be combined together, such as "stir-fried diced vegetables": dice potatoes, carrots, peas, mushrooms, and pork, then stir-fry them. Another example is minestrone soup, which can include onions, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and beef. These dishes have a variety of food types, bright colors, and comprehensive nutritional components, and are worth recommending.
Misconception 4: Not giving targeted health supplements to babies
Expert analysis: Many parents worry that the nutrients in their child's diet are not sufficient to meet their growth and development needs, so they buy nutritional or supplementary products such as ginseng, white fungus, longan, and royal jelly, believing that these foods are supplements that can promote the growth and development of children. However, the nutritional value of these supplements is not high, and some of them may even contain hormones, which could potentially lead to early puberty in children. Some parents always worry that their baby lacks certain nutrients and try to "overcompensate" by giving the baby fish liver oil, multiple vitamins, and mineral supplements. This can result in excessive intake of certain nutrients or an imbalance in the proportions of nutrients, which is detrimental to the baby's physical development.
Therefore, before taking any health supplements, it is important to understand the baby's physical condition, such as through venous blood testing to determine the mineral levels in the body. Only when a specific nutrient deficiency is confirmed should supplementation be considered, and it should be done under the guidance of a doctor. In fact, food supplementation is better than taking supplements! As long as a balanced diet is maintained, basic nutritional balance can be ensured. Moreover, even if excessive amounts of various nutrients are obtained through food, the body's regulatory mechanisms can achieve balance and rarely cause toxicity.
