The child does not want to eat porridge. The child does not eat porridge, refuses, and does not eat well. What to do if your child doesn’t want to eat porridge

During the first four months of life, the baby is fed either only mother's milk or formula. By the age of 5-6 months, the substances that make up milk are no longer sufficient for the full growth and development of the body. After the baby is six months old, the mucous membrane in his throat begins to adapt to swallowing solid food.

How can you determine when it’s time to start introducing complementary foods? The baby must gain a body weight that is twice its birth weight. In addition, he should already be able to sit well. Another prerequisite for starting complementary feeding is for the baby to show a keen interest in the food that the elders eat.

Accustoming your baby to new food

To start complementary feeding, the ideal option would be purees and vegetables. Such food has all the necessary benefits and characteristics that a new food should have.

Vegetable puree contains mineral salts that help bone formation and growth.
A lot of biostimulants and vitamins.
Fiber, which stimulates and normalizes intestinal function.
Alkaline salts, which not only improve metabolism, but also promote good breathing, help remove excess fluid, and also tone the baby’s nervous system.
Since there is no sweetness in this product, the child will much better accept porridge, which will be the second complementary food.
This puree contains small hard pieces. This will help your throat adjust to harder foods.

It is recommended to start complementary feeding gradually. Before the 2nd and 3rd breastfeeding, you need to give a few spoons of food. You can pour a little vegetable oil into the vegetable puree, as well as 1/2 an egg yolk. Gradually, over the course of a month, the amount of complementary foods is increased so that in the end the daily norm is 150 g. After this, it will be possible to replace one feeding with it or simply divide the portion into several times. It is important that the child likes it and does not cause him discomfort.

The beginning of complementary feeding is not always well received by the child. It often happens that he refuses to eat new food. Since from birth, babies have a very good sense of taste. Then they get used to the fact that mother’s milk is always sweet. When feeding, it is very important to establish contact with the baby. If this is not done, then all subsequent feedings will become real torture for both parents and the baby.

If you have made several attempts to feed your baby puree and nothing has worked, do not panic. When feeding for the first time, children often begin to spit out food and may even begin to vomit.

There is no need to be afraid of vomiting. Most likely, this is due to the fact that you have prolonged the feeding period too much.
It is very important to take into account the baby’s desire, but still unobtrusively and affectionately force him to start eating. To do this, parents use many tricks.

The following tips will help parents get their baby accustomed to complementary feeding.

It is recommended to introduce new foods when the child is hungry.
It is important to always follow the regime. By the time of feeding, the baby should already want to eat.
You need to try several options and find out what food your baby prefers. One child may only like mashed potatoes or cabbage. Another child can happily eat anything.
When introducing complementary foods for the first time, you can add a little milk or formula to make the food sweeter.
If your baby doesn't want to eat one food, give him another. And come back to the first one in a week.
When the whole family is having dinner at the table, seat your little one with you. He should see how adults enjoy eating different foods.
It is recommended to introduce new foods gradually. One puree is given for a week, after which you can try another.

The baby may refuse food due to poor health.

Many parents distract the child with toys and games when feeding. This is not worth doing. He will form the habit of eating while playing. In addition, saliva will be poorly produced, as a result of which food will be poorly digested.

An excellent method is pedagogical complementary feeding, when the child is seated at the table with everyone and given a tiny piece of what he wants.

What to do if your baby doesn't want to eat from a spoon

When we start introducing complementary foods, we use a spoon. You can take a silver spoon or a plastic one with bright colors. The baby will like such a colorful product, and he will eat it with great pleasure. You can use coffee first and then tea.

With regard to the spoon, the principle here is: the sooner, the better. Already at the age of 3 months, your baby should be given water from a spoon. When he gets used to the devices, there will be much less problems with complementary feeding.

If, when introducing complementary foods, he refuses a spoon, then there is no need to pour food into the bottle. It’s better to let him try it with his hands. Of course, he'll mess everything up, but it's worth it. Gradually he will be happy to eat from a spoon.

The child does not want to eat porridge

From the age of 6-7 months, you can start giving your baby porridge. In the first days you need to add a teaspoon to your diet. It could be buckwheat or corn porridge. Rice is also great. The amount of porridge should increase very slowly. Over time, the daily menu should include about 150 g of porridge. At this age, porridge for a child should be cooked in plain water or vegetable broth. No milk or sugar is added.

It often happens that the baby simply refuses to even try the porridge. In this case, parents often use various tricks, the same as when refusing to eat vegetable puree. When giving porridge for the first time, let the baby try to eat it in its pure form. If he spits it out, add a small amount of breast milk next time. This taste will be more familiar to the baby, and he will get used to the porridge over time.

Complementary feeding is not always an absolute replacement for breast milk. Often this is simply an addition to the baby’s diet, which makes it more complete and nutritious. This is the beginning of an introduction to adult food, which should happen gradually and carefully. When refusing complementary feeding, parents should show maximum patience. In any situation, young parents should closely monitor the baby, paying close attention to his behavior. This will help you understand him better.

What to do if the child does not want to eat complementary foods? (video)

Your baby has reached six months of age, his first tooth has already appeared, and now the period of introducing complementary foods has arrived. The logical stage in the development of each toddler is the transition from a diet consisting exclusively of mother’s milk or formula to a variety of adult foods. These are dairy and non-dairy porridges, vegetable, meat, fish and fruit purees, fermented milk products, bread, cookies. Some mothers prefer special baby food - a safe, but expensive option for complementary feeding. Some begin to give the baby immediately pureed adult food, for example, borscht or cutlets, as our grandmothers did. There are many feeding options. The main thing is that the baby should gradually get acquainted with more adult food; no one keeps babies under one year old on milk alone.

After about six months of age, babies slowly begin to try new foods.

The situation may turn out differently. It happens that the little ones start eating cereals and vegetables with great pleasure, but sometimes they don’t want to eat them. The unusual taste of food causes an internal protest in them; babies continue to demand only their mother’s breast or a bottle of formula. You can often hear from a young mother that she complains about her baby, saying that she doesn’t want anything but the breast, turns away from the porridge, spits out the puree. Every attempt to feed the baby like an adult becomes a real struggle - mother and child are stressed, a lot of food has been transferred. What to do when a child refuses complementary feeding?

We transfer the baby to adult food

The main food for babies up to six months is mother's milk in the case of breastfeeding, artificial formula if the mother does not have milk, or a combination of the first and second types. The essence of complementary feeding is that the child must be gradually transferred to more adult types of food; this is required by the physical growth of a person, first of all, the development of the gastrointestinal tract. You need to be careful when introducing the baby to “human” food, since the gastrointestinal tract is already tuned exclusively to milk. New food is stressful for the body; it can provoke a new surge of colic, constipation, diarrhea and other manifestations of dysbiosis. In order to neutralize the negative consequences, you need to follow the rules for transferring to complementary foods.

Complementary feeding should be introduced carefully, since the baby’s stomach is still designed exclusively for breast milk

When to start?

Previously, it was believed that you need to start after reaching six months of age and the appearance of the first tooth. Modern pediatrics is more loyal to the issue of time - everything depends on the individual characteristics of the child’s development. Often, even doctors and nurses advise introducing apple juice drop by drop from 3-4 months, even store-bought, and not freshly squeezed, zucchini puree. What WHO and Dr. Komarovsky advise on this matter:

The ideal age is after reaching 6 months. It is prohibited to introduce new foods before 4 months (we recommend reading:).
Ideal weight is at least 6.5 kg. The baby should double its weight by the time the new food is introduced.
The baby should confidently hold his head and turn it in different directions.
The child sits without any problems. Feeding a baby who is not yet sitting with anything other than milk is problematic.
The tongue thrusting reflex is neutralized.
The baby can stretch his lower lip forward, which means he can take a spoon with his mouth.
It is ideal if a breastfeeding baby shows interest in “human” food when he sees adults eating food. This indicates the baby’s moral readiness to be transferred to a new table.
The baby is active, he crawls, plays, is energetic and asks for food.

Rules for successful transition to adult food

Sometimes you can hear from mothers that they are trying to introduce a variety of types of complementary foods at intervals of 5-7 days. They say, the zucchini didn’t work - in a few days we’ll give you cauliflower. The baby turns away from the buckwheat, we’ll give him oatmeal right away. The result is that the child refuses complementary feeding and suffers from colic and diarrhea no less than a newborn baby. This is mistake. Here are a few simple but important rules that will help not harm the baby.

Consult your doctor

Trust not only your own intuition, the advice of grandmothers and friends, and the Internet.

Your main assistant in raising your baby is an experienced pediatrician, but at the same time keeping up with modern medical trends. An ordinary local doctor can only be guided by generally accepted standards and give generalized advice, without taking into account the individual characteristics of your child.

Listen to yourself

A good mother may make a mistake, but not often. If you see that the child is not yet ready to introduce complementary foods, do not rush. Maybe you sense your baby’s psychological instability. No one except you knows the child’s body so thoroughly. Doctors, for example, often miss small signs of allergies and dysbacteriosis - redness of the lips or hands, flatulence. This may be a reaction to a new product.

A mother should trust her intuition, because she senses the child’s needs best of all.

Breastfeeding and artificial feeding - there is no difference

Previously, it was believed that bottle-fed babies needed complementary foods to be introduced earlier. The amount of nutrients in the mixtures is not enough; children need to diversify their diet as quickly as possible. Modern pediatrics has a different opinion - it is not so important what kind of feeding the baby is on; the temporary aspects of introducing new food are universal.

New food - only for a healthy baby

Tastings are contraindicated for children who are in any kind of unhealthy condition. Fever, dysbiosis, cold or viral infection, stress, time before and after vaccination are periods prohibited for introducing complementary foods. The body is already in a stressful state, it is struggling with negative factors - new food will not be perceived as it should.

Everything new - a little bit

Each new product should be given to the baby with a minimum amount, this is the only way you will not cause a serious allergic reaction. Perhaps your child has an individual intolerance to apples or will strongly dislike cauliflower. You cannot know anything in advance, because a person will try each product for the first time in his life. The optimal dose is half a teaspoon, even if you are giving the product to a baby in the 8th or 10th month of life (we recommend reading:). Over the course of a week, gradually increase the amount to the age norm.

To begin with, you should give your child less than a spoonful of the new product - this will allow you to track the reaction

No violence

Consider the child’s wishes, but without fanaticism. Learn to determine whether your baby is just being capricious, or whether he is really disgusted by zucchini, but eats buckwheat porridge with pleasure.

A baby is also a person; nothing can be done to him by violence. It is necessary to introduce complementary foods, and a variety of them, but do not persist too much, wait it out.

Monocomponent

Start with one product. Do not immediately give peach-pear juice or meat puree with broccoli. At first, only apple juice, only meat puree, only zucchini. Monocomponentity allows you to determine how a child tolerates a particular ingredient. If your stomach hurts, you will not understand which product was not suitable for your baby.

The right start

One of the main conditions for the successful introduction of complementary foods is the right start (see also:). If you start giving your baby adult food made from sweet fruits, he will then have great difficulty eating bland vegetables. Where to start tediously:

with monocomponent vegetable purees, if the baby has a tendency to constipation (see also:);
with dairy-free cereals if the child often diarrhea.

If a child has diarrhea, it is better to start introducing complementary foods with cereals

Why does a child refuse “human” food?

It's time to introduce new food. You did everything according to the rules, guided by your own intuition and the advice of a qualified pediatrician. The baby still refuses to eat new food. Possible reasons why a child does not eat complementary foods:
(we recommend reading:)

the child is not psychologically ready to switch to a new diet;
the baby is not yet accustomed to the new taste, you need to carefully try again;
the baby has a psychological barrier, perhaps accidentally created by you;
the baby does not feel well, teething or stomach pain may occur;
The baby is simply capricious and has a selective taste.

What to do?

What to do if the child does not want to eat complementary foods? You can train your baby in the following ways:

Develop your baby's food interest. Sit him down at the common table and let’s taste, bit by bit, what the adults eat. The main thing is to give only dietary food. Some parents are keen on this process and can even let their baby try fried potatoes or chocolate candy. Komarovsky calls it “entertainment for moms and dads.”
Give new food to a hungry child. A well-fed baby will not want to eat anything, especially something new. After a walk or active games, children usually develop an appetite.
Giving a child who is not yet accustomed to complementary feeding cookies, bread or other foods from which a piece can break off and enter the respiratory tract is unwise. The baby will be scared and will have a psychological barrier to accepting new food.
Does your baby refuse canned food? Try cooking yourself. The same vegetable, meat and fruit purees are easily prepared using a blender and masher. Some babies only eat what mommy has prepared.
Playing with food is not good, but sometimes it is okay. Cut vegetables and fruits, for example, zucchini and apples into cubes, let the baby stand in a pyramid - and try it out during the game.

Mom can make puree on her own - there’s nothing complicated about it

Use your imagination and be calm!

Remember the following rules:

Fight your child’s selective appetite, otherwise he will grow into a terrible capricious child. The best method of struggle is hunger. Let your grandmothers call you a sadist, sometimes a hungry child is better than a little one and a whim.
Be less nervous yourself and don’t make your child nervous. Focusing on complementary foods, like anything else, is harmful. Remember that there were no children under 3 years of age who ate only milk; sooner or later everyone switched to adult food. It is impossible to force a baby, just like an adult.
Never punish your baby for turning over a plate or smearing mashed potatoes on his bib. Remember that he is still very small and cannot eat neatly.
Does your baby refuse food that he used to like? Take a break of 7-10 days.
Combine food with play. Let the spoon turn into an airplane, and the plate of porridge with the image of your favorite toy or cartoon character.

Many young mothers complain about their little ones: “He doesn’t eat porridge and refuses purees. Give it to me, and that’s it!” Another attempt to feed the baby something other than breast milk or formula ends in complete failure. The baby spits, turns away from the spoon and demonstrates complete indifference to the offer of refreshment. How to solve this problem? Can complementary feeding be a joy, not torture and mutual stress?

Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to feed your baby.

First, let's figure out what the essence of this process is, under what conditions it is advisable to start introducing complementary foods, what are its rules. And then we will consider the possible reasons for your baby’s refusal to eat and ways to overcome these difficulties.

The baby's main food from birth until about six months is:

mother's milk;
breast milk and an adapted formula, if the first component is not enough;
an adapted mixture if there is no milk at all.

The meaning of complementary feeding is to introduce the child to the “adult” table, the transition from infant food to “human” food. Karapuz explores previously unknown tastes. gets acquainted with new products.

When to start?

We recently turned three months old. And at the next appointment with the pediatrician, the nurse advised giving the baby apple juice, drop by drop. I was surprised and thought to myself: “So early? Sour industrial juice? For what? After all, it contains practically no vitamins.” Without risking blindly trusting the words of our “mentor,” I decided to find out what the country’s leading pediatricians (for example, Komarovsky) and the World Health Organization had to say about this.

There is no need to rush into introducing complementary foods. Everything has its time.

It turns out that there is a whole list of conditions under which it is time to think about the variety of children's menus.

Age. There is no need to feed the baby before 4 months. It is better if your baby eats only milk or formula until he is six months old.
Weight. From the moment of birth, the toddler should weigh twice as much, approximately 6.5-8.5 kg.
Indicators of physical development and formation of the central nervous system:

Only in the presence of all these circumstances is the gradual introduction of your child to the “adult” table considered timely.

Following some rules will save you and your baby from unnecessary troubles.

Rule #1. Trust yourself and modern scientific research

Forget about what “experienced relatives” (grandmothers, mother-in-law, aunts, mother) told you. Giving advice is their vital necessity. And, unfortunately, it is not always appropriate and useful. Think with your own head, rely on your mother's intuition. No one knows your child better than you. And no one can find an approach to him the way a loving mother will.

Mom knows what is good for her baby.

Don’t imitate your friends who boast that their baby is only 5 months old, but he crushes potatoes with spoons. Your time will come too. After all, you are not competing for gold medals.

Pass through the filter the words of the treating doctor. As a rule, our local doctors are guided by the same standards for everyone. It's convenient and fast. But every child is a very special case. Take into account all the nuances, get out of the general formation if you don’t have time or, on the contrary, are rushing forward.

Many mothers have noticed this more than once. White spots can serve as a signal of inflammatory processes that occur in the baby’s body. As soon as you notice plaque, take action immediately.

Children under one year old often suffer from constipation, which occurs for a variety of reasons. There are many ways to help your baby poop. Of course, one of the most effective is.

Rule #2. The type of feeding does not matter

The statement that “artificial babies” should be transferred to adult food earlier than infants is outdated. It was based on the low quality of infant formula and the resulting lack of vitamins and nutrients. But the baby food industry does not stand still. And progress is obvious. Modern adapted mixtures have a rich composition and are well absorbed by the growing body.

We artificial babies are now on par with infants!

Rule #3. New product for a healthy child!

Any tasting is contraindicated if the baby has a tummy ache, has a fever, or is recovering from illness or vaccinations.

I'm not ready for food experiments today!

Rule #4. Feed your baby a new food before the main meal

Otherwise, the little one will get enough of his mother’s milk, and there will simply be no room left for other “dishes”.

Rule #5. Don't use violence

If the baby turns away from the spoon, there is no need to insist and stubbornly try to put it in his mouth.

Rule #6. Don't get carried away by quantity

Introduce a new product gradually, starting with half a teaspoon. And within a week bring it back to normal. If a product doesn't work for you, stop taking it for a week or 10 days, then try again.

Start complementary feeding with small portions.

Rule #7. Monocomponent

Give preference to light vegetable purees.

So, we got acquainted with the conditions and. It's time to answer the question why some children (and these are the majority) refuse to eat anything other than mother's milk.

Reasons for refusing complementary feeding

What to do if your baby is already 6, and perhaps even 8 or 10 months old, but he does not even want to try food from the common table?

This question becomes important if the baby's blood test reflects a deficiency of elements such as iron, folic acid and vitamin B12.

In this case, you need to take action.

If you are a mother of an infant, you have probably noticed more than once that sometimes the baby’s head sweats. This can occur with increased physical activity, overwork, if the child wears clothes made of synthetic fabrics. He will tell you more about the problem of “wet baby head”.

If the child does not eat complementary foods...

Don't get hung up on complementary foods. After all, this is not the main food, but only an acquaintance with it. Everything has its time. All kids are neophobes (neophobia is the fear of new foods). Listen to the mother's intuition and your child. All cases are individual. Therefore, calm your nerves and slowly accustom your baby to the common table. Let complementary feeding become a pleasant and tasty activity, a long-awaited and joyful ritual. The main thing: do everything with pleasure. He doesn’t eat this porridge - and that’s fine! Now you can’t believe it, but the time will come, and your little one won’t be able to be pulled away from the macaroni cheese by the ears. Just wait.

Good luck and patience!

The situation when a child does not eat porridge is not so rare.

Many mothers at playgrounds discuss this problem with each other: some express concern that their baby is completely refusing this valuable product, others share their experience of how they managed to make a young gourmet friends with cereals.

This phenomenon is quite common and here we are faced with a case where a healthy dish must also be made tasty for a child.

When we introduce porridge into complementary foods

Porridge is one of the first products introduced into complementary foods.

If the baby is gaining weight well, then he is introduced to her after they start giving vegetables, that is, at approximately 7 months;
If there is a lack of weight, then the first thing the child is offered is porridge, that is, they are introduced into complementary foods from the age of six months.

Like any other product that is introduced into a baby’s diet, porridge is first given to him in a minimal amount and the reaction is observed. If everything went well, then gradually increase the volume of this dish in complementary foods.

If an allergy appears to porridge, then either they offer another type of this product, or, for a while, completely exclude it from the diet.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the technology, volumes and types of cereals that you will give to your child depend on your approach to introducing complementary foods.

In the standard scheme, it is recommended to start with dairy-free cereals, which are not sweetened or added with salt for up to a year;
In the first months of introducing cereals, it is most often recommended to offer the baby boxed cereals, then regular cereals (up to 1-1.5 years, they also need to be crushed using a blender).

I don't support this approach.

Know! If you grind porridge before the age of 1.5 years, you will get a child who chokes on the slightest hard piece that gets on his tongue and also vomits.

Obviously, no mother wants such “beauty,” therefore, before introducing cereals into your child’s complementary foods, you should generally understand how and what you will do.

Useful properties of cereals

All cereals are useful because:

they have a lot of fiber;
zinc contained in the composition prevents skin diseases;
have a beneficial effect on the digestive system;
maintain a constant level of glucose in the blood for a long time;
create a barrier to the absorption of cholesterol into the blood;
very satisfying, give a boost of energy.

Table for introducing cereals into complementary foods:

Type of porridge	Beneficial features	Harm	At what age can complementary foods be introduced?
Rice	Removes harmful substances from the body, protects the gastric mucosa. Helps strengthen the nervous system.	Not recommended for constipation	From 6 months
Buckwheat	Contains a lot of iron, calcium, B vitamins. Cleanses the body of toxins. Strengthens the walls of blood vessels. Helps absorb vitamin C. Read: Buckwheat porridge for first feeding >>>.	It is not recommended to consume a lot if you have diabetes and kidney failure.	From 6 months
Corn	The silicon contained in the composition is good for teeth. Porridge helps remove excess fat from the body. Useful for constipation and diabetes.	It is not recommended to use frequently if you have poor appetite, are underweight, or have constipation.	From 6 months
Oatmeal	Contains vitamins B, A, E, PP, C, and many minerals. Good for vision and brain development. Helps with constipation. Cleanses the body of toxins.	Contains gluten, promotes leaching of calcium from the body	From 8 months
Millet	Rich in vitamin A, removes excess salts from the body, and is an excellent source of energy. Strengthens the cardiovascular system. Useful in antibiotic treatment.	Difficult to digest, impairs iodine absorption. Not recommended for diabetes.	From 9 months
Wheat	Normalizes metabolism, cleanses the body, is easily digestible, helps strengthen the immune system and remove harmful substances from the body.	Do not use if you are allergic to gluten. Not recommended for flatulence or diabetes.	After 8 months
Barley	It is easily digestible, strengthens bone tissue, and removes heavy metals from the body. Helps strengthen the immune system, nourishes the brain. Useful for diabetes.	Do not use if you are allergic to gluten or have acute stomach diseases. It is not recommended to use frequently if you have a tendency to gain excess weight.	From 9 months
Manna	Cleanses the body, has a beneficial effect on the stomach, enveloping it	Contains gluten, promotes excess weight, interferes with the absorption of vitamin D and calcium	From 1 year
Pearl barley	Normalizes metabolism, helps strengthen the immune system, and is a powerful antioxidant. Useful for allergies.	Digests slowly. Not recommended for flatulence and constipation.	From 3 years

Why doesn't the child eat porridge?

If a child under one year old does not want to eat porridge, then the reason may be as follows:

Porridge was introduced into complementary foods too early;

For example, before a child is six months old, when his body is not yet ready for new food (read the article When to introduce complementary foods to a breastfed child?>>>);
Or the mistake may be that the consistency of the porridge is not suitable for the baby, for example, it is too hard for him. Boxed options can help out here;
The situation when a child of 6 months does not eat porridge is quite common. You should wait for the child’s true nutritional interest in complementary foods and only after that offer the baby porridge.

The child is force-fed. Compulsion to do something always causes a desire to defend oneself and express resistance;
They give too much porridge. The baby is afraid that he will not be able to eat everything that is offered to him.
The child is fed separately from the parents, thus there is no role model, a guideline on how to eat (read the article on the topic: How to feed a child correctly?>>>).

Important! If there are problems with introducing new foods into the diet, including cereals, then they cannot be ignored, since this affects the formation of proper eating behavior and attitudes towards foods.

The sooner you introduce your child to healthy food, the more likely you will reduce the likelihood of health problems.

A child over one year old does not eat porridge: why?

If the child is over a year old and refuses cereals, then the reason for this may be:

Late introduction to this dish;

If parents constantly postponed the introduction of porridge into complementary foods and did not react in any way to the child’s refusals, then every month it will become more and more difficult to accustom him to a new product.

Passion for sweets and snacks;

If the child has already been introduced to various “goodies” in the form of sweets, cookies, etc. and he regularly eats them between meals and before meals, this leads to the child refusing less pleasant foods, for example, porridge .

It’s not tasty for the baby;

This usually manifests itself in the fact that he refuses to eat a specific porridge (for example, millet or semolina) or, for example, the child does not eat porridge with water.

Some children don't like boxed cereals, while others have a hard time getting used to the hard consistency of cereals. It's a matter of preference here.

Feeding with entertainment;

Here we are talking about the fact that they are trying to distract the baby in every possible way (with cartoons, toys, etc.) and feed him at this time. The child’s attention switches to other stimuli and he absorbs food unconsciously.

Unfortunately, children get used to this method of eating and subsequently refuse to eat without entertainment.

Of course, if a child of 2 years old does not eat porridge at all, then this is a reason to think and reconsider feeding methods, establish clearer rules and diet.

You will learn in detail about how to restore your child’s appetite and introduce him to a healthy diet in the course >>>.

What to do if your child doesn’t want to eat porridge

Try to diversify the taste. Fruits will come to the rescue here (don’t forget about dried fruits!), berries;
After 7 months, add oil to the porridge, this increases its calorie content and nutritional properties (read the article on this issue Oil in complementary foods >>>);
Make sure that the consistency of the porridge is as uniform as possible so that there are no “lumps” in it. They are the common reason why a child does not eat semolina porridge;
Decorate your dishes. Even adults are little attracted to the appearance of the semi-liquid mass into which cereals turn when cooked;

Place the porridge in a beautiful plate, “revive” it by drawing eyes and a sweet smile from some berries or raisins. Talk colorfully about strong heroes and Russian beauties who ate porridge with appetite.

Introduction of complementary foods

Swap the porridges

If at first your child willingly eats dairy-free porridge, and then categorically refuses it, try offering him another one. For example, if your baby doesn’t want to eat buckwheat, give him rice. Alternatively, you can mix the porridge with purees that your little one likes. The only “but”: pediatricians do not recommend mixing porridge with vegetables; it is better to have it as fruit puree.

For good stomach function, it is better to make the porridge liquid. As your child gets used to dairy-free porridge, add different options and new flavors: corn porridge is very useful for a child’s body due to the presence of the right microelements. If your baby categorically refuses buckwheat, try mixing it with the porridge that he likes best, in general, experiment.

Those who have tried dairy-free porridge know that it is not a particularly tasty “drink”, but when prepared on the basis of hypoallergenic milk mixtures, it becomes, firstly, tastier, and secondly, much more satisfying.

Dairy-free porridge for sensitive tummies of babies is usually used if the child is intolerant to natural cow's milk, in case of lactose deficiency, complete or partial, if your child is overweight.

Such cereals contain a minimal amount of sugar, vitamins, minerals and grains. To begin with, we recommend using ready-made cereals made from environmentally friendly raw materials, which are perfectly absorbed by the child’s body. It is also important that, thanks to the use of modern technologies, the biological and nutritional value of cereals is preserved in industrially prepared porridges; they are enriched with vitamins according to the age of the children.

Introduction of complementary foods

At the age of 4-6 months, children begin to receive dairy-free cereals as complementary foods, ideal for introducing the baby to the diverse world of adult food. They are designed in such a way that the child receives complete complementary foods with minimal risk of allergies.

When introducing a child to a new type of food, it is recommended to start with single-ingredient products made from low-allergenic cereals. These, of course, are rice and buckwheat. If the reaction is good, you can gradually introduce oatmeal into your baby’s diet, which is rich in vegetable protein and contains little gluten. Thanks to dairy-free cereals, the child develops the habit of proper and healthy eating. Start with 1-2 teaspoons of the product, gradually increasing the portion.