Porridge recipes for children. How to cook rice porridge for a baby How to cook porridge for an 8 month old baby

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Porridge is a special type of dish made from various cereals and legumes. At first glance, it seems that it is not so difficult to cook it, because it is based on cereals and the liquid in which it is boiled. But this impression is erroneous, and a long time ago there were even experts in this field - cooks.

Nevertheless, every mother should be able and know how to cook porridge for a child, even if she owns such a profession, because porridge is the first dish in a baby's life after breast milk.

Cereals: what they are

You can find a wide variety of cereals on store shelves, but not all of them are suitable for feeding a small child. When choosing the first cereal for complementary feeding, you need to give preference to those that have the following properties:

• One-component, that is, there is only one cereal in the composition. This is due to the fact that it will be easier to calculate the allergy to a certain component, in contrast to multi-grain ones.
• Gluten-free, because in most cases gluten is poorly absorbed, often causes allergies and stomach diseases. These include oatmeal, semolina, millet and barley grains.
• Dairy-free, since cow protein can provoke allergies, and is very difficult food for babies.

Knowing how to properly cook porridge for a child, choose the following three types of cereals to start feeding:

1. Buckwheat is the least allergenic, so almost all children tolerate it well. It is easily digested, but at the same time it contains complex carbohydrates, which provide the child's body with energy for a long time. In addition, buckwheat is one of the richest sources of iron, which is very important for the rapid growth of a child in the first year of life.
2. Rice is very nutritious and rich in B vitamins. For children who have a tendency to loose stools, rice is the undoubted leader because it “strengthens”.
3. Corn is a favorite porridge for children. It is nutritious and contains many beneficial trace elements.

After the child grows up a little, cereals from the following cereals can be introduced into the diet:

1. Oatmeal is an antioxidant-rich cereal for babies and is the healthiest cereal for nutritionists. In addition, it has a mild laxative effect.
2. Millet is useful for the cardiovascular system, but it is digested very slowly.
3. Semolina is very high in calories, so it helps to gain weight. But in the first year of life, it is better to give it up, and then use it as a delicacy than a daily breakfast.

First porridge: when to start

Since the baby will have to cook porridge every day, you need to think about the timing of its introduction into the diet. Pediatricians recommend starting to feed with porridge at six months. But at the same time, you need to take into account some points:

• If the child's health is all right, then at 5 months they begin to give vegetable purees, and a month later - porridge.
• If the child is small and often suffers from an intestinal disorder, it is necessary to begin to acquaint with "adult" food with porridge.
• For children who are large and overweight, the introduction of cereals can be postponed until 7-8 months.

In any case, each child needs to select an individual complementary feeding scheme.

Features in feeding

When choosing what kind of porridge to cook for a child up to one year old, do not forget that she needs to be fed according to a completely different scheme than already grown babies:

• Introduce complementary foods gradually - half a spoon in the morning, monitoring the reaction throughout the day. If there are no problems with the stool and no allergic rashes appear, you can safely continue, increasing the dose every day. If, on the contrary, then it is worth postponing acquaintance with a certain cereal at a later time and not giving other cereals for at least a week.
• Introducing new cereals, observe a time interval of a week, waiting for the body to get used to the previous product.
• You do not need to add sugar and salt to the porridge, because at an early age they will not bring absolutely any benefit to the child's body.
• It is better to make the first porridge with breast milk or water.
• To diversify recipes for cereals for babies, after 7-8 months, you can include fruits or vegetables in the dish.

First porridge: buy ready-made or cook yourself?

Now many parents are tormented by doubts: buy ready-made porridge or cook it yourself. Heinz, Nestlé, Malyutka - not the whole list of manufacturers of baby food in boxes. The opinions of pediatricians on this issue also differ. Therefore, before making a choice in favor of one of them, you need to find out what advantages and disadvantages they have.

The advantages of boiled porridge:

1. Whole grains are always healthier than processed grains, so porridge will bring more health benefits to the growing body.
2. The child will develop chewing skills more quickly, since the grind size can always be varied.
3. Homemade is much tastier than ready-made, because mom prepares it herself and there is no synthetic aftertaste in it.

Disadvantages of self-cooked porridge:

1. It takes a long time to cook - you need to not only cook it, but also grind it first, and not everyone wants to do it every day for the sake of one spoon.
2. You need additional equipment - a coffee grinder or blender to grind the cereal.
3. Not all grain contains a stable composition.
4. If the cooking rules are not followed, the porridge may become useless, that is, it will no longer possess any useful properties.

Advantages of purchased ready-made porridge:

1. To cook quickly - in the case of a small child, this is a definite plus: the mother does not always have free time to cook, especially since the baby will only need a couple of spoons for the first time.
2. Enriched with vitamins - complementary complex
3. Easy to use, so you don't have to bother with how to cook porridge for a one-year-old child.

Disadvantages of porridge from boxes:

1. High price - not all families can afford it, because open packaging is good for two weeks. And since very little is needed at the beginning, half of the pack will end up in the trash.
2. The dishonesty of some manufacturers and the possibility of counterfeiting, so you can stumble upon a low-quality product.
3. In some cases, it contains synthetic additives, and they may also be allergic.

The best option is to combine both types of cereals, starting with the purchased complementary foods, gradually transferring them to cooked. The most important thing when choosing even ready-made porridge, even whole cereal, is to pay attention to the manufacturer and the expiration date. And kids are different: some are happy to crush homemade porridge, while others prefer purchased ones.

Oatmeal Milk Porridge Recipe

If you prefer homemade products more, then you need to know how to cook milk porridge for a child. This will require:

• oatmeal;
• formula milk, goat's or cow's milk.

Cooking procedure:

1. The groats need to be sorted out, rinsed well and dried before cooking. For convenience, it is better to do these procedures with a large volume in advance, so as not to do it every day. Usually, cereals are cooked in a 1 to 2 ratio, so a glass of milk is needed for half a mug of porridge. For an infant, the dosage is: 1 teaspoon of porridge per 100 ml of liquid. You can also cook the porridge in water, and add milk to the finished one.
2. Grind on a coffee grinder, and if not, use a blender after cooking.
3. Pour the mixture into the warmed milk (you should not put it in boiling oatmeal), stir occasionally and simmer over low heat until tender. It is better to choose a metal pan with a thick bottom, because dairy does not burn in it, another best option is a multicooker.
4. Add a little oil (4-5 grams), but only if this is not the first porridge in complementary foods and the baby is not allergic to cow protein.

Now that you know how to cook oatmeal for a child, your child will never be left without tasty and healthy food. We wish your little ones good health and bon appetite!

Useful video on how to cook porridge in a mixture

Correct feeding of a baby up to 1 year old is one of the main tasks of a young mother, no matter what kind of feeding the baby grows on - breastfeeding or on mixtures. The child is growing, he is already 8 months old and the dishes on his menu are becoming more and more diverse - in addition to cereals and mashed potatoes, meat and fish are already being introduced into his diet. With such an abundance of products, mom can already experiment, cook multi-component meals and delight her baby with new tastes.

A baby of 8 months already eats cereal porridge, grated boiled fruits and vegetables with enthusiasm. Its menu includes fermented milk organic products, egg yolk and meat. You can already replenish the menu of a child of 8 months with lean fish and expand the list of vitamin components.

How to include new meals for an 8 month old baby

1. Before feeding with an unknown crumbs product, you need to get clarification from a doctor, since he observes its development. Each organism has its own uniqueness.
2. Before the planned adjustment of the children's menu, the baby must be vigorous and healthy.
3. Offer an unfamiliar meal to the crumb, starting with 1 teaspoon - before serving the main course. It is better to give a new component of the menu no later than 2 pm in order to be able to follow the response of the crumbs' body throughout the day.
4. Offer a dish with an unfamiliar crumbs component within 7-10 days. Only after the child's body is unconditionally accustomed to it, proceed to other intended combinations of components.

Meals for an 8 month old baby - an approximate daily diet

In this section, we will provide the most acceptable meals for all meals throughout the day. With our food list, you can easily plan your daily and weekly meals for your growing baby.

Keep in mind that the total amount of food at one meal is about 200 g, and at lunchtime - a little more. If there are products on the list that are unfamiliar to your child, then take our instructions above.

First breakfast: 06.00

• Breast milk

Second breakfast: 10.00

• Curd - 40 g
• Kefirchik for children - 100-150 ml
• Vegetable puree - 40 g
• Porridge with vegetables (on vegetable broth) - 40 g
• Natural yogurt - 100-150 ml
• Milk porridge (from buckwheat, oatmeal, rice, barley) - 150 g
• Fruit puree - 60 g

Lunch 14.00

• Mashed potatoes with butter - 150 g
• Vegetable puree in water or vegetable broth - 150 g
• Carrot and potato puree - 150 g
• Cabbage puree (cauliflower or broccoli) and zucchini - 150 g
• Vegetable soup with potatoes and rice with 1 tsp. vegetable oil - 150 g
• Egg yolk - fourth part (every day)
• Puree of beef or veal, chicken, rabbit - 30 g
• Puree from meat offal (tongue, liver, kidneys) - 30 g
• Fish puree - 30 g
• Vegetable or fruit juice - 40 ml

Dinner: 18.00

• Milk (oat, wheat, buckwheat, rice) porridge - 170 g
• Milk porridge with semolina or rice with pumpkin - 170 g
• Vegetable or fruit puree or juice - 20-30 ml

Dinner before bed: 22.00

• Breast milk
• Adapted milk mixture - 180-200 ml

Cooking principles for an 8 month old baby

Dairy dishes

Milk porridges for children under 1 year old are prepared only on adapted milk mixtures. Cow (goat) milk is not absorbed by the child's fragile body, it can provoke a metabolic failure and force the child's kidneys to work in extreme mode.

The cereals are first boiled until they are airy, wiped and liquefied with a dry mixture dissolved in water and boiled again for a couple of minutes. No salt or sugar is added.

Fermented milk products, such as kefir, yogurt and curd, should be adapted to the physiology of children under 1 year old.

Vegetable and fruit purees

We choose tender vegetables without coarse fibers. This can be zucchini, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, cauliflower, stalked celery, broccoli, and others.

Even more care should be taken with fruits, since many of them can provoke allergic manifestations in a child.

Meat dishes

It is advisable to cook mashed potatoes and soufflés from meat, which are combined with mashed potatoes from vegetable crops or vegetable broth. Meat used in dishes for an 8 month old baby should be fresh and not greasy.

Forbidden: goose and duck, fatty pork.

Fish meals

If the baby receives breast milk, then it is better to introduce fish into his diet not at the age of 8 months, but later - at 9-10 months. Fish contains many unsaturated fatty acids, minerals and vitamins and often causes allergic skin reactions.

If the baby is artificially fed, then you can carefully give him a taste of fish soufflé or puree, starting with 1/3 teaspoon. The baby can eat fish dishes no more than 2 times a week, 30 g each, mixing it with mashed potatoes or vegetables.

Preference should be given to sea fish with white meat: pollock, hake, cod. It is better to abstain from red salmon fish. From river fish, carp and pike perch are suitable for dishes for an 8-month-old baby.

You, as the mother of a growing baby, know more clearly than all other family members what your baby needs. You spend all your time with your baby, and there is an inextricable bond between you. Your maternal intuition tells you the appropriate inclusion of any meal for an 8 month old baby. May it never dry up in you!

The menu of an eight-month-old baby can already be quite diverse: it includes cereals, vegetables, fruits, meat, and even fish. You can make it healthy and delicious by cooking it yourself. After reading our article, you will find out what recipes for meals for an 8 month old baby can be prepared quickly and tasty.

Children at the age of 8 months are fed five meals a day, while three meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner - already consist of complementary foods. From now on, we recommend that you accustom your baby to the fact that children eat porridge for breakfast, and soup for lunch. This allows you to quickly establish the regime and it is easier to adapt to kindergarten later. In addition to porridge for breakfast, you can offer the crumbs fruit puree and cottage cheese, purchased or made yourself. We will talk about it a little later.

What to cook for a baby at 8 months for lunch: recipes can vary depending on the ingredients. Most often this is a vegetable soup with meat or vegetables with a steam cutlet, well mashed. For those babies who were introduced to complementary foods from 4 to 5 months, meat once or twice a week can be gradually replaced with fish. In this case, choose low-fat oceanic varieties with white meat (cod, hake, pollock). For dinner, you can also offer stewed vegetables, porridge or cottage cheese, depending on what the baby ate before.

Of course, feeding a baby at 8 months can consist exclusively of canned purees, the range of which is now very large. But many mothers tend to cook on their own, because this way they can be responsible for the quality of the dishes. In addition, some little finicky people refuse canned food for children, but mother's porridge and mashed potatoes are eaten with pleasure. In the next chapters, we will talk about specific recipes for soups, cereals and homemade cottage cheese.

What cereals can a child at 8 months old

Recipes for mashed potatoes and cereals for an 8 month old baby form the practical basis of his diet. In this chapter, we will talk about tasty and healthy cereals. At this age, children can eat both dairy-free and milk porridge cooked in mother's milk or mixture. If you are using cow's milk, cook the porridge based on a 1: 4 ratio, that is, one part milk and four parts water. It is worth noting that up to a year, pediatricians do not recommend introducing cow's milk into the diet due to the high probability of allergies.

An eight-month-old baby can be offered corn, rice and buckwheat porridge in the absence of contraindications. If you have already introduced all these dishes into the diet, expand the range with oatmeal or barley. Now let's figure out how to cook porridge for a child of eight months. Choose finely ground cereals (corn, buckwheat "done"), and grind the rest of the cereals in a coffee grinder to flour. You need to cook any porridge in water with the addition of a minimum amount of sugar, and preferably without sugar at all, until fully cooked.

Before switching off, add a little adapted mixture or expressed breast milk (20 - 30 ml) to the porridge, as well as butter (3 - 5 g). At this age, the porridge should be liquid, so take cereals at the rate of 5 g of cereal per 100 ml of water. Gradually, you can make it a little thicker. To diversify porridge recipes, a baby at this age can add fruit puree (apple, pear, pumpkin, prune and even carrot) to the dish. So you don't have to add sugar, and even a little fussy eats the finished dish with gusto.

For those parents who are interested in how to cook semolina for a child of 8 months old, we will give a little advice. You have the right to listen to him or do your own thing.

Despite the fact that at the end of the last century, children were fed semolina almost from birth, now the approach has changed dramatically. Pediatricians do not recommend semolina for children under one year old in general because of the high content of gluten and phytin (a substance that prevents calcium from being absorbed).

Soup for a baby 8 months: recipes

Soup is a desirable item in your baby's diet starting at eight or nine months of age. It improves digestive processes, serves as a source of energy and nutrients. Therefore, you can give it to your baby for lunch every day. The main thing is to know the peculiarities of the preparation of this dish. The first important point is what soups a child can use at 8 months. These are vegetable soups with added meat. In this case, the meat should be cooked separately from the first course and added to it ready-made. Meat and fish broths are contraindicated for babies under the age of one and a half years.

Let's talk about the general recommendations of pediatricians. It is advisable to cook vegetable soup for an eight-month-old baby before use and beat thoroughly with a blender. You can add cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, onions, broccoli and a little oil to it before serving. At the same time, there should be a minimum amount of salt in the soup, and you need to add it a few minutes before removing it from the stove. It is not recommended to cook such soups for too long, as vitamins are destroyed. Turkey, rabbit, veal or beef, cooked and chopped with a blender, is added to the finished dish, depending on what meat is already in your diet. Meat can be substituted for fish.

Here are some recipes for unusual delicious dishes:

• How to cook soup for an 8 month old baby with pumpkin. For pumpkin puree soup, you need pumpkin, onions, carrots, and vegetable broth. Boil vegetables in water until cooked, remove them from the water and beat with a blender until smooth. Add broth to get the desired consistency. Add a little oil to the finished dish and serve.
• Vegetable soup with veal. For this dish, you will need veal, courgette, and broccoli. Boil vegetables in water, boil meat separately. Grind them in a blender to the desired consistency.
• Zucchini puree soup. Prepare courgette, rice, butter, and expressed milk or mixture. Boil the zucchini and some rice until tender, rub through a sieve, add milk and butter. Delicious soup is ready.

Children need to eat porridge. Why? How is it useful? At what age should you give it to your baby? Finally, what should you look for when buying specialized baby cereals in the store?

Ingredients of porridge, cereals and milk are very valuable products in terms of their properties. Groats are a source of carbohydrates (starch), which provide the body with energy, plant proteins, B vitamins, some minerals: magnesium, iron, as well as plant fibers necessary for the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Milk perfectly complements this composition with its more valuable proteins than in cereals, as well as vitamins and mineral salts.

Porridge - the second complementary food

As a rule, porridge becomes a product of the second complementary foods. It is given to the baby about 2-3 weeks after the introduction of the first complementary foods (vegetable puree), that is, at about 5-6 months. But in cases where the child has unstable stools, does not gain weight well enough or is prone to, the doctor may recommend starting.

Porridge serves as a kind of bridge between solid and liquid food for the child, so it is necessary to start giving it (however, like any other complementary food) with small portions. The first day - a teaspoon, the second - no more than 30 g (3-4 teaspoons) and within a week, bring the volume to 100-120 g. This portion should replace one breastfeeding or formula. You need to give porridge with a spoon, once a day, preferably in the morning for breakfast. Then you can give the child a breast, wash down the porridge with juice, kefir.

How to cook porridge

If you cook porridge yourself, then at the first stage of introduction, make it liquid (5%). This means 5 g of cereal or flour per 100 ml of water. After 1-2 weeks, porridge can be boiled with 8-10%. In order to free parents from the "horrors" of calculating the number of grams of flour for a certain amount of water, let us clarify that when preparing 5 percent porridge, one teaspoon of cereal flour is consumed per 100 ml of liquid, 7-8 percent porridge - one and a half teaspoons, and 10 percent - two. It is not prohibited to add sugar and salt. According to "adult" taste sensations, it should be undersalted and slightly sweet. Well, what kind of porridge without oil, but not more than 5 g per serving.

There are several cooking methods. If in the cooking process you use cereal flour, then dilute it in cold water and pour boiling milk into it. Then simmer for 5 minutes. When preparing cereals from cereals, it is recommended to first boil the cereals well in water, then add hot milk to it and cook until tender. Rub the prepared porridge through a sieve.

How to choose cereals

What kind of cereal to choose? The most useful are buckwheat and oat groats. They contain more protein than others, in addition, they contain plant fibers that are beneficial for the gastrointestinal tract. Rice and corn are the richest in starch, which is used for the body's energy needs. In second place in terms of content is semolina. True, these cereals are low in vitamins and mineral salts. The exception is corn. It contains iron. After 6 months, you can give cereals from other cereals: wheat, rye, barley and others that contain gluten, of course, if the child does not have its congenital intolerance.

When choosing cereals, keep in mind that rice has enveloping and anchoring properties; oatmeal and buckwheat contain a lot of fiber, can cause a laxative effect; corn is neutral. Considering these properties, try to alternate cereals and make mixed cereals. The so-called "pink" cereals, which are prepared with the addition of carrots, pumpkins, apples or carrot juice, are very useful.

Which porridge to choose?

Surprising as it may seem for many parents who advocate the most healthy and proper nutrition, in the first year of a child's life, pediatricians recommend using it for industrial porridge. "Factory" cereals are better processed and sterilized. They are enriched with a wide range of vitamins and minerals, including iron and calcium, taking into account the age-related needs of children. They do not contain preservatives, artificial colors, stabilizers or chemical additives. Another plus is that such difficult-to-digest cereals at home as barley, corn, rye can be introduced into the child's diet.

Most of the children's cereals used in our country are products of foreign companies. Domestic products, unfortunately, are not so well presented, although in terms of their nutritional and biological value they are not inferior to foreign counterparts, but, unfortunately, they require cooking. Most of the modern cereals of foreign companies are of foreign preparation, that is, they do not require cooking. They can be divided into 2 groups - dairy and dairy-free. To prepare the first, only water is needed. They do not need to add salt, sugar, butter, and even more so milk. Only for special indications and on the advice of a doctor, children with reduced appetite, poorly gaining body weight, can add 2-3 g of butter per serving of porridge to improve the taste and increase the energy value of the product.

Dairy-free cereals are restored with specialized milk for. It can also be diluted with water if, for example, the crumb does not tolerate milk, but at the same time keep in mind that the nutritional value of the product will decrease.

The whole difficulty lies in the fact that cereals are not only with or without milk, but also with additives. Many companies produce cereals with natural additives. These are fruits, vegetables, honey, hazelnuts and berries, banana, caramel and even chocolate. There are such interesting combinations as buckwheat and quince, buckwheat-apricot, chocolate-nut, banana with honey and rice. Some companies also make mixed cereals. For example, rice, wheat, pumpkin, leek, spinach, or 5-grain cereal. These cereals are often healthier and tastier than usual, however, when using them, one must remember about the possibility of allergic reactions.

When choosing porridge, focus on your financial capabilities, child's preferences and, of course, the advice of a pediatrician. Nevertheless, when buying, the following nuances should be taken into account: the contents of cereals should be written on their packaging in Russian, so that buyers can find out the amount of all nutrients in the ingredients, and, therefore, evaluate the quality of the product; manufacturers also indicate the detailed composition of the ingredients per 100 g or 1 serving. This detailed information will help you determine how complete and balanced a given product is; when buying, pay attention to the shelf life and storage conditions. And, of course, you should strictly follow all the cooking rules indicated on the label. Do not dilute the porridge "by eye". And then your child will eat "approximately". Pediatricians recommend buying porridge in specialized baby food stores, pharmacies and clinics. You should not do this by advertisements, in the market and in other places that are not intended for this. It is necessary to be afraid not only of fakes, but also of incorrect storage conditions.

Your little one is eating a lot of "grown-up" foods and behaving accordingly. He is very active and curious, and is ready to try any of his mother's culinary delights. What should be the approximate menu for a child at 8 months? What products may already appear in it? And what might a baby's diet look like for a week?

The crumb eats porridge with pleasure, of which there are at least five on his menu. These are buckwheat, rice and corn. You can also offer oatmeal and barley, but millet porridge is not yet given to a child at 8 months old, since it is quite rough for his intestines. To make the porridge tastier, adopt the following recipes.

• Barley porridge - 3 tablespoons of cereal, 0.5 cups of water, the same amount of milk, a spoonful of butter. Pour cereals into boiling water with milk, boil until soft.
• Buckwheat porridge - 3 tablespoons of cereals, a glass of water, a spoonful of butter. Pour cereals into cold water, cook over low heat.
• Rice porridge - 3 tablespoons of cereals, a glass of water, a spoonful of butter. Pour cereals into boiling water, add ghee, cook until tender.

The porridge will turn out to be perfectly tasty if you first grind the cereal into powder (a coffee grinder will help with this), and the cereal itself will be fresh, not stale. These recipes are suitable for the menu of an 8 month old baby, breastfed and artificial.

New products

Every mother strives to diversify her baby's diet at 8 months. Its menu may include the following new products:

What to cook baby

Will fully answer the question of how to feed a baby at 8 months, the menu in our review. It can include one-component dishes, that is, prepared from one product. And you can also multicomponent, that is, combined. How the menu for a child at 8 months for a week might look like is presented in the tables below.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

On the remaining days of the week, you can repeat the menu of the previous ones or prepare other dishes.