How to cook traditional baby food

This is an automatically translated article.

1. Should traditional baby food be applied?

Weaning is starting to give the baby more food than breast milk, through which the baby will develop chewing and swallowing skills. By the time a baby is 6 months old, the nutrients in breast milk begin to fail to meet the growing energy needs. At the same time, your baby's digestive system is also ready for complementary foods. However, weaning is only a source of additional nutrients for the baby besides breast milk, not a complete replacement for breast milk. Experts recommend that infants still need to be breastfed until at least 12 months of age.
There are many different ways to help children learn to eat, in which the traditional method of weaning is very familiar, often passed down by grandparents in the family to young parents. Weaning in the traditional way is to puree all kinds of food and mix the powder first, then you can cook traditional porridge for your baby to eat.
Each method of weaning has its own advantages and disadvantages. The benefits of the traditional method are:
Switching from breast milk to liquid food and then solid food, helping the baby's digestive system easier and smoother operation. Thanks to the active role of parents, children have the opportunity to eat more energy and nutrients than self-directed weaning. Young parents are more confident and comfortable when practicing traditional weaning for their babies with experience and support from grandparents and adults in the family. In fact, millions of Vietnamese children each year still receive traditional solid foods and gain healthy weight. Starting traditional weaning will help your baby's stomach be comfortable, not too active too soon. Moreover, thanks to the fact that there is no need to process each ingredient separately like the Japanese method of weaning, the traditional way is extremely convenient for busy mothers. Therefore, the traditional method of weaning is still trusted and applied by many modern Vietnamese mothers.
Watch now: Traditional weaning menu for 6 - 7 months baby

2. How to cook traditional snacks

Parents need to choose fresh ingredients when cooking flour for their children to avoid bacterial infections, leading to digestive disorders. For 6-month-old babies just starting to eat solids, moms can give them pureed vegetables or fruits with powder. From 7 months and up, babies can start to eat traditional solids with salty powder. Here are a few suggestions on how to cook nutritious and delicious traditional weaning for children:

2.1. Mixed beef and peas flour

You can prepare this dish by following these simple steps:
Step 1: Wash and thinly slice the beef. Step 2: Chop some garlic, fry it with oil, then add the beef and stir well. Cooked beef is minced or pureed. Step 3: Wash the peas (separate the seeds if necessary), then boil/steam them and then grind or puree them. Step 4: Cook the dough, wait for it to cook, then add the beef. When the dough boils again, add the peas and turn off the heat. Step 5: Add 5ml (about 1 tablespoon) of olive oil and 1 piece of cheese and mix well.

2.2. Mixed shrimp powder and hot vegetables

Instructions on how to do it:
Step 1: Prepare about 3 shrimp, peel, remove the black thread on the back, wash and then mince. Step 2: Wash the spinach and chop it finely. Step 3: When the flour is cooked, add the shrimp and stir well, wait for the dough to boil again, then add the spinach and stir well. Step 4: Turn off the heat and add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

2.3. Mixture of sea crab meal, corn and shiitake

Here are the processing instructions:
Step 1: Wash the sea crabs and then steam them with a little bit of ginger, washed and smashed. Step 2: Remove crab meat and crab eggs into separate bowls, do not use crab bricks to avoid making the baby's stomach full. Step 3: Peel, wash, mince the red onion and saute. Then add the crab meat and stir-fry together. Step 4: Wash the corn and remove the seeds. Soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water and cut off the mushrooms. Steam both corn and shiitake mushrooms and puree them. Step 5: When the dough is cooked, add crab meat, corn, and shiitake mushrooms and mix well. Wait for it to boil again and then turn off the heat. Step 6: Add about 5ml of olive oil and you're done.

2.4. Mix of chicken powder and lotus seeds

The processing is similar to the above flour dishes, specifically as follows:
Step 1: Soak lotus seeds from the night before and then wash them. Then boil and puree. Step 2: Boiled or stewed chicken, then remove the meat and mince it. Step 3: Put the above 2 ingredients into a pot of cooked flour, wait for the dough to boil again, then turn off the heat. Step 4: Finally add 5ml of olive oil and you're done.

3. Notes when practicing traditional weaning for babies

Mothers need to feed their children a variety of food groups such as starch, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. However, you should not force your child to eat too much at the beginning, but must be consistent with the child's needs, patiently increase the amount of food and the consistency over time. In addition, it is necessary to maintain 400 - 500 ml of breast milk or formula per day for the baby in the first period of weaning to ensure enough energy.
Note that when cooking powder for children according to the traditional method, mothers need to prepare as well as carefully process them because vitamins in food are easily lost. To ensure that your baby is provided with enough nutrients, mothers can use powdered foods with added Lysine and B vitamins, soluble fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals.
It can be seen that the traditional way of cooking weaning is both convenient for the mother and brings delicious meals, contributing to enriching the baby's taste buds every day. Therefore, the traditional method of weaning is still a popular type of weaning applied by many mothers, not only suitable for Vietnamese culture, but also helps children to fully absorb energy and nutrients according to recommendations. recommended.
In addition to the weaning diet, parents also need to pay attention to supplement the necessary micronutrients: Selenium, Chromium, Vitamins B1 and B6, Ginger, acerola fruit extract (vitamin C),... Especially zinc biology to improve taste, help children eat well, reach the correct height and weight, and exceed standards, have a good immune system, strengthen resistance to reduce minor illnesses and have fewer digestive problems.
For more nutritional knowledge and child care for each age, parents should regularly visit the website vimec.com and make an appointment with the leading doctors, pediatric and nutrition experts of the National General Hospital. Vinmec when needing advice on children's health.