Baby food for babies So unhealthy are porridges made from squeeze bags?

Baby food: Health experts inform about disadvantages of pulps from squeeze bags

According to health experts, breast milk is the best nutrition for the baby. Nevertheless, some mothers start very early with complementary foods for the offspring. Babybrei from so-called "squeeze bags" is often considered problematic here. Because this is not only usually too sweet, but also brings other disadvantages for the child with it.

In mother's milk everything necessary is contained

As the foundation child health writes on its website, it is really not difficult to optimally feed a baby in the first few months. After all, there is everything in the breast milk and vial that the child needs. Nature has very sensibly regulated it: as the baby's need for nutrients increases, offspring are also able to absorb more and firmer food. It can suck from birth, spoons must first learn. Purified or liquid supplements in plastic bags are not necessarily the best way. Because the content of such "squeeze bag" is often too sweet, according to the foundation. In addition, the child learns by the continued sucking of food only later, porridge from a spoon or lumpy food from the hand to eat and can develop food marshmallows.

Babies who are already receiving complementary foods should, according to experts, continue to be breastfed for the time being. From Breien from so-called squeeze bags is not recommended. (Image: Reicher / fotolia.com)

Beikost should not completely replace mother's milk

As the experts explain, hiding behind the term "complementary foods" all sorts of things: For example, vegetables, fruits, potatoes, butter, oil, meat, egg and cereals and the pulp produced from it.

In short, everything that is fed to the offspring towards the end of the first six months of life in addition to breast milk (or baby milk formula).

However, the complementary foods to supplement the previously offered breast milk or baby food and not completely replace, emphasizes the Foundation child health.

Even after the introduction of the first complementary meals, the little ones should continue to be breastfed as long as mother and child want and can.

Even children who are already fed with the vial should continue to receive their bottle even after the introduction of porridge and spoon food.

Not too early and not too late

"Beikost should not be introduced before the age of 17 weeks, ie the beginning of the 5th month of life and not later than 26 weeks, ie at the beginning of the 7th month of life," said the chairman of the Foundation for Child Health, Professor Dr. med. Berthold Koletzko.

"In these weeks, most babies lose the tongue bump reflex, and at the same time they develop the ability to push a porridge into the throat with their tongue and then swallow it down," says the metabolic expert at the University Children's Hospital Munich.

During this age, the child becomes more and more active. The first milk teeth come to light.

The baby moves a lot, follows with curiosity what his parents and siblings are eating at the family table, picks up spoonfuls and food and puts them in his mouth.

Also, breast milk or vials are often no longer sufficient to meet its growing need for nutrients and energy.

The baby likes what the mother eats

Babies are usually suspicious of eating new foods. This aversion, called "neophobia," is a protective mechanism intended to prevent the child from eating something he does not.

Preferably, a baby eats what his mother eats, because this taste is already familiar to him from the womb and through the mother's milk.

It is therefore not surprising that a baby refuses boiled carrots, as the mother never eats boiled carrots.

According to the foundation, the period between 17 and 26 weeks proves to be particularly favorable for the introduction of new flavors (or flavors) and solid textures.

Repeatedly offering various foods without duress reduces the fear of eating unknown food.

Studies have shown that the daily change in the fruits and vegetables offered increases the subsequent acceptance of vegetables and other healthy foods, such as meat and fish.

Thus, the offspring is gradually accustomed to the variety of food and prepared for the gradual transition to family food.

Paps should not be sweetened or salted

According to the experts everything on the spoon, what the baby tastes! The previously frequently raised warnings of allergen rich foods such as milk, eggs or fish have therefore proved useless.

The avoidance or the later introduction of such food offers according to the foundation child health no protection against allergies.

For example, a porridge made of vegetables, potatoes and meat would be the first food to be used to provide the child with readily available iron and zinc from meat.

"Porridge should not be sweetened or salted in any case, to avoid the wrong programming of the child's taste," explains Professor Berthold Koletzko.

"The porridge should taste the baby, not the adult".

According to the experts, the meat ingredient in vegetable-potato-meat-pulp should occasionally be replaced by fatty fish (eg salmon).

There is evidence that the consumption of fish in the first year of life can protect the child from the later development of an allergic disease.

To cook yourself

Stiftung Kindergesundheit expressly encourages parents to cook for their baby too! Liquor food and home-made pies are equivalent alternatives.

Both of these can provide a baby with all the nutrients it needs. The industrially produced food meets high legal requirements and also saves time and work.

On the other hand, self-preparation also has its advantages: parents can decide on the choice of ingredients themselves and offer a greater variety of tastes.

Rapeseed oil is particularly suitable as cooking oil for the self-production of complementary foods.

Quetschies - fast food for babies

The squeeze bags with mashed fruit preparations and sometimes other ingredients, which have been increasingly offered over the past few years, offer a comfortable approach from the point of view of many parents.

After unscrewing the lid, the contents of the "squeeze" can be pushed directly into the mouth of the baby or toddler, or the child can suck the contents out of the spout or drink liquid products.

However, squeeze bags are often twice as expensive as traditional fruit jars. In addition, they are usually sugared and acidified and associated with other disadvantages.

According to the Foundation, many "crushes" have extremely high calorie content, a very sweet taste, and a totally unbalanced nutrient composition with too high a sugar content.

This also increases the risk of dental caries and obesity. The predominant or even the total sugar content comes from the sugar of the fruit preparation used and not from added sugar.

Therefore, even extremely sugar-rich products may carry the words "no added sugar" if the additional sugar comes from, for example, concentrated fruit pulp or juice.

"This can falsely give parents the impression that it is a low-sugar product," warns Professor Berthold Koletzko.

"But not only 'added sugar', but above all, the total sugar content is responsible for adverse health effects in the child," said the expert.

Learning to eat with a spoon is made more difficult

Another problem: "When infants take supplements mainly by sucking them from a pouch, learning to eat from a spoon or more solid food pieces can be delayed and made more difficult," says Professor Koletzko.

In addition: "Exploring the food with the lips, tongue and hands and practicing the chewing and biting is adversely affected. This can lead to the child later refusing solid foods such as vegetables and fruits. ".

Feeding with the spoon and eating out of the hand, on the other hand, offers the parents an excellent opportunity for communication, for mutual listening and for talking to the child.

The baby observes and learns what parents and siblings eat and is thus encouraged to try.

For this reason, the Foundation for Child Health strongly advises against the consumption of mashed foods from squeeze bags: Beikost should be supplied with the spoon or by the hand of the child and not be sucked out of a plastic bag.

Babies should drink water

With the third porridge, the baby also needs extra fluid, about 200 milliliters a day.

Suitable are still mineral water with the addition "suitable for infant feeding", or tap water, which is taken after prolonged drainage from the faucet and not sweetened teas.

Between nine and fifteen months, a child is developed enough to learn by imitation to drink from a cup, eat with a spoon, and bite into solid food.

With the introduction of bread, the porridge and milk meals are gradually transferred to the three main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and two snacks (morning, afternoon) of a family diet.

The Stiftung Kindergesundheit advises caution when it comes to small solid foods and very hard or breakable root vegetables.

Because nuts or raw root vegetables easily get into the trachea and should therefore be on the menu later.

The Stiftung Kindergesundheit recommends clearly separating meals and play times. The food should not be declared as a reward or gift.

And especially important: no smartphone and no TV during the meal! Also toys and books should not be used for distraction during the meal. (Ad)