Weaning Plan for your Baby from 6 months to 2 years of Age

This is a continuation of the article on Weaning dated 05-01-2019 under previous issues

7th Month
After the 6 month, an evening meal can be started and as Ragi is given in the morning, the Cerelac can be shifted to a 6 or 7 PM feed. After 6 months you may use wheat Cerelac and other variations like vegetable and fruit Cerelacs. If you want to use a homemade powder, then a porridge made from roasted rice powder can be given but to get the carbohydrate and protein balance, you will need to add half a cup of formula milk to this porridge. We have mentioned Ceralac as an option since it already has the milk mixed in it.

Fresh apple, scraped with a spoon can be given before or after dinner from 7 months onwards. It is a waste to stew apple or juice it. Scrape the pulp carefully from a freshly cut apple with a teaspoon and give tiny amounts from the spoon. Please note that fruits or juices must not be given as a meal, at meal times. They should be introduced as a snack between the three meals.

8th Month
Egg yolk may be introduced after 7 months. It must be fully cooked and mashed. Half boiled or raw egg cannot be digested and is just thrown out of the body in the motion. Idli, dosa and upma can be given for breakfast from the 7th or 8th month, starting with very small quantities mashed with your clean fingers. Lunch would be a meal of rice, dhal and vegetables which should have been introduced in the 6th or 7th month.

9th Month
Boiled chicken and fish may be added to the lunch in the 9th month. Whole egg can be introduced in the diet after 9 or 10 months. Very small quantities of butter and ghee can be added after the baby is 9 months. It is not necessary to add this but if you want to do it, it must be done only after the 9th month as the baby’s digestive tract can not digest additional fats up to this age.

After 9 months, the cerelac used for dinner can be changed to a meal consisting of rice, dhal and vegetables like carrot and potato which are well cooked and mashed with a fork to a soft, semisolid consistency. This meal should not be ground in a mixi to a smooth paste. After 9 months of age the baby should get a accustomed to different textures in the mouth.

10th Month
By 10 months small pieces of fruits and boiled, soft vegetables may be given as finger foods cut into finger shaped sticks, which they can hold and eat on their own. Biscuits also may be eaten on their own with supervision so that a big piece is not bitten off which may cause chocking.

Caution!
Great care should be taken to keep all utensils and one's hands very clean and to use properly boiled and cooled water while preparing juices. Please wash hands and fruits thoroughly before preparing and feeding the child.

Diet plan for Infants 1-2 years of age
Morning : Milk 1 glass
Breakfast : Idli 2 + Sambar; or
Dosa 1-2 + Sambar; or
Ragi / Oats porridge with milk, or

Bread 2 slice + Egg cooked 1 no.
11 am: Mashed banana 1 no. (small) or Mosambi juice 1 glass
Lunch: Rice ½-3/4 C + Dhal ¼ C + Veg ¼ C + Curd ¼ C, or Non-veg 1 piece
4 pm: Milk 1 glass + Biscuit 1-2 nos.
6 pm: Apple ½
Dinner: Rice ½ C / Chapati 1 + Dhal ¼ C + Veg ¼ C, + Curd ¼ C
Bedtime: Milk ½ - ¾ C
Cup= 225 ml or 8 oz

What is the Ideal Weight range for Infants?