The journey of an infant to become a child is unforgettable for every parent. Every moment of watching their child’s quirks is a jewel that can never be traded for. Their every firsts is cherished as the parents’ own milestones…. And their first ever orientation to solid foods is a grand and celebrated ritual in many cultures.
However have you ever thought why we feed solid foods post the beginning of six months and more specifically what are the best food elements that should be given to a 6 months old for their overall health, development and growth?
Today, a thought that troubles every mother to a newly born infant is that how their child’s nutritional needs will be met? How they can provide their child with the best combination of taste and health? How they can discipline their child’s eating habits at the very base level so that they never face problems related to deficiency? All the answers underlies in the mindful choices made by mothers from the very beginning during the garbha sanskar, the pre- natal development period, such as physical development and the development of the brain of the fetus; to the annaprashanam sanskar and thereafter.
Role of pre-natal nutrition in the child’s current eating habits- Every learned and wise being who ever lived on Earth has always held one common opinion about eating discipline is that what we think during the time we are taking our meals bear the same results, reflected in our health. Your fetus is completely dependent on you for nutrition. Thus, it is the responsibility of mothers to be mindful about their eating habits, even the thoughts they have for the food they’re eating. If the mother is eating spinach only for the sake of nourishing their fetus and not enjoying the food they are eating themselves, then the same fetus which grows as a child will develop disinterest for spinach too. Therefore, expecting mothers must choose their foods and thoughts wisely.
Role of nursing in the child’s eating discipline. What makes “The Madonna Litta” as one of the most beautiful paintings in the world is the benevolence and admiration the mother holds for the baby. Indeed, no words can describe the connection established between a mother and her suckling. The mother not only transfers the organ-growth supportive enzymes along with the prolactin and oxytocin hormonised lacto-nutrient, but she also feeds her inner-world into the child’s consciousness via breast-feeding.
Keeping in mind the very obvious emotional and physiological needs of the infant, many mothers start with external complementary nourishment for their babies along with breast-feeding , to which most medical institutions as well as UNICEF strongly disagree.
Imagine a fish who was incubated in a regulated environment is introduced to an other environment in a pond which is new for it. Well, the fish is sure to become weak. The same scenario is with human offsprings. The fetus who was completely dependent on the mother for nutrition needs the essence of their “previous incubated environment” where they were nourished to grow out of, i.e. the womb, in which breast- feeding has a huge role to fulfil the need of the baby’s earlier accomodated source of nutrition. The baby's weak organs needs the interim support to develop immunity and strength for the new environment outside the womb. In this duration of breast-feeding the child indirectly consumes the same food enzymes as the mother and slowly starts getting accustomed to the direct source of bio- enzymes present in the food which were earlier difficult for the baby to digest due to its weaker gut and slender intestines.
However, many mothers believe that complete reliance on solely mother’s milk for the baby’s nutrition effects their nourishment preferences a lot. Thus they start feeding the child cow’s milk warmed together with a little clarified butter (pure ghee) to provide complementary nutritional support along with weaning. Slowly and gradually they feed their child with stew of cooked lentils at the age of 4 months plus to give their child proteins from external sources and make their digestive system ready for Annaprashanam.
Role of orientation of solid foods in the wean’s diet. The ritual of Annaprashanam is a milestone in the baby’s health development and growth . It is the primary food that the baby is first introduced with in their diet. Why the Indian ritual of feeding the first solid food to baby is celebrated at sixth month? (in some cultures, it begins at 5th or 7th month for girls)
- The reason are because-The baby when first born takes few months to develop their digestive system. The tender organs of a new born is not even supportive enough to take water for consumption. Thus for the first few months it’s better if babies are fed with mother’s nutriments only.
- The baby’s digestive system doesn’t produce enzymes in as adequate quantity as required for the digestion of solid foods. If fed with solids during this fragile period of development, the baby might suffer from diarrhoea, indigestion with the early on introduction of solids into the diet, intestinal microbiomes auch as bifidiobacteriae, enterobacterial, lactobacilli and clostridial species decline and the fiber fermenters lachnospiracaie, bacteriodes, and ruminococcace increase. Low microbial diversity early in life has been associated with an increased incidence of infantile colic, eczema, asthma and type 1 diabetes.
- Generally, after completion of five months, babies’ growth and development pace increases and relying on mother’s milk and other additional liquefied complementary nourishment (if given any by the mothers) alone cannot provide the baby with sufficient nutrition which their body needs.
These appear to be several months’ span in the early life developmental stage when infants readily accepts a wide variety of tastes and flavours. This period of time of getting the child accustomed to external nutritional source goes along parallely with the child’s oral tolerance. Parents must choose the right feeding pattern to ensure complete nourishment of the child. They can feed their baby’s a puree of various vegetables and fruits to ensure they get the right nutrition they can also feed whole grains such as Millets, Daliya, Ragi in the form of pudding as well for adequate fibers intake.
There are a lot of products floating around in the market that exploits the younger ones’ health in the name of wholesome solid supplements. In this fast pacing age, where mothers are equally working hard outside and in the home, yet aims to maintain the baby’s nutritional balance without compromising their health with the heavy loads of preservatives is a challenge. Among many baby dietary supplements that only promises of potential and doesn’t perform as effectively, Pratham Aahaar stands true to its name. Pratham Aahaar is preservatives and additives free healthiest solid supplements, which helps to balance all the nutritional needs of infants with its base ingredients namely, millets, ragi, daliya, foxnuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds, oats and many more so that babies relish the sweetness without sugar and right carbohydrates and fats. The best part about the product is that it can be prepared hassle free. One just needs to add a few scoops of the products with a little water and cook the mixture in a pan at low heat for a few minutes. One can add a pinch of roasted salt or jaggery to get the savoury or sweet flavour whichever the baby prefers and its ready to be served. Providing babies with the appropriate balance of nutrients and fibres without adding unnecessary preservatives and additives is readily available in just a few minutes.
Thus, the challenge of introducing right choice of solids to infants can be overcome by making a sound decision as whatever a baby gets accustomed to at their earliest is what he/she might be mostly dependant on nutrition for the later days of their life.