How do you know if your baby is not getting enough breast milk? Exist different ways, but they are all very imperfect. Yes, you can express completely and measure the resulting volume, you can even weigh the newborn before and after feeding, then calculate the difference in weight. The only objective and most reliable indicator will be children's behavior. Be observant and soon you will be able to accurately determine whether your baby is full or not. Useful to know principles proper feeding, as well as signs and causes of too little breast milk.

Feeding expressed milk from a measuring bottle is not the best The best way determining the amount of food eaten

How can you tell if you have enough milk?

How can you tell if your baby is full of breast milk? Some signs will help here. There are 5 of them in total:

  1. The number of feedings per day is 8-12. There may be more of them, this will also be the norm. Frequent latching is explained by three factors:
    • the baby needs close contact with the mother;
    • his small stomach is simply not able to accommodate a lot of food;
    • fast digestion breast milk.
  2. The duration of one feeding is at least 20 minutes. You should not determine the duration of food intake - the baby should suckle until he is full. If he stops eating and behaves calmly, babbles cheerfully or sleeps peacefully, it means he has had enough milk. Make sure that the feeding position (both yours and the baby’s) does not cause discomfort.
  3. A clearly visible swallowing reflex. Make sure your baby doesn't just smack, but swallows. At first he will do this often because he is hungry, and the so-called near milk is thin and not very nutritious. After a few minutes, swallowing will become less frequent, as hunger will dull, and distant milk is thicker, you need to make an effort to swallow it.
  4. The child is gaining weight according to the norms (we recommend reading:). In the first days, the baby's weight will become less than what it was at birth. This is normal, since the body gets rid of meconium (original feces formed in the womb) and tissue swelling. Track your weight gain by starting with fourth day life - the increase should be 125-215 g per week.
  5. The child looks healthy. He is calm, but at the same time he is active and curious; animated, but not overexcited. When he wants to eat, his chest demands loudly; when he is full, he sleeps peacefully or is awake. Pink color The skin and its elasticity will also indicate that the baby is receiving adequate nutrition in sufficient quantities.

It will take very little time to track the listed signs. If you have doubts, you can use measuring the amount of urine and feces.

Insufficient nutrition

To understand that your baby does not have enough breast milk, there are 3 simple tests:

  • wet diapers;
  • amount of stool;
  • weight gain.

To determine how many times a child pees a day, you need to keep him not in a disposable diaper, but in a reusable diaper or just a diaper (disposable diapers are generally undesirable and can only be used in as a last resort) (we recommend reading: ). When the baby has enough breast milk, he wets his diapers 10-12 times a day. If this happens less than 10 times, the baby does not get enough.

In the first 3 days of life, they still do not have stool as such. The dark mass that can be seen in the diaper is meconium (primary feces). It will appear in small quantities 1-2 times a day. Then, when the baby is already breastfeeding and his digestion begins to function, feces will be released 5 times a day.

What weight gain is considered normal? In the first 3 months - at least 500 g per month or 125 g per week. Then this figure decreases slightly - 300 g per month. It should be noted that weight gain may occur unevenly, but this is normal and should not be a cause for alarm. Monitor the intensity of weight gain after 1 or 4 weeks. There is no need to do this more often.



 Tracking weight gain is a safe and easy way to know if your baby is getting enough breastmilk

Day and night, you need to carefully monitor the condition of your baby. There are signs that indicate not just a lack of nutrition, but already dehydration:

  • the child is too lethargic and sleepy;
  • the eyes are sunken and the eyeballs become dull;
  • the mucous membrane in the mouth is dry, the saliva has become viscous;
  • the baby is crying, but you don’t see any tears (we recommend reading:);
  • the skin has become loose (if you lightly pinch it, it will not immediately smooth out);
  • there is an unpleasant odor from the mouth;
  • dark, rich urine with a pungent odor that appears 6 or fewer times a day.

The last point, as well as the simultaneous presence of 2 or 3 others, is a signal that you need to urgently call “ ambulance" Do not delay, so as not to lead to a deplorable situation.



 If the mother noted that the baby has become lethargic and drowsy, it is possible we're talking about about dehydration

Why is there not enough milk?

The main reason why a child does not have enough breast milk is very simple and banal - an improperly organized process of natural feeding. Let's see what factors lead to this:

  1. Adherence to a strict regime. Lactation specialists have come to the conclusion that the process should be natural. You need to feed your baby when he asks. The only thing that is advisable to observe is the time interval between feedings, which should be at least 2 hours.
  2. Feedings are too short. The baby should eat until he is full. One feeding should last at least 20 minutes.
  3. The baby does not latch onto the breast correctly.
  4. When feeding, you take an uncomfortable position (we recommend reading:).
  5. Reduce night feedings or completely eliminate them. Feeding at night and in the morning maximizes lactation.
  6. Abuse of pacifiers.
  7. Bottle feeding.
  8. . They prevent proper nipple latching. They can only be used temporarily when the nipple is injured.


 Silicone shields can only be used for medical reasons, as they provoke improper nipple latching compared to natural conditions feeding

The breasts begin to fill only 2-3 days after natural birth and 5-6 after caesarean section, however, you need to continue to put the baby to the breast (we recommend reading:). Firstly, as long as he has enough colostrum, secondly, breastfeeding is the best stimulator of lactation.

There are other reasons why a baby may not get enough breast milk. Among them:

  • poor nutrition of the nursing mother and low fluid intake;
  • tense or stressful state of the mother;
  • hormonal disorders in the mother's body;
  • insufficient rest;
  • physiological features of the breast (flat nipples, narrow milk ducts) or temporary problems (lactostasis, cracked nipples);
  • incorrect operation digestive system baby;
  • runny nose and swelling of the nasal mucosa, which is why the baby simply cannot breathe normally and suckle;
  • the toddler is too large and lacks nutrition;
  • The baby is too weak and simply does not have the strength to eat for a long time.


 Stress in a nursing mother can also cause the baby to not eat enough and not have enough milk.

Correct feeding process

If you realize that your baby does not have enough breast milk due to non-compliance with feeding rules, then solving the problem is not very difficult. You need to eliminate mistakes and provide yourself and your child with everything so that no more difficulties arise in the future. Follow the recommendations:

  1. Feed your baby when he demands. The more he suckles, the more milk production is stimulated.
  2. Don't rush your child. When he is satisfied, he will simply release the breast.
  3. Make sure . The baby's mouth should be wide open and cover not only the nipple, but the entire areola. If it only grips the nipple, the nutritional fluid will not be sucked out and you will experience severe pain. You should also be able to hear the baby swallowing.
  4. Make sure that when feeding, sitting or lying down is comfortable for both of you. The child's head and back should be on the same straight line, the head slightly higher than the legs. Study for GW.
  5. It is advisable to place the baby on only one breast at one feeding. This way he will suck everything out completely.
  6. Weak babies sleep a lot, so they often have to be woken up to feed them. During the day, do this at least every 3 hours, and at night - after 5. Before feeding, you can wash the baby - this will slightly invigorate him.
  7. Do not use nipple bottles or pacifiers. It is easier to suck from a bottle than from a breast, so babies often refuse the breast in favor of a bottle. Give a bottle only as a last resort - for example, when the nipple is injured and you are simply physically unable to tolerate feeding.
  8. Get plenty of rest and sleep. Sacrifice household chores for good rest. The more tired you are, the less milk you will produce.
  9. Do not refuse help, even if it is offered by a friend who came to visit you.
  10. Eat every time after feeding, that is, at least 5 times a day. Provide yourself with a nutritious diet and a large number of warm liquid.
  11. If you find your baby has health problems, be sure to show him to the doctor.

7 myths about lactation

When young mothers are seriously concerned about whether their baby is getting enough breast milk, they may listen to dubious and completely meaningless advice, and wrong actions can have disastrous results. Let's dispel some of the myths regarding feeding and warn ourselves against mistakes:

  1. Weighing the baby before and after feeding to determine if he or she is getting enough to eat. The readings will be so inaccurate that the procedure loses all meaning. Weighings no more than once a week are considered more or less objective.
  2. . To produce more milk, the baby must suckle well at the breast. If you apply too little to your breast and give additional formula, be prepared for lactation to become even worse.
  3. Supplementation with cow's or goat's milk. The newborn's gastrointestinal tract cannot yet digest such food. Drinking cow's or goat's milk can cause tummy problems.
  4. Complementary feeding before six months. Adult foods, even in small quantities, can also lead to digestive problems.
  5. or other liquid before introducing complementary foods. This is not at all necessary, since breast milk consists of 86% water and is quite sufficient.
  6. Mother's consumption of milk in order to increase her own production. Milk in the mammary glands is formed from blood, so it makes no sense to further overload your diet. In order for it to form and be saturated, you need vitamins and other beneficial substances, which the mother receives with proper nutrition.

Natural feeding is providing the child not only with food, but also with good immunity, as well as spiritual closeness with the mother. If you want your little one to grow and develop fully, make every effort to maintain and normalize this process. Very soon you will see that it cannot be replaced by anything else.

This kind of anxiety can arise in both the mother of a child who is on breastfeeding, so it is with the mother of an artificial child. The result of systematic malnutrition in a child is a lack of weight gain or a decrease in the child’s weight compared to the previous weighing, which can be caused by both a quantitative lack of food and insufficient calorie content. In this case, when breastfeeding, the question arises about the amount of supplementary feeding, and when artificial feeding It may be necessary to change the infant formula, which requires a clearly justified and professional approach.

How to understand that a child is not eating enough

  1. The weight gain per month is insignificant or completely absent, which leads to a child’s weight deficit compared to the age norm. The only exception is the postpartum period in the maternity hospital, when weight loss of 5-10% of the initial body weight is considered normal.
  2. The alternation of sucking and swallowing is disrupted. Normally, one swallow of milk occurs for several sucking movements.
  3. If you adhere to a certain feeding regimen, then the child has difficulty withstanding the breaks between feedings, worries and screams.
  4. The baby's stool is rare (less than 2-3 times a day) and not as plentiful as before. If on the 5th day there is still meconium in the stool (it is dark in color and resembles tar), then there is not enough nutrition.
  5. The number of urinations due to lack of milk is reduced. This indicator is especially informative for newborns.
  6. Excessive dry skin may occur due to dehydration.

Determining whether the baby has enough breast milk

Sometimes mothers, not knowing how to determine whether the baby has enough milk, are guided by signs that do not correspond to reality and themselves begin to supplement the baby, which often leads to overfeeding. Below are the 7 most common misconceptions about low breast milk supply.

  1. Milk does not leak from the breast between feedings. Milk release between feedings is possible when the milk supply is unsettled, while the breast and baby have not yet adjusted to each other. If lactation is established, then there may be no leakage of milk, since it is produced as much as the baby needs.
  2. There is no feeling of fullness in the chest. As in the previous case, this is not a sign of a lack of milk at all, but a sign of established lactation, during which the breast accurately meets the baby’s nutritional needs.
  3. It is almost impossible to express milk from the breast between breastfeedings. If a woman cannot express milk or expresses little milk, this is not a sign of its absence or shortage. The mechanism of milk secretion is closely related to the baby, and it is impossible to artificially replace the sucking process with manual expression or a breast pump.
  4. The baby screams during or after feeding. This indicator is not informative enough, since in addition to hunger, a child can scream for other reasons: illness, discomfort, wet diaper.
  5. The child sucks the breast for a long time or does not let it out of his mouth. The reason for this behavior may not be hunger, but the satisfaction of the baby's sucking reflex or the need for the mother's close proximity, the desire to feel safe.
  6. After breastfeeding, the baby additionally sucks formula from a bottle. Feature of children early age is that when an object convenient for sucking gets into the mouth, the child begins to suck on it, and a bottle with a nipple in this case is exactly such an object. In this case, excess food can play a negative role, leading on the baby’s part to overeating, and on the mother’s part to a reduction in lactation, since instead of sucking the breast, the baby sucks on a bottle and the breast is less stimulated.
  7. Short periods of sleep in the child. It is not always a sign of malnutrition, and if a child wakes up at night to eat in the first months, this is the absolute norm.

If there is reason to believe that the child is not getting enough to eat, it is imperative to determine whether the child is receiving a sufficient amount of milk compared to existing standards. discussed in detail in a separate article. The next step is to determine the amount of milk that the baby actually eats. There are several methods for this.

Urine counting method

The convenience of this method is that within a day you will know whether the child is eating enough. To do this, you need to know the volume of urine excreted per day and the volume of milk, necessary for the child taking into account his age and weight. The first value is determined experimentally, and the second is calculated. The most preferable formula is considered to be N.F. Filatov modified by G.I. Zaitseva.

Procedure
We collect all diapers used per day in plastic bag, which, after adding the next diaper, is tightly twisted so that the child’s urine does not evaporate and the feces are cleaned.

  1. After one day, we weigh a bag of dirty diapers and the same bag of clean diapers, the number of which corresponds to dirty diapers.
  2. From the first value we subtract the second and get the mass of urine excreted per day, which normally should be 46-66% of the volume of milk consumed.
  3. When calculating, we consider the weight and volume of urine equal, neglecting the density.
  4. Using the volume of urine, we calculate the volume of milk that the baby sucked and compare it with the norm.

Example
Initial data:

  • child's body weight 3200 g;
  • child's age is 8 days;
  • weight of clean diapers 300 g;
  • weight of dirty diapers 470 g.

Calculation:

  1. We calculate the volume of milk your child needs per day using the formula:
    Amount of milk per day, ml = 2% of body weight × Day of a child’s life.
    Amount of milk per day, ml = 0.02 × 3500 g × 8 days. = 560 ml.
  2. Calculate the mass of urine:
    Weight of urine, g = Weight of dirty diapers, g - Weight of clean diapers, g.
    Weight of urine, g = 470 g – 300 g = 170 g.
    We consider the mass of urine excreted to be approximately equal to the volume of urine. That is, the resulting volume of urine is 170 ml.
  3. We calculate the probable minimum and maximum volume of milk received by the child per day:
    Probable minimum volume of milk, ml = Volume of urine, ml/46%.
    Probable minimum volume of milk, ml = 170 ml/0.46 = 370 ml.
    Probable maximum milk volume, ml = Urine volume, ml/66%.
    Probable maximum volume of milk, ml = 170 ml/0.66 = 258 ml.
    Probable average volume of milk, ml = (370 +258)/2 = 314 ml.
  4. We calculate the possible lack of milk based on the volume of urine:
    Possible lack of milk, ml = Amount of milk per day, ml - Probable average volume of milk, ml.
    Possible lack of milk, ml = 560 ml - 314 ml = 246 ml.

Method for counting the number of urinations

Using data on the amount of urine excreted per day by a child, you can determine the lack of milk or more. in a simple way- by the number of urinations. In this case, there is no need to specifically count them. After all, we already know the amount of urine from the method described above, and the volume of urine excreted at one time is about 30 ml. By dividing the daily volume of urine by the volume of urine per urination, we find out their quantity. The minimum norm for a child aged 8-14 days, subject to exclusive breastfeeding and no additional water, is 8 times per day.

The number of urinations depending on the age of the child

The number of urinations in our case is approximately 6 times, which indicates a lack of milk. In order to find out how much is missing from the norm, you need to add 50 ml for each missing urination.

In our case, the volume is 100 ml.

If you do not know the volume of urine, then to calculate the number of urinations per day, it is best to use regular cloth reusable diapers.

Important! An error in the method may arise due to the individual characteristics of a child who pees a little, but often the number of urinations is not indicative for him.

Expected increase method

As in the first method, here you need to weigh the diapers used per day and clean diapers to determine the difference in weight. Only in this case there is no need to clean off the feces. If by chance the baby peed past the diaper during the day, then for each such case we add 30 g. All values ​​in the table are given for children under 4 months of age, weighing 3500 g or more.Weight of diaper contents per day, g
Expected weight gain per month for a childMost likely, the monthly increase will be 1 kg or more (if it turns out to be less than 1 kg, then this is an individual characteristic or the influence of stress). The stool here is usually yellow and grainy, 4 or more times a day.
450 The increase per month will be small: about 600-700 g.
400 Most likely, there will be no increase - in this case, it is necessary to increase the amount of milk and, possibly, introduce supplementary feeding
350 or lessThere will be weight loss: supplementary feeding must be introduced. Here, most likely, rare liquid green stools are observed.

A single weighing can be carried out if there is a suspicion of a lack of milk, but if a lack of milk is detected, it is better to do it 2-3 more times. Control weighing of the child is carried out once a week.

Weighing before and after feeding

Weigh the baby before and after feeding. The difference in weight corresponds to the amount of milk sucked.

Disadvantages of the method:

  • with a single weighing, it is impossible to extend the result to all feedings, since from feeding to feeding the child sucks different quantities milk;
  • weighing at each feeding creates a constant stressful situation, both for mother and baby;
  • the result may be influenced by the situation and the fact of the test itself, which can cause stress in the mother and the baby will not be able to suck milk from the breast;
  • it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the child’s regime, so at this moment he may not be hungry or will want to sleep;
  • Weighing errors on scales can sometimes cause the value to be overestimated or underestimated.

Weekly weight gain method

To do this, you need to know how much the child has gained in a week. Next, focusing on the average gain of 198 g, according to WHO tables, it is necessary to calculate the difference between the actual weight gain of the child and the average gain.

Disadvantages of the method:

  • The child’s weight, which grows with age, is not taken into account. In connection with this, a large amount of supplementary feeding is obtained for children aged 1-2 months and small amounts of supplementary feeding for children aged 3-4 months;
  • The individual characteristics of the child related to metabolism are not taken into account. Some children eat less, but absorb more, others eat more, but absorb less;
  • weight gain taken as the basis of the method is an average value and does not take into account larger or smaller gains characteristic of the same healthy children. Also, this increase is an average only for the first 4 months of life, without taking into account gender differences.

"Intuitive" method

Allows the child to independently determine how much milk or formula is missing to the norm. It is assumed that the child himself knows how much milk he needs and if you do not interfere with this process, he will eat it himself required amount. For this purpose, it is advisable to use objects that cannot be sucked: a syringe, a pipette, a spoon, since they exclude sucking for pleasure and, as soon as the baby is full, he himself will refuse them.

What to do if your child doesn't eat enough

If you find that the amount of milk is not enough, you should first find out

It is believed that supplementary feeding is needed if the lack of milk is more than 25% compared to the norm. If the lack of milk is in the range of 10% -25%, then it is not necessary to prescribe supplementary feeding; it is enough just to increase the number of breastfeedings and monitor the correctness of breastfeeding. Expressed breast milk, donor milk or formula can be used as supplementary feeding. At an age suitable for introducing complementary foods, complementary foods are usually replaced with suitable complementary foods.

Important! It is believed that supplementary feeding is needed if the lack of milk is more than 25% compared to the norm.

A temporary lack of milk can occur during growth spurts in the baby at 4, 8 and 12 weeks of life. In this case, supplementary feeding is usually not prescribed, since the breast, if the baby is allowed to suck on it as much as he requires, will quickly adjust to new volumes of milk. If you start giving supplementary feeding, the baby will become full, the breasts will not be stimulated and there will be no increase in breast milk production.

Important! A temporary lack of milk can occur during growth spurts in the baby at 4, 8 and 12 weeks of life.

Malnutrition of a child can be caused not only by a lack of milk, but also by its low calorie content, which depends not so much on the calorie content of the mother's food, but on the period (the composition of milk is programmed in accordance with a particular period) and the time during which feeding occurs. For example, if a baby quickly gets tired of sucking at the breast, then perhaps he does not have time to suck out the so-called “hind” milk, which is especially rich in fat and therefore does not gain weight well. In this case, the mother needs to supplement the baby with milk that he did not have time to suck. This will also be useful.

Nekrasova Anastasia Mikhailovna

Pediatrician, pediatric cardiologist

Ask a Question

Parents of small children always want to feed them something tasty and healthy. It is for this reason that the question of introducing complementary foods arises in them already at 3-4 months of the child’s life. But is it worth it to rush so much? Maybe it’s better to wait a little and allow yourself to enjoy the time when you don’t have to constantly sterilize bottles, cook mixtures and cereals, fearing the possible poor quality of the products? The day will come when you will be able to see for yourself that your little one needs additional food and is ready for it. 10 signs will help you determine this.

Signs your baby is ready for complementary feeding

The development of children of the same age is not always the same. For some, the baby learned to hold his head at 3 months, while for others, the child was able to do this already at 2 months. Each child has his own characteristics of the body, his own character and his own pace of development. This depends not only on hereditary factors - the course of pregnancy, childbirth, as well as caring for the baby play a role here. Therefore, it is impossible to determine the age of a child ready for complementary feeding in specific numbers.

Experts attach importance to only two factors that indicate a child’s readiness to accept food that is new to him:

  1. Maturation nervous system and the child's brain.
  2. Readiness of the baby's gastrointestinal tract (GIT).

When both factors coincide in time, we can say that the baby is ready for complementary feeding. The following signs will help you verify the presence of these factors:

  1. Baby's age. After the child turns 4 months old. The same applies to premature babies, with only one amendment - their readiness is calculated based on gestational age. This means that if a baby born on time begins to receive complementary feeding after 17 weeks, then a premature baby born 4 weeks earlier can receive complementary feeding only at 21 weeks after birth;
  2. Weight. Since the baby was born, his weight has doubled. If the child is premature, his weight should exceed 2.5 times his birth weight;
  3. Tongue thrust reflex. In order for a child to be able to take food from a spoon, he should not make reflexive pushing movements with his tongue, which are innate and protect the baby from random objects getting into his mouth. If reflex movements are still present during the test, then it is too early to feed. To check for the presence of this factor, let your baby drink from a spoon. If there is no water on the chin, the baby is ready for complementary feeding. This important point, since when introducing complementary foods, food should be given from a spoon so that the food is processed by the child’s saliva and is easier to digest in his stomach;
  4. Ability to sit. The child should sit well and hold his head up. If the baby sits poorly and cannot confidently control head movements in order to move away or turn away at the right moment, refusing to eat, it is still too early to feed. The baby may demonstrate food refusal and reluctance to eat;
  5. Lack of basic nutrition. If a baby completely sucks out all the milk from both breasts in one feeding and is still hungry, and the “artificial” baby does not eat up with one liter of formula during the day, complementary feeding is simply necessary (also if the interval between meals begins to shorten);
  6. The baby puts everything into his mouth, even inedible objects;
  7. The child should be able to extend his lower lip forward to take food from a spoon and be able to move the tongue up and down and back and forth. The baby opens his mouth when a spoon of food is brought to him;
  8. The child is able to grab lumps of food with his tongue and move them deeper into the mouth. The child has mastered chewing skills;
  9. The appearance of the first teeth;
  10. Showing interest in your parents' food and trying to taste it yourself. A baby who watches you eat and tries to steal a piece from you is usually ready to start complementary feeding.

However, you should not expect the inevitable manifestation of all of the above signs in order to begin introducing complementary foods to your baby. The presence of most of the given signs will be sufficient. . A preliminary consultation with a pediatrician should be mandatory - only a doctor will be able to confirm that your baby is ready for new food and correctly describe his future menu.

Note to moms!


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Memo to parents:

  1. Complementary feeding can be introduced only when the child is absolutely healthy.
  2. It is recommended to introduce complementary foods during the second feeding.
  3. Any food for the baby should be warm and should be given before the main breastfeeding or infant formula.
  4. You only need to feed your baby with a spoon. If this is your first time giving your baby pureed vegetables, you can mix it with milk and feed your baby from a bottle. This will make it easier for the child to get used to new foods and taste sensations ( read also: ).
  5. Any new porridge or puree should first be given to the baby a quarter spoonful, increasing the amount of complementary foods to the appropriate portion over two weeks.
  6. It is advisable to make the first complementary foods from vegetables and fruits typical for your region in the form of puree. For an African baby, banana puree will be the most preferable first feeding, while for a Russian baby, absolutely identical puree can cause poor health and indigestion.
  7. You should not give your baby a new product until he gets used to the old one. After the baby has tried a new dish, it is recommended to introduce the next one after 2 weeks.
  8. The first complementary food is only in the form of puree and only from one type of fruit or vegetable. This way you can find out, if necessary, what food your child is allergic to.
  9. At the beginning of introducing complementary foods, the puree should be runny and resemble thick milk in consistency. Each time the amount of liquid must be reduced, bringing the appearance of the puree closer to its natural density.
  10. If you decide to give your baby ready-made baby food, pay attention to two points. The first is the date of manufacture. Everything should be as fresh as possible, otherwise the child may be poisoned. The second point is the composition. To exclude the possibility of an allergic reaction and indigestion, the chosen product should not contain salts, sucrose, sugar, or dextrose.

When should the first feeding be delayed for one to two weeks?

So, to summarize:

When two factors coincide in time:

  1. There are no problems with the gastrointestinal tract, allergic reactions when the child starts trying new foods.
  2. The baby does everything himself: he takes food with his hand, brings it to his mouth, swallows or spits it out if he doesn’t like the food.

THE BABY IS READY FOR COMPLETE FEEDING!

10 reasons to introduce complementary foods

How to understand that a child does not have enough attention? After all, very often a child’s whims, his hysterics, his tears are just a way to attract attention, to reach his parents, a desire to be noticed! These are the letters I receive:

“Dmitry grew up obedient and well-mannered child. He was sensitive, kind, cheerful and accommodating. Until his mother went to work. After this, the child was unrecognizable; he seemed to have broken free. And he’s not little anymore, 6 years old. He went to school and now everyone knows him as a brawler and a hooligan. I don’t know what to do with him, I’ve already talked to him and explained how to behave, but there’s no result. What should I do?” Marina, Dima’s mother, writes me a letter.

And here are the lines from another letter:

“Mashenka used to be a sickly girl, where there was a little wind or draft, she immediately noticed the temperature. And here he gets sick more often than he has time to go to kindergarten. We passed all kinds of tests, doctors say that my immunity is normal. But why does she immediately get sick?”

And the words of my friend at a recent meeting:

“I know, I’ve heard about growth crises or development spurts. Most likely, Dasha is going through such a difficult period right now. They have happened before, these crises. I could always clearly determine this by her behavior. But now it’s simply unbearable, she doesn’t leave me a single step and keeps asking to be held in my arms. I can’t cook food or even go to the toilet normally.”

Three different cases, three different children, three different ages. But there is only one reason why they behave this way. If a child lacks the attention of the person to whom he is most attached, he will behave exactly like the children in the examples.

How to understand that a child does not have enough attention? Monitor his behavior. He can start:

— Behave capriciously, constantly follow your mother (or another person), demand attention openly. As was the case with Dasha in the third example;

— Behave badly and even aggressively, break the silence, ignore rules and good manners. This is also extortion of attention, only hidden. In this way, the child wants to attract the attention of an adult. Let them scold him for this, but they will pay attention to him! This is how Dima behaved from the first letter;

— Get sick. Moreover, this decision is made by the child unconsciously, but subconsciously. After all, when a child is sick, adults stop everything they are doing and take care of the sick person. They give you all sorts of medicines, make tea with raspberries, read aloud and pat you on the head, and with a worried look they ask: “How are you, are you better?” This is the long-awaited and desired attention! For example, I started getting sick as if by magic at the age of three, when my mother sent me to kindergarten. I categorically did not want to go there and was at a loss why my mother was taking me there. Prayers and tears did not help, so my subconscious came to the rescue. This happened with Masha from the second example.

What is the way out of these situations? If a child doesn’t have enough attention, he just needs to be given it. That's the whole secret. But this must be done efficiently and often. For example, you are a working mother, your child goes to school or kindergarten. In the morning, give your child 15 minutes of time, talk to him or tell him a story, lie in bed together, cuddle or have a pillow fight. Even a short time will fill your child with energy for the whole day. In the evening after work, take at least half an hour of quality time.

What does quality time mean? This is not when you are washing the dishes, and the child is sitting next to you and you are talking. This is not when you turned on cartoons for your child, and you yourself are ironing things in the same room. This does not count as quality attention. Quality attention is when you ask your child what he would like to do with you. If he asks to read, read. If you draw together, draw. If you take a walk outside, go ahead. Only during a walk should you be involved in his play, and not talk on the phone at this time.

And then your baby will be saturated with your love and live peacefully when you are not around.

16:06 7.05.2013

We must immediately understand: neither we nor our children are at risk of vitamin deficiency. Vitamin deficiency is a condition when the human body is almost completely lacking in vitamins.
Beriberi, scurvy and other unpleasant diseases begin, which are well known to travelers and sailors - from Columbus to Cook. Fortunately, all these diseases can today be considered exotic. And what a child who has become inattentive, capricious, restless and generally somehow “boiled” in the spring experiences is simple hypovitaminosis. That is, a banal lack of vitamins. And we can fix all this.

In this case, you can choose a proven path - try to convince the child to follow the rules that we have known since childhood - eat more fruits and drink more juices. This method is good if you can pick fruits and vegetables from your own garden bed and send them straight into the child’s mouth.

Otherwise, you should remember that even two days of storing vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator “destroy” 2/3 of the beneficial microelements and vitamins that they originally contained. And what about the carrots that were brought from Holland? There is nothing particularly fresh on the shelves in stores - such is the time! But what is still lying there has probably not grown by open ground, but in a greenhouse. And, therefore, contains 2-2.5 times less useful substances and vitamins.

Your own gardener?

You can do the spring thing and sprout something yourself. For example, sprouted grains of wheat, beans, sunflowers, beans and peas contain 5 times more vitamins C and B6, 13 times more vitamin B2 and 4 times more folic acid. You can also sprout greens - parsley, dill. Also in spring it’s time to finish eating mashed berries, pickled vegetables and fruits. They are an invaluable source of vitamins C, A and B, almost untouched since the summer.

But fruits and vegetables alone will not overcome hypovitaminosis. For example, the source of vitamins D and E is mostly animal food. Vitamin B12 is absorbed through fish, milk and eggs. To “obtain” vitamin H, you need to consume liver and yeast. Fish contains nicotinic acid. And oatmeal and buckwheat porridge(not just instant cooking) and gray bread made from wholemeal flour are rich in B vitamins, which are responsible for the functioning of many body systems. Brown rice and grain bread contain large amounts of vitamin B1, a deficiency of which can lead to depression, loss of appetite and poor attention.

Let's add some more

The easiest way is to take multi- and multivitamins. They differ in the quantity and set of substances they contain. Consequently, you can choose a complex to combat exactly the problem that requires the most close attention - be it poor skin condition or a child’s inattention. Since the composition of such products includes several vitamins at once, you can simultaneously get rid of other health problems.

However, even here, not everything is so good: although excess vitamin supplements are excreted along with urine, they simultaneously damage the kidneys. Fat-soluble vitamins, such as A and D, can accumulate in the body. Thus, when carrying out vitamin supplement therapy, you should follow all instructions and take breaks from taking multivitamin medications. The prophylactic dose includes 1-2 pills per day, the therapeutic dose is 2-3 times higher, and the toxic dose is generally tens of times higher! Without restriction, a child can only be given water-soluble beta-carotene.

Dangerous symptoms

What symptoms are accompanied by hypovitaminosis in children? The same as in adults: the child does not want to get up in the morning, becomes irritable, has no appetite, the skin becomes dry, and sometimes even becomes covered with pustules. And all this is accompanied by a lot of troubles: frequent stomatitis, dandruff, unexpected allergic reactions, dull hair, brittle nails. They can manifest themselves especially strongly when a growing person is in great need of increased amounts of vitamins - that is, during increased growth: in the first 2 years of life, then at the age of 6-8 years, and before puberty - at 12-14 years .

How to find out what exactly a child’s body lacks?

If a child has cracking joints, then it is probably due to a lack of B vitamins, in particular B6.

If your child, even with mild injuries, develops bruises that do not go away for a long time, most likely his body lacks vitamin C.

Dizziness, weakness and tinnitus (unless these are symptoms of a serious illness) are well dealt with by vitamins E and B3, as well as trace elements such as potassium and manganese.

If your son or daughter often has red eyes and takes a long time to get used to the dark, then he probably needs vitamins A and B2.

The cause of sleep disturbances in children may be a lack of B vitamins, magnesium, potassium and calcium.

Even children's hair can become brittle, dull and split. This indicates a lack of vitamins C, B9 and H.

If dandruff appears, you need to fight it not with shampoo, even a medicinal one, but with the help of vitamins B6, B12, P and selenium.

And, of course, you need to remember to have a balanced diet. Not one, even the most useful product, one should not get carried away with fanatical devotion. And words like “ fast food“, in the case of a diagnosis of “hypovitaminosis”, you need to completely forget it, like a bad dream.