In order to ensure proper growth and development, the baby should be fed adequately and consistently. The body structures of babies do not have the same characteristics as the adult body.
Babies grow fast. Sufficient and stable nutrition of the baby should be ensured in order to ensure proper growth and development for the month. The body structures of babies do not have the same features as the adult body. For this reason, their needs and diets cannot be one-to-one with adults. Infant nutrition is a branch of nutritional science and the aim of this science branch is; to support optimum growth and development by providing adequate and stable nutrition for babies, and to ensure that future generations are healthy.
Babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their life. After the first six months, appropriate complementary foods should be started. The nutritional needs of babies who cannot receive breast milk for the first six months due to various reasons should be well calculated in order for them to be fed adequately and consistently, and the nutrition program prepared for these needs should be planned according to the baby’s stomach capacity. These processes should definitely be carried out by a specialist.
Babies often have a hard time switching to complementary foods at the end of the sixth month. The reason for this is that they have always been accustomed to liquid foods and sucking. Babies may refuse to eat. For this reason, they should know enough about the tricks that mothers should apply when starting complementary foods. Another feeding problem in some babies is loss of appetite.
Loss of appetite may be due to physiological reasons such as teething, anemia or illness, as well as the mother’s malpractices. With the nutrition education given to mothers in the Nil Diet, mothers do not have any difficulties in the period of starting complementary foods.
It is valuable to follow the growth curves of babies regularly. Growth follow-up charts evaluate whether the baby is in growth and development according to the month. This is very valuable for detecting growth retardation.
Purpose of infant nutrition counseling; To ensure that the baby receives sufficient breast milk and consumes appropriate complementary foods after six months. In this way, the growth and development of the baby is supported regularly.
