My son is 6 months old and is exclusively breastfed. What food can I give him?

Question

Hello doctor,

I have a 5-month-old baby boy. I feed him mother's milk only till now. By next month I need to join my job. So this month I want to start other foods. Which food can I give to him?

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

As your baby reached five months, great that you only gave exclusive breastfeed. Now once he approaches six months you can start giving weaning diet. All homemade stuff along with breastfeeding until 2 years of age.

It is always better to introduce baby with rice potato first as they are gluten-free and gradually built-up to multi cereal diet like grilled thick dal, mashed banana, mashed dal, mashed roti, bread, biscuit mixed in sweetened undiluted milk, chikku (suppota), mango, and papaya as snacks.

Basically our aim is to give small energy dense feeds at frequent intervals. You can add ghee or oil to make it more energy dense. Until 6 to 12 months keep frequency three to four times at least per day if breastfed.

Always make the baby sit on your lap and then feed and maintain all the hygiene and clean your hands before preparing food and while feeding. Avoid all packed food.