Vitamin-rich Foods That You Can Give Your 6 Months Old Baby

The mystery of birth is such that one falls in love with their child even before he or she is born. From the moment that a woman knows that she has conceived to seeing the first ultrasound report, a mother-to-be ensures that her little one gets all the nutrients that he or she deserves.

Now, taking care of your child's nutrition is easy as long as he or she is in the womb. All that you need to do is to take care of your own diet and the body will ensure that the same is conveyed to your unborn child.

However, things are not that easy once you have delivered your little one. The first six months are comparatively easy, since all that you need to do is feed him with your breast milk. However, after this comes the point wherein you will have a shouting infant to deal with at meal times whose tantrum can make well get you on to your nerves.

Dealing with the tantrums while ensuring that he or she gets the required intake of vitamins is no child's play. To help you through this, here is a list of vitamin-rich foods that you can give to your toddler.

• Fish

In many Indian cultures (like that of Tamil Nadu, Odisha or coastal Karnataka), fish is an essential part of the local cuisine. In fact, in Bengal it is considered auspicious if a child's first meal is fish. Thus, if you are worried about meeting your child's daily vitamin requirement, what you can do is to opt or give him or her a small portion of fish every day. Make sure you get rid of the bones and serve them only a small quantity though. Oily fish like salmon, sardines and mackerel are particularly beneficial for toddlers who are of 6-12 months of age.

• Meat

It is often seen that children are fond of chicken, pork or red meat in any form. Thus, if you give your toddler small helpings of well-cooked meat, chances are that they will relish it and that there will be lesser feeding-time tantrums. They are a rich source of protein and daily consumption takes into account all the vitamin needs of your little one. Thus, giving your little one meat will ensure that it is a win-win situation for both of you; you are happy that he or she gets the required nutrients while they are happy with the taste of the same.

• Fruits

If you are a vegetarian, it does not mean that your little one will lose out on the vitamins that he or she needs in order to grow to a healthy adult. There are multiple fruits that are as nutritious as that of the aforementioned non-vegetarian food. You can give your little one banana, pears or mangoes. All these three fruits have ample amount of vitamins that will be highly beneficial for your little one. Moreover, these fruits do not have seeds, so it will be easier for you to feed the same to your six-month-old kid.

• Fortified Milk Or Cereals

It is obvious that for the first six months of his or her life, all that your little one has lived upon is milk. Thus, they will have a natural affinity for the same. Now that your breast milk is not sufficient to give him or her all the nutrients for growth, you can consider switching to fortified milk. Fortified milk is very rich in vitamins A, D and C and it will help your child in their growing up years. You can also consider teaming it up with cereals.

• Green Vegetables

All of us are well aware of the nutritional benefits of green vegetables. Considering the rich source of vitamins that they are, it is a good practice to make your child start taking the same early on in life. Vegetables like spinach, cabbage and broccoli are things your little one will be able to digest well by the time he/she is six years of age. You can also consider giving him/her cauliflower, as most children are seen to be particularly fond of the same.

• Eggs

One of the easiest things to prepare, eggs are a rich source of vitamins. This particular item of food will come to your aid if you have a toddler who refuses to eat anything but breast milk. In such a scenario, you can start off by forcing your little one to have a small portion of egg white every day. Gradually, he will stop resenting. Gradually, start increasing the portions. Once he or she is well accustomed with consumption of the egg yolk daily, you can then go for giving him/her the egg white. Eggs are the perfect food (both nutrition wise as well as taste wise) for a toddler waiting to make that transition from breast milk to regular food.

• Fruit Juice

Depending on the season you are in, it is a good practice to make your little one take a small quantity of fruit juice daily. Try to go for fresh fruit juice and not the canned ones that are available in the market. Fruit juices contain Vitamin C in abundance. In case your little one does not like to have plain fruit juice, you can consider diluting the same with a small quantity of water. However, make sure that you do not add too much of water though and that the water isn't from the fridge.

• Tomato And Tomato Sauce

These days, thanks to the dietary considerations of parents (who go for fat-free food themselves) a number of pre-school goers suffer from Vitamin E deficiency. In order to keep a check on that without adding extra fat to your diet, one possible option would be to introduce a good portion of tomato and tomato sauce in your little one's diet. An added benefit here is the fact that toddlers are usually seen to love tomato products.