Baby health guide
Baby's menu
It is recommended that you breastfeed your child from the very beginning so that your child only receives breast milk. Breast milk provides your baby with important nutrients so that it can develop healthily. Breast milk is produced in the quantity and composition that your baby needs. In the first few weeks, the baby drinks small amounts of milk more frequently and it is normal for it to be hungry again after 2 hours.
Breastfeeding is recommended for all healthy babies in the first six months, at least until the beginning of the 5th month. Even when your child starts eating porridge, it is good to continue breastfeeding.
If you cannot or do not want to breastfeed, then feed your baby an industrially produced infant formula. Infant formula is labelled "Pre" or "1" and is suitable for feeding from birth and for the entire first year of life. It can be fed according to the child's needs. If follow-on formula "2" is used, it should be introduced at the earliest with the start of complementary feeding.
However, various professional nutrition societies emphasise that follow-on formula is not necessary and that "pre" and "1" formula can be given throughout the first year of life instead. In consultation with the paediatrician, HA infant formula is suitable for babies with a higher allergy risk who are not breastfed or not fully breastfed. Please always prepare the bottle freshly before feeding. It is very important to clean the bottle and teat thoroughly after each feed.
Continuing breastfeeding and complementary foods
Betweenthe 5th and 7th month it is time for the first porridge. You can recognise the right time when your child can hold his head upright and stable. Start with a few spoonfuls of vegetable porridge before the midday milk meal. If this works well, you can slowly move on to a full meal of porridge. Your child will continue to receive breast milk or a bottle for the other meals.
You will be pleased to be able to provide variety in the preparation of porridge with different vegetables. Carrots, parsnips, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, kohlrabi and courgettes are well tolerated vegetables. Occasionally replace meat with fish. Between the 6th and 8th month, a milk and cereal porridge is served in the evening. This provides your child with important nutrients from milk and cereals. Do not sweeten the porridge with honey, as it contains a certain bacterium that babies are not yet able to fight off in the first year. Ready-made baby food with honey, on the other hand, is safe. After another month, breast- or bottle-feeding is replaced by cereal and fruit porridge, which does not contain milk. If the baby eats three porridges a day, it will need unsweetened drinks in addition to breast milk or bottle milk.
Transition to family meals
Around the time of your baby's first birthday, your baby can already join in your family meal. Offer your child a drink with every meal and in between meals, preferably water or unsweetened fruit or herbal tea. Initially, you should be careful with small, hard foods such as nuts, berries etc. as they can easily be swallowed.