Nutrition in the development and growth of infants and young children has been the concern of countless parents, and good nutrition is a matter of lifelong health for children. So how can parents achieve “scientific feeding”? Recently, Wang Danhua, Chief Physician of Pediatrics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhang Yue, Deputy Director of Children’s Health Department, Maternal and Child Health Center, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Ma Yang, Deputy Director of Children’s Health Center, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, have talked about the hotspots of breastfeeding and infant and young children’s nutrition, guiding the children’s parents and the society to set up the concept of scientific parenting, and popularizing the knowledge of breastfeeding and infant and young children’s nutritional health The program was organized by the Beijing Children’s Health Center of the Capital University of China.

What are the precautions for breastfeeding infants and toddlers aged 0-6 months?

Breastmilk is the best gift a mother can give her newborn baby. Dr. Wang Danhua, Chief Physician of Pediatrics at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, advocates exclusive breastfeeding for infants aged 0-6 months. Breastmilk contains nutrients with the best bioavailability, which can meet all the needs of growth and development of infants within 6 months. In addition, breastmilk is rich in immunoactive substances, which can enhance and regulate the immunity of infants and reduce the risk of infectious diseases. At the same time, breastfeeding enhances the parent-child relationship and promotes the development of the child’s nervous system.

So, how to let the mother successfully start breastfeeding? Wang Danhua introduced, to do “three early”: early contact, early sucking, early milk. After the newborn is born and thoroughly dried, it should be skin-to-skin contact with the mother immediately. Through skin contact, can stimulate the newborn’s milk-seeking reflex, let the child early sucking. Early sucking can stimulate the secretion of lactogen in the mother, so as to open the milk early. Breastfeeding on demand is another principle of breastfeeding, which should be fed when the child is hungry, when the mother’s milk rises, without limiting the number of times and time.

Some new mothers are always worried that their milk is not enough for their children to drink. How can you tell if the mother’s milk is enough for the baby?

Wang Danhua introduced, there are two criteria for judgment: one is to look at the baby’s weight, and the other is to look at the baby’s urine output. If the newborn’s weight loss does not exceed 7% of the birth weight, and if the child’s weight gain does not reach one and a half pounds (750 grams) in each of the first three months after the mother’s milk has been given, there is no need to intervene. Also, for urine output, the child should urinate more than six times a day after the mother has given birth.

How to ensure sufficient lactation? Wang Danhua said that the most important thing is to ensure that the child frequent sucking, continuous skin contact, 24 hours of mother and baby in the same room, more skin contact can ensure that the mother’s lactogen secretion. Nighttime is the peak of the mother’s lactogen secretion, and breastfeeding is necessary at night to maintain lactation. At the same time, it is important to pay attention to the baby’s proper latch to avoid pain for mom. In addition, mom should empty her breasts after each feeding to stimulate lactation.

How to correctly add complementary foods for infants and toddlers from 6 months to 1 year old?

When is the most appropriate time to add complementary foods to infants? Ma Yang, Children’s Health Center of Beijing Children’s Hospital, introduced that after 6 months of age, the nutrition that infants get from breast milk is no longer able to fully meet the needs of the child’s growth and development, and there will be gaps in energy, protein, lipids, iron, zinc, and other nutrients, which need to be supplemented in a timely and reasonable manner through the addition of complementary foods for babies.

As different foods contain different nutrients, a variety of complementary foods should be added to babies. Complementary foods are roughly divided into seven major categories, including cereals and potatoes, legumes and nuts, meat (fish, poultry, meat and offal), eggs, vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables (dark-colored vegetables), other fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products.

Complementary foods are added at least 4 or more times a day and include at least 3 food groups, one for meats and another for vegetables and grains and potatoes (carbohydrates).

Special attention should be paid to the fact that infants and toddlers between the ages of 6 months and 2 years are prone to iron deficiency anemia, so it is important to promptly supplement children with complementary foods that are rich in iron and have a relatively high rate of iron absorption, which mainly include meats, animal livers, and animal blood.

How to develop good eating habits in children? How are nutritional supplements added?

At present, there are still a lot of families with parents chasing after their children to feed them, not feeding or not eating and other bad eating habits. At this time, it is very important to cultivate children’s good eating habits.

In this regard, Zhang Yue, deputy director of the Department of Child Health, Maternal and Child Health Center of the Chinese CDC, introduced that the diet of infants and young children is a gradual transition from breastfeeding to feeding, and then to the process of eating on their own. For children about 1 year old, you can encourage the practice of eating on their own, and after 2 years old, parents can ask their children to eat on their own.

When cultivating good eating habits in children, attention should be paid to regularity, timing and moderation. Timing refers to eating at a fixed time every day, lasting about 20-30 minutes. Regularity means that the child’s eating place is fixed. Adequate quantity means that the child’s food should be given with attention and according to the child’s response.

On the issue of additional nutritional supplements, Wang Danhua explained that newborns should be given vitamin K injections immediately after birth to prevent neonatal bleeding. Secondly, all newborns should start vitamin D supplementation a few days after birth at 400-800 international units. Regarding calcium supplementation, for babies within 6 months of age, the calcium in the milk can meet the needs of the child’s growth and development, and no additional supplementation is needed. For some preterm babies, especially some very low birth weight preterm babies, extra calcium supplements, phosphorus preparations, vitamin A should be taken under the guidance of the doctor. at the same time, preterm babies’ iron reserve is much lower than that of normal full-term babies, which is more prone to cause iron-deficiency anemia, and it is very important to take iron supplements routinely.