Guidelines for meeting the nutritional needs of infants (age 0

The beginning of life can be said to be an important period in which the growth of children develops very rapidly. That is why, children's nutrition must be considered and fulfilled properly, including the rules of feeding that should not be carelessly. So, what is the right way to meet the nutritional needs of babies every day?

Nutritional needs of infants aged 0-6 months

Breast milk (ASI) is the main food to fulfill the baby's nutrition in the first six months or it is known as exclusive breastfeeding.

But amazingly, the daily nutritional needs for babies can be met properly even if only from breast milk. So as much as possible, make sure the baby is exclusively breastfed for the full six months without any other food and drink.

There are two types of milk texture that mothers should know, namely hindmilk and foremilk which indicates the fat content in milk.

Hindmilk is milk with a thick texture that usually comes out at the end of feeding. The more the number hindmilk milk, the more fat content in the breast milk.

While foremilk is milk that comes out at the beginning of the breastfeeding. Foremilk present in breast milk indicates a low fat content.

Breast milk has been "designed" to be the best food for babies under six months of age.

Only by breastfeeding alone, the nutritional needs of babies before the age of six are not actually fulfilled properly.

Daily nutritional adequacy rate (RDA) for infants aged 0-6 months

The baby's daily macro nutrient needs:

• Energy: 550 kCal
• Protein: 12 grams (gr)
• Fat: 34 gr
• Carbs: 58 gr

Baby's daily micronutrient needs:

Vitamin

• Vitamin A: 375 micrograms (mcg)
• Vitamin D: 5 mcg
• Vitamin E: 4 milligrams (mg)
• Vitamin K: 5 mcg

Mineral

• Calcium: 200 mg
• Phosphorus: 100 mg
• Magnesium: 30 mg
• Sodium: 120 mg
• Potassium: 500 mg

Dietary guidelines for infants aged 0-6 months

A good food and drink given to fulfill nutrition for babies aged 0-6 months is breast milk.

There are various other benefits of breastfeeding that can also be obtained for mothers and their babies. First, breast milk is usually more easily absorbed and digested by the baby's body than other foods and drinks.

Second, breast milk can help prevent the risk of various diseases as well as reduce the death rate from these diseases.

In fact, optimal breastfeeding can speed up the recovery process when the baby is sick. The good news is that the benefits of breastfeeding can strengthen the emotional connection between mother and child through psychological interactions.

In addition, colostrum or clear yellowish breast milk that comes out for the first time turns out to be rich in a myriad of nutrients.

Colostrum content to meet nutritional needs in infants includes vitamin A, antibodies, to white blood cells. Furthermore, the breast milk will transition into real breast milk liquid with a milky white color.

The following are important ingredients of breast milk for babies:

1. Carbohydrates

The carbohydrate in breast milk is lactose. Lactose is a type of carbohydrate in breast milk that can contribute about 42 percent of total energy.

2. Protein

Breast milk has two types of protein. The two proteins present in breast milk, namely whey as much as 60 percent and casein as much as 40 percent.

3. Fat

Breast milk contains essential fatty acids, namely linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid. Both are the building blocks for the compound AA (arachidonic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

Fat intake will contribute about 40-50 percent of daily nutritional energy needs for babies.

4. Vitamins

The vitamins present in breast milk are able to meet all the daily nutritional needs of the baby. The content of vitamins in breast milk includes fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K and water soluble vitamins such as B and C.

5. Minerals

Breast milk is also rich in various mineral nutrients for babies. Various minerals contained in breast milk include iron, zinc, calcium, copper, manganese, fluorine, chromium, selenium, and others.

How to give breast milk to babies

Normally, babies get breast milk by breastfeeding directly on the mother's breast every 2-3 hours in newborns.

The frequency of giving will change as the baby gets older. But unfortunately, not all babies and mothers can do this all the time.

In some cases, the method of breastfeeding is not directly through the breast, so the milk must be expressed and stored appropriately.

This method is usually done by working breastfeeding mothers. Breastfeeding mothers whose milk supply has to be removed but the baby does not want to breastfeed can also pump using an electric or manual pump.

As a result, the nursing mother will pump her milk to be given to her baby when she is hungry. It is important to note that breastmilk that has been expressed should not be stored carelessly.

How to store expressed breast milk

Here's a guide on how to store expressed breast milk:

1. The milk that has been expressed is put into a sterile container (a bottle or special breast milk bag), then a label is given with the date and time the milk was expressed.
2. The milk is stored inside freezer or refrigerator, but not placed in the refrigerator door.
3. Breast milk storage temperature rules are as follows:
   • Fresh milk can survive inside freezer a temperature of -17 degrees Celsius or lower for 6 months or more.
   • Fresh milk can survive inside freezer and the refrigerator has an average temperature of -10 degrees Celsius at different times. Fresh breast milk will last for 3-4 months when it is inside freezer and a two-door refrigerator and can last up to 2 weeks for freezer and a one door refrigerator.
   • Fresh milk can stay in the refrigerator or refrigerator at an average temperature of 5-10 degrees Celsius for 5-8 days.
   • Fresh milk can survive at room temperature (without freezer or refrigerator) at 27-28 degrees Celsius for 10 hours.
   • Frozen breastmilk that comes out of freezer cannot be re-frozen. Meanwhile, if frozen breast milk is removed from the refrigerator, it can be re-frozen for 24 hours and at room temperature for 1 hour.
4. Check the temperature freezer and refrigerator 3 times a day.
5. Make sure that breastmilk that has been stored remains cold during the trip when expressed for long distances, for example from home to office or vice versa.

How to dilute and warm expressed breast milk

Here's how to dilute and warm expressed breast milk:

1. Choose milk milk from the earliest stored first.
2. Avoid diluting expressed breast milk at room temperature.
3. You can transfer frozen expressed breast milk in the refrigerator (24 hours), place it in a bowl of warm water or moisten a container of expressed milk with cold running water followed by warm water.
4. Avoid thawing frozen breast milk in the microwave or in very hot water as this can damage the nutritional content.
5. Beat the warm and melted breast milk to make it fat handmilk and foremilk blends in well.
6. Avoid re-freezing breastmilk that has thawed.

Launching from Stanford Children's Health, you should avoid re-freezing previously thawed breast milk.

Nutritional needs of infants aged 7-11 months

Entering the age of the baby six months and over or up to two years, breast milk can still be given to meet their daily balanced nutritional needs.

However, breastfeeding should also be accompanied by solid foods. The reason is, at the age of 6 months, breast milk can no longer fully meet the balanced nutritional needs of the baby.

Therefore, assistance from other foods and beverages is needed to meet the nutritional needs of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fiber, minerals, and vitamins for babies.

In some conditions, if breastfeeding is not possible, you can replace it by giving baby formula milk to help meet balanced nutrition in babies.

The daily nutritional adequacy rate (RDA) of infants aged 7-11 months

The baby's daily macro nutrient needs:

• Energy: 725 kCal
• Protein: 18 gr
• Fat 36 gr
• Carbohydrates 82 gr
• Fiber: 10 gr
• Water: 800 milliliters (ml)

Baby's daily micronutrient needs:

Vitamin

• Vitamin A: 400 micrograms (mcg)
• Vitamin D: 5 mcg
• Vitamin E: 5 milligrams (mg)
• Vitamin K: 10 mcg

Mineral

• Calcium: 250 mg
• Phosphorus: 250 mg
• Magnesium: 55 mg
• Sodium: 200 mg
• Potassium: 700 mg
• Iron: 7 mg

7-11 month old dietary guidelines

At an increasing age, the baby's need for various nutrients is certainly increasing. This is because breast milk can only meet about 65-80 percent of the total energy needs and very little micronutrient content.

That is why, breastfeeding alone is not able to meet all the daily nutritional needs of babies.

To complement these nutritional needs, babies should be introduced to complementary foods (complementary foods) from the age of 6 months.

The process of introducing and providing complementary foods to meet the nutritional needs of infants must also be carried out in stages.

At first, you can give baby food in the form of mashed or mushy first, for example in the form of porridge.

Here, the baby will learn to recognize the taste and texture of the food he has just tried. Then, after getting used to it, you can try to give food in a slightly dense form such as rice.

However, make sure the texture remains soft so that it makes it easier for the baby to bite and chew it.

For the time of giving complementary foods to meet the baby's daily nutrition, it can be adjusted to the baby's daily MPASI schedule 3 times a day.

In fact, giving complementary foods to meet the nutritional needs of babies can depend more on how much the portion is given.

Also make sure that the composition of complementary foods consists of various types of healthy foods so that they can meet the daily nutritional needs of the baby.

The goal is that babies do not lack certain nutrients and optimal growth and development of their bodies.

Composition of solids

Based on the Balanced Nutrition Guidelines from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, the composition of food ingredients for complementary foods is divided into two groups, including:

• Complete complementary solid food, consisting of staple foods, animal side dishes, vegetable side dishes, vegetables, and fruits.
• Simple complementary foods, consisting of staple foods, animal or vegetable side dishes, and vegetables or fruit.

Meanwhile, the criteria for good complementary foods to meet the nutritional needs of infants are:

• Dense in energy, protein, and micronutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and folate.
• It does not contain sharp spices, and uses just enough sugar, salt, flavorings, colorings or preservatives.
• Easy to eat and liked by children.

Terms of good solid solids

According to WHO, some of the requirements for good complementary foods include:

• Given at the right time, when breastfeeding alone is not able to meet the nutritional needs of the baby.
• Safe, that is, complementary foods must be stored and given to children with clean hands or eating utensils.
• Rich in nutrients, namely complementary foods, is able to meet the needs of macro and micronutrient nutrients for babies.
• The texture is adapted to the child's age and ability to eat.

4 quadrant theory

One of the requirements for good complementary foods is that it is rich in nutrients. So, you should make sure that the MP-ASI you give your little one contains the following 4 things:

• Carbohydrates, for example rice, potatoes, noodles, bread and vermicelli
• Protein, especially animal sources. For example meat, chicken, fish and eggs
• Vegetables or fruits for babies
• Fat, which comes from oil, coconut milk, margarine, and so on

At the age of 7-12 months, giving fat is important to contribute to essential fatty acids and support the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins as nutritional intake for babies.

On the other hand, fat is also responsible for increasing the energy content of food as well as strengthening the baby's sensory function.

You can give babies fat nutritional intake by using vegetable oil in their food, for example making baby solid foods sautéed in oil.

No exception giving iron which is equally important for nutritional intake and growth and development for babies. The reason is, iron is able to support the process of brain formation, including its structure and function.

If the nutritional intake of iron in infants is not sufficient, it can cause disturbances in the structure and function of the brain.

What kinds of foods can contribute to a balanced baby's nutrition?

What may be the next question is, should you give a single or mixed menu to your baby's first solids?

As an illustration, a single MPASI menu is a menu that consists of only one type of food, for example, only porridge is given for several times in a row.

On the other hand, a mixed menu combines various food sources in infant complementary foods to meet daily nutritional needs.

In an effort to fulfill the baby's daily nutrition, it is better to provide a variety of food sources for your little one's MPASI menu.

This is because one type of food is usually not sufficient to meet the daily nutritional needs of a baby. By eating various types of food, the baby's nutritional needs are met more easily and quickly.

As recommended by the Indonesian Ministry of Health through Balanced Nutrition Guidelines, infant complementary foods should meet the needs of carbohydrates, protein, fat, as well as vitamins and minerals.

On the other hand, the development of eating babies at this age can usually adapt to all kinds of food textures, but they are not yet able to chew smoothly.

In addition, don't forget to give your baby a snack or snack between the main meals.

It must be well understood that the diet and food choices at this age will affect your little one's appetite until he becomes an adult.

Therefore, so that the baby's habit of having difficulty eating and picking food does not continue, you must give him a variety of foods from an early age.

This aims to prevent the possibility of the baby experiencing nutritional problems, whether it is malnutrition or overnutrition.

So, now you don't need to be confused about how to meet the daily nutritional needs of babies aged 0-11 months.

You should also not overly believe in baby food myths that are not necessarily true.

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