Medical Insider – Dr. Ria P. Maslog
Complementary Feeding
What is complementary feeding?
Complementary feeding is giving food to infants in addition to breastmilk and/or formula milk for more calories needed for their growth potential.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends this to be introduced to babies between 4 and 6 months of age on the basis of their readiness and nutritional needs.
While the World health organization (WHO) recommends this to be initiated at 6 month of age, the ESPGAN wants complementary feeding to be initiated at the minimum of 17 weeks and not later than 26 weeks of age.
For the 9 -11 months category
– give foods 3-4x/day
– aim to give 300kcal/ day
For the 12 – 23 months category:
– usually there is already improvement in fine motors
– at this age, family food that is well cooked can be given
– may give feeding 3-4x / day
– aim at giving 550kcal/ day
– fruits maybe served as snacks 1-2x/ day