5 things you need to know about the Japanese weaning method

The Japanese-style weaning method is interested by many Vietnamese mothers because of the scientific things that the method brings in child care. Understanding the method will make it easier for you to apply.

Japan is a country that is admired by the world not only because of its advanced education but also for its way of raising children wisely. The Japanese weaning method is also a topic that many mothers are interested in. Join aFamilyToday Health to learn about this method to better understand.

1. What is the Japanese weaning method?

The Japanese weaning method is the combination of different foods to create a variety of snacks, delicious and suitable for each child's developmental stage. Thanks to that, it stimulates the child to eat well, digest well and fully absorb nutrients.

Japanese weaning means you won't use the mill when preparing baby food. Instead, you will use a mortar and sieve to smooth your baby's food, make it easy for your baby to swallow and feel the full flavor and properties of the food.

In the first few weeks of using this method, you should give your baby a liquid porridge smoothed with a sieve to help your baby get used to eating with a spoon, swallowing food and foods other than breastmilk or formula. stay awake .

After giving your baby a smooth, liquid porridge, feed him a thicker porridge with finely ground vegetables. The next stage, you feed your baby rice cooked with broken rice from soft to thick with fish, meat, vegetables ...

The advantage of the Japanese weaning method is that during the weaning process, you feed your baby from liquid to solid, from smooth to coarse, so it helps her to form good swallowing and chewing skills. Giving your baby food by himself helps practice his grasping skills. Thanks to that, the baby soon learns to pin foods with a fork, scoop with a spoon, and choose their favorite foods. Feeding your child each dish separately helps children easily memorize and familiarize with food tastes. All of the above factors will help your baby feel more comfortable with the meal when it is not pressured and you will also feel more comfortable.

When giving your baby Japanese weaning food, you must follow the principle of feeding your baby a little to a lot, from liquid to solid, from one food group to four food groups. Note that in the process of feeding your baby with this method, you must pay attention to the psychology of your baby. Make your baby the most comfortable when eating, give him the choice of food he likes, avoid forcing him to eat that makes him afraid to eat. If you do so, you will create good eating habits for your child in the future.

2. Define clear goals when using the Japanese weaning method

So you know what Japanese weaning is. This method often focuses on the baby to use foods of natural origin or cultivated ingredients such as vegetables, fruits, fish, meat ... Foods such as canned foods, processed foods. Condiments are not normally used by babies.

When you feed your baby the Japanese weaning method, you are feeding your baby a light flavored diet with porridge, soup of vegetables, fruits or seaweed. The reason for this is that at first, when you feed your baby bland, it will be easier to adjust his / her taste later on. If at first you feed your baby the dishes that are too delicious and too rich, then later on, if you want to feed your baby lighter dishes such as boiled / steamed vegetables, it will be very difficult.

The goal of the Japanese through this method is that they hope their children develop normally and not become obese. This Japanese-style weaning menu often focuses on dishes made from vegetables, the harmony of protein, vitamins, and starch ingredients, and especially building a diet for children. low in protein. Children in the period of 12-18 months, you should only feed your baby at most 20g of protein / day.

The Japanese do not recommend giving children a lot of sugar and milk. Therefore, Japanese children are not overweight but very healthy.

Through weaning, the Japanese educate children about eating and drinking at a very young age. Children who eat this method will know how to chew, not latch and know how to actively eat, request, refuse and give confirmation of what they want. If you want your baby to do this too, you need to go through a pretty arduous process.

Many people think that their baby is too young to practice solids in the hope that he will eat more and become fatter. Why do you want to practice solids? The reason is very clear that after 5-6 months of age, babies need to be supplemented with many vitamins and minerals  to grow and develop as well as form healthy eating habits in the future.

In fact, until 9 months old, babies really need to supplement all nutrients other than milk. Therefore, the Japanese-style weaning method in the months of May, June, July, and August is mainly for children to get used to the food and practice eating habits. Once a baby has formed good eating habits, he will see eating as a necessity in life.

3. The proper Japanese weaning method for babies

When feeding the baby food, the Japanese do not use bones and meat to cook broth to prepare food for children but will use dried fish and seaweed to cook. The reason these are all calcium-rich foods .

If you want to apply the Japanese weaning method for your baby, do not worry too much about choosing food. Japanese weaning doesn't mean you have to feed your baby the same Japanese food. Therefore, instead of using fish flakes and seaweeds to cook broth to prepare food for your baby, you can use vegetables such as carrots, radishes, cabbage, spinach, pumpkin ... These foods are very good for children.

Wondering how to properly feed your baby in Japanese style? Did you know that Japanese children get to practice solids early on. About three months after birth, babies in Japan will be trained by their mothers to wean. The Japanese weaning of children mainly focuses on helping babies get used to the taste of food and develop their taste buds. Therefore, Japanese mothers only feed their babies one meal a day, and milk is still the child's main source of nutrition.

Depending on your baby's development, you choose the right time to feed your baby. At 5-6 months old, babies can sit with support. This is the time when you can start your baby to start solids. You should note the following when feeding your baby weaning according to the Japanese method:

Japanese weaning for children from 5 - 6 months

When you first start to feed your baby, you should give your baby porridge diluted, pureed, finely sifted so that the baby will gradually get used to it. Porridge is cooked according to the ratio of 1 rice flour / 10 water (10g rice: 100ml water) and not tasting.

After your baby gets used to eating and swallowing liquid foods, you can offer your baby a taste of some well-cooked and finely sifted vegetables like carrots, pumpkins, potatoes or bananas. ripe, ripe papaya ... Note, baby food in this stage must be slippery, smooth for the baby to easily swallow and not choke. You can feed your baby tofu, egg whites , chicken (steamed, pounded, filtered through the sieve) ... to add protein to your baby's diet.

Formula feeding babies 5 - 6 months old is mainly to practice babies to get used to foods other than milk, practice swallowing reflexes and learn to eat with a spoon. Therefore, you should only give your baby 1 meal a day. You should let your child eat each type of food separately so that he or she can distinguish and choose favorite foods. If during the process of learning to eat, your baby does not like it, you should not force him to eat. Stop practicing to eat again for 2-3 days and then continue. Children 5 - 6 months old can already eat yogurt, so you can feed your baby a small jar of yogurt / day.

Japanese weaning method for children from 7-8 months

Babies aged 7-8 months can swallow solid, coarser foods than before. You cook porridge at the rate of 10g of rice: 70ml of water and still don't need to add spices to the porridge for your baby. You should change vegetables regularly to stimulate your baby's taste buds. In addition to porridge, you can also feed your baby with soft-cooked noodles, vermicelli, noodles, pasta ... to change taste.

At this stage, introduce your baby to a wider range of foods and offer him mixed foods. Liver, chicken, beans, fish (snakehead fish, mackerel, salmon ...), mushrooms ... are abundant sources of protein for your baby.

In addition to milk, your baby needs to eat 2 more snacks each day. In addition, you can give your baby dessert with banana, papaya, grated mango, yogurt, cheese or drink diluted orange juice ...

At this stage, you should let your baby learn to scoop and pick up food. It may take a long time to clean at first, but it is very helpful in the future, helping your baby know how to eat and drink.

Japanese-style weaning for children from 9-11 months

Babies at this age have been able to eat solids for several months, so the ability to swallow food is quite proficient and can eat coarser foods than before. Many children have eaten broken rice porridge or broken rice. Porridge cooked with the ratio: 10g rice: 50ml of water and you can taste for your baby. But note that you should only season a limited amount of spices. Some babies are able to bite, chew and swallow soft foods by themselves. You continue to adjust the amount of food gradually increasing with each meal so that your baby gets used to it.

Children 9 - 11 months old, you can give your baby more meat such as pork, beef and some seafood such as cockles, shrimp ... In addition to 2 main meals, you can give your baby dessert with fruits soft ripe plants. But instead of scraping or puree like the previous stage, you can cut it into a stick for your baby to bite to eat. In addition, feed your baby with yogurt, cheese and soft, low-sweet cakes.

Japanese weaning method for children from 12-18 months

At this stage, many babies are weaned and can begin to eat the same meals as adults. In addition to the 3 main meals, you should add 2 snacks to your baby and keep the baby eating and drinking properly.

Food for your baby at this stage is varied and you should observe your baby to see what your baby likes or dislikes. The purpose of this is to adjust the baby's taste and eating habits accordingly, with all the necessary nutrients.

4. What should comply with when feeding Japanese weaning baby?

Feeding your baby each dish should only be done in the beginning when your baby starts to practice solids. You need to stimulate the baby's taste buds so that your baby can feel the unique taste of each dish. Therefore, instead of cooking a variety of foods together to create a dish with an unclear taste, you should feed your baby each dish separately so that he or she can taste better. You should let your baby try foods that taste bland, have a little fragrance or have a little bitter taste and observe their reaction to see what foods they like to eat.

As your baby gets used to the foods, you can mix different foods for a variety of changes. Note that if you are training your baby to be bland, all foods should taste bland (including fruit). If your baby eats bland but the dessert is too sweet, it will backfire. In the early stages of feeding your baby bland, you should reduce the sweetness and saltiness again. You can mix fruit with yogurt, making the fruit taste a little lighter.

The core of the Japanese weaning method is to focus on using natural foods or cultivated ingredients such as vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, garlic onions ... Japanese people often don't feed their children. Processed foods like canned foods, foods that contain too much flavor.

Therefore, the Japanese weaning method will help children have a frugal diet with the flavor of soups from vegetables, garlic or dashi (shaved dried fish and kombu seaweed). First, you should let your baby try bland foods first, then it will be easy to adjust. If you give your child a strong flavor seasoning first, he or she will not eat bland foods, especially foods made from vegetables such as boiled / steamed vegetables.

5. Pay attention to the child's psychology when offering solids

When you practice solids, you should not only focus on feeding your baby, but also pay attention to your baby's psychology. Each baby will have different characteristics, changing according to each stage of development. Therefore, you need to grasp this clearly to be able to adjust to suit your baby's personality.

With the Japanese method of weaning, practice feeding on time. In addition, you need patience and determination. You should not compare your child's diet / taste with other babies, but try to adjust for the best fit for your baby.

You should be mentally prepared that your baby will not cooperate with you and go against what you teach. This is just a little bit difficult, you do not feel pressured because it will affect the baby. Instead, you should indulge your baby to get through this stage.

Another aspect to look out for when practicing solids is how you feed your baby. Ambience, space and color are factors that affect a baby's eating. Each mother will have its own way because each baby's preferences are different. You should have fun with your baby's meals.

In addition, please refer to the article " Together with the Japanese weaning menu for each month of age " to better understand how to give children Japanese weaning foods in stages.