Hellooo dearie….Am so excited today! Do you know why? I am wiser than before especially on feeding. So last weekend I met a great nutritionist who made me realize how wrong I was on matters feeding my daughter. I know some of those things I have taught you here but it’s not late to correct. Parenting unending journey of learning. I just want to share a few of these tips as we below.

1. Adding milk to porridge- I know I have told you before that you can add milk to your babies porridge. However, I learnt that milk hinder the absorption of essential nutrients such as proteins, vitamins and minerals from the porridge. SO you baby only end up getting calcium only. The lesson is DO NOT ADD MILK TO PORRIDGE
2. Milk – From the age of 1 year, you can give your baby milk. The nutritionist advised that packet milk is better than fresh milk bought in the supermarket. Her justification was that packet milk is pasteurized and hence all the possible bacteria will be killed in the process. Fresh milk on the other hand may have bacteria that may not die by just boiling and hence harmful to the baby. If cow milk must be consumed, then dilute with distilled or boiled water in the ration of 1:1.
3. Give 45 minutes interval- After meals, ensure that your baby relaxes for at least 45 minutes before you give milk or any other milk products like yoghurt. This time also applies to time interval when giving fruits.
4. Add fruits to yoghurt-Most fruits contains Vitamin C. Milks contain calcium. When the two are combined, they cancel each other benefit. The lesson is GIVE FRUITS AND YOUGHURTS SEPARETELY. DO NOT MIX THE TWO
5. Plain flour for porridge- I know the moms from Western Kenya will deny this fact. In some cultures, baby’s porridge flour is mixed with other “things” such as Omena, yams, cassava, ground nuts. In their view, the additives are meant to fortify the flour making it more nutritious. Well, the opposite is true. All these additives have different cooking time and we normally cook our porridge for just 15 minutes. 15 minutes is not enough time for cassava, omena, ground nuts to cook properly and this leads to indigestion and it is harmful to your baby. Lesson is USE PLAIN FLOUR (SINGLE GRAIN) FOR WEANING. DO NOT MIX THE FLOURS. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Maize flour is good enough for porridge and is readily available especially in Kenya.
6. Give water between meals and not immediately after food- Give a 30 minutes window before or after meal. If you give water right after the meals, you are tampering the natural time it takes for your food to digest. This also makes you feel hungrier faster than anticipated and results in overeating and 
7. Give at least 3 meals a day- A baby need to have atleast 3 meals per day. The meal should be well balance i.e have protein, vitamin and carbohydrates. Give at intervals of 3 hours to give ample time for digestion and absorption of nutrients. Give snacks inform of fruits, yoghurts, milk, water in between.
8. Supplements-If you have to give supplements to your baby, give mineral and vitamin nutrients.
9. White meat- Introduce white meat first before the red meat. White meat is easily digested and hence suitable for weaning. Sources include fish and chicken.
10. From the age of one year, give your baby family food. This helps the baby to develop the chewing and swallowing skills. It also boost the appetite due to flavours in food. It’s important to use natural spices in the food that the baby will consume.

MUST SEE: 12 COMMANDMENT OF WEANING https://old.wowmom.co.ke/the-12-commandments-of-weaning/ I have so much that I will continue sharing in my future posts. SO you need to follow me not to miss out.  I have already corrected some of those mistakes as well. Would you like a weaning and nutrition training session? If so, kindly inbox me via my facebook page @ Wow Mom Kenya and I will give further details. Also, like and follow my facebook page, Twitter and Instagram to stay posted always. CIAO!