Where There Is No Doctor 2011 121
FROM 6 MONTHS TO 1 YEAR OF AGE:
1. Keep giving breast milk, if possible until the baby is 2 or 3 years old.
2. When the baby is 6 months old, start giving her other foods in addition
to breast milk. Always give the breast first, and then the other foods. It is good
to start with a gruel or porridge made from the main food (p. 111) such as maize
meal or rice cooked in water or milk. Then start adding a little cooking oil for extra
energy. After a few days, start adding other helper foods (see p. 110). But start
with just a little of the new food, and add only 1 at time or the baby may have
trouble digesting them. These new foods need to be well cooked and mashed. At
first they can be mixed with a little breast milk to make them easier for the baby to
swallow.
3. Prepare inexpensive, nutritious feedings for the baby by adding helper
foods to the main food (see p. 110). Most important is to add foods that give extra
energy (such as oil) and—whenever possible—extra iron (such as dark green leafy
vegetables).
Remember, a young child’s stomach is small and cannot hold much food at one
time. So feed her often, and add high–energy helpers to the main food:
A spoonful of cooking oil added to a child’s food
means he has to eat only 3/4 as much of the local
main food in order to meet his energy needs. The
added oil helps make sure he gets enough energy
(calories) by the time his belly is full.
CAUTION: The time when a child is most likely to become malnourished is from
6 months to 2 years old. This is because breast milk by itself does not provide
enough energy for a baby after 6 months of age. Other foods are needed, but
often the foods given do not contain enough energy either. If the mother also stops
breastfeeding, the child is even more likely to become malnourished.
For a child of this age to be healthy we should:
♦ Keep feeding her breast milk
as much as before.
♦ Feed her other nutritious
foods also, always starting
with just a little.
♦ Feed her at least 5 times
a day and also give her
snacks between meals.
♦ Make sure the food is clean
and freshly prepared.
♦ Filter, boil, or purify the
water she drinks.
♦ Keep the child and her
surroundings clean.
♦ When she gets sick,
feed her extra well and
more often, and give her
plenty of liquids to drink.
For mothers infected with HIV: After 6 months, your baby will be bigger and
stronger, and will have less danger of dying from diarrhea. If you have been
breastfeeding her, now you should switch to other milks and feed the baby other
foods. This way the baby will have less risk of getting HIV.