4 mistakes of mothers that unintentionally harm their children

Not breastfeeding and giving solid foods too early with lots of nutritious foods are things that many women think will be good for their children. But the truth is completely opposite.

1. Do not breastfeed

According to Master - Doctor Dzoan Thi Tuong Vi, former Head of the Nutrition Department of Hospital 198, the biggest mistake mothers make is not breastfeeding their children to stay in shape or breastfeeding incorrectly, so they do not have enough milk for their children.

Meanwhile, breast milk is the best natural food source for newborns and should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months.

Breast milk contains all the nutrients in a balanced ratio suitable for the baby's digestive and absorption system. Breast milk also contains antibodies that help the baby increase its resistance against infections. Breastfeeding will reduce the risk of malnutrition or excess nutrition, chronic non-communicable diseases in adulthood, especially cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. However, many mothers have unintentionally ignored these valuable benefits.

In fact, many women have very little milk when they give birth to their first child, but have a lot of milk when they give birth to their second child. Doctor Vi believes that this is due to mothers lacking experience and breastfeeding techniques. Accordingly, you should only breastfeed in a sitting position and let your baby latch deeply on the nipple, absolutely do not breastfeed lying down.

2. Weaning before 6 months

Doctor Nguyen Van Tien, National Institute of Nutrition, said that the best time to start feeding children is when they are 6 months old (180 days). At this time, the child's needs increase, breast milk is not enough to meet them, so additional food needs to be given to the child.

However, many women still believe that if they give their children complementary foods early, they will be stronger and not hungry. Therefore, children are given complementary foods from the 4th to 5th month, and many children are even given complementary foods from the 3rd month.

Dr. Tien recommends that early weaning affects the utilization of breast milk and the child himself is susceptible to digestive disorders leading to malnutrition. At the same time, early weaning will increase the burden on the digestive system, affecting the health and development of the child.

In particular, food is often difficult to digest, so children will lose their appetite. At that time, children do not have enough nutrients, leading to slow weight gain and malnutrition.

Therefore, mothers should start feeding their babies solid foods when they are 6 months old. The diet should be sequential from liquid foods such as milk, then move to thin cereal, thick cereal, then porridge and rice.

3. Eating too much protein

According to Dr. Tien, children's supplementary meals must ensure adequate essential nutrients: carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. Meals that meet the needs and balance nutrients help children develop well; otherwise, children will be at risk of malnutrition, underweight and stunted growth.

However, many parents currently only focus on feeding their children protein, paying little attention to other groups of nutrients. Meanwhile, children's stomachs are very small, and their digestive systems are very weak. If their diets contain too much protein, their immature digestive systems will be exhausted, leading to digestive disorders, loose stools, diarrhea, and malnutrition and rickets. Therefore, mothers must pay close attention to feeding their children the right amount of food, avoiding overfeeding them.

Accordingly, the protein requirement of children from 6-11 months old is 2-2.5 g/kg/24 hours, the average requirement is 14-17 g/24 hours (equivalent to 20-30 g of meat/meal). In addition, children also need 1-2 teaspoons of cooking oil/meal, 1-2 teaspoons of green vegetables/meal.

4. Underestimating the early stages of life

Dr. Le Quang Hao, National Institute of Nutrition, said that nutrition from the time a child is in the womb and the first two years of life (especially the first 1,000 days) is very important in regulating growth and affecting the child's brain development.

The first 1000 days of life are the decisive time to prevent chronic diseases related to nutrition such as overweight and obesity, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure, and osteoporosis.

Therefore, caring for and nurturing children from the time they are in the womb until they are 2 years old is very important, determining their height, weight, illness and brain when they grow up.

If children are not well cared for and nurtured during this period, no matter how hard we try, we cannot make up for it.

According to Zing.vn