How to cook porridge with milk correctly for a baby – recipes and recommendations

Porridge is not only incredibly tasty, but also useful and nutritious. They provide a child with a supply of energy, vitamins and vegetable proteins. Milk supplements the formula with mineral salts and calcium, which are necessary for the baby’s bone system.

But how to boil your baby’s milk porridge correctly? It would seem a simple question, but it is very popular among young parents and is extremely important, because here you need to know what kind of milk to take, whether it needs to be diluted and what, how much to add cereal.

What are the benefits of porridge and when it is better to introduce it into complementary food

Cereals have 9 to 13% protein. Only this protein has a low biological value, it has practically no amino acids. You can make up for the lack of essential amino acids by preparing porridge with milk. Such a mixture of product of animal and plant origin in the composition of amino acids is close to the protein of meat and is better absorbed.

The advantage of milk porridge is:

1. Milk porridge is much tastier, so feed the baby with it is not difficult;

2. It has a high caloric value, which is very important for a growing body. The nutritional value is calculated as follows: the caloric value of cereal + the caloric value of whole milk (in 100 ml – 60 kcal). Therefore, milk porridge can be satiated more quickly;

3. The fat contained in milk helps absorb some vitamins, and most importantly, the very important vitamin A. For this reason, milk porridge is recommended to children.

Porridge is the second food item in the complementary food program, which is introduced to the baby. Baby gets acquainted with it in 3 weeks after the vegetable puree. If the child is underweight and suffers from loose stools, it is better to begin complementary feeding with porridge. They should be offered from the 6th month of the baby’s life.

How to cook porridge with milk for a child under 1 year

Until one year of age, the baby’s porridge is cooked with formula, breast milk or diluted cow’s milk. In its pure form, cow’s milk should not be given until at least one year.

To get 200 ml of diluted milk, you need:

1. Boil 70 ml of water;

2. Pour 130 ml of boiled cow’s or goat’s milk into it;

3. Stir thoroughly.

The best first course porridge is gluten-free.

1. Rice porridge is the most easily digestible and contains fiber, useful for baby’s body. It is suitable for those whose stools are unstable. If the child is often constipated, it is better to start acquaintance with another porridge.

2. Buckwheat is ideal for someone who has an iron deficiency. Buckwheat Cereal contains protein, B vitamins, iron and fiber.

3. Corn porridge – it has less useful trace elements, but also, like buckwheat porridge, contains a large amount of iron and fiber.

IMPORTANT!It is not recommended to introduce porridge containing gluten to one year old. These include semolina, wheat, oats, and barley. Gluten may be harmful for the intestinal flora of your baby.

When preparing porridge on your own, it is worth buying only the highest grade of cereal. It is thoroughly washed, dried, and turned into flour with a blender or coffee grinder. In the first month of introduction of porridge, its density should be 5%. Consequently, 5 g of groats are added per 100 ml of milk or formula. From the second month of receiving baby porridge and up to the age of 1 year, it is necessary to prepare 10% of porridge – 10 g of groats per 100 ml of milk.

To prepare porridge, pour 5 grams of cereal per 100 ml of milk and boil for up to 30 minutes, depending on the cereal. For example, rice porridge boils for 10 minutes, buckwheat porridge for 15 minutes and corn porridge for 30 minutes. During cooking, the porridge should be thoroughly stirred until ready to avoid lumps. After cooking, 3 grams of butter is added to the porridge.

How to cook porridge for children after 1 year

By one year, the baby can already chew, is good at digesting food, and begins to handle solid food. The menu becomes more varied. But the unchangeable component is the cereal. At this age, you can introduce your child to porridges which contain gluten.This is when the baby gets acquainted with semolina, wheat and oatmeal porridge.

1. Manna– Porridge is high in starches and carbohydrates and is therefore one of the most nutritious. To prepare this porridge you will need 3 tablespoons of semolina and a glass of milk. Bring the milk to the boil, and gradually add the groats to it. Cook for 5 minutes on low heat, remembering to stir constantly.

2. Wheat– porridge is high in fiber, which helps healthy intestinal function. It takes a long time to cook wheat groats. Half a glass of water and half a glass of milk for 50 grams of cereal. Soak the cereals in water for an hour before placing them on the fire. Then the groats are poured with cold water and boiled until all the liquid evaporates. Then pour in the milk and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

3. Oatmeal– One of the healthiest cereals which contains potassium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus necessary for healthy development of bones and teeth. To prepare the oatmeal you will need 1 cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of oatmeal. Bring the milk to the boil and add the groats. Boil it over low heat for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring the porridge.

After one year, cereals may not be ground into flour, but given as fine flakes. At this age, the child is ready to gradually switch to solid food.

What to boil porridge in for a baby?

In preparing porridge for the first complementary food, it is important to take everything into account. Including think about the dishes in which the cereal will be cooked.Several factors should be taken into account:

1. The cookware should have thick walls (to avoid sticking);

2. The material from which the cookware is made, must be of high quality;

3. There must not be any scratches or chips in the pan.

Suitable dishes for cooking porridge include stainless steel pots, steamers, milk cookers, multicookers.

1. Porridge cooked in a stainless steel pan does not stick and does not cool down. And if you put a wooden spatula on its sides, the porridge will not boil out. Such groats cook for about 10-15 minutes over low heat.

2. The steam cooker is an indispensable helper for young mothers. Kasha here retains much more valuable vitamins and minerals. But it will take much longer to cook porridge. The standard cooking time is 40-50 minutes. But porridge cooked this way won’t burn or run off. In order to cook porridge in a steam cooker, you will need a special bowl, which is called a container for boiling rice. It is usually included in the set.

3. Every multicooker is equipped with a special function – cooking porridge. Boil the porridge in this mode until all the liquid boils off. There is no need to watch it, the multicooker will cook the porridge by itself. And so that the milk does not run away, you can grease the top of the pan with butter.

4. The porridge in the milk cooker is cooked in a water bath. This is a pot that has a double bottom, where the water is poured. Due to this, the porridge will not burn. To cook the perfect porridge, pour water into the spout 2 cm below the hole. Add milk or a mixture to the pot, and then put it on high heat until the water comes to a boil. Next, reduce the heat to minimum, pour in the groats and cover with a lid. It is not necessary to stir such porridge, thanks to the double bottom it won’t burn.

Recommendations for making porridge with milk for children

Cooking porridge with milk for a baby is not difficult. All recipes are very simple and do not require much time. And to make the porridge even more tasty, you can add fruit puree or just pureed fruit to it. For a change you can cook porridge with pumpkin or dried fruits, such a treat even the most fastidious baby will like.

Also, to improve the taste and preserve the useful properties, it is worth using the following tips.

1. Sometimes small debris and weeds can be found in the groats, so before cooking the cereal must be thoroughly cleaned.

2. Any cereal is recommended to be washed under running water before boiling, since dust and dirt can get into it when it is packaged.

3. To cook the porridge you should exclude enamel cookware (the porridge burns there) and aluminum cookware (this metal releases harmful substances).

4. For the first meal, the porridge should be properly cooked, so that it is as tender and soft as possible.

5. Store-bought baby porridge is usually cooked for about 3 minutes, but it is suitable only for the first injection. When the baby learns to chew, it is better to buy regular fine milled porridge, it is much healthier.

6. Butter should be added at the end of cooking, not at the beginning.

7. All cereals are recommended to cook with the addition of dairy products. This compensates for the lack of calcium and increases the wholesomeness of proteins.

8. Remember that boiling increases the glycemic index, i.e. badly boiled porridge is a fast carbohydrate.

So, porridge is one of the most important and useful products for a growing baby’s body. Exclude them from the diet in any case can not. Since all babies are different, they cannot all taste the same.

Some people like buckwheat porridge, others like rice porridge with added fruit. You should experiment a little and offer your child a variety of new recipes, which he is sure to appreciate.