Kefir is very popular among our population. It is tasty and healthy. Choosing the best kefir, you provide your body with useful substances necessary for digestion.
The name of kefir comes from the word "kef", which in translation from the Caucasian means "health". But not only the mountaineers have long been convinced of its benefits. On their own experience, anyone can say which kefir is better: the one that improves the functioning of the stomach and intestines stimulates appetite well, helps the development of beneficial microflora.
But, despite all the benefits of this drink, babies should not be given too soon and in large quantities. Everything has its time. Before you start feeding your baby with dairy products, decide on which kefir is better, how to store it correctly, how to cook kefir yourself.
Yoghurts and kefir for adults always contain dyes, starch, and preservatives. Children should not be fed such dairy products. They will cause allergies. But even a proven, the best kefir must be carefully checked before buying. There should not be any additives, the shelf life should be minimal, and the fat content should not exceed 3.2 percent. Water your child only with yogurt that is appropriate for his age.
As you know, kefir is a low alcohol drink. And although the alcohol content in it is negligible, it is believed that kefir for infants can be a certain danger. In America, Western Europe, because of this, they switched from kefir to completely non-alcoholic yogurt. If you still decide to treat the baby with a domestic
fermented milk product, choose the best kefir, and only for children.
Many mothers do not know when it is already possible to give a child kefir. If the baby is on artificial feeding, then from seven months you can feed him kefir. If the child has rickets or anemia, then it is also recommended to introduce kefir from 6-7 months. It is better for babies who are breastfed to give it no earlier than 8 months. Even the best kefir is unadapted food, in it the protein and mineral composition does not meet the baby's needs for breastfeeding. Therefore, we introduce kefir only after we introduce vegetable and fruit purees, cereals into the diet.
Kefir contains a lot of casein, which is difficult to break down by the baby’s intestines and therefore can cause allergies. Also, kefir salts and organic acids irritate the digestion and kidneys of infants.
The kid, by and large, does not care how useful this or that product is. He focuses only on his own taste and curiosity. A child may simply refuse to use kefir if he does not like it. Therefore, it is possible to improve the taste of kefir with a banana or apple that is already familiar to the child. Sugar should not be used!
You can immediately give a kefir product to a large baby, and it is better for a thin baby to start with cottage cheese.
Pediatricians disagree about when to start complementary foods with kefir. The popular doctor E. Komarovsky recommends doing this from 6 months, and the WHO says that not earlier than a year. Therefore, the majority is inclined to the arithmetic mean age of 8 months. By this time, the baby has already tried porridge, vegetables, fruits, meat, cottage cheese, yolk and its digestive system is ready to eat kefir.