There is no doubt that breast milk is the best food for babies. However, as your baby gets older, the addition of complementary foods is on the agenda. During this process, babies will go through a transition from liquid to solid foods and from a single form of food to a variety of tastes and textures. Therefore, how to reasonably add complementary foods is one of the most important topics for parents of infants and toddlers. What do the authorities recommend in this regard? Whether there is a good way to get your baby to cooperate with these nutritional recommendations is the subject of this article. When to start adding complementary foods? Although there are no clear written guidelines on when to add complementary foods in China, the recommendations of foreign authorities are similar, generally at 6 months of age. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that “iron-containing complementary foods should be added around 6 months of age and should vary for each individual infant. Some can be started as early as 4 months, while others can wait until 8 months”. The European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition recommends that “the ideal goal for exclusive breastfeeding is 6 months of age, and that no complementary foods should be added before 17 weeks of age, while by 26 weeks all infants should have added complementary foods”. According to the World Health Organization, “infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months, after which adequate and safe complementary foods can be added”. What principles should be followed when adding complementary foods? Add only one new food, one new ingredient at a time; choose foods that provide key nutrients and meet energy needs (iron-fortified infant rice and pureed meat are preferred because they are high in protein, iron, and zinc); have a variety of foods by 1 year of age; do not consume cow’s milk (or other non-infant-specific formula) until 1 year of age; ensure that supplemental foods are supplemented with calcium; do not consume fruit juices until 6 months of age, and then limit daily supplementation. Juice should not be consumed before 6 months of age and thereafter should be limited to 4-6 oz (113-170 g) of pure juice per day; only one complementary food should be added at a time to determine if there is an individual allergic reaction; during the complementary feeding phase, 90% of the iron needs of breastfed infants should be met with complementary foods that contain biologically active iron; cow’s milk should not be the primary milk source until 1 year of age; caution should be exercised in both the early (<4 months of age) and late (>=7 months of age) phases. =Gluten should be added gradually to complementary foods; infants on an all-vegetarian diet should receive adequate amounts (approximately 500 mL) of breast milk, formula, or milk products; infants and young children should not be on a strict vegetarian diet; complementary foods should contain no less than 25% fat in their energy intake and should contain good long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (e.g., fish oil); complementary foods should not have additional sugars The diet should be varied to ensure that nutritional needs are met; meat, poultry, fish, and eggs should be used daily or as frequently as possible; a vegetarian diet is not appropriate for this age group unless supplemented or fortified; vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables should be consumed daily; adequate fat must be included in the diet; low-nutrient beverages (e.g., tea, coffee, and soda) should not be consumed, and other nutrients should not be compromised by excessive Do not compromise the intake of other nutritious foods by drinking too much juice. How do I get my baby to accept the taste of complementary foods? An infant’s taste for food is influenced by innate taste: a preference for sweet foods and familiar flavors. The baby’s sense of taste is largely developed between 8-13 weeks of gestation and smell between 16-36 weeks of gestation, so he or she can learn about the mother’s food preferences during pregnancy by tasting the amniotic fluid. Carrots, for example, are the most well-researched food, and babies born to mothers who eat carrots during pregnancy are more likely to prefer carrot foods. This is why some baby rice powders are designed to taste like carrots. If you want your baby to accept baby rice through the flavor of carrots, your mother can try to eat more carrots during pregnancy first. What are the advantages of breastfeeding over formula milk? The taste of breastmilk can also influence the taste of your baby. Unlike formula, which has a uniform taste from one brand to another, the taste of each mother’s breast milk varies and changes with the mother’s different diets each day. Many studies have shown that breastfed babies are less picky about complementary foods and more willing to try new foods than formula-fed babies because they have become familiar with the flavors of ingredients in breast milk. What if my baby refuses new foods? There is a process by which infants accept new foods, and many times infants do not like new foods simply because parents do not give them enough opportunities to try them. Studies have shown that the average infant has to try a food 6-15 times before it becomes acceptable. Of course, as mentioned above, it is better to try new foods one at a time, otherwise it is difficult to determine which food is causing the allergy if it occurs. How can I encourage my baby to eat new foods? It is important to encourage and support your infant as he or she continues to try new foods. Don’t forget that the infant’s taste-making period is also a time of rapid brain development. If a parent is annoyed and upset when an infant refuses to try a food, the infant can easily read the parent’s expression and associate the negative emotion with the food, making it more difficult to change the infant’s aversion to the food later. Why is it important to control the baby’s weight gain? If your baby is receptive to the addition of complementary foods, it is important to congratulate you on your angel baby and to keep your baby’s weight gain under control. There is growing evidence that the effects of overweight in infancy are long-lasting, and that Michelin babies are more likely to develop into chubby babies in childhood and become overweight or even obese in adulthood. Adding complementary foods at too early an age, eating too many complementary foods at a time, and lacking adequate exercise all tend to contribute to the development of infant obesity. In short, there are quite a few ways to add complementary foods to babies. I hope this short article can give new parents some insight.