Parents often ask, “How long should my baby eat rice flour?” “What should I do if my baby gets diarrhea when he eats rice flour?” “How to make rice flour better?” All kinds of questions related to rice flour. Parents really need to worry about what they eat into their stomach. Today we will have a good chat about those things about eating rice flour! And what are the misconceptions that parents need to pay attention to? When to add rice flour? The Chinese Dietary Guidelines for Residents and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that babies add complementary foods after 6 months of age, and the first complementary food should be iron-rich burnt food, such as iron-fortified baby rice powder. This is because after 6 months the iron stored in the baby’s body has disappeared, coupled with rapid growth and development, the expansion of blood volume also increases, the need for iron is also gradually increasing. Babies can supplement up to 99% of their iron from complementary foods, so it is necessary to add iron-rich foods to your baby. What is iron fortified rice flour? You can find various types of rice powder on the internet, and searching for iron fortified rice powder can bring up a lot of them. When you search for iron fortified rice powder, you will find a lot of them. Once you click into them, you will find that some of them do not contain iron at all and some of them are very low in iron content. Parents who are not clear about their baby’s iron needs can easily choose a certain type of rice powder based on the words “iron fortification” or “high iron” in the product label. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese residents pointed out that the daily iron needs of infants as high as 8 to 10 mg. Some rice flour iron content, per 100g of iron 3mg, 400g per bag, that is to say, the baby will be nearly to the whole bag to eat, to be able to meet the daily iron needs. It should also be noted that the baby in addition to iron intake from rice flour, some breastfed babies are also supplemented with iron or fortification, this time the parents in the calculation of iron needs should also be calculated. Similarly, for babies who eat formula, parents should also look at the iron content of the formula. If the iron content is relatively high, ordinary rice flour can also meet the baby’s needs. Summary: When choosing iron fortified rice powder, parents must look at the iron content in the formula. When calculating your baby’s iron intake, don’t forget the additional iron supplements, fortifiers and the iron contained in the formula. How much water should I use to brew rice flour? Should the rice flour be dry or burnt? This is a question that many new moms ask. Adding complementary foods should follow the principle of “from little to many, from thin to thick, from one to many”. Therefore, when you are just adding complementary foods, make it thinner and burnt. Let the baby adapt to three days, if there is no constipation or diarrhea, then increase the amount or add another complementary food. How to choose rice flour? There are so many kinds of rice flour on the market, including rice, millet, oatmeal, vegetables and fruits, which kind of rice flour should I choose? Since it is the first time to add a complementary food, it is recommended to choose a rice flour with a single formula, for example, one that contains only rice. This is also the beginning of a parent consulting baby eating rice flour always diarrhea, is not allergic? If your baby also has this or other similar allergies, you need to see if the formula of rice flour contains other food ingredients. How long should I eat rice flour? There is no clear definition about when to eat rice flour, some babies can eat it until they are very big. However, the practice should be changed, from burnt at the beginning, gradually transitioned to solid, for example, it can be mixed with rice, vegetables, meat foam to make rice balls, or add eggs, fruits or vegetables to make cakes, and for mothers who are good at cooking, it can be made into a variety of small snacks. Long-term consumption of too soft food will make the baby’s teeth lack of exercise, facial muscle strength becomes weak, so that the baby’s chewing function is getting weaker and weaker, teeth and oral muscles do not get due exercise, resulting in muscle weakness, atrophy, jawbone development disorder, and even affect the pronunciation; too soft food is easy to lead to dental caries, presenting dental mutilations, premature loss of milk teeth, the permanent tooth eruption is not normal, can not be normal shedding, which in turn causes Teeth grow unevenly. Therefore, rice flour can be eaten at any time, but the addition of complementary foods should also be rich to, for example, to timely add mashed potatoes, carrot puree, puree, etc., the baby can gnaw food, such as apples, pears, but also try to let the baby eat. Punch rice flour common misunderstanding: Misunderstanding one: the use of hot water brewing rice flour Explanation: rice flour contains a variety of nutrients as well as vitamins, hot water brewing may affect the nutritional composition of rice flour. Correct practice: the purchase of rice flour instructions are brewing explanation, in accordance with the instructions can be brewed, generally at about 50 degrees of warm water. Myth 2: homemade rice flour is natural, eat at ease Explanation: because of the fear of a variety of additives as well as unqualified food, some parents choose to do their own rice flour at home, the raw materials are their own preparation, more secure some. We also said that the baby should choose high iron rice flour when adding rice flour. Purchased rice flour contains other nutrients in addition to iron, which is also helpful for baby’s growth and development. On the contrary, homemade rice flour is too single ingredient, not able to meet the growth needs of the baby, and may even lead to malnutrition. Correct practice: choose baby high iron rice powder in supermarkets or maternal and child stores.