During the first six months of life of the child, exclusive consumption of breast milk is adequate to fulfill their nutritional requirements. However, as the child grows beyond the age of 6 months, they will also require complementary food as breast milk is no longer adequate to fulfill their energy and nutritional requirements. Therefore, parents should have a good knowledge background on complementary food, because if it is not provided in the correct amount and composition, this may lead to malnutrition in the child. With an increasingly busy daily lifestyle of parents, preparing the correct complementary food can be a challenge in itself. In addition to the nutritional content, parents should also ensure that the texture of the food is in accordance to the age and chewing abilities of the child. Furthermore, the time for preparation is often felt to be very limited. How can we work around this? You may apply the following tips at home:

• Time management There is no other way to strategize with time aside from managing it well. Allocate a certain time at night to prepare the food to be consumed by the child the following day.
• Create a food journal Attempt to create a food journal of the child. For instance, plan the food menu of the child for the following one or two weeks. In addition to the benefit of being able to monitor the food consumed by the child, shopping also becomes more efficient as the items to be purchased are easily tracked.
• Use efficient cooking equipments An example of a useful equipment is a slow cooker. This can help in cooking food that require a long time to process, such as broth.
• Store food appropriately An alternative option in preparing complementary food is to cook in a large quantity and store it in small portions, so it can be used in accordance to the feeding portion of the child.
• Use instant complementary food If for one reason or another, you are unable to prepare cooked complementary food, an option that can be taken is to prepare instant complementary food for the child, as it is practical and still highly nutritious. Instant complementary food is packed in measured quantities for a single serving, and can be directly used without prior heating.

Ensure that you select a product containing 5 sources of nutrients and 9 essential amino acids such as Milna Baby Porridge to fulfill the daily nutritional requirements of the child. What do you think? Does this seem simple to implement? Do not let the increasingly busy lifestyle inhibit you from providing the best possible care for the growth and development process of the child.