If your baby is sick, then most likely, the child's doctor will tell in detail about how the child should eat, depending on the child's tastes and the nature of the illness.
Nutrition of children during illness should usually differ from everyday nutrition. Even a mild cold can impair a child's appetite due to poor health and because it moves less and does not walk. In such cases, it is not necessary to force the child to eat if he does not want to.
If during the illness the child has become significantly less, then offer him a drink. A child should drink whatever he wants, do not refuse him. Many parents mistakenly believe that with a cold you need a very plentiful drink. In fact, this is not entirely true and the excess fluid does not benefit more than its moderate consumption.
Food at elevated temperature
For colds, sore throats, flu or other infectious diseases, when the temperature rises, you need to make significant changes in the nutrition of children, because in such cases, the appetite usually falls sharply, and especially for solid foods. In the first 1-2 days of illness it is not necessary to offer your child solid food at all, unless of course he does not show a desire to eat. In most cases, the sick children drink water and various juices with joy. Never forget about water, despite the fact that it actually does not have any nutrients, but in the first days of illness it does not matter.
Talking about milk is quite difficult to say anything definite. Usually, young children drink a lot of milk during illness. And if at the same time they do not vomit, it means everything is good and milk is what the child needs. Older children can completely refuse milk, and in some cases, when they drink milk, they can snatch. But in any case, it is worth to offer the baby milk. When the temperature is 39 degrees and above, the so-called skimmed milk is better absorbed (it is necessary to remove the cream from above).
Even if the temperature does not decrease, after 2 days the child can get hungry. Try to feed it with simple and easy food: apple puree, ice cream, jelly, curd mass, porridge, croutons, dry biscuits or boiled egg.
It is worth noting that some products can be poorly digested at high temperatures, this is usually: fish, poultry, meat, fats (margarine, butter, cream). But when the child begins to recover and the temperature drops, meat and vegetables begin to be absorbed well.
And remember the most important thing: the nutrition of children during illness should not be out of the stick, that is, one should not force the child to eat, otherwise it can be ripped out.
Nutrition for vomiting
Many diseases are accompanied by vomiting, especially those that occur with a very high temperature. At this time, the doctor should prescribe the food. If, for some reason, you do not have the opportunity to quickly consult a doctor, try to follow the recommendations below.
The child at a temperature tears that the disease takes the stomach out of action and it can not hold food.
Therefore it is important after each meal to give the stomach to rest for at least 2 hours. If after that the child wants to drink, try giving him a small sip of water. If after that he does not have vomiting and he wants more water, give a little more, but after 20 minutes. If the child still wants to drink, continue giving him more and more water, but do not exceed half a cup. On the first day, do not give your child to drink more than half a cup of liquid at a time. If in this way, after several days of vomiting without another vomiting and nausea, and the child wants to eat, give him some light food.
When vomiting is caused by an infection with a high temperature, in most cases it is not repeated the next day, even if the temperature remains the same high. If there are small veins or spots of blood in the vomit, it is most likely because the baby was pushing hard.
Do not give the child too much to eat at the end of the illness
If the child has not eaten for several days because of the high temperature, it is only natural that he will lose weight. Usually young mothers are very worried when with their child this happens for the first time. Therefore, some mothers try to feed the baby as best as possible, right after the doctor will allow them to return to normal nutrition. But often after illness the children do not show a great appetite for a while. If the mother still will constantly force the child to eat, then the appetite may not return to him.
The child remembers how he used to eat and he does not want to eat at all because it is so weak. Despite the fact that the temperature has already subsided, the body has not yet completely cleared of the infection that affects the intestines and stomach. Therefore, when a child sees food, he does not feel a strong desire to eat a lot.
But when the mother insists and literally makes her recovering child eat, then he can feel a slight nausea at the same time, and this is quite capable of leading to the fact that the child will have a psychological aversion to food and thus his healthy appetite may not return to him as early as a long time flow.
The child himself will say when his intestines and stomach will cope with all the consequences of the disease, because he will feel a strong hunger and can already digest his food well, in other words he will completely recover. Therefore, the first few days or even weeks after the illness has completely passed, the children have what is called a brutal appetite, since the body compensates for what was lost during illness. Often, children can start asking for food just 2 hours after a really hearty meal.
While the period of recovery lasts, parents should try to feed the child with the food and drink that he wants. In this period it is important to keep patience and not insist, in other words, just wait for the child to show willingness to begin eating more. In cases where the appetite does not return and after a week, after the illness should always consult with your doctor.