Chinese dietary advice for babies and children

In Chinese medicine, a great deal of importance is placed on dietary habits, digestive health and eating in harmony with our own energetic constitution. When it comes to children, dietary habits are even more important as they are laying the foundation for future health, and improper eating habits are seen as contributing factors to many pediatric health conditions. Here are some suggestions from the Chinese medicine tradition on how to maintain good digestive and overall health for your children, including tips for the weaning process for babies.

​Regular meals

Meals should be at regular intervals, at the same time each day, without continuous grazing or snacking. There should be at least two hours in between each meal or snack (including breastmilk). This allows the food/milk to digest properly in between meals, prevents the digestive system from getting 'backed up', and allows it to rest. It is also a good idea to have simple foods that vary gently, and do not vary wildly from day to day.

For example -
7:30am – Breakfast
10am – Morning Tea
12:30pm – Lunch
3pm – Afternoon tea
5:30pm - Dinner

Correct portions

Ensure that your child isn't overeating - I know this can seem counter-intuitive as we all love to see our kids eating well! The correct amount of food depends on your individual child. Pay close attention to their signs and symptoms in relation to how much food they eat, if they are having any health or behavioural issues. 

Help your child regulate their own appetite by providing appropriate portions of food at set times, and then allowing them to choose how much they eat, without any coercion or comment. Adjust the portion size you provide to them based on your observation of what they truly need to thrive and be healthy. 

Don't provide extra foods in between meals and small regular snacks and please do not put pressure on your child to eat. Once you are in your rhythm with regular meals, they will know that then next meal or snack will be coming at the set time, so if they don't want a particular meal, let them leave it.

There is no need to worry that they will starve themselves! Not only does this help to treat and prevent digestive overload (described as "accumulation disorder" in TCM, a root cause of many children's health issues), but this sets up your child for a healthy relationship with food, and a sensitivity to their own bodies needs for nourishment.

​Suitable Foods

Firstly, as a general guideline, 'suitable foods' include real, healthy, high quality fresh foods that will nourish and sustain your child on every level, and will provide the nutrients they need to grow and develop. Please eliminate all 'non-food' foods from your child's diet – for example, processed foods, junk food, refined sugar, fruit juice, soda, and anything with artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

We suggest to also avoid conventional wheat and dairy as they as highly processed, laden with environmental contaminants and can be very hard for children to digest. If you choose to provide animal products of any kind, please ensure they are organic and hormone free. Whilst this is certainly more expensive, it is a valuable investment in protecting their bodies from all manner of disruptive chemicals, hormones and antibiotics.

Secondly, the next step is to pay close attention to your child's reactions to certain foods, for example eggs, nuts, corn or soy. Sometimes you can pick things up just by observing if there is a pattern – for example, if your child becomes extra gassy or snotty after eating dairy, or if they seem to be more emotionally reactive after eating a lot of meat or peanuts. Sometimes it is harder to pinpoint which foods might be disagreeing with your child, and so an elimination diet may be helpful, in which case I can provide you with more information and support for carrying this out.

Weaning your baby - the TCM way

If you haven't yet weaned your baby or have only just begun, then you are in a wonderful position to determine the most suitable foods for your child right from the very beginning. The first foods should be introduced slowly and only one at a time, from six months of age (no earlier, as the digestive system will not be mature enough to process solid food correctly).

Excellent first foods include pureed cooked sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, parsnip, or millet porridge. Each week, introduce a new solid food and give a small portion each day, observing for any reaction or unusual symptoms. If your baby goes the week seeming fine, then that food is a 'suitable' food' for your baby, and you may continue giving it whilst introducing the next new food the following week, and so on. If your baby has any digestive upset such as constipation, greenish stools or diarrhoea, it is safe to say that is an 'unsuitable' food for your baby and you should avoid giving it to them, at least for some time until you can retest them if desired.

This is the ultimate reverse 'elimination diet', and it can never be performed again - so make the most of this opportunity to really test each food and your baby's individual reaction to them. I found this process painstakingly slow with both of my children, but I'm so glad I did it.

I hope you have found this discussion helpful. I have drawn the information from my University studies, and my three postgraduate pediatric certificates under Bob Flaws; Julian Scott and Robin Green. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me at any time.

Wishing you and your children abundant good health!