An infant's nutrition is divided into 3 periods:

• Exclusive breast-feeding or mother's milk substitute.
• Weaning - supplemental nutrition with non-dairy foods.
• Modified adult diet.

Cereals are the ideal supplementary food for the weaning stage. This stage is accompanied by neuromotor development during which the infant develops eating skills such as using a spoon chewing and swallowing solid foods, etc.
Materna instant cereals are enriched with complex carbohydrates from grains, Materna instant cereals contain easily digested starches and provide infants the additional energy needed for activity. At the age of between 4 and 6 months, after the infant has doubled its weight, the rate of growth slows, and part of the energy that has been expended on rapid growth is now being channeled into motor activity. In the wake of the growth, additional energy is now required to meet the energy needs of the infant.

After about 6 months, energy consumption increases and mother's milk or mother's milk substitute as the only food is no longer sufficient. Supplementing energy by adding only mother's milk substitute will increase the amount of protein in the diet, which is liable to over-burden the kidneys.

Materna instant cereals are best prepared by mixing with Nutricare Infant Formula, Nutrition from Materna instant cereals provides a greater concentration of energy than is obtained in the recommended volume of Infant formula but without exceeding the recommended amount of protein.

Health from the first spoonful

Materna instant cereals are enriched with iron and vitamin C, which aids the absorption of iron, as well as with 12 additional vitamins. The increased utilization of carbohydrates is accompanied by an increase in the consumption of essential vitamins for the optimal utilization of the digested food and for the infant's development and functioning. At the stage when the iron reserves with which the baby was born are dwindling, iron consumption increases. Additional iron is very important for preventing anemia and for cognitive development. In taste tests, it has been shown that parents tend to sweeten cereals according to their own taste, There is no need to sweeten Materna instant cereals, The proper amount of sugar is already in the cereals. The maximum recommended amount of sugar for infants, according to the 1989 EEC guidelines, is 20% of the amount of carbohydrates. The addition of 10 grams of cereal to 100 ml of Materna contains only 0.8 grams of sugar (less than 5% of the carbohydrates).