Baby food: foods to integrate between 12 and 18 months

Your child’s food diversification has been well under way for six to eight months and he is starting to tell you what he likes… or not! New textures appear on his plate and his nutritional needs increase. We take stock.

New textures on baby’s plate

A real revolution for this second year, the gradual change in the texture of their food. Normal, his mouth is lined with incisors between 9 and 12 months and the first premolars around 18 months. each child has their own rhythm, so no need to force it!

In short: everything is mixed or milled (from 8 months) up to around 12 months. At this moment : introduce the little ones parts mous of fish, eggs, soft cheeses, ripe fruit mixed with dairy desserts or presented in small jars.

Between 12 and 18 months, introduce them to minced meat or fish, then to small pieces for all food categories, to finely grated raw vegetables, to well-cooked rice.

Nutritional needs: how much should a baby eat between 12 and 18 months?

To fill up with energy: the child has need 1 to 000 calories per day, divided into four meals – 25% for breakfast, 35% for lunch, 15% for afternoon tea and 25% for dinner. In the different food families: 50 to 55% of carbohydrates (sugars, starches, fibers), 30 to 35% of lipids or fats (including those which are hidden in the various foods), 10 to 15% of proteins ( meat, fish, egg, especially), or 25 g.

Baby also needs vitamins (in particular 60 mg of vitamin C) and minerals: 500 mg of calcium, 360 mg of phosphorus, 7 mg of iron, 80 mg of magnesium…

Varied meals: what does a baby eat at 1 year old?

On awakens its taste as much as possible: his food preferences started to build very early, before his birth, but it is around 2 or 3 years that they can change and grow richer. So you can make him look, smell, touch, food on the market, in stores, on the plate… In short, to introduce him to new flavors.

Do not impose the whole milled or the pieces overnight, but alternate textures and known foods with new ones, accept the “flashbacks”, and try again a few days later.

Milk: how many bottles from 12 months?

Le growth milk is recommended up to 3 years It provides a lot of calcium and the right dose of essential fatty acids, a supplement of iron, vitamin D (to fix calcium) and less animal protein than conventional milk. Otherwise: whole milk but especially not semi-skimmed or milk of vegetable origin. A child of this age should consume 500 ml of milk per day.

Alternating with dairy products: cheeses, source of protein of as good quality as those provided by meat, fish or eggs, fat and especially calcium (20 g of Gruyère provide 200 mg of calcium, such as 45 g of Camembert, 1 yogurt, 3 small Swiss cheese 60 g and 200 ml of growth milk.

Those who are the richest: the hard cheeses (Parmesan, Gruyère, Beaufort…) which contain more than 1 mg per 000 g, followed by cantal, edam and Comté (more than 100 mg). And the poorest: “cheese specialties” with more than 800% fat, to be spread, and processed cheeses made from fresh paste: around 60 mg.

How much meat and animal protein?

Meat or fish should be eaten once a day at a rate of 25 g, or the value of 5 mixed teaspoons. Preferably choose lean fish and meats (skinless poultry, veal, beef; hake, sole, dab, whiting, etc.). Favor them steaming, en papillote, without salt but with a little spices (lemon for the fish) and a drizzle of oil or a knob of butter. And always present them separately from the vegetables and starches, ground and then crushed with a fork for the fish, finely chopped then in very small pieces for the meat.

Dish: eggs in all forms for babies

The egg belongs to the same family of foods, proteins, as meat and fish, of which it is a good alternative. Twice a week at most. At 1 year, the child eats a third of a hard-boiled egg. Around 18 months, serve him a tablespoon ofscrambled eggs or omelet of the family preparation, which allows many variations: with tomato, herbs, cheese, mushroom, asparagus, onion … Or a fried egg, making sure it does not choke with the crispy fringe of the fried white.

Fruits and vegetables: at all baby meals

All fruits are allowed, if they are very ripe, even the kiwi if it is not allergic. As for new vegetables, introduce him to raw and cooked mushrooms, cooked celery (if he is not allergic), and ripe avocado. Offer him, from 15 months, dried vegetables (lentils, split peas, beans, cooked in two waters and ground).

From 1 year old, introduce them to raw vegetables: young carrots, seeded cucumber, peeled tomatoes (after having been scalded for 10 seconds) and seeded, lettuce leaves cut into thin strips. Season with a drizzle of oil, possibly with a little lemon. To be served at lunch so that his intestines have time to digest the hard fibers.

What menu for my child between 12 and 18 months?

• For breakfast, a fruit juice or a piece of fruit.
• At lunch, a starter of raw vegetables, sometimes. The main course will consist of a cooked vegetable (200 g) with or alternately starchy foods. Sometimes a puree of pulses.
• For afternoon tea, a fruit, juice or compote (130 g). For dessert, a compote (130 g) or a fresh fruit in small pieces (soft and tender at the beginning) or a dairy product.
• At dinner, a vegetable soup (200 to 250 ml) or 200 to 250 g of vegetables and / or starches, 130 g of cooked fruit.

What breakfast? Slices of bread for babies

The infant cereals in the bottle can now be replaced from time to time by a slice of bread: for lunch or for afternoon tea, in small pieces soaked in egg yolk, with a slice of cheese … Bread provides slow carbohydrates that satiate. Another advantage: bread promotes chewing, which activates the first stage of digestion (salivation), effectively trains and shapes the jaws and teeth.