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Which cheese for Baby?
At the time of diversification, 500 mg of calcium are needed daily in your baby’s diet. Milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, petit-suisse … it’s up to you to vary the pleasures and textures. But have you thought about cheese?
Cheese from the start of food diversification
The initiation to this product prized by the French is a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. And from the 4-5 months of your little one, you can start to make him taste. A little Emmental melted in a vegetable purée, mmm, a delight! A good fresh cheese mixed with a soup, what a velvety texture! It’s up to you to watch your baby’s reactions and adapt to their tastes. “I offered Comté to my 9-month-old son, it was a success!” Says Sophie. “Since he was 10 months old, Louis has been asking for his daily share of cheese,” Pauline reports. The hundreds of French cheeses offer a nice array of flavors, enough to find the one that will awaken your child’s taste buds. But be careful, before the age of 5, it is recommended not to give raw milk cheeses to avoid the risks of salmonella and listeriosis, that can have serious consequences in toddlers.
Choosing the right cheese for babies
When your child is around 8-10 months old, as soon as his first teeth have erupted and he can chew, offer cheese cut into thin slices or small pieces, and preferably firm, soft and white. This new texture may intrigue him, so give it a tip in his hand, it will help him tame it before putting it in his mouth. You can also present him with cheeses to take with a spoon (cottage, ricotta, bush…). Do not hesitate to offer cheeses that have flavor. Obviously, The taste can be learned, and gently! But awakening taste also involves the careful choice of good cheeses with character.
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To avoid: cheeses made from raw milk should not be offered before 5 years, to prevent health risks. Likewise, low-fat, flavored or smoked cheeses, their taste is altered and their nutritional contribution unattractive. And if, at the beginning, it is only tasting for your child, around the age of 1, cheese can become part of his meals once a day. And why not offer it to him on a good toast to taste it, from his 18 months? After 2 years, the quantities can increase gradually, but without going too far since cheese is one of the dairy products richest in calcium, proteins and lipids.
Cheese, important nutritional contributions
We often hear that “cheese is too fatty” but that “it is rich in calcium”. What a beautiful amalgamation of information! Admittedly, it is more fatty than yogurt or a petit-suisse, but the variety of cheeses makes them different in terms of nutritional intake. Indeed, even if they are all based on milk, the manufacturing methods are numerous and each one brings its virtues. In general, the richer a cheese is in fat, the softer it is and the less calcium it contains.. Conversely, when it is hard, it has a high protein content. Thus, cheeses made by slow draining (Camembert, Petit-Suisse, Epoisse, etc.) lose a large part of their calcium and their soluble proteins. With pressure draining, whether cooked or raw pasta, the calcium is preserved: cantal, saint nectaire, pyrenees, blue, emmental, beaufort …
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Protein levels also vary greatly from one dairy product to another. For example, yoghurt or fermented milk contains barely 5%, while cheese is 25-35% protein. Pressed cooked cheeses, such as Beaufort or Comté, reach the peak of protein levels since they are very low in water after a long period of ripening.
Cheeses are also a source of vitamin B, in particular those carrying molds since the latter synthesize vitamin B2 during their development. As for processed fresh cheeses, they are rich in lipids and have little value for their calcium content. However, their mild, slightly tart flavor, characteristic of unripened cheeses, often appeals to children. Don’t forget to keep them in the fridge, and just a few days! Note: a cheese is said to be unripened when its production stops during curdling: once the whey has been removed after draining, it is ready. Conversely, to obtain a mature cheese, the curd is put in a mold, salted and stored for several days (or months). And a longer or shorter ripening results in a different nutritional composition between cheeses of the same brand. These rather high nutritional intakes therefore require real vigilance as to the quantities given to your child.
How much cheese for my child?
For a 12 month old child, 20 g of cheese per day is more than enough. You should know that parents always tend to give their children too much protein: meat, eggs, dairy products … It is therefore essential to be vigilant with the portions given daily: 30 to 40 g of meat (i.e. half of a steak), an egg, and dairy products (a yogurt, a part of cheese, 2 small Swiss of 30 g…). Gold, one part of cheese contains a lot of protein and must therefore be well measured: 20 g of cheese is worth the protein contained in a yogurt. In calcium, they are equal to 150 ml of milk, or yogurt, or 4 tablespoons of cottage cheese, or 2 small Swiss cheese of 30 g. (Be careful not to let yourself be trapped by the 60 g fake Swiss cookies, which should not be given 2 by 2).
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Good to know: all cheeses are digestible since the lactose in milk (sugar sometimes not well tolerated by the child) disappears during fermentation. There is therefore no particular risk or fragility in children, on the contrary: varying the types of cheese will promote dietary diversity. The important thing is therefore that the taste pleases your little gourmand.
As for the so-called “special children’s” cheeses, they are not of great nutritional value, just like the processed cheeses that are easy to spread and so loved by toddlers. But that does not prevent you from giving some from time to time: the taste also rhymes with pleasure … It is therefore up to you to renew the cheese platter as you wish, in order to introduce their taste buds to the flavors of all regions of France. All tastes are allowed!