Your child now eats much like the rest of the family and is starting to cope well with eating on his own. For your part, watch the amount of protein on his plate to avoid exceeding the recommendations and continue to offer him growth milk, essential until he is 3 years old.

It’s been a while since your child began to diversify his diet: he becomes a real expert in flavors! If he is able to eat anything, like the older ones, he asserts his preferences and sometimes delays finishing his meal. However, if their weight and height curves are normal, there is no need to worry, but it is a safe bet that your child is going through a period of opposition and assertiveness that goes through refusal to eat. In this case, do not enter into a confrontation, it would be counterproductive. You can instead try to innovate and present him with colorful and fun plates while telling stories. Also choose pretty tableware that pleases your child to seduce him more at mealtime and be patient.

If, on the other hand, your child is a very good eater, and his weight curve is completely normal, there is nothing more surprising because your child has important nutritional needs linked to his growth. However, be sure to keep a balanced diet and start by checking the amount of protein: serve 30 g per day = 6 tbsp. to c. of meat or fish or even 1/2 egg but do not go beyond this amount recommended for its age. If your child is still hungry, do not hesitate to increase the quantity of vegetables at each meal and offer him a whole fruit for dessert, rather than as a compote because it will be much more satiating because of the preserved fibers. And if that is not enough, increase the quantity of dairy products (milk, yogurts, white cheeses, small Swiss) gradually while taking care not to exceed 800 ml per day in total. Infant cereals can be offered in bottles but in moderate ways. On the other hand, avoid cookies and sugary products which are only of relative interest.

Although babies eat like a grown-up, milk is still essential to meet their nutritional needs. He will consume nearly half a liter of milk every day, in the form of a bottle. Unless of course he is still breastfed.

If your child is bottle-fed, the best way to meet baby’s needs is to continue to offer growth milk until he is 3 years old. Because even if it is controversial among professionals in infant nutrition, this milk has an undeniable advantage: it contains 23 times more iron – essential for the neurological development of young children – than cow’s milk. However, the diet, however diverse it may be, is not enough to cover your child’s iron needs: in practice, it would take more than 3 times more meat per day than the amounts recommended for his age. Plants, even if they contain iron, are not enough to fill this gap.

Growth milk is also incomparably richer in Omega-3 and Omega-6, precious essential fatty acids essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system and the development of the baby’s brain. It is also an important source of zinc, Vitamins A and E as well as calcium and Vitamin D, essential for bone growth, very important at this period of life.

So continue to offer your child growth milk and choose dairy products specifically developed for their age, made with infant milk (yogurts, white cheeses, small Swiss, etc.). You will ensure that they take at least 500 ml of milk per day without however exceeding the equivalent of 800 ml of dairy products (milk + dairy products) per day in total.

From the age of 18 months, baby can indulge in the pleasures of all fruits and vegetables, including those that are very high in fiber and are known for their tendency to ferment (cabbage, artichoke, salsify, turnip). For the latter, you will simply take care to cook them well (the tip of a knife should penetrate easily) to soften the fibers that could be irritating for baby’s fragile intestines and avoid any bloating.

Regarding vegetables, you will take care to offer your child raw vegetables once a day: mushrooms, salad, tomato, carrots, cabbage, cucumber, radish, etc. Count two tablespoons.

As for the fruits, you will preferably offer them whole rather than in compote. Usually count half a fruit per serving. You can also occasionally offer dried or soft fruits (fig, prunes, dates, apricots, etc.) and even oleaginous fruits (hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, etc.) that you will mix, first and add with compotes for example. Unless of course the baby is allergic (beware of the risk of cross-allergies!).

Whether for vegetables or fruit, you will take care to choose them in season, preferably fresh or frozen (not cooked) and avoid canned food, which is too salty for babies.

Regarding protein – meat, fish or egg – it is important not to exceed the amount recommended for your child’s age. At 18 months, you will take care not to offer him more than 30 g of protein per day: this corresponds to about 6 teaspoons of meat or fish or 1/2 of a hard-boiled egg (white + yolk). As for the meal, there is no rule: you can include them at lunch or at dinner and even at both meals if you take care to properly dose 15 g (3 tbsp) for it. noon and as much for the evening.

For the choice of proteins in themselves, you can choose white or red meat and vary between fatty fish (salmon, trout, eel, mackerel, sardines, etc.) – which you will offer once a week – and the less fatty fish, making sure to choose small fish as much as possible because they contain the least mercury. Regarding the eggs, you can serve them hard, scrambled, omelet or poached and even boiled if baby likes. In this case, eat half of the egg in advance so as not to exceed the recommended amounts.

Whether it is meat, fish or egg, you will take care to opt for healthy cooking: grilled in a pan, steamed or in the oven or poached. You will avoid the fried foods.

For starchy foods, all can be found on your 18-month-old child’s plate: traditional potatoes, rice, pasta but also sweet potatoes, corn, bulgur, quinoa, Ebly®-type wheat. . As for legumes, also called pulses, we will simply take care to cook them well and mix them into a puree to avoid any digestive discomfort: lentils, split peas, white or red beans, etc.

Bread is also part of your child’s daily life: you can offer him a slice in the morning for breakfast or even during the snack. Preferably opt for wholemeal or grain bread to fill up with fiber, vitamins, minerals and good quality fatty acids.

Infant cereals can be useful, especially for heavy eaters. You can include it moderately in the morning and evening bottle.

Here is an example of a typical eating day for your 18 month old. Of course, the quantities are given as an indication, and are to be adapted, according to the appetite of your child.

• Breakfast:

Breastfeeding or bottle 240 ml of growth milk with weakly mineralized water

Pain

• Lunch:

Raw vegetables *: 2 tbsp. to s.

Optional: dressing

Vegetables in small pieces + unmixed but well cooked starches + 1 tsp. to c. oil (ideally: mixture of 4 oils: Sunflower, Rapeseed, Oléisol, Grape seeds): about 200 g – to be adapted according to your appetite

30 g of protein **: 6 tbsp. to c. meat or fish or 1/2 hard-boiled egg (white + yellow)

Fresh fruit, preferably chewable

• To taste :

Fresh fruit, preferably chewable

Milk, ideally with infant milk (yogurt, petits-suisse or fromage blanc)

Optional: dry biscuits (boudoir or Petit Beurre® type) or crouton of bread

• Dinner:

Mashed vegetables in small pieces + unmixed but well cooked starch + 1 tbsp. to c. oil (ideally: mixture of 4 oils: Sunflower, Rapeseed, Oléisol, Grape seeds): 130 to 200 g depending on your appetite.

Breastfeeding or bottle of 240 ml of growth milk with weakly mineralized water

Optional: Infant cereals (in the bottle)

* raw vegetables can be offered for lunch or dinner

** proteins (meat, fish or egg) can be given at noon or in the evening. The important thing is not to exceed the recommended amount of 30g of protein per day.