From the height of his eight months, baby never ceases to amaze you. And it has not finished surprising you! This month you can start offering them mashed or ground foods. You will see how quickly he adapts and progresses day by day! He will now be able to switch to two solid meals a day, in addition to the snack!

For the past few days your baby has had to get rid of her extrusion reflex : he no longer pushes away solid foods that you offer him with his tongue. Another big change is that he will soon be able to sit up on his own. You will therefore be able to install him at the table with you in a real high chair, another important step, which will only enrich his interest in new products when he sees you eating!

Moreover, at eight months, your child eats even more: the quantities increase, whether it is about vegetables, starches or fruits. So that from this month his diet will change again: he will now take two meals a spoonful per day in addition to the snack, and will reduce his number of bottles from 4 to 2 per day only. His meals definitely look like “big” meals.

Regarding the organization of meals:

• For breakfast, baby will often be content with breastfeeding or a 210 to 240 ml bottle, possibly combined with infant cereals.
• For lunch and dinner, a puree made from vegetables and starchy foods will be offered to him. At noon, add a small portion of meat, fish or egg yolk, the quantity of which will be slightly increased compared to previous months: 15 to 20 g in total (3 to 4 teaspoons) as well as an infant milk (yoghurt, petits-suisse or fromage blanc) while in the evening you can complete with a bottle (210 to 240 ml).
• The snack will be a real snack, consisting of crushed fruit or in compote and a milk, preferably infant milk.

From 8 months, milk, even if it constitutes an important food in the daily life of your child – he consumes almost half a liter of it per day -, no longer has the first place in his diet. . Your baby in fact consumes large amounts of solid food, be it vegetables, starchy foods, dairy products (yoghurts, small Swiss cheese, cottage cheese) or fruit. The quantities of meat, fish or eggs are also increased this month.

The energy contributions, generated by solid food, being sufficiently important and the diet being fully diversified, the quantity of milk reduced markedly during the 8th month: baby generally goes from 4 to 2 bottles (or feedings) from 210 to 240 ml per day.

Cow’s milk and vegetable drinks, however, are still strongly discouraged for young children. Continue to choose 2nd age milk carefully, carefully dosed with proteins, vitamins, minerals and fatty acids, according to your child’s needs.

If you continue to breastfeed your child on demand and your baby is well diversified, you will most certainly notice during this month that the number of feeds and their volume decreases considerably.

At 8 months, the discovery continues: at the table baby tastes almost everything and feasts on croutons of bread as soon as the opportunity arises.

The vegetables

On the vegetable side, if your child is not too sensitive to the intestinal level, you can start to introduce slightly more fibrous foods such as green leek that you will cook for a long time and that you will mix with a potato for example. the celery, the salsify, cabbage in all its forms can also be offered, on condition that they are really well cooked, and first, mashed to facilitate digestion.

For other vegetables, you can now change the textures by offering them crushed or ground rather than pureed.

Starchy foods

As baby gets used to tiny bits and pieces better and better, you can now mash or grind the potatoes and sweet potato instead of finely mixing them. And in addition to semolina, bulgur, tapioca, quinoa, vermicelli and crushed peas, you will be able to introduce into baby’s meals:

• Well-cooked rice
• Wheat (Ebly® type)
• Mixtures of cereals to cook

If they are well cooked (overcooked, even) or canned and if your child does not have fragile intestines, you can offer lentils, chickpeas, flageolet beans, white or red beans, as long as you have them. crush well.

Proteins: meat, fish and eggs

One of the important changes of the 8th month concerns the amounts of protein.

Until then, they were limited to 10 g per day, or 2 teaspoons in total. From now on, you can offer 15 to 20 g of meat, fish or egg (always the yolk) to your baby. This remains very small amounts: 3 to 4 teaspoons per day for meat or fish, or 1 egg yolk, at one of the two main meals. Be careful to dose these new amounts correctly so as not to be tempted to exceed the recommendations.

If you want to prepare your baby’s meals in advance, do not hesitate to cook your pieces of meat or fish, in a pan, in a wok or in steam and to freeze them in individual portions using, for example, mussels. ice cubes. You just need to take an ice cube of meat or fish out of the freezer every day a few hours before the meal.

The fruits

The fruits will henceforth be offered preferably crushed rather than mixed in a compote. In addition to all the other fruits that he will have already discovered during the previous months, you can, on the advice of your pediatrician, include exotic fruits in baby’s diet, which were not eaten until then because of their strong allergenic power:

• Pineapple
• Grated coconut (mixed with a juicy fruit)
• The FIG
• The mango
• The papaye
• Guava
• The kiwi

Dairy products

Ideally, we will continue to choose yogurts, petits-suisse and fromage frais in the baby department of stores or in para-pharmacies because, unlike classic dairy products, they are made from second-age milk, specifically designed to meet the needs of children. nutritional needs of babies. Remember that cow’s milk is not suitable for babies before 1 year old and ideally before 3 years old.

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

• Morning:

Breastfeeding or bottle 210 to 240 ml of 2nd age milk with weakly mineralized water

Optional: Infant cereals (in the bottle)

• Midday :

Mashed or ground vegetables + starches + 1 tbsp. to c. of oil (ideally: mixture of 4 oils: Sunflower, Rapeseed, Oléisol, Grape seeds): 130 to 200 g depending on your appetite.

15 to 20 g of meat, fish or egg yolk = 3 to 4 teaspoons of meat or fish or 1 egg yolk

Milk, ideally with infant milk (yoghurt, petits-suisse or fromage blanc) OR 120 g of crushed fruit

• To taste :

Crushed fruit: 120 g

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

• Dinner:

Mashed or ground vegetables + starches + 1 tbsp. to c. of oil (ideally: mixture of 4 oils: Sunflower, Rapeseed, Oléisol, Grape seeds): 130 to 200 g depending on your appetite.

Breastfeeding or bottle of 210 to 240 ml of 2nd age milk with weakly mineralized water

Optional: Infant cereals (in the bottle)