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The start of food diversification: between 4 and 6 months
Until now, your baby has been eating meals made exclusively with milk. Between 4 months and 6 months, it’s time to switch to mixed vegetables and fruits. At first, choose vegetables that are low in fiber, well cooked, with mild flavors: carrots, green beans, leeks (the white), spinach, pumpkin and zucchini (seeded and skinless). A little potato can be used as a binder. Take it gradually to reach around 130g. For babies who have trouble getting used to the spoon, the first vegetable soups can be given by spoon or bottle. In the latter case, start with a spoonful in his milk at breakfast.
Advice : give him a vegetable a day. This makes it easier for your child to become familiar with the flavor of each vegetable. To bring the essential fatty acids to your baby, add a teaspoon of olive oil or a hazelnut butter to its purees. “Forbidden” vegetables, because more difficult to digest : cabbage, cauliflower, artichokes, turnips, onions, celery, tomato pulp, peppers, eggplants, parsley, and the greens of the leek.
- The fruits. At the beginning, prefer apple, banana, pear, peach, apricot, quince in the form of very smooth compotes. Start with two or three teaspoons, then increase to reach after a month the capacity of a jar of 130 g.
- The proteins. After vegetables and fruits, around 6-7 months, it is the turn of meat (chicken, turkey, veal, beef), white fish (hake, cod, etc.) and eggs (1/4 egg hard at first) to be introduced. Start with a few teaspoons that you will mix with the vegetable puree.
- Milk and dairy products. Milk remains the basis of the diet of the little ones. They should consume 500 ml per day. In addition to its follow-on milk, you can choose “special baby” milk products.
What does a baby eat between 8 and 9 months?
Vegetables. Give him about 200 to 250 g of mashed vegetables at each of the two meals. Wait before offering him vegetables that are considered difficult to digest (cabbage, pepper, etc.). Good to know: whether they grow in your vegetable garden or on the cool shelves of your hypermarket, vegetables must be eaten quickly after picking to retain all their flavor and all their vitamins.
Fruits. Among the novelties that he can digest: raspberries, apricot and kiwi in compote. You can start to introduce it to other very ripe raw fruits, fresh or frozen but always peeled, mixed, without skin or seeds. In terms of quantity, you can offer him around 200 g of compote per day.
Starchy.Fine pasta, rice and semolina can be given to children 8 months and older. However, it is preferable to combine them with vegetables so that the meal is balanced.
Proteins. In total, children can eat between 15 and 20 grams of meat or fish, or a quarter of a hard-boiled egg per day.
Cheeses. Around 8 months, you can add a pinch of grated cheese, Emmental or Gruyere in its mash or soup. Introduce him to pasteurized cheeses from different regions by removing the rind. Note that 10 grams per day is sufficient. Prohibited: cheese made from raw milk to avoid any risk of listeriosis or salmonellosis.
Baby 10-12 months old: good eating habits
It’s time to set up a rhythm of four meals a day at regular times and avoid snacking as much as possible. Good eating habits are learned early …
The vegetables. Your little one now eats around 250 g of vegetables for lunch and dinner. At this age, you can start offering them melting pieces. Go gradually, mixing the vegetables (but also the fruits) larger and larger. From 10 months, you can serve all types of cabbage, turnips, salsify and artichoke.
The fruits. At this age, the child should consume about 250 g of raw and cooked fruit per day. On the dried fruit side: almonds, hazelnuts and peanuts are strongly discouraged lest it take a wrong turn. Also to be avoided: let it manage with stone fruits (cherries, apricots).
Meat, fish, eggs. Add another teaspoonful (20-25 g in total): it’s time to grind the meat, as soon as its incisors have pierced. Your child can eat 1/3 of a hard-boiled egg.
Starchy foods. He still continues to eat rice, semolina and pasta with the vegetables. He can also eat a little bread but beware of snacking! Wholemeal bread, too rich in fiber for babies’ digestive system, should be avoided.
Dairy products. In addition to bottles of milk, offer your child a little cheese (about 15 g per day) alternating with yoghurts, white cheeses and “baby” specials.
In video: 5 golden rules of food diversification
From 12 months: Baby eats almost everything
Vegetables and fruits. It is at this age that you can introduce your child to raw vegetables, rich in vitamins and fibers: grated carrots, peeled and seeded tomatoes, cucumber, all seasoned with yogurt or a few drops of olive oil. To avoid : the vinaigrette, because his stomach is not ready to assimilate the vinegar, and unmixed pulses. It will take about 15 months before he can consume dried vegetables in a puree: beans, split peas, lentils, etc. Depending on his teething, he continues to uncover the lumps.
Meat, fish, eggs. Your baby can eat 25 to 30 g of meat or fish per day. Around 18 months, his first molars and canines allow him to eat it chopped and even in small pieces. He can also discover the joys of boiled eggs: choose them small, first from time to time, then twice a week to replace 30 g of meat or fish.
Milk and dairy products. Even if its diet more and more resembles that of the grown-ups, milk remains central, and growth milk is much better than classic cow’s milk. Up to 3 years old, give 500 ml of growth milk per day. Growth milk is less rich in protein, and therefore reduces the risk of overweight. On the other hand, it contains linoleic acid which the toddler absolutely needs for the maturation of his brain. Finally, it is twenty times more rich in iron that classic cow’s milk. For lunch and afternoon tea, supplement with other dairy products. Avoid forcing on dairy products: he needs three or four a day, no more.