Between 4 and 6 months of age, babies and their parents begin the great period of dietary diversification. Anticipated by some, dreaded by others, this period is marked by the discovery of fruits and vegetables, compotes, purées, then chunks, but also by the gradual reduction in bottle-feeding or breast-feeding.
CONTENTS :
- What does dietary diversification mean?
- Until what age should you give your baby bottles?
- 4 tips for getting started with food
- Our bonus tip: try Yooji frozen portions!
- What foods should he try first?
- Try DME!
What does dietary diversification mean?
Baby is no longer an infant, he's growing up and his needs and desires are changing. His nutritional needs become more important as he grows and learns to move around. His desires also change rapidly. More and more curious, he sees you eating and wants to imitate you by tasting what's on your plate.
If she sometimes pushes away her bottle, refuses the breast or reaches for your meal, this could be the time to start diversifying.
Please note: the WHO recommends that all babies should be fed exclusively with milk until the age of 6 months. However, the 4 th month check-up at the pediatrician's naturally includes the question of food diversification. Take advantage of this opportunity to ask any questions you may have!
Until what age should you give your baby bottles?
It's no coincidence that food diversification complements breastfeeding, bottle-feeding or mixed feeding on average from 5 months onwards. Between 4and 6 months, voluntary swallowing begins. Babies then naturally acquire the coordination needed to eat solid foods.
But you don't have to give up sweet moment of bottle-feeding or suckling 🥰. In fact, children can drink milk (breast or infant) as long as they want or need to, with no contraindications. And it's enough to see two- or three-year-olds take their morning, afternoon or evening bib' when they're tired, to understand that it's a real pleasure.
As a guide, here's a table of milk quantities and average number of bottles to be given, from birth to 6 months. For breast-fed babies, the principle remains that of feeding on demand or, if you prefer, using a breast pump.
Milk, a baby's essential
| Infant's age | Volume of milk per bottle | Number of bottles per day |
| 0 to 1 month | 50 to 60 ml | 8 à 10 |
| 1 to 2 months | 120 to 160 ml | 5 à 6 |
| 2 to 3 months | 150 to 180 ml | 5 |
| 3 to 4 months | 180 to 210 ml | 4 |
| From 4 to 5 months | 210 to 240 ml | 4 |
| From 6 months | 225 ml | 4 |
| After diversification | Approx. 600 ml/day | 2 à 4 |
A transition period between bottle-feeding, breast-feeding and diversification
To find out if it's time toadd compotes and purées to the menu, ask yourself the following questions:
- Does your babysit on his own? (In his highchair, for example).
- Does he ever chewhis hands, toys or spoon? (Apart from teething).
- Is he interested in your meal?
- Does he open his mouth when you offer him something to eat?
- Is he still hungry after his bottle?
Have you answered "yes" to almost every question? Then, if the pediatrician agrees, you can start diversifying and gradually reduce the amount of milk.
During this transitional period from 100% milk to solid foods, you may encounter a few difficulties: temporary constipation, refusal of certain tastes or textures, fatigue due to sitting... The key is to be patient and listen carefully. Your child doesn't want carrot purée? Is he clamoring for his bottle? No problem! You can try a new plate later.
Tip! If the change is a little too rapid for your child, consider infant cereals. They can be added to bottle milk to give it a thicker consistency and a different taste. And don't forget to change teats (choose a physiological teat suitable for thicker liquids), otherwise frustration and loud protests will ensue.
4 tips for getting started with food
Until now, the relationship between baby and his stomach has been all about formula and bottles, or breast milk taken from the breast. The arrival of carrots, peas and other colorful apples will change all that. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of this encounter.
- Don't start diversifying too early: wait until your baby is curious about what's on your plate.
- Go to little by little and watch your child's reactions.
- Offer a new taste, texture, smell or object (spoon, cup, straw, etc.) at a time.
- Serve small quantities at first.
- Keep at least 500 ml of milk a day until your childis around 1 year old, then adjust the quantity to your child's needs.
Our bonus tip: try Yooji frozen portions!
And if baby is already a fan of purée, don't hesitate to offer him YOOJI's fresh frozen portions for toddlers! Made in France, in the South-West, with local produce, their "home-style" purées are super-convenient and accompany baby from 4 to 36 months in his gustatory discoveries.
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Reinventing baby food while taking care of the planet 🌿.
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New: baby pancakes 🥞
Baby's first pancakes with organic vegetables or fruit. You can offer them to your child at mealtime, as a snack, with breakfast, etc.: they're your new ally for varying textures and encouraging him to eat like a grown-up. All you have to do is heat them up for 30 seconds in the toaster or microwave, and they're ready to eat!
What foods should he try first?
As your child starts to diversify, he'll go from 6 to 5 meals a day, then from 5 to 4, with breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. To help him acquire these new habits, offer him vegetables and fruit that are easy to like.
Baby-friendly vegetables
At first, children tend to appreciate mild, sweet flavors. Fortunately, the variety of vegetables allows them to quickly discover colorful and tasty vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes or parsnips.🥕🥔
Green vegetables include peas, beans, broccoli (hello Yooji smooth purées) or even asparagus may be of interest.🫛🥦
For preparation, always opt for boiling or steaming without salt to preserve the taste of each new food. Vegetables should also be finely blended, especially at the beginning, to produce a smooth, easy-to-eat purée.
Fruits to taste
Nothing too complicated here. As long as little babies enjoy them, they can eat any fruit from the orchard if it's ripe enough: raw or cooked in the morning or at lunchtime, finely blended and free of skin and seeds, always with no added sugar.
At around 9 months and if baby accepts them, you can move on to crushed fruit!🍌🍓🥝
Not forgetting meat
In limited quantities (10 grams per day) but regularly, proteins are just as interesting to discover. All meats, including cooked ham without rind and all fish without bones, can be offered first blended and then finely crushed, to babies from 6 months. As for fresh eggs, no more than a quarter of them should be eaten hard-boiled every day.🥚
Don't forget! Initially, diversification is not intended to supplement or enrich your baby's nutritional intake. Above all, it's aboutawakening his taste buds, introducing him to the pleasure of taste, and teaching him good eating habits that he'll keep for the rest of his life.
🍽️ By the way, did you know that from 6 months Yooji offers a "protein pack" designed to prepare no less than 2 months' worth of meals for your baby?
Try DME!
If the classic method isn't working, or if you simply like to think outside the box, discover Child-Directed Diversification or CDD. Still little-known, but favored by more and more families, and even adopted by certain collective early childhood structures, DME is based on a simple principle: that of letting children make their own food choices and eat independently.
Say goodbye to the little spoon and hello to meals eaten by hand! On a plate, for example, place a sprig of broccoli and a piece of zucchini cooked to the right temperature, a slice of banana and a ripe strawberry. That's all for you. Now it's baby's turn to pick up the foods that interest him and arouse his curiosity, before bringing them to his mouth.
The interesting thing about DME is that it breaks with the usual codes of diversification, encouraging the development of fine motor skills, hand-mouth coordination,autonomy, management of hunger and the feeling of satiety, as well as the pell-mell discovery of textures, smells and tastes.
On the parents' side, you'll discoveryour child's preferences more quickly, you'll learn to trust him and you'll enjoy a sight as cute as that of your baby drinking his first bottle alone.
The final advantage of independent feeding? Just like food diversification, it's possible as early as 6 months, even if baby doesn't yet have any teeth. That's why Yooji offers a range of smooth purees and silicone spoons for all little hands, from the age of 4 months.
