Your baby is 4, 5 or 6 months old, and you know it: diversification is about to begin. Until now, all you had to do was measure the amount of powdered milk to dilute, or put your child to the breast to feed him, but now a host of new questions are popping into your head. How do you know when your baby is ready to diversify? Which foods should he start with? Can he taste everything? How much food and milk should he be given each day? What should he start with? To find out, let's discover together how to organize your baby's meals.
CONTENTS :
- Identifying the right time to diversify
- Planning baby's meals
- An example of a daily ration from 6 to 12 months
- Reconciling breast or infant milk with solid food
- Gradually replace the bottle with a plate, cutlery and water bottle.
Identifying the right time to diversify
The first thing to remember about food diversification is that there's no such thing as the perfect moment. There, I've said it! You can relax. Fortunately, there are a number of guidelines to help you make the most of your baby's discovery of textures, smells and tastes.
- Breastfeeding fully covers baby's nutritional needs up to the age of six months.
- Milk (breast or formula) is the only recommended food for infants, the basis of their meals for up to one year, and an essential source of nutrition for up to three years.
- Before the age of four months, an infant's digestive system is still too immature to accept a solid, diversified diet.
- A baby who can hold his or her head up and is curious about what you're eating is a baby to whom you can start diversifying.
Because there are gourmands and small eaters, adventurers and happy eaters, learning about and discovering food is not a linear process. As is often the case with children, the key is observation.
Planning baby's meals
Solid or semi-liquid food marks the discovery of new tastes. For your baby, it's also the start of an eating pattern that increasingly resembles that of the grown-ups, with four meals a day. For a baby of around 6 to 8 months, it could, for example, look like this.
- 8 h A bottle of milk or a feed with or without infant cereals, with or without fruit purée, depending on the child's age and appetite.
- 12 h Meals: starchy foods, mixed or not with a vegetable purée, animal proteins (meat/fish/eggs) for around 10 g or two teaspoons, and a small dairy product, accompanied or not by a cooked fruit purée or crushed ripe fruit.
- 16 h A bottle of milk or a feed accompanied by fruit purée, sliced ripe fruit, plain yoghurt or two petits-suisses.
- 19 h Baby's first meal: a bottle or a feed and vegetables, starchy foods (you can add a little grated cheese), or mashed potatoes with a spoon if baby isn't too tired. Soup can also be offered from the bottle or gourd, along with pureed fruit, blended or mashed.
An example of a daily ration from 6 to 12 months
Because the change in diet can be confusing for both you and your baby, pediatricians recommend the following for a child aged 6 to 12 months, once diversification has begun:
- 500 to 800 ml of breast milk or artificial milk and dairy products (plain yoghurt, Petit Suisse, fromage frais, etc.),
- 200 to 450 g of vegetables and as much fruitno added salt or sugar,
- about 10 g of meat or fish (or two teaspoons) or ¼ of an egg,
- 1 then 2 tablespoons of cereal with gluten,
- 1 teaspoon uncooked fat (in vegetables or starches, for example).
From 6 months onwards, add a little mineral water from a gourd, cup or glass, then, once the first teeth appear, a small cookie or a small piece of bread to chew on. The most important thing is to always respect each child's desires, refusals and rhythms.
Reconciling breast or infant milk with solid food
Even once dietary diversification or DME (child-led diversification) has been initiated and established, milk remains essential to the health of babies up to the age of 3. You need to be skilful enough to offer and encourage acceptance of both breast or bottle feeding, and new foods.
We recommend giving the bottle in the second half of the meal, after the food. This way, your hungry baby can easily eat his plate of carrots and ham before drinking his bottle to settle down. If he still wants to eat, fruit purée, crushed fruit if he accepts chunks, or milk are ideal.
Conversely, if you start with a bottle, there's little chance that your baby (especially if he drinks quickly) will agree to eat afterwards. To understand this, imagine being served a plate of pasta carbonara after a full bottle of soup!
Gradually replace the bottle with a plate, cutlery and water bottle.
Many children separate themselves from their bottle around their third birthday. Others refuse it as soon as they taste their first solid foods. Your concern, then, is not to replace the bottle, but rather to maintain the recommended daily amount of dairy products (puddings, semolina with milk and vanilla creams are your allies here).
To help organize your baby's meals and support his development, it's a good idea to vary the containers. At Élhée, we've come up with the biberon in medical silicone, as well as alearning cup called Bubble, to encourage autonomy in complete safety, from the age of 4 months. At Petit Léon, alongside Élhée products, you'll find silicone plates and ergonomic cutlery to help you make a good start on the great adventure of gastronomy.
In any case, remember thatthere is no one right way to do things, but rather a multitude, and that nothing is ever set in stone. Your baby may like cooked carrots today, but refuse them outright tomorrow. Try to remain flexible, offering all foods, fruits, vegetables and cheeses without restriction, and try again later if one or other doesn't take.
Dietary diversification, like all learning processes, is done in pairs by you and your child, like a long-distance race, each at his or her own pace and never forgetting that above all, it's about learning to enjoy eating.
