Baby Dietary diversification: when, what and how?

The first food

The World  Health Organization (WHO) and The National Institute for Prevention and Health Education recommend the breast-feeding exclusive to the six months old baby. Past six months, breastfeeding alone does not provide enough nutrients, especially iron. It is therefore necessary to introduce new foods.




It is advisable to wait six months old to diversify food to reduce the risk of bad reactions to food allergies or development.

If you feel that your child needs solid food before six months, talk with your doctor or pediatrician. This is especially important if your baby was born prematurely. The National Institute for Prevention and Health Education estimated dietary diversification should never begin before the fourth month past the child (20 weeks of life).

When dietary diversification begins, one of the first things that your baby is to learn to swallow solid food. To ensure that your baby does not have the same time to discover new flavors and "new" muscles, you can choose as first food for baby cereal mixed with his usual milk.

You can also start with stewed fruit or vegetable puree. Introduce one food at a time to assess preferences, or mix cereal with applesauce or pureed carrots (carrots are slightly sweet, baby sweet flavors preferring early diversification).
Here are some foods to try:

• Mashed vegetables: carrots, rutabaga, sweet potatoes, zucchini.
• Stewed fruit: ripe apples cooked pears, mashed bananas.
• Infant cereals without gluten, such as baby rice or iron-fortified corn flour, mixed with his usual milk.

The next step

Once your baby knows how to eat with a spoon, its food range widens. She understood then:

• Mashed lean meat or poultry.
• Mashed lentils or split peas.
• Mashed vegetables mixed with potato or rice.
• Mashed vegetables, such as peas, cabbage, spinach or broccoli.
• Be sure to limit the number of sweets or grains to one serving per day, and always include mashed vegetables. Thicken the puree gradually as baby grows.
• It is recommended not to give babies cow's milk or dairy products (cheese, yogurt, cheese), fish and shellfish, soy, citrus fruits (including orange juice) or eggs up their six months.
• If your family has a history of allergies, such as eczema, Asthma or allergies, you should be cautious. If you want to introduce foods with allergens, such as peanuts or milk cow, we suggest you try them one after another, to easily identify any allergic reaction. If your baby has been diagnosed with allergies, it is recommended that you discuss the weaning with your doctor or pediatrician.
• Avoid foods made from wheat, rye and barley until the age of six months, to reduce the risk of developing celiac disease (which leads the body to a gluten intolerance). Forget for the moment the wheat, flour, pasta, cereals and crackers. It is best to avoid oats before six months of age also, if it contains gluten.
• Do not "milk away" (also called "growing up milk") to your child before six months of age.
• Do not add salt, sugar, honey or other sweeteners to food your child.

Seven to nine months

From the seventh month, your baby has made enough progress to join the family meal. You must offer a wide range of food to meet their dietary needs and to adjust to taste different flavors. Good news: the list of foods to avoid shortening! If you buy jars, you will find a range of four to seven months and another from seven months. In fact, there is no reason to prohibit a child six months of eating food labeled seven months (it will just adjust the consistency). You can now enter:

• Food minced or crushed but not pureed. There must have small pieces.
• A wider range of carbohydrates: bread, the couscous, pasta, breadsticks, baby cereal, oats, plus cornmeal, potatoes, rice. Give him two to three servings of starchy foods per day.
• Cold water (room temperature) in a cup of learning when he thirst, in addition to breastmilk or 500-600 ml of infant formula. If you give him the juice, do to during meals only and make sure it is well diluted (one part juice to 10 parts water). Give him a cup rather than a bottle. Reserve the orange juice at mealtimes helps absorb iron and reduces the risk of problems for growing teeth.
• Citrus fruits such as orange or tangerine.
• Cooked eggs, fish and shellfish can be added to other protein foods to your diet (red meat, poultry and lentils). Provide a portion of protein-rich foods per day.
• Unsalted nuts. If you have a family history of allergies, it is advisable not to give nuts to your child before the age of three. A board that does not relay all the experts for lack of evidence. As official notices are not all very clear, ask your doctor or pediatrician for advice.
• Dairy products such as cheese, yogurt and cheese. Although it is best to wait a year before introducing cow's milk as a drink, it can be used in cooking or cereal to your baby. You can make a cheese sauce to add to vegetables or pasta.
• On milk can be used if you wish.
• Once your baby knows how to take things with her fingers and hold well, you can give small to handle food alone at the table. Try, for example, cooked green beans or carrot sticks, cheese cubes, sliced ​​banana or pear slices soft well.

From ten months

Meals resemble those of adults. They should be sliced ​​or chopped and consist of two or three meals a day with one or two snacks and 500 ml to 600 ml of breast milk or infant. At this stage, your child will have:

• Three or four servings of starchy foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes or rice.
• A serving of meat, fish, eggs or two servings of legumes (lentils, peas, beans) or nut butter.
• One to two servings of cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, as well as breast milk or infant.

What foods should be avoided in children less than one year?

• Always avoid salt, sugar, honey and artificial sweeteners. Try sweetening desserts with mashed banana or dried fruit puree or use breast milk or infant.
• Never coffee or tea! Tannin tea blocks the absorption of iron and caffeine is not really recommended for children.
• Do not give fruit syrups or diet drinks to your baby. Artificial sweeteners are not recommended for babies and young children.
• Foods that pose a risk of food poisoning should be avoided. This includes soft cheeses made from raw milk (type Mont d'Or), liver pâté and raw eggs.
• Do not give cow's milk (or goat or sheep) as a main drink for a year.
• Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk, pasta, yogurt and low fat cheese. Give versions always high in fat, they need those calories.

How much fat can be offered to infants and toddlers?

Until the age of two, fats are an important source of energy for your baby. So whole milk, cheese, yogurt and cheese are important. At two years, and only if it grows and eats properly balanced, you can introduce lower-fat foods. To five years, only a third of the energy should come from fat.

How much fiber may be offered to infants and toddlers?

Be careful not to give too much fiber for babies and young children. They can quickly fill a small belly and do not leave enough room for other energy foods. Give your child a mixture of white bread and wholemeal bread. If your toddler eats regularly beans and lentils as part of a vegetarian diet, make sure it also eats white bread, rice and pasta.