Your baby is 6 months old? His adventure in the land of taste can begin! The transition from liquid food to solids announces the beginning of great discoveries, the perfect opportunity to introduce your baby to new flavors while respecting some basic rules.
Milk yes, but not only. It is time for diversification, and it is sometimes difficult to know where to start. A new world of colors, smells and textures is offered to your baby, and you wonder what food to introduce to awaken your taste buds healthy?
Do not panic ! According to the majority of pediatricians, it is beyond 6 months that you can begin to propose alternatives to its bottle milk. But be careful: the milk must be the basis of its feeding up to 12 months at the rate of 500 ml per day. Studies have shown that early and too intense diversification can develop food allergies, so patience ... Your baby needs a very specific diet to grow well, and develop good eating habits.
This learning phase is fundamental for its taste training. Here are some tips for the beginnings of its dietary diversification, in order to awaken its taste with a varied and balanced diet.
3, 2, 1 is off!
The dietary diversification begins with a comfortable installation on your knees, the back resting in the hollow of your arm. Before the chewing and swallowing phase, which will be really mature at 8/10 months, the food is tasted as a compote or warm purée in a soft plastic spoon delicately slipped between his lips. You can occasionally let him exercise his chewing on a small piece of bread or a boudoir.
Diversification begins at 6 months, when your baby is able to enjoy food. It is better to start with vegetables each introduced in isolation and in small amounts: 1 spoonful of mashed potatoes at noon in addition to the bottle, increasing the quantities for 2 weeks, to arrive at between 150 and 200 g of mixed vegetables per day midday. Why not fruit?
Your baby has a pronounced taste for sweet flavors, so if you let him discover the fruits, he can sulk vegetables. Change vegetable every 10 days at first, in order to familiarize it with a flavor each time. We start with sweet flavors like carrots, courgettes, sweet potato, spinach, green beans ... always well cooked to avoid allergies. You can introduce a starchy: the potato steamed.
It is not until 7 months that baby can taste vegetables more "original" for his small palate, such as leeks, broccoli, pumpkin ... always in quantities between 150 and 200 g at noon. Now that he likes vegetables, you can add fruit to the snack at 4pm, ideally the apple, pear or banana in compote, in small quantities increased over the days. Avoid exotic fruits before 3 years, they are allergic. In place of his bottle of 16h, you can propose him a small Swiss to discover a new texture.
From 8 months, baby can taste the meat (ideally white and well cooked). In total, he must eat 150 g of vegetables, 150 g of fruit (you can introduce new ones like peach, apricot, plum ...) and 20 g of meat. Limit yourself to a hazelnut of butter or vegetable oil per day, and especially no lightened products. Be sure to avoid sugars, fats and proteins in too high amounts that could lead to early obesity.
In the same way, vegetables, fruits and meat contain more salt than the milk to which it is used, so do not salt your recipes, its kidneys risk suffering.
You will be tempted to add spices or dried fruits to discover new flavors but it is better to wait 12 months to limit the risks of allergy, the same for chocolate. As for drinks, in addition to breast milk or artificial milk, you can as early as 7 months introduce spring water, then juices
Of fruit occasionally. It is only after 2 years that you can make him taste the egg, the fish, the cheese ... Patience, your baby in all the life before him to discover the flavors of the world!