From around 9 months you can begin to offer your little one a greater variety of foods, including harder finger foods such as raw vegetable sticks.
Even if you still need to help your baby to eat, as they can’t feed themselves quickly enough to satisfy their hunger, it’s a good idea to encourage them to actively participate in feeding themselves and try to make meal times as interesting as possible. By bringing in a bit of variety around food, for example serving it in colorful bowls and combining different colorful and textures, you can keep babies interested in learning how to eat different types of foods.
While infants need energy to grow, their tummies are small and fill up easily, so in general avoid giving meals consisting of only high fiber foods, such as brown or wholegrain bread. Fats too are important for energy production and contain valuable vitamins such as Vitamin A, so do not give low fat milk, cheese and yogurt to babies under 2 years old.
During their second year of life it is quite common for babies to start rejecting new foods or foods that were accepted in the past. The good news is that if you offer a wide variety of foods during this stage, you will lessen the likelihood of your baby going through this difficult phase as they get older. Despite this and even if they do become fussy eaters, children will eventually learn to eat foods if they see their parents and other children eating them.
It is therefore advisable to eat with your baby as often as possible and to organize some meal times with other children. This will also help the development of social skills.
3 day baby meal planner
Day 1
Breakfast:
Cornflakes with kiwi fruit
Lunch:
Chicken curry with rice and steamed cauliflower
Yogurt mixed with fresh mango purée
Dinner:
Pasta with sweet pepper sauce
Egg custard and raspberries
Finger foods:
Kiwi fruit slices, cauliflower florets, breadsticks, cooked pasta pieces
Day 2
Breakfast:
Baby muesli with blueberries
Lunch:
Pasta with sauce
Clementine segments
Dinner:
Fish and potato cakes with stir fried vegetables
Peach and raspberry smoothie
Finger foods:
Blueberries, Cooked pasta pieces, Stir fried vegetable sticks
Day 3
Breakfast:
Scrambled egg with toast
Lunch:
Lamb with couscous and steamed vegetables Rice pudding
Please be aware that the information given in these articles is only intended as general advice and should in no way be taken as a substitute for professional medical
advice. If you or your family or your child is suffering from symptoms or conditions which are severe or persistent or you need specific medical advice, please seek professional medical assistance.
Philips AVENT cannot be held responsible for any damages that result from the use of the information provided on this website.
