Babies up to 4 months of age are satisfied with breast and/or formula feeding. Babies from 4 months can start eating practice snacks, such as vegetable snacks, fruit snacks and porridge. The advantage of giving solid food from 4 months is that the risk of developing allergies is reduced. From six months onwards, bread and a hot meal with vegetables, meat, fish and potatoes, rice or pasta can also be given. After 8 months, the baby’s intestines are sufficiently developed to also eat whole grain products. There are a lot of products that babies can eat, but there are also a number of products that a baby should not eat.

Babies

A baby refers to a young child. A child still in the mother’s womb is called a fetus, and a child older than 1 year is often called a toddler. Children are babies from birth during the first year of life. Babies need a lot of care and are completely dependent on their parents and/or caregivers. Baby care mainly consists of changing and feeding.

Breastfeeding or formula feeding

Breastfeeding is the best food for babies from 0 to 4 months. Breastfeeding contains all nutrients in the right proportions. It also contains antibodies that protect your baby against bacteria and viruses. Breastfeeding is the main food for the baby until 6 months, after which the baby will gradually eat more and more in addition to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding can also be given to children older than 1 year. The World Health Organization (WHO) therefore recommends breastfeeding children up to the age of 2. If you cannot or do not want to breastfeed, there is also the option of formula feeding. It is legally established which minimum ingredients artificial food must contain. This means that all coastal food brands contain the most important nutrients for the baby. It also applies to formula feeding that babies up to 4 months of age can suffice with formula alone.

Dad

Babies usually start with porridge and vegetable snacks from four months. From four months, babies can digest the fibers in porridge. It is best to start with porridge with as little fiber as possible, such as rice flour porridge. The older the baby gets, the more fiber he can tolerate. From six months you can start with porridge made from wheat flour. The structure of the porridge may also become coarser as the baby gets older. By feeding the porridge with a spoon, a baby can learn to chew and swallow better. Below is the type of porridge that can be given per age category.

Breastfeeding porridge

Porridge for babies is best made with breastfeeding. Breast milk contains enzymes that break down the starch into sugar. This causes porridge made from breast milk to slowly thin out. This can be prevented by warming the breast milk to about eighty degrees and then cooling it down again. The high temperature makes the enzymes inactive, causing the porridge to remain thick.Porridge from formula You can also make porridge from formula suitable for the age of your baby. To make the formula, follow the preparation instructions on the packaging.

Cow’s milk porridge

It is best not to use cow’s milk to make porridge for babies. Although cow’s milk is not harmful to babies, the composition of cow’s milk is not yet suitable for the nutritional needs of babies. This could cause shortages of iron, for example. Cow’s milk can be used if the baby receives sufficient breast or formula food in addition to the porridge. For children from one year of age, you can opt for exclusively cow’s milk.

Vegetable snacks

Babies can start with vegetable snacks from four months. From this age onwards, a baby still needs enough nutrients from breast or formula. At this age, supplementary food should therefore only serve as a practice snack. Small quantities are therefore sufficient. Starting solid food from four months also reduces the risk of developing food hypersensitivity. The advantage of starting with vegetable snacks instead of fruit snacks is that the baby first gets used to the less sweet taste of fruit. This increases the chance that the baby will like vegetables. It is best to crush the first bites with a fork, so that your baby cannot choke easily. Grinding finely with a blender or hand blender is also possible, but is not absolutely necessary. Preferably start with one type of vegetable and alternate the type daily. If this goes well, you can also start mixing different types of vegetables. Suitable vegetables to start with include parsnips, cauliflower, sweet potato, peas, zucchini, beans, broccoli, carrots or pumpkin. Nitrate-rich vegetables such as spinach, endive, pointed cabbage and beetroot are best fed after 6 months. It is best not to use salt when preparing the vegetables. You can also opt for ready-made vegetable snacks suitable for babies from 4 months. The disadvantage of this is that the flavors are usually more limited and the costs are higher than self-prepared vegetable snacks.

Fruit snacks

If the vegetable snacks go well, you can also start with fruit snacks a few weeks later. Many babies prefer fruit snacks, because babies have a natural preference for sweets. Suitable fruits to start with are soft fruits such as strawberry, nectarine, peach, banana, pear, mango and melon. But harder fruits such as apple can also be given as long as they are grated or cooked. Ready-made applesauce often has added sugar, making it not preferred. Also with fruit it is best to start with one type, after which different types of fruit can be mixed later. The same applies to ready-made fruit snacks for babies as to ready-made vegetable snacks for babies. The choice is more limited and the costs are higher.

Bread

From around 6 months, the baby’s intestines are better developed, so they can also tolerate bread well. It is best to start with types of bread with little fiber and without grains and seeds. White or wheat bread are great types to start with. For the first month you can choose to only give small pieces of bread without crust. From 7 months you can also give the crusts for your child to chew. Even without teeth, a baby will be able to crush a bread crust with its jaws. Chewing a bread crust is good for motor skills and the development of the jaw muscles. From 8 months, a meal can be replaced with a bread meal. White or wheat bread can then be replaced by whole wheat bread. The sandwich can be topped with margarine or butter and low-salt and sugar-free toppings such as peanut butter without salt and sugar, dairy spread, fruit spread, banana or strawberries. Never give babies under 1 year honey on bread, as honey may contain spores of Clostridium botulinum, which can lead to infant botulism. From the age of one, whole wheat bread is still the best choice and children can also eat bread with seeds.

Hot meal

For babies aged 4 to 6 months, a vegetable snack is sufficient as a hot meal. From 6 months you can choose to add meat, fish, meat substitutes, potatoes, rice or pasta to the hot meal. Start with soft meats such as chicken and minced meat or fish and chop them well. Egg, tofu and other meat substitutes can also be given from 6 months. From 8 months you can also add other types of meat, but it is better not to give liver or raw meat such as steak. Preferably start with white rice and pasta from 6 months. After 7 months you can also add legumes. After 8 months you can switch to whole grain products. Crush the meal well with a fork and try to make the meal slightly coarser as your baby gets older. You can also use a hand blender for this in the beginning, but this is not necessary. Please note that potatoes cannot be finely ground with a hand blender, because the end result will then be too elastic.

Snacks

Fruit and vegetable snacks are great snacks for babies aged 4 months and older. In addition, bread is a great snack for babies from 6 months to chew. In addition to these products, you could give your baby small snacks low in salt and sugar if he or she needs it. A candy stick or a corn or rice waffle are good snacks. A candy stick or a corn or rice waffle becomes soft in the mouth due to the saliva, so that babies without teeth can also eat it well. In many cases, these products do contain added salt, but the salt content is usually not too bad. Preferably choose the variant with the least salt. You can also give small portions of yogurt without sugar. It is better to avoid special baby leagues. These often contain added sugar and get your baby used to the sweet taste. In addition, always ensure that too many snacks are not given, which could prevent the baby from drinking properly. From the age of 1 year, children can in principle eat all snacks, preferably low in sugar.

Baby food: what can and can’t they eat?

The table below indicates which foods are and are not suitable for babies up to 1 year old. Some products such as honey, liver and liver products, too many nitrate-rich vegetables for babies under 6 months and raw meat can be dangerous to give to babies. Other products, such as ligas, sweet bread spreads and fruit or apple sauce with added sugar, are less healthy choices for babies, so it is preferable to choose another product. Giving these products is not immediately dangerous to the baby’s health.

What babies up to 1 year old can and cannot eat