How to start food diversification of your child, and what foods should you try first? A pediatrician will answer you.
What is dietary diversification?
Dietary diversification is a big step for babies, it marks the moment when they will gradually add other foods to their diet than milk, even if the latter must remain the main food until at least one year old. .
Dietary diversification can be done from 4 to 6 months, with the agreement of the child’s pediatrician. Some parents prefer to start with purees, others with foods presented in large pieces to grab, this is what we call child-led dietary diversification (DME).
But, whatever the method chosen, what foods should you use to diversify your baby’s diet?
How to start food diversification?
“Usually, we start with vegetables such as peas, carrots, zucchini, certain cabbages, or spinach. It is good not to start straight away with very strong tasting foods, but rather with slightly sweet vegetables..” advises Doctor Andreas Werner, president of the French Association of Outpatient Pediatrics (AFPA) and expert in pediatrics for the site Mpedia.
“We can then taste the fruitslike apple or pear“It’s important to choose foods that you usually eat, rather seasonal and local.”We’re not going to start with papaya if it’s not part of our culture.” gives the pediatrician as an example.
Should we follow a specific order in the introduction of these fruits and vegetables? “Before, there were a lot of rules to follow to prevent allergies, with a new fruit or vegetable every three days, but finally now we recommend trying those that correspond to the family diet.”
And once vegetables and fruits have been successfully introduced, what can we continue with? “It all depends on the age of the child, up to 6 months we are content with fruits and vegetables, then after we can introduce all foods little by little: proteinsFatty acids, starchy foodsetc.” recommends Dr. Werner. All allergens can be introduced, whether egg, peanut or products based on other oilseeds. It is not recommended to delay diversification after 6 months, even in children at risk of food allergy.
Sources:
Doctor Andreas Werner, president of the French Association of Outpatient Pediatrics (AFPA) and expert in pediatrics
Mpedia
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