After the first six months of life, WHO recommends starting complementary feeding, that is, introducing foods other than breast milk or artificial milk to adequately cover the child's energy and nutritional needs. To help you in this special stage of your baby, here is a Healthy weekly menu for children between 6 and 12 months.
The food prior to the first year of life
In the beginning of the complementary feeding it is recommended to make two or three daily intakes, reaching the four or five meals a day after nine months of age.
The calories that children need are increasing and although breast milk (or formula) must continue on demand, extra food is required to meet the needs. Thus, WHO recommends for children who are just beginning to feed on solids, the following calories per day, on average:
- 6-8 months old: 600 Kcal.
- 9-11 months old: 700 Kcal.
- 12 months old: 1000 Kcal approximately.
To cover these calories we can go to different foods, it is always advisable to choose those fresh and quality, avoiding from commercial porridge if we choose traditional complementary food, to cookies and industrial cereals if we opt for the BLW or complementary food guided by the baby, a method of introduction of food that has recently been recognized and even recommended by the AEP.
The protein they must not be lacking in the day to day, because before 12 months it is the nutrient that we must contemplate the most if we want to favor the adequate growth and development of children. It is needed in average amounts of 2 grams per kilo per day according to FAO.
Slowly we will add food to the baby's diet and increase the amounts from a couple of pieces or tablespoons to the most according to the demands of the child.
Healthy Weekly Menu
Assuming that we have already introduced various foods to our baby's diet and adapting the rations to the particularities and demands of each child, we can go to simple preparations, based on vegetables, fruits, cereals (even with gluten), legumes, oils, meat or fish, reducing or avoiding commercial dairy products that are not necessary as the child still consumes breast milk or formula.
In addition, these foods can have a huge amount of added sugar inside that increases the appetite of babies for the very sweet.
Even the egg It is a food of noble quality suitable for the diet of the little ones who begin to eat, as well as nuts and seeds if they are given ground to avoid choking.
Therefore, it is possible to elaborate simple dishes that will bring diversity to the weekly menu and also bring them closer to family food.
It is possible to prepare the following menu as proposed if we have opted for guided feeding or BLW or pureed or porridge if we prefer the traditional complementary feeding method.
We propose a breakfast or snack option and another one for lunch or dinner so that you gradually introduce solid foods in two of the daily intakes as a complement to breastfeeding. Milk is still the main food of babies.
Monday
| Breakfast or snack | Banana in battered pieces in ground oats or the same crushed ingredients. |
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| Food or dinner | Roasted chicken breast with potato and carrot in pieces or the same crushed ingredients. Shredded or grated nectarine. |
Tuesday
| Breakfast or snack | Pumpkin and oatmeal pancakes or their crushed ingredients. |
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| Food or dinner | Pasta with vegetables (avoid grated cheese) or its crushed ingredients. Seasonal fruit in pieces or grated. |
Wednesday
| Breakfast or snack | Cookies with two ingredients or their crushed components. |
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| Food or dinner | Baked eggplant and bean meatballs (without chili pepper paste) with steamed broccoli and Brussels sprouts or crushed ingredients. Peach in pieces or grated. |
Thursday
| Breakfast or snack | Banana oatmeal pancakes in pieces or their crushed ingredients. |
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| Food or dinner | Salmon in papillote with chopped vegetables or porridge. Pear in pieces or grated. |
Friday
| Breakfast or snack | Energy bars of dried apricots or in their replacement, mashed fruit with grated coconut. |
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| Food or dinner | Chicken rice as such or crushed in porridge. Plum in pieces or grated without skin. |
Saturday
| Breakfast or snack | Cornflakes on applesauce in pieces or the same ingredients in porridge. |
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| Food or dinner | Hake and broccoli meatballs (without cheese added) with couscous or all crushed ingredients in porridge. Pear in pieces or grated |
Sunday
| Breakfast or snack | Sugar-free banana and oatmeal muffins or mashed bananas with oats and processed dates. |
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| Food or dinner | Lentil and rice burgers with tomato and avocado in pieces or mashed lentils, rice and various vegetables. Shredded or grated nectarine |
Remember that our menu is optional and that it is not essential that every child over six months of age continues to work the same, but that we can change ingredients for others as well as adapt the menu to the particularities of each baby, being always necessary to have tested tolerance of each ingredient that we use separately, that is, alone.
For the preparation of the dishes for our baby we do not recommend using salt or sugar, since food has its natural flavor that children already perceive with salty or sweet taste without the need for its addition.
We will start with two daily intakes (lunch and snack or breakfast and dinner, for example), added to the milk shots to gradually incorporate intakes, always according to the demands of each baby. Remember that at this stage the important thing is that they become familiar with the textures and flavors of food.
And as we said, always better fresh ingredients and manipulated by us than industrial or commercial preparations.
