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Maxime - 11 months


Laurence, 33 years old, real estate, and Maxime, 11 months

“For Maxime, food is something he’s very attracted to: he stares at us when we’re eating! When he was six months old, I gave him his first solid food. Now, he has two teeth – and he’s moving on to foods with more texture, and with little pieces of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables to stimulate chewing. We’re trying to keep his diet varied, as we’re told it will encourage him to be more adventurous with food when he’s older.”

 


Stage 3: Richer tastes & textures

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By around eight months old, the baby is crawling easily and sitting upright without support. Development is rapid at this age, especially in terms of eating behaviour. It’s around now that babies begin to chew correctly. There are several behavioural changes that indicate the baby’s readiness to experiment with richer tastes and textures.
 

For instance, the baby may:

  • sit without support and hold head upright
  • respond to his/her name
  • begin to stand with support
  • wave goodbye with hand
  • combine syllables into word-like sounds.

Signs of readiness for richer tastes and textures include:

  • crying in a different way to express hunger
  • beginning to move tongue correctly and chew on both sides
  • showing first teeth
  • having active upper lip 
  • drinking from cup with help 
  • beginning to pick up food between thumb and forefinger 
  • beginning to move food laterally to teeth.

Nutritional needs

Nutritional needs evolve with growth, particularly for certain nutrients that are indispensable for the development of specific tissues (e.g. blood, brain, muscles, bones). Nutrient intake must be sufficient to cover these needs, both in terms of quantity and quality. For this reason, it is important to encourage healthy eating habits and taste education at an early stage. Stage 3 babies should not consume too much sugar and salt, and should get sufficient amounts of fruits, vegetables, fish, and essential fatty acids.

Sugar intake

There is no specific nutritional or metabolic need for the addition of sugars to baby foods, as ingredients containing natural carbohydrates / sugars already provide enough energy for use as weaning food. The immediate effect of high intakes of added sugar is a fast increase of blood glucose level and insulin secretion, while scientific evidence points to dental and weight problems in the long term. It is also worth noting that, contrary to popular opinion, there is no medical reason to favour the use of fructose as a substitution for sucrose.

Salt (sodium) intake

In the body, sodium plays an essential role in regulating fluid volume and blood pressure. However, babies have a limited renal capacity, meaning they can not so easily conserve fluids and excrete solute load. Consequently, their intake of salt (sodium) needs to be moderate. Healthy infants progressively increase their ability to excrete sodium. Studies have shown that a high sodium intake is associated with higher blood pressure, which in turn is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebral diseases. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recommends target salt levels for children depending on their age.

In brief

  • solid food becomes the first dietary component to provide energy intake
  • the baby is ready to try out more challenging tastes and textures.

The baby’s daily intake should respect the following recommendations:

  • total energy needs of approximately 750-1000 kcal/day
  • total protein needs of 9.9-14.9 g/day
  • fats of 30-45 % total daily energy (about 30g/day) with balanced n-3:n-6 ratio (4-10)
  • 95 g/day of carbohydrates with limited added sugar (below 10% of total daily energy intake)
  • limited added salt
  • limited added sugars (below 10% of total daily energy intake)
  • appropriate ingredients.

arrow  Learn more about Nestlé's Stage 3 Baby Food products.