Infant cereals with & without milk
At Junior Stage, a toddler can eat cereals with a variety of ingredients, including nut and/or almonds. Cereals containing bigger, more chewable pieces may also be offered. Formulated to help respond to the toddler’s developing needs, Nestlé Infant Cereals are cereal products that must be prepared with milk (standard cereals) or water (complete cereals). Certain specific ingredients, e.g. pre- and probiotics, DHA, plant extracts, may be used to provide cereals with a specific functionality targeted towards maintaining the baby’s health.
Fruit products & milky desserts
At Junior Stage, Nestlé Fruit Products and Milky Desserts contain larger pieces to encourage the toddler to chew and swallow food. The foods on offer include multi-fruits, fruit and cereals, milky dessert, fruit/milk desserts (Duos), helping the toddler gradually adapt to adult food and an adult diet.
Savoury meals and dishes
At Junior Stage, toddlers can enjoy recipes with a wide variety of ingredients and bigger, more chewable pieces. Nestlé Savoury Meals and Dishes help move the toddler towards adult foods tastes and texture, and include complete toddler meals (with fish or meat) and vegetarian menus. Nestlé Complete Meals are characterised by a well-balanced composition of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. Complex carbohydrates are provided by starchy ingredients (wheat in pasta, rice, potato, corn/maize) and by fibres (e.g. from vegetables), while protein comes from meat or fish.
Beverages
Nestlé Beverages help optimise hydration and customise toddlers to regular healthy drinking habits. The recommended amount of water intake via beverages (including milk and non-milk beverages) is about 820 ml/day for the Junior Stage. While water is the best choice for quenching thirst, babies often prefer flavoured alternatives, so herb and fruit teas may be used – as well as blends of water/tea with single fruit/vegetable juices. Junior toddlers can enjoy multi-ingredient fruit juices, vegetable juices/nectars, and mixed drinks such as fruit with milk or near-water products.
Finger foods
Junior Stage finger foods include fruit bars, rusks and biscuits (with or without reconstitution with milk), which may contain fruits, vegetables, honey, cocoa, and – for the first time - nuts and/or almonds. In order to comply with the toddler’s more resilient gut mucosa, Junior Stage cereal bars are formulated to be higher in fibre. Finger Foods are intended as a complement to a meal or for the afternoon snack.
Milk & Milk-based drinks
From one year old, it is recommended to give toddlers adapted milk since cow’s milk is too high in protein, and lacks essential fatty acids and micro-nutrients, in particular iron.
Growing Up Milk (GUM) helps Junior Stage toddlers maximize their potential in terms of physical and mental development. GUM fulfils the toddler’s protein requirements without overloading the still immature metabolic system. The high quality of appropriate proteins, all from milk, covers the toddler's requirement for each amino acid and ensures best availability for growth. What’s more, GUM ensures a steady transition from the lower protein level of breast milk to the high protein level present in cow's milk and normal dairy products used by adults. The limited protein content of GUM also leaves room for the introduction of other adapted dairy products (milky desserts, yoghurt etc.) and other sources of protein (e.g. meat) without an overload of protein.
Growing up Milk provides the right amount of lipids with a balanced fatty acid composition. Lipids are the best energy provider (9 kcal/g), needed for the increasing activity of the toddler. But fatty acids are also required to build cell membranes, and are important precursors for some physiologically active factors (e.g. hormones, coagulation factors etc.).
Cereal Milk Drinks feature a high energy density to answer the toddler’s increased energy requirements for growth. At the Junior Stage, these products may be flavoured (e.g. with nuts and/or almonds).