Food diversification

  • Food is a sharing and we share what we love. It transmits your culture, its richness is the great difference of sensations it provides.
  • Paying attention to their reactions, communicating, adapting, accompanying them towards their autonomy.
  • Keep breastfeeding, the introduction of new flavours is a complement, he prefers your breastfeeding.
  • Keep the same food composition, during pregnancy, lactation, diversification because he knows the flavours and smells transmitted by the amniotic fluid, your milk, your breathing.
  • Primary orality from birth allows for sucking-deglutition-breathing, around 4 months it evolves into secondary orality with a voluntary motority of the tongue thanks to the myelination of the brain stem and the cerebellum with a better sensory perception of the mouth which introduces the exploratory function "he brings everything to his mouth".
  • This development allows the beginning of diversification, as proposed in the European health booklet.
  • Start by sharing what you like, well ground and adapted to his age, this often avoids food intolerances.
  • Make good use of salt in cooking, butter (much less allergenic than cow's milk), parsley, thyme, coriander, chives, basil, etc.
  • Offer each food separately, well ground, without mixing them, to discover and associate colour, texture and flavour.
  • Fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, rinsed well with lemon water to remove traces of pesticides. Avoid ultra-processed products containing colourings, preservatives and flavouring agents. Avoid the microwave and plastic trays (endocrine disruptors).
  • Above all : the meal is a sharing, he eats with you, start, he will quickly follow.
  • Let him play with his food, it is by handling it that he discovers it and accepts it, even if it is a bit messy.
  • To encourage a good position of the head during swallowing, the little spoon arrives at the bottom, aiming at the chin.

  Foodstuffs 4 months  5 months  5 months  6 months  7 months  Comments
  Dairy products Milk 2nd age    Yoghurts
Cheese		 Gradually your dairy products
 products will gradually replace his milk
 Dairy products milk at every meal
 Fruit
 From the orchard :
Apple, pear, peach
apricot, plum... 		  Red fruits 
 Exotic fruits :
Banana, kiwi, mango,
pineapple, lychee, dates...		 Very ripe or cooked, mixed ;
homogenous, smooth texture
 VegetablesGreen bean, then
spinach, artichoke,
courgettes, broccoli  		     
 Starchy foodsPotatoes,
sweet potato		 Infant floursRice or pasta
Well ground		 Bread, semolina  Rather in the evening to avoid night-time hunger
 Protein Fish   White meat Red meat and eggs
 All, mixed and very well cooked
10 g/d = 2 teaspoons
 Fats ButterOlive oil or
rapeseed oil  		  Almond, walnut,
hazelnut powdered		 Butter is the least allergenic of the dairy products
  • Lumps will be accepted when the milk molars appear at around 14-16 months
  • The meal begins with hunger and ends with satiety, avoid forcing him to finish, if you serve him, he must leave some when he is full.
  • Respect his tastes, avoid forcing him, repeat the dish a few days later with a different seasoning.
  • The quantity is variable and sufficient, respect his satiety. It is normal for him to leave some in his bottle or on his plate.
  • Orality is the interdependence of the functions of feeding, ventilation, olfaction, gustation, communication and then language, surrounded by the other oral functions that follow: exploratory, affective, pleasure and relationship. Turn off the television, put away the telephone, because the meal is a moment of privileged exchange.
  • As shown in the European food calendar above, vegetarianism or veganism are not adapted to the needs of the growing organism, so avoid food supplements.