How much should a baby eat during baby-led weaning?
Introduction
How much should a baby eat during baby-led weaning ? This is the classic million-dollar question that all new parents have asked themselves at least once.
To help you find an answer, I have prepared this article. As you can see, there is also an index. Thanks to it, you will be able to delve deeper into the various facets of this wonderful theme, if you wish, simply by clicking on the title of the paragraph that interests you.
Want more information? You can visit me on Instagram on the profile @drsilva.com_official and, above all, discover the video course “Practical, easy and stress-free self-weaning”.
Accessible at the end of the paragraph, it is edited and held by Doctor Federica Dell'Oro, a nutrition biologist expert in maternal and infant nutrition. Her advice will guide you in the next few lines!
Weaning: How much should a baby eat from 6 to 12 months?
When asking how much a baby should eat during baby-led weaning , it is necessary to start the answer with a premise.
As Dr. Dell'Oro clearly specified at the beginning of this video, embarking on the path of complementary feeding on demand means forgetting about the little tables with the weights.
In his video course, where you can find several examples of balanced menus, he does not provide any indication on how many grams of food to offer the newborn.
The reason? First of all, every child is different (self-weaning, I repeat, is a personalized path).
A new parent, especially if it is their first child, may still need guidance to follow.
Going deeper into this aspect means remembering first of all the importance of offering a balanced dish.
The first meals are not? No problem! As I had the opportunity to point out in this article , it is completely normal and the nutritional needs are easily satisfied by breast milk or formula.
In a short time, the newborn is able to significantly expand his window of flavors.
Day after day the tastings become more consistent. This leads to the proposal of a complete and balanced meal from the point of view of nutrients.
Getting to the heart of the quantities of the latter, in the video linked in the previous lines, Doctor Dell'Oro provides some visual examples.
Taking fusilli as an example, a type of pasta that is safe for a child who is being self-weaned, we are talking, approximately, of a quantity between 8 and 10.
Obviously, a 6-month-old child will only eat one or two, while a one-year-old will, in some cases, be able to finish the portion.
Another source of carbohydrates alternative to pasta is polenta . In this case, as always suggested by Doctor Dell'Oro, it is possible to offer two or three sticks.
Protein sources, as can be seen from the indications highlighted in the video, must occupy less space in a balanced plate during self-weaning than foods that provide carbohydrates.
If you opt for legumes such as peeled red lentils , you can put a scant spoonful on the plate (indicative quantity to be considered for 6 to 12 months).
The same advice applies when you decide to offer your puppy cheeses such as ricotta.
How to proceed if you choose the egg ? Among the various alternatives to propose it, we mention the hard-boiled egg. In the video cited above, Doctor Dell'Oro reminds that, from 6 months to a year, a slice is fine.
In all of this, the sources of lipids must also be considered.
One of the most used - but not the only one, as there are also dried fruit and avocado - is extra virgin olive oil (strictly raw). From 6 to 12 months, a teaspoon is fine.
Let's now open the parenthesis of vegetables. In self-weaning, these foods occupy a small part of the child's balanced plate .
Why? Because it is important not to overdo the fiber intake (be careful: you should not eliminate it, just limit it).
If you opt for the safe stick cut - the thickness, as mentioned several times, should be more or less that of the index finger of a female hand - a couple of sticks at the beginning of weaning are fine.
If the meal features vegetables such as broccoli , two florets can be offered.
How much should a child between one and two years old eat?
Asking yourself how much a baby during self-weaning should eat means, necessarily, also dwelling on the indicative quantities to offer between 12 and 24 months.
When the child is about two years old, with the arrival of the molars and the consequent ability to crush even the hardest foods, we can talk about the end of self-weaning.
A small aside: this does not mean that we should lower our guard when eating meals.
Up to 4 - 5 years of age, it is essential to implement secondary prevention measures against choking, encouraging the child to carefully chew particularly hard foods such as dried fruit and avoiding offering them to him when he is distracted, for example during parties or playtime.
Shifting the focus to the indicative quantities of food that should characterise a balanced dish in self-weaning , I remind you that, from 12 to 24 months, you can offer 15 - 20 fusilli as a source of carbohydrates , a whole spoonful of ricotta and, as vegetables, a nice full one of courgettes .
To meet your lipid needs, you can opt for a couple of teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil.
In cases where you decide to propose basmati rice as a source of carbohydrates , two spoonfuls are usually sufficient.
An excellent alternative to meet protein needs is fish sauce. From 6 to 12 months, you can offer about thirty grams.
Another option for vegetables is broccoli, to be chosen during the periods of the year in which they are in season . From 6 to 12 months, 3 - 4 florets can be a good choice for a balanced dish.
In the previous lines, I mentioned basmati rice. In the video course dedicated to baby-led weaning, Doctor Dell'Oro recommends not overcooking it and not serving it cold unseasoned , so as to avoid the grains sticking together. The ideal is to season the dish immediately with sauce or oil.
Those who love this type of cereal must categorically exclude rice from Japanese restaurants.
So far, we've been talking about deconstructed dishes. No one forbids you to propose one-dish meals. A tasty and healthy idea? Risotto with fish sauce.
