Baby meal plan for the first year of life
When does the baby need something? The baby nutrition plan of the Research Institute for Child Nutrition (FKE) in Dortmund shows you clearly: How does the breastfeeding and complementary feeding time work? When can you start with which foods?
Baby meal plan for the first year of life
Baby nutrition from milk to pap: The Research Institute for Child Nutrition in Dortmund (FKE) has developed a baby nutrition plan for the first year of life . There it goes step by step to the first solid food. What is on the table in which month? When is the first drink without milk?
Here you can save the baby nutrition plan as a PDF file or print it out .
Baby Feeding Plan: 1st to 4th month
In the first four months of life, feeding your baby is still quite uncomplicated. The World Health Organization (WHO) and many professional societies as well as the baby nutrition plan of the FKE recommend exclusively breastfeeding the baby during this time. With breast milk, your baby gets everything it needs.
If you cannot or do not want to breastfeed, feed your baby special baby milk food for the first few months. This also contains all the important nutrients for your baby to develop healthily. According to the baby nutrition plan, drinks are not yet necessary during this period, since breast milk or milk formula also quench the baby’s thirst.
More information on these topics:
In addition to feeding milk, the Baby Meal Plan recommends vitamin K, vitamin D, and fluoride:
- Vitamin K plays an important role in blood clotting and is usually given to babies by the pediatrician during the first three U-examinations . So they get two doses within the first week of life, the third by the end of the first month.
- Vitamin D is used to prevent rickets, a condition that causes the soft bones in children to deform. According to the baby nutrition plan, vitamin D should be administered from the second week of life throughout the first year of life . A dose of 400 to 500 IU (International Unit) per day is recommended. These days, that mostly comes in the form of pills. The body only produces vitamin D itself under the influence of sunlight. That is why the nutrition plan for babies born in winter recommends vitamin D for the second winter as well.
- FKE nutrition experts recommend fluoride to prevent tooth decay. It is usually given as a tablet in the first year of life in combination with vitamin D. A guideline for breastfed infants is 0.25 mg fluoride per day. Bottle-fed babies generally have the same needs, provided the water used to prepare the bottles contains less than 0.3 mg fluoride per liter. If it contains more fluoride, the additional administration of fluoride in tablet form is unnecessary. It is best to always clarify the exact dosage with your pediatrician.
Baby Feeding Plan: 5th to 7th month
From the end of the fourth month to the sixth month, the introduction of complementary food can be part of the baby’s nutrition plan. Note, however: WHO recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life .
For iron and other important nutrients, the FKE baby nutrition plan provides for replacing the milk meal at lunchtime with a vegetable-potato-meat mash . This gives your baby enough time to digest the food before bedtime. However, if it fits better into your daily routine if you feed the meal in the evening, this is just as compatible with the baby feeding plan.
Much more information about supplementary food:
With the first paps, your baby will need more liquid. There can always be something to drink next to the remaining milk meals. According to the baby nutrition plan, the most suitable are still water or unsweetened teas, such as the sugar-free tea “Hipp’s first feel-good tea”, which is specially designed for babies.advertisementwith organic fennel, organic anise and organic caraway. You can find more information on this in our article “ Water, teas and juices – what should your baby drink? “. By the way: You can easily have your tap water tested to ensure it is of drinking water quality .
Baby Feeding Plan: 6th to 8th month
When the baby has gotten used to the new meal for about a month, you can introduce the milk-cereal porridge . The baby nutrition plan recommends replacing the milk meal in the evening with this porridge. Are you feeding the vegetable-potato-meat-porridge at this time of day? Then the milk-cereal porridge also fits into the menu in the morning.
The need for liquid increases further with the second porridge. That means: It can be one more drink if your child feels like it.
Baby Feeding Plan: 7th to 9th month
After at least another month of getting used to it, the baby’s nutrition plan is down to earth. The grain and fruit porridge is a particularly vitamin-rich snack. It therefore replaces another milk meal either in the morning or in the afternoon. Three times porridge and one or two milk meals – according to the FKE baby nutrition plan, this is what your baby’s menu looks like at around the end of the ninth month. If your child wakes up at night, it will of course be breastfed as needed, regardless of the introduction of complementary foods, or it will be given a bottle. Because when a child sleeps through the night is very individual.
You can buy baby food for your child in ready-made baby jars or prepare it yourself. An advantage of making your own is that it is cheaper and you can decide for yourself, for example which spices your baby gets or which additives you would rather not use. If you also want to save time during preparation, a baby food maker, such as the Philips Avent 2-in-1 model – with over 1,000 customer reviews on Amazon,advertisementoptimal.
The homemade complementary food freezes well. However, it is important to pack the baby food as airtight as possible. Our tip: the KIDDO FEEDO baby food storageadvertisementMade of BPA-free, high-quality silicone.
Staying hydrated is more important than ever at this point.
Baby nutrition plan from the 10th month
From around the 10th month, many babies develop a special interest in solid foods. According to the baby nutrition plan, this is also the right time to gradually replace the porridge meals with family food.
- The vegetable-potato-meat porridge turns into a warm meal.
- The milk-cereal porridge is replaced by a meal of bread, possibly accompanied by a glass of milk.
- In the baby nutrition plan , two snacks of fruit, yoghurt or vegetables in the morning and afternoon replace the grain-fruit porridge .
- Finally, the last meal of milk is replaced by a meal of bread . Of course, you can continue to breastfeed your child if you both want it. This is also compatible with the baby nutrition plan.
You can find out more about the introduction of family food and a balanced diet for your child from the age of two here:
Baby nutrition plan for children at risk of allergies
For babies at risk of allergies who are breastfed, the baby nutrition plan does not provide any special regulations in the first four months of life, because breast milk is the best prevention against the development of an allergy. If you bottle-feed your child, the Baby Nutrition Plan recommends using a so-called HA formula . HA stands for “hypoallergenic” and means that the milk protein in the formula has been broken down. This makes it more tolerable for babies at risk of allergies.
When complementary feeding is introduced, there are no longer any special guidelines for babies at risk of allergies. The FKE advises against avoiding foods that are suspected of causing an allergy.
On the contrary: The baby nutrition plan recommends confronting the baby’s immune system with various foreign allergens at an early stage in order to promote the development of tolerance and prevent allergies. Since new foods are ideally introduced individually and one after the other when starting solids, parents can easily identify any intolerances that may arise and discuss further steps with the pediatrician.