The Confident Eater from around nine months
As your baby develops his chewing and swallowing ability, he is now ready to take on more challenging, richer tastes and textures.
By the beginning of Stage 3, your Confident Eater:
- Sits alone easily.
- Self-feeds with his hands and drinks from a cup with a lid.
- Has one or two teeth.
- Begins to chew
Your Confident Eater needs a lot of nutrients to support his growth as his milk feed intake decreases. It is important that from 6–12 months, he gets approximately 750 ml of milk feed per day, as milk feed still provides up to 45% of his nutrient requirements (after one year he should drink about 500 ml of milk feed per day). He should eat foods similar to the rest of the family, i.e. three main meals with either drinks of milk feed or snacks in between. You can chop rather than mash the food. Encourage your baby to feed himself.
Although your baby now follows the family meal pattern, continue with his bedtime milk feed for a number of months. Discontinue this when it is emotionally appropriate for both you and your baby.
From one year old, your child is ready to make the big transition from infancy to childhood, and will begin to enjoy foods in child-sized, chewable pieces that he can pick up with his index finger and thumb (Pincer grasp).
| SAMPLE MENU |
|
| On waking | Milk feed |
| BREAKFAST | Nestlé NESTUM or Nestlé CERELAC/Milk feed |
| Mid-morning | Milk Feed/Water |
| LUNCH | Finely chopped chicken livers and rice with veggies |
| Mid-afternoon | Chopped fruit/Milk feed |
| DINNER | Thick vegetable soup Nestlé NESTUM or Nestlé CERELAC |
| Before bed | Milk feed |
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