What does a healthy diet look like for an 11-month old?
When it comes to introducing more solid foods to your child’s diet, there’s no doubt that variety “is the spice of life”. In fact, research shows that a child’s early years are crucial for forming a healthy diet with particular food preferences and tastes.
This means that the more foods, particularly fruits and veggies, you introduce to your little one before their first birthday, the less likely you’ll be to have a picky eater on your hands later.
“Enforcing good eating habits and a balanced, healthy diet from the start will promote optimal development and help your child thrive in all aspects of life,” says registered dietitian, ADSA spokesperson and mom of three, Zelda Ackerman.
Where to start? Read on for some healthy eating tips, snacks and meal suggestions for your child, including what to avoid.
What does a healthy diet for an 11-month-old look like?
• Be free of any added sugar or sweeteners
• Be free of salt
• Contain little or virtually no processed foods
• Include plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables
• Include just the right amount of milk
• Have only water and milk as drinks options.
A word on milk
At this stage, your little one should be drinking milk, plus a variety of solid foods, says Ackerman. “Although it’s difficult to measure with breastfeeding, your 11-month-old should be drinking around 600ml of milk per day. From 12-months, milk and yoghurt should be limited to 500-600ml per day,” she advises.
If your baby is under a year, they’ll still have milk, preferably breastmilk, as their snacks throughout the day. Then, from about 12 months, they’ll have more variety at meal- and snack times. However, it’s still a good idea for the early morning snack and bedtime snack to be milk.
Healthy snack ideas
• Fresh fruit pieces (that your baby can eat themself with their hands such as banana, mango, cooked apple cut into quarters etc.)
• Fruit pouches with no added sugar
• Plain yoghurt
• Soft, steamed veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots or zucchini – finely grated.
• Sugar-free baby rusks/biscuits.
On the menu for main meals
Some of Ackerman’s favourite meals for babies include:
• Wholewheat pasta with mince, steamed pumpkin and mashed green beans
• Cooked sweet potato with hake, peas and gem squash
• Brown rice with shredded chicken, steamed broccoli and beetroot
• Mashed potato with beans, mushrooms and mixed veggies
A note on food volume and consistency: According to UNICEF’S guidelines, children between the ages of 6-12 months should be eating small amounts of soft, nutritious food throughout the day. So, don’t worry too much about your child finishing their food, and always ensure that their meals and snacks are not choking hazards.
Sample meal plan for your 11-month-old:
At this stage, your child should be eating three meals a day with 3-4 servings of milk and/or other healthy snacks
Early morning
Breastmilk
Breakfast
½ cup oats porridge or 1 Weetbix or 3 tablespoons of sugar-free baby cereal with milk or plain yoghurt and 1 small piece of fruit
Snack
Breastmilk
Lunch
¼ - ½ cup wholewheat starch like brown rice or wholewheat pasta or corn (mashed) or sweet potato or baked potato (mashed) with 1-2 tablespoons of meat or chicken or fish or beans or other meat alternatives, plus ¼ cup each of two different vegetables
Snack
Breastmilk
Supper
¼ - ½ cup wholewheat starch like brown rice or wholewheat pasta or corn (mashed) or sweet potato or baked potato (mashed) with 1-2 tablespoons of meat or chicken or fish or beans or other meat alternatives, plus ¼ cup each of two different vegetables
Snack
Breastmilk
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