How do I encourage my child to enjoy a variety of foods?
From 6-12 months, your baby will be learning to eat solids. Infants who become used to food with different textures and flavours as soon as they start eating solids will be less ‘fussy’ later in childhood. The texture should be adapted to your child’s age and development. The aim is for your child to learn to eat unaided and have a good attitude to food and meals. Offer your little one a wide variety of vegetables and fruit. Vegetables and fruit contain important vitamins. If you continue to offer the same foods time after time, your child will eventually learn to like them. Vegetables can be served raw, boiled or finely chopped. Give your child soft chunks of food. Avoid small, hard chunks which could get stuck in her airways. Encourage your child to use all her senses during mealtimes.
What should I give my child to drink?
During a child’s first year of life, they should only be given breastmilk/infant formula and water to drink. Children under the age of one should not be given cow’s milk, plant-based drinks, juice, squash, soda or tea. Exclusively breastfed children who feed on demand do not need water, even in warm weather. Children who are given infant formula may need some water as well on warm days. Give cooled boiled water during the first six months of life. After this, you can use water directly from the tap. From around the age of six months, the child can start drinking from a cup. Use an open cup or a cup with a spout that the water easily flows from. Avoid cups with a teat that requires the child to suck to get any fluid. From the age of 12 months, it is better to use a cup/spouted cup than a bottle. This is better for the child’s teeth and for the muscles involved in talking.
How to make your own porridge
Porridge is great as one of the first foods to start with. Feel free to make the food yourself. Use millet or wholemeal flour made from oats, wheat, barley or rye. Wholemeal flour contains more iron than white flour. Millet (whole grains or flakes) in particular contain a lot of iron. Switch between different types of grains so that the child can get used to various flavours. Avoid sifted wheat flour, fine rice flour, semolina, cornflour and polenta. These contain little iron and other nutrients. Soak the wholemeal flour/grains/flakes for at least an hour. This helps the iron to be absorbed better in the child’s intestines. Whole grains must be mashed up finely after cooking. Cook and thicken the porridge using water and cool before adding breastmilk/infant formula to achieve the right consistency. Keep the porridge fairly thin to start with. Serve the porridge with fruits, berries or vegetables that contain vitamin C. Vitamin C in meals helps with iron absorption.
How to put together a vegan diet for children
If you follow a vegan diet, it is especially valuable to breastfeed throughout the first year of life and preferably longer, if possible. If the baby needs more nutrition than the mother’s milk can provide, give them ready-made infant formula made from cow's milk or soy. Children under the age of one year should not drink plant milks. When your baby is ready for solid food, follow the general advice on Helsenorge. Make porridge from iron-rich flour, groats and flakes or use ready-made porridge with added iron. For dinner, use well-cooked beans, lentils, peas, vegetables, potatoes, wholemeal rice, wholemeal pasta and plant oils. Fruit and berries can be served with porridge and bread and as snacks. Good toppings for bread are plant-based margarine, vegetarian pâté, bean pâté, lentil pâté, hummus, avocado, nut butter, tofu, tahini, soy cheese. Monitor your child's weight development. Give them a dietary supplement containing vitamin D, B12 and iodine.