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How and when to introduce snacks?
Our Paediatirc Dietitian shares all you need to know about when to introduce snacks, what to offer, and how you can fit snacks in your feeding schedule.
Until your baby is 12 months, they do not need snacks. They need three meals a day and their milk feeds. However, after their first birthday you can start to introduce a mid-morning and a mid-afternoon snack, which will start to take the place of some of their milk feeds and start the move over towards a diet predominantly based on solid foods.
Did you know? Anything additional to meals and milk may have an impact on your baby’s appetite at mealtimes. If you are giving little bits of food here and there, even if these seem to be very small, like a wafer or rice cake, this will potentially impact a meal at some point. Your baby’s appetite is regulated over a few days so it may not affect the next meal, it may build up and result in a meal not being eaten a few days later.
Imagine you’re out for the day and you’re trying to catch up with a friend – before you know it you’ve given 5 or 6 rice cakes so you can get through your conversation. Or perhaps you’re keeping your baby happy whilst you try to get on with jobs at home and a few wafers does just the job whilst you get the washing up done. Maybe you thought you should be giving snacks as your Mum friends do that and there are so many available on the supermarket shelves.
But without really noticing, you could give the equivalent of a full meal in snacks across the day.
Is that a problem? Possibly.
Snack foods are often lower in nutrients than the types of foods that are given at mealtimes (that shouldn’t be the case but it’s a habit we tend to have as parents). Snack foods that come out of packets are often much more processed than the foods we give babies at mealtimes. They are fine to use on occasion, but it is good to keep processed foods to a minimum, especially when babies are young and willing to accept all foods. When your baby becomes a toddler, they may become fussier and you might have to rely on processed foods a bit more, which is fine, but the more you use them during infancy the more your baby will expect to eat them as they get bigger.
What sort of snacks are best?
You might be looking for a list of suggested snacks. We’ll give you some suggestions, but in the long run giving you a long list of foods isn’t really helpful, as we all eat such different foods. We know that the parents we work with find it more useful to have some tips to help you build tasty, healthy, appropriate snacks that fit with your family and your baby.
So here’s my tips:
- Aim to give 2-3 different food groups at snack time
- Your little one is more likely to be satisfied for longer between meals if they eat a range rather than just single foods. That is especially true if there is some protein present (see our food groups article HERE).
- By getting in the habit of offering different food groups you’ll be increasing the range of nutrients that you offer and therefore the range of nutrients your little one eats.
- The more opportunities your child has to try new things, the more likely it is they’ll try them. So if you think about doing this at all five eating opportunities everyday, rather than just the meals you offer, that’s 730 extra chances to offer new foods every year!
- Have a set meal and snack routine. Aim to give foods around the same sort of time each day. It doesn’t have to be exact, but having an approximate time for your meals and snacks works well for several reasons. Appetite works well with regular meals so if you always offer foods around the same time, that is when your baby will get hungry. Plus, if your baby doesn’t eat much at a meal or snack it can reduce your worries, as you know another opportunity to eat is only a couple of hours away.
A suggested routine might look like this:
06:30: morning milk
08:30: breakfast
10: 30: mid morning snack
13:00: lunch
15:30: mid afternoon snack
17:30: dinner
19:30: evening milk
Suggested snacks
The world is your oyster with snacks and you can give anything that is safe for your baby and their ability to eat. We have put some examples below to show that mixing food groups for snacks doesn’t need to be complicated:
- HiPP Organic Apple & Pear jar with natural yoghurt
- Grated cheese and apple on toast
- Eggy crumpet (like eggy bread but made with a crumpet!). Soak a crumpet in whisked egg then gently fry for a couple of minutes each side until cooked through but not crispy.
- Banana cut lengthways spread with a little peanut butter
- Hummus with pitta and sliced cucumber
Advice & tips
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*10% off HiPP's online shop does not apply to our First Infant, Anti-Reflux or Comfort Formula Milk.
Important notice: Breastfeeding is best. Follow on milk should only be used as part of a mixed diet from 6 months. Talk to a Healthcare professional.
