The essential nutrients a baby needs

Iron plays a very important role and contributes to normal cognitive development of children. We know that by six months, the stores of iron that babies are born with have depleted to a very low level, if not completely gone, and that breast milk and formula do not meet your baby’s increasing needs. So, building meals around iron rich foods is a good way to make sure your baby is getting enough.

Meat, eggs, lentils, hummus, dark green leafy vegetables, and foods fortified with added iron such as our baby porridge. Alongside any iron rich foods, add foods containing vitamin C such as fruit or vegetables, as these help the iron to be absorbed.

Omega 3 is a type of fat found in our food. It plays a crucial role in the normal development of your baby’s eyes, so it is important that you give enough across the week.

Omega 3 fats are found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and trout. A portion is a piece of fish the size of your baby’s palm and you should aim to give one to two portions a week. Don’t give more than this due to the potential risk of consuming heavy metals. Do be aware that the benefits outweigh any potential risk from consuming small amounts of oily fish.

If you do not eat fish you can find omega 3 fats in some other foods such as flaxseed, chia seeds, rapeseed and walnut oils. However, rather than feeding these only once or twice a week, you need to be giving these foods every day.

If you aren’t able to give omega 3 as food, you can look at an omega 3 supplement for your baby. These are available both as fish oil and as a plant based algae supplement. All of our savoury baby food jars are made with rapeseed oil so do contain some omega 3 fats.

Vitamin D is slightly different to other nutrients as we get very little of it from our food. Vitamin D is produced by our kidneys when sunlight hits our skin. The problem is, for those of us living in the northern hemisphere, like we are in the UK, we cannot produce vitamin D between September and April. This means we are reliant on having a good summer with lots of sunshine to produce enough to get us through the winter months. As our summers are unreliable and we need to keep babies’ sensitive skin safe in the sun, many little ones are lacking in this vitamin.

It is recommended that babies are given a supplement to ensure their needs are met. Under 1 year your baby needs 8.5-10 micrograms each day.

If your baby is formula fed and you are giving more than 500 ml or 17 ounces you do not need to give a supplement as it has already been added to the milk. Once your baby drinks less than 500 ml you should start a supplement.

If you are breastfeeding, you should take a supplement yourself and give one to your baby each day.