Vegetables for baby at 7 months
From 7 months, Baby can eat all vegetables well cooked, without salt of course! If Baby still turns their nose up at strongly flavoured and slightly harder-to-digest varieties (Brussels sprouts, broccoli, artichoke…), don't panic! Leave it a few weeks before trying again, and prepare other foods to awaken their palate and let them try as many new flavours as possible. From time to time, think about making delicious vegetable soups too.
A few ideas for vegetables to give your 7-month-old baby:
- "Sun" vegetables such as tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers or peppers (always well cooked at this age)
- Autumn and winter vegetables such as squash, red kuri squash, butternut squash, pumpkin and cauliflower.
- Root vegetables such as turnip, beetroot and carrots.
- Green vegetables such as courgettes, spinach, green beans or peas.
What quantity of vegetables for baby at 7 months?
We're looking at 150 to 200g of vegetables each day, always with a smooth texture (or liquid from time to time, when preparing a lovely soup). If baby digests the purée well, this portion can be split between lunch and dinner.
Fruit for baby at 7 months
Which fruits to give baby at 7 months?
All fruits can be offered to your 7-month-old baby, as long as they are cooked, or well mashed to achieve a smooth texture that is easy to eat.
Berries (blackcurrants, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries…), exotic fruits (pineapple, passion fruit, mangoes, bananas…), citrus fruits (oranges, clementines, grapefruits…)… Introduce new varieties every day, favouring seasonal produce where possible. And once Baby has got used to the flavour of fruit, you can jazz up their purées with cinnamon, vanilla extract or fromage blanc — absolutely de-licious!
What quantities of fruit for baby at 7 months?
We're looking at 120g to 200g of fruit, that's one Popote pouch to one and a half pouches per day to spread as you see fit – or a delicious Popote baby fruit compote! Always top up with milk.
Starchy foods for baby at 7 months
All starchy foods can be offered to your baby from 7 months: potato, pasta, rice, quinoa, wheat, wheat semolina, bulgur wheat… These foods will give them the energy they need every day to discover the world around them! They will also be very handy for thickening baby purées at 7 months: aim for around 25g of well-blended starchy foods (mixed into the purée), and 70g of mashed potato blended into the vegetables. From time to time, you can also mix baby flours (stage 1 flour) into your vegetable soups or Baby's dairy foods.
The Popote note: legumes (lentils, chickpeas, dried beans), which fall more into the starchy food category, can be introduced from a very young age into an infant's diet (in the form of a very smooth purée).
Introducing cereals for baby at 7 months
Baby can start cereals from 6 months, even if breastfed. You can therefore introduce gluten and thicken the milk if Baby needs it with baby cereals. But it remains optional, so don't go overboard with cereals in the bottle (no more than one per day!).
The Popote tip
To make Baby a porridge-style cereal, add 2 scoops of cereal to their formula or breast milk, and offer the mixture by spoon. For extra flavour, add a little cinnamon or vanilla extract.
Protein for baby at 7 months
Shortly after the start of weaning, your baby will have discovered meat, eggs and fish. These foods provide their little muscles with the protein they need to develop, and are also rich in iron (for meat and fish), which is very useful for preventing deficiencies, which are common in babies at this age. Essential to the body, proteins are "also involved in a great many processes such as the immune response (antibodies), the transport of oxygen around the body and digestion".
What quantities of protein from 7 months?
When baby is 7 months old, we stick to very small quantities of protein, around 10g per day of meat or fish (equivalent to 2 teaspoons), or 1/4 of a well-cooked egg. But no stress if Baby doesn't eat any one day — just give some the next day.
Important reminder: it is far from compulsory to eat some every day!
What meat for baby at 7 months?
While most meats can be given to baby, opt for white meat (chicken, turkey) over pork or beef, which are fattier meats — though there's nothing stopping you from preparing red meat for them from time to time. Do limit offal and processed meats, with the exception of plain cooked ham (without rind or fat).
Whatever the meat, always mince it very finely to make it easier to eat. And on busy days, make the most of Popote's delicious baby meat purées!
What fish for baby at 7 months?
At 7 months, your baby can now eat a wide variety of fish, including oily fish such as salmon, herring, sardine or mackerel, which they may not have tried yet. However, certain species should still be limited or avoided in their diet before the age of 3, as the French National Food Safety Agency reminds us.
Fish to limit:
- Monkfish, tuna, skate, halibut, sea bream, bonito, shark, swordfish, marlin, lamprey (risk of methylmercury contamination)
- Eel, carp, wels catfish, bream, barbel, to be eaten no more than once every two months.
Please note: your 7-month-old baby can eat fresh or frozen fish, but breaded fish should not yet be part of their diet.
Precautions to take when cooking meat and fish
Cooking fish, meat and eggs is very important, as Baby does not have the same immune defences as us, so let's not take any risks: everything must be thoroughly cooked to avoid the risk of food poisoning or toxoplasmosis.
Fats at 7 months
Which fats to add to purées?
The best approach is to rotate between several oils as they each have different benefits:
- walnut oil or rapeseed oil: rich in Omega 3
- olive oil: rich in antioxidants
- sunflower oil: rich in vitamin E
- unsalted butter: rich in calcium and vitamin D as well as vitamin A
Quick reminder: do not heat or cook the oil — add it at the end to the already warmed purée.
What quantities of fat for baby at 7 months?
One teaspoon of oil per day or a knob of butter.
The fat provided by oil or butter complements the lipids found in milk, whether breast milk or formula.
Dairy products at 7 months — which ones and in what quantities?
When baby is 7 months old, you can start introducing yogurt, a petit suisse or plain unsweetened fromage blanc (mixed with a Popote blueberry or pear pouch, it's even better!).
For quantities, aim for 100g of fromage blanc, one yogurt or 15g of pasteurised cheese per meal. And of course keep up the milk: breast milk or stage 2 formula (at least 3 bottles per day).
How do I know if my 7-month-old baby is eating too much or not enough?
This is a question many parents ask themselves after their child's meal. But rest assured: if your baby's growth curve is steady, it means they are being fed to their appetite, even if they refuse to finish their meals on some days. The growth curve is also the best indicator for knowing whether a baby is eating a little too much. Don't hesitate to check in with your paediatrician if in doubt.
