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My wife and I are in disagreement over how much cheese our 10 month old should be eating. Which has caused us to try and find a list of how much protein, carbs, sugars, saturated fats etc. she should be eating each day. So far we have been unable to come across such a list. Does anyone know of a good list of this?

Thanks

dan
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2 Answers2

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I don't believe you will find such a list for a child that young. Babies under one year of age should be getting most of their nutrition from breast milk (or formula if you are formula feeding). Any solid food that they get is really just practice for switching over to solid foods. You should be offering your baby a wide variety of different foods at this point to get her palate used to different tastes and textures.

Even once she is a toddler and is getting most of her nutrition from solid food rather than milk you'll need to think about a balanced diet differently than you would for an adult. Some days she may eat a ton of protein, some days she may refuse everything but bananas (for example). That is normal. As long as she is trying a variety of different foods over the course of a week, she'll be fine.

michelle
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    +1. Wide variety is far superior to focusing on specific quantities of specific things. – Joe Jun 24 '14 at 04:27
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A quick search turns up this and this

The first site says 570 kcal for 0-6 months and 9.1g protein. For 6-12 months, it recommends 740 kcal and 13.5g protein.

The second site says 110 kcal/kg (about 648kcal) for 0-6 months and 2.2 g/kg (about 13.2g) protein. For 6-12 months, that becomes 100 kcal/kg (about 900 kcal) and 1.5 g/kg (about 13.5g) protein.

Protein contains 4kcal/g, as does (digestible) carbohydrate. Fat contains 9 kcal/g. The first site claims that babies under one year should get at least 30g fat each day. We'll assume you're only feeding solids in earnest at 6-12 months. Then here's what you're looking at:

calories: 740-900
protein: 13.5g
fat: 47g~56g
carbs: 74g~90g

This assumes the overall macronutrient profile of breastsmilk, which should be about right for babies (since their primary source of calories will be from that or similarly nutritive formula).

To address the dispute: cheese is an excellent source of protein and a good source of fat. This is a great food to feed your baby, provided you pair it with carb-rich fruits & veggies. Go nuts.

And, as in the other answer, don't worry too much: just give your baby plenty of foods to try. One mark against cheese is that it's a calorie-dense solid food that isn't renowned for being a good source of iron... around 6 months, your baby will start needing more of this, so, nutritionally speaking, you might be better off with other foods (meats, legumes, veggies, etc.) Your baby will be getting plenty of dairy from milk/formula, after all!

Patrick87
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