When it is time to start feeding solid food to babies most moms tend to get anxious. As a mom, you want to know WHAT to feed your baby, HOW MUCH, and WHEN. You will get a food chart from your baby’s pediatrician that will guide you about the WHAT and WHEN of the baby food part. From my experience, from the food chart that I received, and from the various websites I sought advice from, I learned that it is best to start off with fruits. After a few days you can give your baby cooked and pureed mashed vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes. I used to give Devansh mashed elaichi bananas (I think they’re called baby bananas in English) and mashed papayas initially. Then I started giving him boiled and mashed sweet potatoes. You should try different fruits and vegetables to see which ones your baby likes. Stick to local and seasonal fruits and vegetables as they are bound to be the freshest. Don’t forget to wash them thoroughly to remove all traces of pesticides. I used to soak fruits and vegetables in water with some Tollyjoy Vegetable Liquid Cleanser added to it for about 5 minutes. As for the HOW MUCH part of the question, let your baby be your guide. First few days your baby may have only a few spoonfuls, which is absolutely fine. Give your baby a couple of days to get used to the experience of having something other than milk or infant formula. Even if the baby refuses to have food at first be patient and don’t ever force feed the baby. I think new moms will find the following sites quite useful. Do check them out:
- http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a546661/which-foods-to-introduce-when
- http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solids.htm#.UXIlr0qBrTo
- http://www.parents.com/baby/feeding/nutrition/superfoods-6-months-and-older
After your baby is eating fruits comfortably, you can start feeding your baby single grain food such as rice kanji. After, you are sure that your baby digests rice properly feed him/her moong daal khichdi, then after 3-4 days feed him/her dalia. You get the drift don’t you. :-) Introduce one new ingredient at a time. Always remember, that when you are introducing solids to your baby you should wait for 3 days after you introduce any new food. That way you can check if your baby has any allergic reaction to that food. I introduced dairy in Devansh’s diet after he turned one. Therefore I have labeled recipes that use milk or curds as an ingredient, as “Food for one year old baby”. You may want to take a look at these recipes if you have started giving cow/buffalo milk or curds to your li’l one before s/he has turned one. Please note that I have provided age-wise labels for my recipes based on my experience. I would request you to use your judgment in deciding the right time to feed your babies these foods.
To view baby food recipes suitable for age group six months to one year, click here.
