We all want the best for our baby and nutrition is on the top of the list. Let’s see how we start making healthy baby foods.
A blender is recommended as it will help us to make some very yummy combinations. Get used to buying fresh vegetables, and meats. Stay away from canned products. Anything you make at home for your baby is going to be better than any precooked or prepackage food. Those rare times when you do buy baby food try to stick to all organic.
Variety
You should account for different type of foods, fruits in the morning, meat, fish and vegetables for lunch, soup or cereal for dinner. This works great for my baby, but yours might be different, the important thing is that we vary the food between meals.
Nutritious
The goal here is to stay away from junk and fried foods. Let’s pick base on nutritional value. When it comes to meats consider what is easier to digest rabbit (is an excellent choice), turkey, and chicken tend to be easier than beef, lamb, pork, or goat. Try to get your baby used to at least two types of fish. My baby loves salmon, and halibut. When it comes to vegetables there is quite the variety: Green beans, carrots, spinach, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, to name a few.
Format
This has a lot to do with the child’s age. Under one year you will be making a lot of purees, this is where a blender comes in handy. Cook the food with no seasoning, you can boil a lot of the vegetables and even meat and then blend it in its own liquid. Mix several ingredients, usually on type of meat with several vegetables. See what your child likes and go from there. Get creative no combination is wrong, is just a matter of whether your child likes it or not.
The Big Book of Organic Baby Food: Baby Purées, Finger Foods, and Toddler Meals For Every Stage
Frequency
This will also depend on your child. Three square meals are no longer the norm, but is better to stick to schedule and create a routine where meals are served around the same time every day. Snacks are fine but don’t over do it. If the meals are good portion and the baby eats them all then the snacks should be kept to a minimum. There will be occasions when the routine goes out the door, that’s OK as long as it doesn’t become a regular thing. Kids in general do better with a routine.
Delivery
Here is the fun part of the feeding process. Yes make it fun, is OK if it is messy, remember we are dealing with a baby not an adult. Do funny motions, the train, airplane, or whatever it works for you. This is another opportunity to bond with your baby so enjoy it all the way. Use different color plates and bowls as well as colored spoons. Feed the baby, but have a plate or bowl within his/her reach so they start learning to feed themselves and be self-sufficient. Don’t worry about the mess, that is also part of the fun. When you look at the whole process as a fun adventure and bonding time with your baby then the whole thing will be more fulfilling and your day more joyful.
