Around five or six months, babies begin to need more than just breast milk. When the family is sitting at the dining table, children at this age make it unequivocally clear: «I also want to eat something different.»
Initially, the amounts that end up in the baby’s stomach are small. That’s perfectly normal. Babies first have to get used to the taste and consistency of solid food and the spoon.
Therefore, it is important that at the first meals Don’t offer your child too many different types of fruits and vegetables. Babies and toddlers prefer to try and experiment. In this way, by introducing foods one at a time, allergies or intolerances can be discovered.
Therefore, it is better to start with a vegetable porridge at noon, In the second step you can offer your child a milk and cereal porridge at night and finally add a cereal and fruit porridge in the afternoon.
Buy baby food or prepare them yourself?
The selection of prepared baby food is enormous, but Some ingredients leave something to be desired. Some contain too much sugar or salt, and may even contain traces of mold that often appears in stored cereal.
The best way to ensure the quality of your baby’s food is to prepare it yourself. It’s not difficult, even for parents who don’t like to cook.
It is best to always use regional and seasonal ingredients, preferably organic. This way you protect the environment and ensure that the ingredients contain no harmful substances and as many vitamins and nutrients as possible.
On the other hand, think that porridge is just another dish for your baby, complementary to breast milk and the pieces of soft food that he can eat. The baby-led weaning proposal (it could be translated as complementary feeding on demand), in fact, aims to skip the porridge stage by offering suitable foods in pieces and allowing the child to choose, grab and taste, instead of finding himself with the spoon in his mouth.
1. Vegetable and potato porridge
As a first porridge, it is a good idea to give the little ones a vegetable-based porridge for lunch.
Ingredients:
- 100 g of vegetables of your choice (it is best to start with carrot or parsnip)
- 50 grams of potatoes
- 80 ml of water
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Elaboration:
- Peel the potatoes and vegetables of your choice and cut them into small pieces.
- Bring the vegetables to a boil with a little water and simmer for about ten to 15 minutes. Check after ten minutes if it is soft.
- Puree vegetables with the hand blender.
- Finally add the oil.
If your baby is still small, the vegetable puree should be finely crushed and without pieces. If your baby has been eating complementary foods for a while, pureed vegetables may also become lumpy. Then you no longer have to puree the vegetables, you can mash them with a fork.
2. Cereal porridge and breast milk
A porridge of cereals and milk It is the classic porridge for the night. Instead of formula, it can be prepared with breast milk.
Ingredients:
- 200 ml of breast milk
- 20 g of baby cereal flakes or oat flakes (if oat flakes are used, they must be boiled in water until they are soft)
- 20 g unsweetened fruit puree (the best fruit to start with is apple)
Elaboration:
- It is best to start by mixing milk and cereal porridge with breast milk (cow’s milk should not be introduced until the first year of life).
- Mix with the fruit puree. Cereal flakes contain iron, which is better absorbed with the help of vitamin C from the fruit.
3. Fruit and cereal porridge
This is the typical porridge to give to the little ones at snack time.
Ingredients:
- 100 ml of water
- 20 g cereal flakes (preferably whole grains, for example oat flakes)
- 100 grams of fruit
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Elaboration:
- Wash the fruit well and cut it into small pieces.
- Briefly boil the fruit in a little water and then puree it.
- Boil the water and cereal flakes and let the porridge boil for three or four minutes.
- Finally mix the porridge with the fruit puree and oil.
What fruit is suitable for baby food?
In principle, all types that your baby tolerates are suitable. Apples, bananas, and ripe pears are classic baby fruits.
Low acidity varieties such as Apricots, blueberries, melon or peach are also easily digestible. Very acidic fruits, such as citrus fruits or kiwis, can irritate your child’s bottom. You have to carefully test the fruits that your baby tolerates.
When babies are prone to constipation, prunes can help. If your baby has loose stools, bananas are recommended. Grated apples are also a good remedy for diarrhea.
What vegetables are suitable for baby food?
Soft vegetables like carrot, pumpkin, parsnip or zucchini They are suitable even for the little ones.
At first, babies should not be given vegetables that are difficult to digest, such as eggplant, beans, peppers or cabbage.
What should be taken into account when eating vegetarian food?
If you feed your baby purely vegetarian food, the nutrients normally found in meat, such as iron, must be provided by other plant foods, because Deficiency of this mineral can not only cause anemia, but also affect the baby’s psychomotor development.
Therefore, the eating plan should include foods rich in iron such as whole grains (oat flakes, spelt…) and red lentils in combination with vegetables and fruits rich in iron. vitamin C, which enhances the absorption of plant iron.
Tips for making your own baby food
- Add a teaspoon of oil to each serving of baby food. It is necessary so that the baby’s digestive system can break down and absorb fat-soluble vitamins.
- You can mix extra virgin olive oil and a little linseed oil, that will provide omega-3.