A Week Of Easy And Healthy Toddler Breakfast Ideas

healthy toddler breakfast ideass

Looking for healthy toddler breakfast ideas? You are in the right place.

Breakfast is our favorite meals of the day. Both my husband and I try out new recipes from time to time in order to add more variety to our diet. Now that our son is growing up, we are definitely eating healthier than before and along the way, we have tried new recipes that have become family staples.

In today’s post, I cover a few of our favorite and healthy toddler breakfast ideas.

Toddler Breakfast Ideas

Healthy Toddler Breakfast Ideas

1. Oats porridge

healthy toddler breakfast ideas

A bowl of oats porridge in the morning has been a family staple for a long while now. We have oats porridge 2-3 times a week. To make the perfect porridge I recommend using instant oats.

Recipe for Oats Porridge

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup oats
  • 150 ml soymilk/almond milk/coconut milk/cow milk
  • Chopped fruit of your choice (we generally use bananas, berries, chikoo, and apples)

Instructions

  1. In a pot add the oats, fruit, and milk. Let it cook on a medium flame, occasionally stirring the mixture so that the porridge doesn’t stick to the sides and burn.
  2. Serve with toasted nuts and seeds or nut butter and fruit.

Featured ingredients and products

Avanchy bamboo wood bowl

Soy milk/Almond Milk

Oats

For more oats recipes for babies and toddlers read here.

2. Overnight oats

Soaking oats overnight breaks some of the phytic acid present in the oats and makes them easier to digest.

When I am running short of ingredients, I use readymade mixes like this one by True Elements.

Even if you forget to soak it overnight, you can simply pour in some milk in a bowl of the grain mix and leave it aside for 15 minutes in the morning.

Add in some chopped fruit, berries and nut butter and a delicious breakfast is ready. Toddlers love cold breakfasts like overnight oats, and it’s a great break in the routine.

overnight oats-healthy toddler breakfast ideas

Here is another variation of overnight oats we tried in the past.

This overnight oats recipe contains oats, almond milk, almond butter, chia seeds, banana, desiccated coconut, and hemp seeds.

3. Egg Muffins

Do you have a picky eater at home? Wondering how to make eggs for toddlers who are picky? Egg Muffins is your answer. This was an instant hit in our home.

This egg preparation looks appealing to little ones because it is shaped like a muffin. For mothers of picky eaters, it’s a sneaky way to add in veggies and make them taste delicious. Here is how to make these easy toddler breakfast muffins;

Recipe of Egg Muffins for toddlers

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 2-3 broccoli florets
  • ⅓ cup peas
  • ¼ cup cheese
  • Salt to taste
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. Whisk the eggs and add the vegetables, salt, and pepper to taste.
  2. To greased muffin tins add the egg and vegetable mix.
  3. Top with cheese and bake for 20 mins at 350°F/180°C.
  4. Makes 3-4 egg muffins.

Here is another high protein muffin recipe for kids.

egg muffins-breakfast muffins for toddler

4. Pancakes

We love pancakes in our home. I make them with a variety of whole grains and they turn out amazing each time. These are my favorite whole wheat and ragi (millet flour) pancakes. To get the recipe, check my recipe ebook with 36 easy snack recipes for toddlers. I usually pair the pancakes with fresh fruit and some nut butter either almond nut butter, peanut butter or homemade chocolate hazelnut spread.

breakfast ideas for 1 year olds

5. Barley porridge (Sheera)

Sheera is an Indian porridge usually made during auspicious occasions. Semolina is generally used to make sheera, but you can also use barley to make the dish more nutritious.

How to make barley porridge

  1. Roast the barley (½ cup) in 2 tbsp of ghee until an aromatic fragrance is released. Add a cup of milk to the barley.
  2. For sweetness add 1 tbsp jaggery powder or sugar and keep mixing into the porridge until well combined. You may add cardamom pods for fragrance too. It usually takes 5-7 minutes to cook to a thick porridge-like consistency.
toddler breakfast ideas

Here is the recipe for semolina porridge.

6. Carrot and peas paniyaram

Do give this Indian toddler breakfast recipe a try. It requires prior prep but is quick to make on busy mornings.

To make paniyarams start with regular dosa batter. You will also need a paniyaram pan.

In your regular dosa batter add some salt, peas, and carrots. Cook in paniyaram pan for about 2 minutes on each side. Serve with coconut chutney.

breakfast recipes for 1 year old indian baby

7. Gram flour pancake (Chilla)

Another easy peasy Indian toddler breakfast idea is gram flour pancakes or chilla as we call it in Hindi. Gram flour is very nutritious for babies and toddlers. It is a high iron food and easy flour to work with to make a variety of savory pancakes for toddlers.

To make a gram flour pancakes you need:

Ingredients

  • ½ cup gram flour
  • 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
  • ¼ tsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp cumin powder
  • ½ onion finely chopped
  • ½ tomato finely chopped
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 cup Water

Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients together until a smooth batter is made.
  2. Pour out 2-3 spoonful’s of batter on a hot pan and make the pancakes. It takes about 2 minutes to cook on each side.
  3. Serve with homemade pickle and green chutney.
Protein breakfast for toddlers -plant based breast fast for kids

You can make many variations of besan chilla, i.e. by adding more tomatoes you get tomato chilla.

To make an egg chilla, whisk in one egg to the above batter mix and you get egg chilla.

For more ideas on what to feed toddlers, here is an older post on What my toddler eats in a week and one on breakfast ideas for babies.

If you are looking for more easy recipes check out my ebook The Easy Toddler Snack Book, which contains many yummy recipes that can be used for breakfast like granola bars, frittata, pancakes, smoothie bowls, smoothies and more.

What are some of your favorite toddler breakfast ideas? Do leave me with your family’s favorite recipes in the comments section below.

How To Quickly Relieve A Constipated Baby

remedies for constipation in babies

Are you wondering if you have a constipated baby on hand?

The one thing no one tells you about being a new parent is how much you will obsess over baby poop.

Most new parents are freaked out about the slightest irregularity in the babies bowel movement.

If you are looking for remedies for constipation in babies, you are at the right place. Read on, to find out how to relieve a constipated baby.

home remedies for constipation in babies-constipated baby

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CONSTIPATED BABY

 Normal bowel movements are different for each child.

In the first month, infants tend to have one bowel movement a day. Constipation in breastfed babies is uncommon.  After the first month, babies can go a few days or even a week between bowel movements. Formula fed babies can have 3-4 bowel movements a day or a bowel movement every few days.

Since their abdominal muscles are weak the baby may have difficulty passing stools at this stage. Babies tend to strain, cry, and get red in the face when they have a bowel movement. This does not mean they are constipated. It is important to note that as long as bowel movements are soft, the frequency should not matter.[Source]

In most cases, if the baby is passing infrequent stools that are hard and dry then the baby is constipated.

Some of the first signs of a constipated baby are,

  1. Baby is visibly uncomfortable, and cranky when trying to pass stools
  2. Hard and dry stools
  3. Bloated or swollen belly
  4. Blood in the stool (a sign that the child is straining too hard.)

REASONS FOR CONSTIPATION IN BABIES

  1. Change in the type of formula or switched from breastmilk to formula
  2. Started solid foods
  3. Introduced to travel or new and potentially stressful situations for baby. In stressful situations, the baby may learn how to hold poop in.

Related reading: Natural Remedies To Treat Cold And Cough In Babies

HOW TO RELIEVE CONSTIPATION IN BABIES QUICKLY

1. Change the formula/or your diet if breastfeeding

Though it is rare that babies on an all liquid diet suffer from constipation, exclusively formula fed babies may suffer from constipation. In this case, talk with your pediatrician and look for an alternate formula for the baby.

In the case of breastfed babies suffering from constipation, the mom can consider changing her diet to check for any change in babies bowel movements.

Removing dairy from mothers diet can help since excessive dairy consumption is known to cause constipation. And if this is passing through milk to baby maybe it is causing baby some discomfort.

2. Baby exercise

Try the cycle legs exercise. For babies that are not yet walking, try keeping baby on back and moving his legs in the cycling position.

3. Baby massage

A gentle massage on babies tummy moving the palm of your hand in the clockwise direction can help ease some of the bloating the baby is feeling and get bowel movements started.

4. Warm bath

Sometimes a warm bath followed by tummy massage can help baby feel less bloated and restart bowel movements.

5. Increase fluid intake

Increase water and breast milk intake. Be careful when offering water that you don’t fill the baby on water and displace breastmilk. A few sips of water every few hours can help baby stay hydrated and ease bowel movements.

Remember water and solid foods are to be offered only after completing 6 months of age. The WHO recommends babies be exclusively breastfed or formula fed the first 6 months of life.

For babies above 6 months of age, you can give a little pear juice or prune juice. Once again be careful not to fill baby up on juices. Limit juices to 60 ml-120 ml a day. [source]

6. Foods that relieve constipation in babies

Certain high fiber foods can help relieve constipation in babies above 6 months of age.

Example:

  1. Prunes: Can be offered as a puree.
  2. Raisins: Can be offered as a puree too. If the baby is good with a pincer grasp and self-feeding then raisins can be offered as finger foods too. Take care to slice the raisins vertically in halves or to mash them and then offer.
  3. Whole wheat pasta
  4. Brown rice
  5. Beans: Mash the beans and offer the baby.
  6. Broccoli: Steamed broccoli florets as a finger food or broccoli puree can be offered to baby.
  7. Pears: Steamed pear slices, pear puree or thick pear juice can be offered to baby.
  8. Oats: Make a simple oats porridge for baby.
  9. Green peas: Green peas can be offered as a soup, puree, green pea fritters or simply by mashing individual green peas and offering as finger food.

Avoid offering too much bread, white pasta, applesauce, rice cereal. All these foods are low in fiber and can cause constipation. For a more detailed look at foods that relieve constipation in babies and toddlers, read this post of mine.

When all these options do not work, and it’s been more than 8 -10  days that baby has passed a motion, you may want to talk with your pediatrician to see if further medical help is needed. Until then, do not stress continue giving baby lots of exercise, massage, and fiber-rich foods.

Do you know of home remedies for constipation in babies? Leave me a comment with what remedies worked for your baby.

Ragi Pancakes: Ragi Recipes For Babies And Toddlers

Ragi Pancakes - Baby led weaning Indian food recipes

Ragi (Finger Millet) is a revered first food for babies in India. Our food culture has many ragi recipes for babies. From ragi porridge to ragi malt-based drinks, this nutritious millet can be incorporated in a variety of ways into the baby’s diet. Among the many ragi flour recipes for babies are these ragi pancakes.

Even if you follow baby-led weaning you can still include the goodness of ragi nutrition through pancakes. These pancakes are easy baby-led weaning finger foods that can be made for breakfast or packed for travel.

CAN RAGI BE GIVEN TO BABIES DAILY?

Ragi (finger millet) is ideally suited for babies because it is easy to digest, and rich in iron and calcium.

Yes, you can give ragi to baby daily, even so, it is best to avoid too much of one food and instead create exposures to a wide variety of foods early on and ensure that the child is getting nutrients from varied sources of foods.

You can include ragi based first foods 2-3 times a week in varied dishes like porridge, dosa, idli, pancake and other times include other nutritious foods.

Related reading:

Baby-led weaning breakfast ideas

Why millets are good for baby

RAGI PANCAKES: RAGI RECIPE FOR BABY

I love experimenting with ragi flour recipes, be it in different types of ragi porridges or quick meals like pancakes.

Recently I paired ragi flour with jav flour (barley flour) to make these delicious pancakes. This ragi pancake combination is rich in both iron and calcium and super healthy for growing children.

When serving these ragi pancakes to babies under 1,  steer clear of adding any maple syrup or other sweetening agents like honey and jaggery.

Additionally, I serve with some type of natural nut butter like almond butter or cashew butter to boost the healthy fats on the child’s plate.

This ragi pancake is ideal as:

Breakfast

Snack

Travel-friendly snack for toddlers

Baby-led weaning finger food

It is extremely easy to build pancakes using whole grain flours and children love them too.

In my new ebook – The Easy Toddler Snack Book I show you how to build pancakes using ragi flour, oat flour, whole wheat flour, and amaranth flour.

The ebook contains these pancake recipes plus many more easy and healthy snacks like energy bars, energy balls, puddings, smoothies, and patties. 

These are recipes we enjoy together with our son as a family and have helped us shift to a more Whole Foods focussed diet at home. 

Ragi Pancake - baby led weaning finger foods

RAGI PANCAKES: BABY LED WEANING INDIAN RECIPES

This pancake is one of the more easily accepted ragi recipes for kids. Young or old most kids won’t notice any difference in the taste and enjoy the combination of the wholesome pancake teamed with honey and creamy nut butter.

If you are wondering how to make ragi pancakes for babies, read on.

Ragi pancakes - weaning foods for Indian babies

Ragi Pancake

Ragi pancake recipe without egg. Vegan
5 from 3 votes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Indian
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 4 tbsp Ragi flour
  • 2 tbsp Jav (barley) flour
  • 1/2 cup Coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp Almond flour
  • 1 tsp Flaxseed powder

Instructions
 

  • Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add the coconut milk (just enough to cover the ingredients)
  • Mix well to remove all lumps.
  • Set the batter aside for 20 minutes. (The flaxseed powder works as an egg replacement and helps the pancake rise.)
  • On a hot pan add oil evenly to cover the surface. Then scoop out small circle shaped batter on the pan and let each side cook for about 5 minutes.
  • Serve with maple syrup and cashew butter.

Notes

Substitutions: 
  1. You can replace the barley flour with wheat or oat flour.
  2. Use any milk you like. We liked the flavor of these pancakes with coconut milk and almond milk the best.
  3. You can pair the pancakes with any nut butter you have on hand – peanut butter, almond butter, or homemade Nutella
Keyword baby led weaning foods, baby led weaning snacks, first foods, toddler snack ideas

Have you tried adding ragi flour to a pancake mix?

Do you have other interesting ragi flour recipes of your own? Do leave us a comment below with your ragi recipes for kids. All of us can learn and try something new.

For more ragi recipes for babies, follow me on Instagram where I post about healthy meals for kids and family regularly. Until next time, Ciao!

Baby Led Weaning Food Ideas For Busy Moms

baby led weaning food ideas

As busy moms, there may not be enough time to make meals from scratch every single day. At the same time, you don’t want to be serving up processed food from tins and jars just to keep the baby fed. These baby led weaning food ideas are meant for moms like you, who don’t want to compromise on nutrition even on those busy days.

Sometimes you are too tired or lazy to cook an entire meal. That’s okay, you deserve a break too. Or maybe you want to enjoy some takeout from your favorite restaurant. Whatever the reason, your baby can still have a good home cooked meal without you taking too much trouble.

All of these ideas are suited for babies 6 to 12 months of age. For similar inspiration, on toddler meal ideas you can check my post on weekly meals my toddler eats.

Before I get into the baby food ideas, I want to add here that your house needs to be stocked with basic groceries in order to quickly whip up some of these meals. A few basic items to always stock in your pantry are;

  1. Lentils (Dals)
  2. Rice
  3. Pasta
  4. Onions, tomatoes, potatoes
  5. Quinoa
  6. Foods to help boost nutrition on any plate and easy for baby to eat–bananas, avocados, nut butter, and eggs.

baby led weaning food ideas

BABY LED WEANING FOOD IDEAS FOR BUSY MOMS

Healthy baby food Idea 1

Dal rice khichdi: Served as fist-sized balls for 6-12-month-olds. To add more color to the plate you can quickly steam whatever vegetables are available in your fridge. Pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower. This won’t take more than 30 minutes to whip up, even lesser if you already batch cooked dal and stored in the fridge.

Healthy baby food Idea 2

Breakfast for lunch: No time to cook, no worry just make a yummy breakfast porridge for lunch. A mommy trick to make plain old boring porridge yummy and nutritious is by adding your child’s favorite fruits, like berries, mango, figs. And to make it healthy add nut butter, roasted flaxseed powder, and hemp seeds.

Some of the porridge flavors that are favorites in our home;

  1. Oats Porridge cooked with berries and topped with almond butter, and flaxseed powder.
  2.  Oats Porridge cooked with bananas and topped with hemp seeds, peanut butter, and flaxseed powder.
  3. Oats porridge with apple, cinnamon, and flaxseed powder.

Get more oats porridge recipes for babies here.

Healthy baby food  Idea 3

Baby led weaning-friendly pasta: Sautee onions and tomatoes in butter or oil. Then add cooked pasta to this and mix well. Season with salt-free oregano flakes.

Pasta is best suited for babies 8 – 9 months and up, and one of the easiest finger foods you can offer.

Healthy baby food  Idea 4

Pancakes for baby: Pancakes are easy to offer the baby when in a rush. I keep a wheat and ragi flour mix ready in an airtight container and add a banana to the pancake batter as a natural sweetener. For more pancake recipes you can check my post on baby led weaning breakfast ideas. Serve with nut butter or regular salt-free butter.

Ragi pancakes for baby led weaning.

Healthy baby food Idea 5

Quinoa egg omelet: If you have leftover cooked quinoa give these quinoa fingers a try. These are an amazing finger food for babies. Best suited for babies 9 months and up.

Start by whisking 1-2 egg yolks in a bowl. Pour this egg yolk mixture in a pan and let it cook for a half a minute. Quickly follow this step by adding cooked quinoa and mixing it evenly in the egg mixture. Once the quinoa is coated, cover the pan and let this cook for 5 minutes. The end result should look like a quinoa and egg omelet. Cut into finger sized pieces and serve. It’s a complete meal that doesn’t compromise much on the nutrients and tastes yummy.

Healthy baby food Idea 6

Build a plate with Leftovers: There have been days when we are running out of groceries and I literally use whatever I find in my fridge and pantry to make a meal.

Examples of how to prepare these individual elements to help build a plate.

Eggs – make scrambled eggs, boiled egg, egg omelette add veggies like spinach to the omelette.

Avocado – slice into pieces, make a guacamole, or baked avocado fingers.

Pasta – plain boiled pasta, drizzle a little olive oil or coconut oil.

Fruit – to be served on the side

Sweet potato – bake or boil

Taro root– bake or boil

Cooked beans – smush and serve as a side

Leftover boiled dal – Dal can be cooked in batches and stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. Use this boiled dal to make dal balls.

Veggies – any leftover veggies can be steamed or roasted in the oven and offered as a side.

Leftover boiled chicken or fish pieces – can be shredded and served as a side on the baby plate.

Boiled potato – can be stored in the fridge and can be used as a side or to make a quick potato chicken patty or potato salad for lunch.

Homemade yogurt – as a side

Here are a few examples of “build a plate” lunches made out of random ingredients from the pantry or leftovers.

  1. Brocolli florets, rice, sweet potato
  2. Sweet potato and avocado
  3. Dalia (sprouted/broken wheat porridge and sweet potato)
  4. Beans (cooked until soft and mushy) and rice
  5. Scrambled egg yolk, the fruit of the day,
  6. Slices of avocado, boiled egg (egg yolks for babies under 1), cooked quinoa.

So the next time you are wondering what food to offer your baby on a lazy/busy day head to this post for ideas. Even better, jot down these ideas on a piece of paper and stick it up on the fridge. No matter how simple these baby-led weaning food ideas sound, I know from experience there are days you are staring at the fridge which does contain options to use and yet you think you have nothing to feed the baby.

What are some of your lazy day go-to baby-led weaning food ideas to offer your baby? Do comment below.

Baby Led Weaning Finger Foods On The Go

baby led weaning finger foods ideas

When you first start baby led weaning it’s a huge learning curve for the baby and you. There is so much to be figured out in terms of meal timings, meal ideas, and nutrition for baby. Going out with a baby is tricky in those early baby led weaning days. Here is a list of baby led weaning finger foods for when you are on the go.

Hopefully, these ideas will help you navigate the initial months of baby led weaning when your baby is still learning how to eat.

BABY LED WEANING MEAL SCHEDULE (6-12 months)

This is what we did;

1 meal a day at 6 months,

2 meals at 7 – 8 months

3 meals at 9-10 months

4 meals at 11 months

and finally 5 meals a day at 12 months (3 meals and 2 snacks)

Now, there are families that jump right into 3 meals a day at 6 months and add meals every month at a faster pace compared to the route we followed. Feel free to choose a schedule you are most comfortable with.

The WHO recommends breastfeeding on demand for 2 years and beyond along with;

2–3 meals per day for infants 6–8 months of age

3–4 meals per day for infants 9–23 months of age plus 1–2 additional snacks as required;

The entire idea is to add complementary solid foods gradually alongside breastmilk/formula.

BABY LED WEANING GEAR WE USED ON THE GO

In case you are wondering, how do we serve homemade baby food on the go? read on.

We always travel with a booster seat in the car. You can read more here about why I selected these baby led weaning essentials.

In my diaper bag, I pack lots of;

  1. wet wipes
  2. organic cotton cloth napkins
  3. crumb catching bibs
  4. ziplock bag (to collect all the food messes neatly in the bag once he is done eating)
  5. sippy cup

These essentials help me easily offer finger food to baby on the go. For more on how to pack a diaper bag, read here.

baby led weaning finger foods

BABY LED WEANING  FINGER FOODS IDEAS (6-9 months)

When we first started complementary feeding, I planned my time outside the house around meal times. We would make it a point that we feed baby solids before stepping out so that outside the house it was convenient to simply breastfeed.

However, there were situations when we needed to be out for longer than 2- 4 hours. For such trips I carried the following finger foods for baby;

  1. Steamed veggies like broccoli or cauliflower
  2. Boiled/Baked sweet potato
  3. Baked potato fries
  4. Patty made with potatoes and veggies cut into rectangular pieces packed in an airtight container. Here are quick lentil patty recipe for babies,  chicken patty for babies, and chickpea patties for babies.
  5. Food pouches – these reusable pouches can be used to carry homemade oat porridge or dal khichdi on the go.
  6. Oat Pancakes
  7. Ragi Pancakes
  8. Theplas
  9. Parathas – Keep the ratio of potatoes more compared to the wheat flour for younger babies to be able to easily bite into.
  10. Fruit – steamed apples, pears, oranges, sweet lime, bananas, and watermelon are all travel-friendly. Prep them before leaving and pack them in an airtight container.
  11. Avocado slices – to make the avocado slices non-slippery, dip them in shredded coconut or roasted ground flaxseed powder.

BABY LED WEANING FINGER FOODS IDEAS (9-12 months)

With the development of the pincer grasp and advanced chewing skills, you can now carry more food options for baby when you hit the road. Include all the above-recommended ideas plus the following finger food for babies 9-12 months old;

12. Homemade cottage cheese.  – Sauteed and cut into finger-length pieces. If you have a family history of dairy allergies talk with your doctor before you start baby on cheese.

13. Pasta

14. Boiled or Baked taro/sweet potato

15. Wheat and ragi pancakes

16. Protein pancakes for babies

17. Quinoa egg fingers – cook an egg omelet and add cooked quinoa to it. Stir and mix quinoa into the egg mix as it cooks. Place a lid on the pan so that the egg cooks completely. When the omelet is ready, cut it into finger-shaped strips.

18. Idli (Steamed rice cakes)

19. Uttapam

20. Dosa

21. Thalipeeth – Make a thalipeeth flour for baby sans the spices, only using coriander powder

22. Homemade Muffins

23. Gram flour (besan) pancakes

24. Boiled peas – always smush the peas and serve

25. Fruits like blueberries and raspberries that are cut appropriately for babies.

26. Chappati with ghee or nut butter

27. Homemade hummus with falafel balls

28. Homemade baby friendly cookies

29. Homemade waffles with nut butter – carry the waffle and nut butter in separate containers.

30. Boiled egg – If an egg is tolerated well, you can start carrying boiled eggs on trips outside the house. Talk to your doctor about when and how to start eggs for babies.

For more baby led weaning snacks ideas and recipes you can buy The Easy Toddler Snack Book. The book contains our favorite snack recipes for 6 months to 99 years.

These recipes are built using Whole Foods ingredients, you can modify them for baby led weaning by skipping the salt and honey.

I made sure to include healthy wholesome ingredients that can fill in the nutritional gaps as children enter the picky eating toddler years. 

baby led weaning finger foods- baby led weaning food ideas

For the first year, it is best to stick to homemade and natural foods, without processed ingredients and added sugars.

There is a lifetime for your baby to try restaurant foods and packaged snacks. Focus on introducing wholesome and home-cooked meals in the first year. Thereafter, gradually you can introduce other family favorite foods to the baby.

Always keep in mind young babies need a lot of vital nutrients for their proper growth and development.

Use this phase as a chance for your family to eat healthier and share in the joy of healthy meals.

RELATED POSTS ON BABY LED WEANING

Baby led weaning first foods: What to offer?

7 Baby Led Weaning Benefits No One Tells You About

5 Baby Led Weaning Tips For Success

6 Healthy Baby Led Weaning Lunch Ideas

Baby Led Weaning Food Ideas For Busy Moms

Baby-led Weaning On Vacation (Part 1)

Baby-led Weaning On Vacation (Part 2)

Baby Led Weaning Breakfast Ideas

Hopefully, these baby led weaning finger foods ideas can help as you pack your diaper bag for your next outing with baby.

7 Baby Led Weaning Benefits No One Tells You About

baby led weaning benefits

If you have been following my blog for a while, you know my family has experienced baby led weaning benefits firsthand. Today my son is a confident and independent eater because of baby led weaning.

In this post I wanted to focus on some of the baby led weaning benefits no one really talks about much on parenting forums. These benefits are in tune with the responsive eating style and set your child for weaning success.

To begin, let’s first talk about readiness for solids;

READINESS SIGNS TO START BABY LED WEANING

It is important to note that the WHO recommends that all babies have breastmilk/formula exclusively for the first six months of life.

Besides this there are a couple of baby led weaning readiness signs to look for in order to start baby led weaning without any hiccups;

  1. the baby is able to sit up on his own (at least for 10 secs). This is to ensure strong truck control to start on finger foods.
  2. has lost tongue thrust.
  3. is showing interest in food and making a grab for it
  4. is mouthing toys

By six months of age developmentally most babies are already showing these signs which means they are ready for solids.

I know when you are first learning about baby led weaning, there is a lot of information to cover. I hope this article helps those on the fence about this weaning route. Ultimately you need to decide based on your specific family needs and lifestyle.

BABY LED WEANING BENEFITS

  1. Freedom from elaborate food preparations especially for baby

No more purees, soups or other special foods for baby. Surprisingly many second time moms go the baby led weaning route because they no longer have the time and patience to make elaborate baby food preparations. At the same time, they don’t want to open up baby food jars. If you are in a similar dilemma and don’t have time and support systems to help you through this phase, baby led weaning can be the answer.

Baby led weaning offers baby an opportunity to taste foods in the whole form. It also increases the chances of baby eating home cooked meals over processed baby food and gives mommies the freedom they need in the kitchen. It is much easier to serve the baby family foods. If you have doubts on how to prepare baby led weaning appropriate foods and include the baby in family meals, I have a post explaining how to get started and what to offer a baby led weaning child.

  1. Exposure to varied textures and different foods

Baby led weaning exposes babies from the beginning to a wide variety of textures and flavor profiles. The baby touches and holds different foods which provide much needed sensory feedback and aid in better acceptance of new foods.

Most baby led weaning proponents will tell you their children are adventurous eaters. There is no fussy eating at the table because children have developed a wider taste and texture based palate.

  1. Responsive style of feeding

Though research on baby led weaning is limited, it is commonly found that most baby led weaning mothers follow a responsive style of feeding. This style is one that most scientists and doctors recommend for a successful transition of children to healthy eating habits.

In responsive feeding, infant hunger and satiety are given importance over portion sizes and quantity of food eaten. Parents are recommended to be patient and encouraging at the table rather than force feed set amounts of food. Responsive feeding also recommends experimenting with different foods, combinations, tastes, and textures.

Baby led weaning primarily focuses on all the above tenants as a part of its framework. – Providing family foods, a wide variety of foods, encouraging self-feeding and no pressure at the table.

A study found that baby led weaning mothers adopted a more responsive feeding style compared to traditional approach. Thus laying a strong foundation for future healthy eating habits.

 

baby led weaning benefits

  1. Healthy weight gain

Young infants are more in tune with their hunger and posses appetite regulation skills. Baby led weaning helps the child to understand his own appetite and allows the child to feed in response to hunger. This key skill once learned allows for a steady weight gain throughout childhood and lowers the risk of being overweight.

  1. Developing motor skills

Self-feeding requires a lot of skill. Think about it, the baby needs to locate the food on his table with his eyes, pick the food in palmer grasp or pincer grasp skillfully so as not to let it slip, bring to mouth and then feed.

These complex set of actions are learned quickly by our little ones given the chance to explore food on their own. Imagine the type of feedback to the brain if a child does this from the beginning of their weaning journey. This type of interaction with food, though messy and clumsy looking impacts their motor skills and brain development deeply.

  1. Cognitive development

I have already mentioned in a previous blog post how messy eating positively impacts language development. Why invest in elaborate sensory play activities when you can provide this in the form of interaction with food at meal times. Both sensory play and baby led weaning benefits brain development in a similar way.

  1. Independence and confidence

Lastly, a point that is missing on this subject in most articles talking about baby led benefits. The process of baby led weaning helps make children independent and confident eaters. The confidence your child develops as he learns to eat on his own and successfully at that is amazing to watch as a parent.

As your child navigates through the different combinations of foods, textures, and flavors he develops his own unique style of eating and tackling each course of the meal.

He begins to learn when to stop eating when to ask for more, and request how he likes some foods.

He slowly gains confidence in understanding his own appetite and eating style through the independence baby led weaning provides. All these seemingly simple learnings are key to setting lifelong healthy eating habits.

I have observed most of these baby led weaning benefits through our weaning journey. I am sure there were a few points here that you may not have associated with baby led weaning. But all of these together contribute to an all-round love for eating and healthy habits from the beginning.

Did you notice these benefits of baby led weaning with your child?

If you are a new mom planning your weaning journey I hope this post helps you understand baby led weaning and its benefits better.  There are many articles on this blog to help you begin.

Related Posts:

Baby led weaning guide for the Indian mother

Baby led weaning breakfast ideas

Baby led weaning first foods

Baby led weaning on vacation part 1

Baby led weaning on vacation part 2

Take a moment to search for topics under the baby led weaning tag. Do leave me a comment below if you have any doubts, I am always here to answer your queries.

Pediatric Nutrition Consultant | FOUNDER & EDITOR AT EASYMOMMYLIFE.COM

I’m a mom to two by day and the Editor-in-Chief of Easy Mommy Life by night. This blog is where evidence-based child nutrition meets the wonderfully messy reality of everyday family life.

Here, you’ll find practical guidance on picky eating, balanced meals, healthy kid-friendly recipes, and research-backed parenting advice - all created to help modern parents make confident choices without adding more stress to their already busy lives.

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