Mango is a sweet and nutritious first food option for babies. Its flavor is sweet and mild and texture easy to manage for infants. In this post you will get the recipe for an easy mango puree for babies 6 months and older.
MANGO PUREE FOR BABIES | 6 MONTHS +
Easy Mango Puree For Babies | 6 Months +
Quick and easy mango puree for babies that are also freezer friendly. Get recipe here.
In a blender blend the mango pieces with a splash of milk/breastmilk/formula milk to get a puree like consistency.
Serve as is or along with a side of yogurt to add more protein and healthy fat to the meal.
Notes
If you don’t have access to fresh mangoes, you can also use frozen mango cubes.For babies under 1 use breastmilk or formula milk.
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HOW TO STORE
Store the mango puree in an airtight container for upto 2 days in the fridge.
Or you can freeze it in ice trays for upto 10-15 days. To use, thaw the mango puree ice cubes and then serve baby when its slightly chilled and not too freezing cold.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is mango puree good for babies?
Mangoes are a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, folate and fiber.
Besides that they are sweet in flavor making them an easily acceptable baby food.
What to mix with mango puree for babies?
You can mix a little formula milk or breast milk for babies to get the right consistency. For babies above 1 you can add a little whole cows milk when making the puree to get a creamy consistency.
Is mango easy to digest for babies?
Ripe mangoes are the right texture and consistency to offer babies and easy for baby to digest. You can offer ripe mango pieces as is or in puree form to baby.
How to use mango puree for babies?
Offer mango puree as is to baby 6 months and older or add to yogurt for a mango yogurt snack or breakfast.
You can also make mango popsicles for babies by freezing the mango puree in popsicle molds. Or make mango yogurt bark for teething babies as a teething food.
Mango puree can also be added to baby porridge or pancakes for a mild and refreshing fruity flavor.
Blueberries are a popular favorite among babies and toddlers alike. They are sweet, easy to serve and so healthy for babies. One of the ways you can offer blueberries to a baby can be in this blueberry ice cream form.
I served this to my son as a teething food or at times as a quick low-prep snack. He absolutely loves this homemade blueberry ice cream and asks for it often when he is in the mood for something cold.
The recipe for this blueberry ice cream for babies is specially designed to be easy, dairy-free, and hassle-free. You won’t believe how good it tastes even with no milk or cream in it.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM
Blueberries are antioxidant-rich foods that protect the body from free radical damage.
They are good for brain functioning and memory.
Eating blueberries regularly can reduce oxidative stress and damage to brain cells helping preserve brain function.
Blueberries also contain certain B vitamins, manganese, and copper, all of which are important for growing children.
Let us look at this quick and easy blueberry ice cream recipe for kids
HOMEMADE BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM FOR BABIES, TODDLERS AND OLDER KIDS
This is a quick and healthy blueberry ice cream for babies, toddlers, and older kids. Contains no dairy, and no added sugars and is packed with all the goodness of blueberries.
The rich color and creamy texture make it a decadent dessert or snack option that kids of all ages can enjoy.
Peel bananas, cut them into 1-inch pieces, and freeze them in ziplock bags.
Once the bananas are frozen add the bananas, blueberries, and a splash of soy milk in the blender and blitz.
Depending on the strength of your blender, you may need to stop intermittantly between blending, open the blender, mix the ice cream to allow for even consistency to form.
Keep blending until ice cream consistency is achieved.
Notes
Note :
For older kids, you can add a teaspoon of maple syrup or honey for sweetness.
2. You can also add toppings of your choice for children over 1, some ideas are almond flakes, sprinkles, chocolate chips, or desiccated coconut.3. You can use both fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe.
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Try this homemade blueberry ice cream for babies and toddlers and tell me how your child likes it. Don’t forget to leave a rating on the recipe, your experience trying the recipe can help other parents too.
Frozen yogurt bar has been a favorite snack of our child for a while now. Hot summer days are even more fun when there is some frozen yogurt bark in the freezer. I am going to share one of my go-to yogurt bark recipes that will bring a big smile to your children’s faces.
STRAWBERRY FROZEN YOGURT BARK FOR KIDS
It includes two ingredients that most children love, strawberries and Greek yogurt.
Yogurt bark is easy to make and prep as a snack option in your meal plan for the week.
I even make yogurt bark with my son as a mother-son bonding activity. He loves mixing the ingredients in a bowl and spreading the yogurt on baking sheets and adding his favorite toppings.
This yogurt bark recipe is customizable to your needs, you can make it as sweet as you like and make a number of flavor combinations be it strawberry yogurt bark, peanut butter-chocolate yogurt bark, rose and pistachio yogurt bark (we made this for Diwali and it turned out amazing!)
If you have a child who does not like milk, yogurt bark could be another way to build exposures to dairy. Instead of forcing children to drink milk, shift focus on cooking with milk or introducing other dairy products to meet their calcium requirements.
Most children enjoy frozen treats and don’t even notice the ingredients when it tastes so yummy.
Frozen yogurt bark as a Valentine’s treat for children.
How to make frozen yogurt bark for kids? Let’s take a look.
Strawberry Frozen Yogurt Bark For Kids
Make ahead snack idea for babies, toddlers and older kids. This frozen yogurt bark contains strawberry and greek yogurt.
In a mixing bowl mix the greek yogurt, strawberry puree and honey.
Spread on a thin baking sheet.
Add toppings of your choice. I used chocolate chips, roasted pistachio pieces and chopped strawberries.
Freeze for 4-5 hours.
Cut and enjoy.
Notes
Store in Ziploc bags in the freezer as a make ahead snack.For babies under 1, skip honey and use toppings of fresh fruits instead of chocolate chips and chopped nuts.
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WAYS TO INCORPORATE FROZEN YOGURT BARK IN YOUR FAMILY MEAL PLAN
Frozen Yogurt bark is also the best teething food for babies and toddlers. It’s made of Whole Foods, is soothing to the gums and nutritious at the same time. Make sure to keep the ingredients simple when making yogurt bark for babies with no added honey.
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.
Healthy Toddler Breakfast Ideas
1. Oats porridge
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
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.
Serve with toasted nuts and seeds or nut butter and fruit.
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.
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
Whisk the eggs and add the vegetables, salt, and pepper to taste.
To greased muffin tins add the egg and vegetable mix.
Top with cheese and bake for 20 mins at 350°F/180°C.
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.
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
Roast the barley (½ cup) in 2 tbsp of ghee until an aromatic fragrance is released. Add a cup of milk to the barley.
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.
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.
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
Mix all the ingredients together until a smooth batter is made.
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.
Serve with homemade pickle and green chutney.
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.
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.
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;
Lentils (Dals)
Rice
Pasta
Onions, tomatoes, potatoes
Quinoa
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 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;
Oats Porridge cooked with berries and topped with almond butter, and flaxseed powder.
Oats Porridge cooked with bananas and topped with hemp seeds, peanut butter, and flaxseed powder.
Oats porridge with apple, cinnamon, and flaxseed powder.
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.
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.
scrambled eggs, banana, peanut butter
broken wheat porridge, sweet potato
sweet potato and avocado
avocado, hard boiled eggs and quinoa
Brocolli florets, rice, sweet potato
Sweet potato and avocado
Dalia (sprouted/broken wheat porridge and sweet potato)
Beans (cooked until soft and mushy) and rice
Scrambled egg yolk, the fruit of the day,
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.
When we first started baby led weaning, I felt a little lost coming up with baby-friendly baby led weaning lunch ideas every day.
Like any new mother starting the weaning process I too was concerned about how to introduce a wide variety of flavors and foods to the baby and serve up a nutritious meal every time.
Over a period of time with some trial and error, both my husband and I were able to have a consistent set of nutritious meals for lunch (these ideas are suited for dinner too). All of these ideas are baby led weaning friendly and healthy.
Isn’t it amazing how much our children teach us? If it weren’t for the baby led weaning rule – baby eats what family eats we would have never put so much thought into what we eat. This modification of family diet to healthier meals is an added benefit of baby led weaning.
These are ideas for 6 months until 12 months. 12 months onwards you can modify the spice level in the food (based on your toddler’s preference) and add more variety and textures of food.
BABY LED WEANING LUNCH IDEAS
1. Indian Meals
A typical Indian lunch plate consists of;
A) rice and dal – made into balls for baby to easily hold in palms and self-feed.
B) A vegetarian dish – When making vegetables the Indian way, use milder spices for baby like turmeric, cumin powder, and coriander powder. Add a tadka in ghee and chop the vegetable into bigger chunks so that baby can easily pick the individual pieces and self-feed. Note: Always check that the cooked vegetable is soft enough to be smushed between two fingers. Do not offer raw vegetables to babies.
C) Chapati (whole wheat Indian flatbread) – spread some ghee/coconut oil and serve in long finger size strips. Ensure that you serve soft phulka like chappati to babies with no teeth. Check my post on baby led weaning first foods for picture depictions of Indian meals for baby led weaning.
2. Pasta
Whole wheat pasta, quinoa pasta, chickpea pasta are all great options for a baby led weaning friendly family meal. You can make any pasta sauce of your choice modified for no salt and no sugar for babies under 12 months. When making pasta in a cheese sauce, choose cheeses that are natural and contain lower salt content.
We personally steered clear of cheese based dishes for the first year as it was harder to find options that contained minimal salt.
Here are 3 easy baby led weaning friendly pasta meals
Pesto pasta: To make the Pesto sauce, blitz 1 handful of soaked almonds, 7-10 basil leaves, 1- 2 garlic pods until the sauce is nice and smooth adding a little olive oil and water to help make it smoother. Once ready mix this sauce with cooked pasta. Pesto pasta for baby is ready.
Pasta in tomato sauce: I use this recipe to add our favorite veggies like peas and broccoli to a pasta dish. In the early months of baby led weaning smush the peas for baby when you serve. To make the tomato sauce sautee 2 garlic pods in olive oil, add 4 finely chopped tomatoes and cook until they release the juices and become soft in texture. Add in the steamed veggies and combine everything until the veggies are coated in the tomato sauce. Once done add the cooked pasta, mix and serve.
Avocado pasta: This is so easy to make its almost cheating to call it cooking a meal. All I do is mash a ripe avocado until it’s a smooth sauce like consistency and mix cooked fusilli pasta with this sauce. That’s it, simple and nutritious pasta for a baby to self-feed.
Pesto pasta
Tomato sauce pasta
Avocado pasta
3. Paratha
This stuffed Indian flatbread is an amazing finger food option. Increase the ratio of potatoes to wheat flour in order to make the paratha soft for baby’s gums. You can even stuff the paratha with vegetables like spinach, broccoli or cottage cheese to increase the nutrient density and make it a more complete meal.
4. Dal Khichdi
This rice and lentil dish is ideal for babies. It’s easy to digest and highly nutritious. Add finely chopped veggies like bottle gourd, peas, and grated carrot to add some flavor and extra nutrients to the meal. Cook the khichdi to a thick texture so that you can make balls of khichdi and offer the baby to self-feed.
5. Patties
One easy recipe that I used a lot in the beginning months was to make different types of patties.
You can use the vegetables you will be making lunch with and steam them along with boiled potatoes. Patties are also a great way to repurpose leftovers into a new dish.
For flavoring stick to turmeric and coriander powder. Add freshly chopped coriander to the patty mix.
For coating, use corn flour or roasted semolina flour to coat the patties.
Easy combinations to try are spinach and bean patties, pumpkin and cauliflower patties, potatoes and peas, fish patties, meat mince patty.
Pair your patties with a lentil dal, this yummy combination is super healthy and flavorsome for babies.
6. Quinoa Bowl
Quinoa is a great food to start early on. It’s rich in protein and digests easily. Best to begin around 8-10 months of age.
Ideas:
1. Adding a mashed avocado to the quinoa makes it easy and a non-spill option for the baby to self-feed with a spoon.
2. Add grated veggies when cooking the quinoa like beetroot and carrots. Serve with homemade guacamole and call it a meal.
3. Another way to serve quinoa is to pair with hearty soups like broccoli and potato or lentil soups. This combination of quinoa and veggie soup helps cover a lot of vitamins and minerals in one meal. One of our favorites is a quinoa bowl paired with broccoli and potato soup. It’s a filling and tasty combination.
Check these recent posts for some baby led weaning lunch ideas.
Though these meals were documented when my son was a toddler, most of these ideas can be offered to babies too with minor modifications to shape of cut vegetables and staying away from any sweeteners like sugar and honey.
There may also be days when you are eating something that’s not appropriate for the baby or are having a lazy day, but still, want to build a healthy plate for your baby. I got you covered with lazy day baby led weaning lunch ideas too. Read here for quick food ideas for busy moms.
I hope this post served as an inspiration as you plan your family meals. For more baby led weaning lunch ideas follow me on Instagram where I post pictures of my sons meals along with tips on how to deal with the fussy eating toddler years.
Do let me know what else you would like me to cover on the baby led weaning topic in the comment section below.
Ever since I started this blog and wrote about our success with baby led weaning many moms have written to me asking for baby led weaning tips. Everyone wants to know what it is that we do at home that leads to a non-fussy eater at age 2.
Yes, baby led weaning plays a huge role in independence and confidence at the table from the very beginning. In fact I spoke about the many benefits of baby led weaning in a recent post.
But there were also things we did as parents that set him up for success.
I will share here my top 5 tips to baby led weaning success.
BABY LED WEANING TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Educate yourself
Before you start baby led weaning, educate yourself on the basics of infant nutrition. As parents, you should know which foods are rich in iron, calcium, protein. Which foods are easy for baby to digest?
Just because its okay to give finger foods to baby led weaning babies does not mean you toss other infant nutrition advice out the window.
Many baby led weaning families modify their diets to a more balanced and clean eating one, in order to set an example for their children. In turn, you gain some new healthy eating habits yourself. It’s a win-win for all.
Offer a variety of fruits and veggies at meal time and expose the baby to a variety of textures and flavors of foods.
Research about the different allergenic foods and your own family history with these foods in order to avoid any last minute doctor visits.
Rules like no salt, sugar or honey before age 1 should be followed regardless of weaning styles. In short, in order to succeed at baby led weaning, do your research before you start the weaning process.
Carve out a routine for meal times, so it doesn’t end up becoming overwhelming for you to handle the mess.
Sometimes, well if I am honest, many a time you may need to give your child a mini shower after the meal. Food gets stuck in hair and behind the ears.
Once you go in mentally prepared for anything you are more relaxed and willing to continue on the baby led weaning route.
Non-choking foods
Personally, I didn’t risk it with any food that felt even a little hard when pressed between my fingers. The rule was offer foods that can be smushed between your thumb and forefinger.
Do not shove your finger in the babies mouth to place or remove any pieces. This can in fact cause choking. They need to move their own tongue and manage it.
Always check that baby is sitting upright when eating. I found it easier to keep straps off the high chair to facilitate quick movement in case I needed to pat him on the back.
Here is a list of foods that are considered a choking hazard.
Whole Nuts
Whole Seeds
Hard raw fruits (e.g. Apples and Pears)
Foods with thick peel (e.g. grapes, plums, tomatoes)
It is also highly recommended you take an infant CPR class. Just so you can calm those anxious nerves.
There will be gagging and lots of it. But it’s important to note that this is a normal part of learning how to chew. When babies take a big bite of food the gag reflex helps protect them from choking and pushes food out.
You need to sit close and watch how your baby is managing. As long as baby is coughing and making sounds it’s a normal gag reflex. When choking the baby stops making sounds and may turn blue. Read here to understand choking signs in infants under 1.
Choking rarely happens in baby led weaning babies that are offered appropriate foods.
Parental modeling of good eating behavior
This is the key to success with baby led weaning. Sit with your baby at the table and model eating behaviors. Show them how you dip the patty in the sauce and then eat. How you mix the dal and rice with a spoon and feed yourself.
Your baby will learn how to eat correctly and even use cutlery just by observing you every day at the table. By 11 months of age, our son was eating his oat porridge with a spoon. We had great success with this mirroring technique.
Parental modeling shows how you enjoy different foods on the plate too, be it beans and rice or veggies. Your child sees you eat a variety of foods and this encourages him to try everything you try.
Many parents show great interest and give huge applause when their babies taste ice creams or chocolates the first time.
Why not try this technique of positive reinforcement with vegetables and other foods too. Applaud their efforts when they try a new food for the first time.
It all boils down to your own personal likes and dislikes when it comes to healthy eating. Your children are going to follow suit. They learn about foods from you. So let’s encourage healthy eating and participate as a family to make it long lasting.
Don’t stress
I was a fussy eater myself as a child, so I know first hand what effect parental stress can have on a child’s eating behavior. Relax, no baby is going to eat everything in the exact same quantity every time.
There will be days with no appetite, there will be days with no interest. Learn to go with the flow. This is one of the biggest baby led weaning tips I can give as an experienced mother.
The more you stress, the more you start to exert control and from there on it’s a never-ending battle with fussy eating.
It takes babies and toddlers up to 10 exposures to start enjoying a new flavor. So give them time to learn to like things on their plate. Don’t be in a rush to make them eat everything.
Trust me when I say this, the less you stress on the quantity of food your child eats, the more your child eats.
Even when baby led weaning babies enter their toddler years, understand common toddler eating problems and learn to tackle them skillfully.
These are the 5 baby led weaning tips that I can give you as an experienced mom. Like everything else in parenting, baby led weaning also requires patience and a relaxed attitude by the parent for true success.
I hope this article helps calm your nerves as you start the process of baby led weaning. Are you an experienced baby led weaning mom, what points do you believe contributed to success with baby led weaning in your home? Drop me a line below.
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.
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 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;
Parathas – Keep the ratio of potatoes more compared to the wheat flour for younger babies to be able to easily bite into.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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;
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.
has lost tongue thrust.
is showing interest in food and making a grab for it
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Baby led weaning is catching on in India. More and more millennial parents are practicing this new style of weaning baby. One of the first questions any new parent on the baby led weaning journey asks is “What are the baby led weaning first foods?” How can I offer family food to my child?
In this post, I will take you through the different baby led weaning first foods you can offer the baby. All these ideas are suited for 6-9 months of age. At this stage, the baby is learning how to hold food, bring it to mouth, chew and swallow. Can you imagine the kind of skills and development that needs to take place? Therefore these first three months are crucial to success with baby led weaning.
There will be gagging, lots of gagging. Watch this video to see what gagging looks like.
It will look like the baby is not able to swallow anything. Their feeding style looks sloppy and you will feel like jumping in and helping. Don’t!! They are figuring it out. Sit back and observe, maybe even eat with them to model the skills instead of jumping in and feeding.
Stay patient, its called baby led weaning because baby figures it out. You are a guide, cheerleader, and provider of nutritious food that’s it. The figuring out to eat part is to be done by baby only. It’s similar to any other skill baby learns, like crawling, walking etc. it takes time.
The approach:
I have read of families who took a slower and more traditional approach to introducing foods which includes offering a new food a day and waiting three days to check for reactions if any and others who jumped right in and offered all family foods modified for no salt, no sugar, and minimal spices from the beginning.
Choose what suits your family and baby. The important point to check here is that baby is 6 months of age at the time of start and readiness signs for starting baby led weaning. I will be adding an article on the readiness signs for solids in another upcoming article this week.
BABY LED WEANING FIRST FOODS
Baby Led weaning first foods examples – Fruit
At 6 months of age, it is advised to cut all fruits in long strips or wedges such that it is easy for baby to hold in his palms and eat. Great first food examples (6-9 months) are:
Steamed Apple Slices
Steamed Pear Slices
Ripe Papaya
Watermelon
Mango
Chikoo
Banana
Muskmelon
Oranges (cleaned off the stringy bits and seeds)
Sweet lime (cleaned off the stringy bits and seeds)
Avocadoes
how to offer a banana
how to offer a banana
how to offer a banana
Baby Led weaning first foods examples – Vegetables
Cut vegetables in long strips such that the baby can hold in palms. Steaming vegetables is a great way to start on solids. Check that the vegetables are soft enough to turn to mush between two fingers.
Steamed pumpkin strips
Steamed broccoli florets
Steamed cauliflower florets
Boiled or baked sweet potato wedges
Boiled or baked regular potatoes
Cooked bottle gourd (cut into long large pieces)
Boiled root vegetables like taro (best to start closer to 9 months of age)
broccoli florets for baby led weaning
steamed finger length pumpkin strips
pumpkin cooked in Indian spices suited for baby led weaning
Baby Led weaning first foods examples – Cooked food
Pancakes made with oats flour, wheat flour, ragi flour. [Mom tip: Use a ripe banana to sweeten the pancake batter].
Baby-friendly muffins
Dosa (Indian breakfast pancake made of rice and lentils) serve with a non-spicy coconut chutney.
Idli (Indian steamed rice cakes)
Rice and Dal balls (cook tur dal in a thick consistency and use this thick dal to make rice and dal balls)
Thick dal with mixed veggies like bottle gourd, and potatoes (easy to offer in a preloaded spoon or in tiny fist shaped balls)
Parathas cut into strips. Keep the ratio of potatoes more compared to the wheat flour for toothless babies.
[Mom tip: You can use parathas as a way to add a variety of stuffings like broccoli, spinach, paneer, bottle gourd etc.
I don’t recommend hiding vegetables, as a rule, to get babies to eat vegetables. But early on when the baby is just starting to eat and not yet skilled this is a great way to introduce a variety of veggies in their food.
Remember to also introduce the same vegetables as a side in order to get the baby accustomed to eating vegetables on their own too. Don’t just stick to using vegetables in parathas. The baby needs to see what whole food looks like.]
Patty of all types vegetarian and non-vegetarian: Add more potatoes to make it soft mix with soft cooked vegetables of your choice or tender mincemeat.
dal and rice balls
sample Indian meal for baby – dal, potato patty and steamed broccoli florets
Baby Led weaning first foods examples – Family style meals
Many families jump right into offering baby family foods appropriately modified for baby. And this is easy to follow too.
Baby led weaning Indian meals
A typical Indian Family Meal consists of dal, rice, chappati, and vegetables (Sabzi of the day)
Baby’s Indian meal plate: Dal and Rice balls, Chappati smeared with ghee/butter/coconut oil cut in long finger length strips, Vegetable cut appropriately for baby to hold in palms and cooked with minimum spices.
Mom tip: 1. Baby led weaning Indian recipes – Use a light tadka of mustard seeds, cumin seeds with spices like turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder. No chilly and garam masala at this stage. Can slowly introduce garam masala by 9 months and red chilly powder by 16 -18 months and see how your baby accepts it and modify as per their preference.
Indian vegetables: Tinda cut in long strips, Baigan or aubergine cut in rectangular strips, cauliflower, and broccoli in florets. Make these sabzi’s in light spices like the ones mentioned above.
Other Family meal styles
Offer the baby a deconstructed version of the main family meal.
Mom tip: 1. If you are making a taco or burrito for yourself, you can use the components from these meals to make a baby plate. Offer the avocados, beans that are mushed and soft, tomatoes cut into wedges, plain rice made into balls or shredded meat pieces.
2. If you are having pasta made in a sauce that’s not baby friendly. Offer baby boiled pasta as a finger food option. Or make a separate baby friendly pasta sauce from tomatoes without salt. Serve along with a few sides like steamed veggies, avocados and you have a complete baby meal.
It is also advisable to practice caution with certain highly allergenic foods like shellfish, and nuts like walnuts. If you have a known family history of allergies it is best to talk with your doctor before trying these foods.
Stay away from offering heavily processed foods to babies in the name of offering family foods for example; bread, biscuits, chips, french fries etc.
Offer nutritious home-cooked meals.
Foods like eggs and meats should be cooked well.
Check all offered foods to see if they are soft enough to be mushed between two fingers and do not pose a choking risk in any way.[list of choking risk foods] So, if you eat beans, cook them until very soft, smush them between fingers and offer the baby.
Offer water after every meal. If the baby is still consuming adequate formula or breast milk they don’t need more than 2 to 4 ounces of water per day. [source]
Once pincer grasp comes in around 8-9 months of age the baby gets more skilled at eating a variety of foods. And if all these strategies have been followed properly giving baby complete independence to eat, by 12 months of age most baby led weaning babies are eating the same family foods expect (maybe spicy foods) and also beginning to use cutlery to self-feed.
Once again, I will remind parents do not consider the age limit of 12 months for no sugar as the opening of the floodgates to sugary foods. Keeping processed junk foods to a minimum is extremely important for the long-term health of your child. Exercise caution about how much of these foods they are exposed to even after the first year. Home cooked nutritious foods first the rest can be introduced slowly in time.
I hope this article gives you a complete idea of some baby led weaning starter foods. Babies are quick learners once given the independence.
Stay tuned for more in the baby led weaning series. How did you manage baby led weaning with your baby? What was your babies first food? Let’s leave some ideas for new moms.
Disclaimer: This is a parenting blog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and do not replace any professional medical advice. Consult your pediatrician and nutritionist for any concerns you may have.
