Introduction to Baby Foods

 September in real is the month I love the most, not because Bangalore is showering rains in this while and the mercury is balanced, but because this month holds two very important dates; one is when my hubby was born and the second when our little princess was born. Though it's the beginning of October and I'm about 10 days late in posting this, but I guess you all understand how that happens. ;) This post is especially for my daughter who turned 'one' on Sep. 25th, one of the most awaited days for the whole family to celebrate.

I'm not a poet, not even a person good at reciting and writing, but pouring my heart out for my doll, there's something I wrote.

Your first glimpse and my eyes were wet,

Holding you in my arms, felt like life was all set.

You blinked and you cooed,

You smiled and you moved, 

You crawled and you babbled,

You stood and you tumbled.

Those smelly diapers and those sleepless nights,

I can never forget our kiddo-mumma fights;

From 'pa pa' to 'mum mum',

From lullabies to 'tam tam',

Time just flew and

I had no clue;

Your tiny miny fingers and little little feet,

have grown so big that it calls for a treat.

Oh my Princess, you have turned one!

You are just so naughty, but that's the real fun.

Life is so beautiful, and special is this day,

when mumma says to Gappu

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! :)

The birthday special post of course needs something relevant with her, and what more could I write today than what she loves to eat, perhaps how she started to eat, and slowly moved on. 

Here's a simple chart I've prepared listing how to introduce baby foods month-wise. I hope this would be of great use to moms with newbies, moms-to-be, and moms-want -to-be. :))

6-7 months: First introduction to solid food

1. Daal ka Paani/ Chawal ka Pani ( Lentil soup/ rice extract)

2. Cerelac or any other cereal based packed food - Stage 1

3. Aate Ka Halwa/ Raab: Take 2 drops of ghee, add 2 tbs of aata, roast it well, add in some water to make a batter like consistency. Add little sugar if required.

4. Sooji Ka Halwa: Same as aate ka halwa, just keep it a little liquidy, unlike our adults ka tight halwa. 

5. Mashed banana/ banana pulp

7-8 months: Introduction to Vegetables and fruits

1. Boiled daal/khichdi with carrots/spinach/lauki/taroi: Boil them together and give in pureed form. You can even make combinations like carrot beans/ spinach carrot/ multi veg.
2. Boiled and mashed potatoes: I used to give this every alternate day.
3. Boiled and mashed Sweet potato: He'll fall in love with this one, if he likes sweets. This will have long fibres too; just remove them before dispensing.
4. Carrot soup/ Veg soup: Just boil the veg. and blend it. Sieve if required.
5. Boiled/steamed pureed apple (without outer skin)

6. Banana peeled and mashed. Also u cud add this with cerelac and give.

7. Dry Fruit Powder: Roast makhana, almonds, pista and kaju in little ghee. On cooling, run them in a mixer to make fine powder. You can add this powder to the halwa or anything u like. This acts as a health and immunity booster. If you wish you cud start with makhana alone at first and slowly introduce nuts one by one in every 15 days to avoid nut allergies.

You should give 3-4 meals to a baby in a day, but start with one meal, then 2, then 3 and so on.
Breakfast: Cerelac or some cereal food
Lunch: Halwa/ Khichdi
Evening: Soup or fruits
Dinner: Potatoes/daal/khichdi/ or anything u like.

  Do not start with everything at a time. Introduce one new food at one time and see if he's fine with that. After 2-3 days, start with a new food. Be experimental but slow with new food introduction. Make sure he's not allergic to any food. If he starts having rashes, hives, loose motions or breathing difficulty after having a new food withing the next 2-5 hrs, stop that food and contact your doctor. You can restart with that after 15 days if he's not severely allergic to it. New foods can generally cause increased motions(3-4 a day) but that does not mean loose motions (8-10 a day).

8-9 months:
1. Curd/yogurt

2. Finger foods, like biscuits, chopped soft fruits, chawal ki fulli/murmure ( Be sure nothing gets choked in the throat, coz babies don't know how big or small to bite and then swallow. )

3. More of nuts in form of powder only.
4. Add in more veggies and fruits.
5. Increase the quantity of ghee a little.

9-10 months:

1. Introduction to fresh fruit juices, like sweet lime juice, orange juice, grape juice, apple juice, anaar juice. U just need to squeeze a sweet lime or orange like how you do it with a lemon. Add in a little sugar and give. Start with a small quantity and then slowly take over with 1/4 cup or so. Grapes, anaar and apples need to be juiced in a juicer and then given. Sieve the anaar juice before giving.

10 months onwards:
1. Start giving a little from your plate, whatever you eat, except very fatty and heavy things.
2. Doctors never recommend sugar or salt before age 1, but Indians normally do that. :) So, it depends on you, but use it sparingly. 

3. Continue with the baby foods, and in addition start introducing adult foods in small quantities.

My daughter has crossed the age 1 barrier now, and luckily she eats almost all the spices and condiments which I use in my kitchen as flavor enhancers. I see a lot of kids, in fact adolescents at times, who can't take up spices and prefer bland food. I agree it is good for them till a particular age but being unable to try on them after some time makes it difficult for their moms to cook for them separately. I never advise too tangy, too oily and too spicy food for small kids, but a little of everything would never harm, rather make them acquainted.