Baby food recipes

Your baby is ready for solids and you are searching for some baby food recipes to start cooking for your baby yourself? Good choice, because making your own home cooked baby food is much more economical than spending lots of money on baby food jars from the supermarket. No doubt, baby food jars are a convenient alternative when you are out and about with your baby.

But when you are at home and  you can take the time to prepare the baby food yourself, you can control what goes into the food, which also means you control what your baby eats. By using baby food recipes in your kitchen you avoid the added preservatives, salt and sugar, that is contained in the commercially produced baby food. Always pick the freshest fruit and veggies to go into your babie's meal. Before you start feeding your baby, you need to find out wheather he is ready for solids.

 

Is your baby ready for solids?

At around 6 month of age, solid food should be introduced to your baby in order to provide iron and other nutrients as well as to encourage chewing. This is when you will need a list of good baby food recipes. Remember that all babies are different and some start earlier and others later.

Hint: Keep a list of different baby foods and recipes just in case he or she won't eat the first baby food recipe you try.

Some signs that your baby is ready for solid foods include:

  • Your baby is able to sit with support and can hold his head up
  • You eat something and your baby is reaching out for your food
  • Milk is not enough any more, your baby seems to want more feeds and is unsettled
  • Your baby can move his tongue properly and does not push solid food out of his mouth

It is highly recommended to start solid foods around 6 months of age and not prior due to the increased risk of food allergies.

 

Baby food fround 6 months

Start your baby on mashed and pureed baby foods first. Most babies like rice cereal mixed with breast milk or infant formula, as it still contains something familiar. Rice cereal is also recommended because of its low risk of causing an allergic reaction as well as the extra iron, which your baby needs at that age, because his own stores start to run low.

Which baby foods can your baby eat around 6 months:
  • 1-2 teaspoons of rice cereal after a milk feed. After a few days (or weeks) you baby should take 1-2 tablespoons.
  • Then try pureed vegetables like potato, carrot, pumpkin, zucchini and pureed banana or cooked and mashed apple or pea.
  • Offer one new food for 3 – 4 days before introducing another new food. In case your baby gets an allergic reaction to one food, you know from which one.
Here's a list of baby food recipes that are good for early on.

 

Baby food from 7 – 9 months

At around seven months your baby will start eating 3 solid meals per day (between 1/3 and ½ cup of food). In addition he gets 3 – 4 formula feeds per day. Feed him solid food first and give him his milk about 30 minutes later. This is where you will find a good list of baby food recipes invaluable.

At this age you can offer your baby coarser textured, fork mashed ore finely chopped foods. Even without teeth most babies are great chewers by 8 or 9 month. Chewing is essential for the development of muscles for eating and speech. Speech problems may occur later in life, if babies get introduced to lumpy food too late and don’t learn to chew properly.

Which baby foods can your baby eat around 7 - 9 months:

  • Cereals, which contain wheat, oats, pasta and rice. Pieces of toast as well as rusks are ideal snacks to encourage chewing.
  • Fruit slices like melon, pear and bananas
  • Soft cooked veggies like sweet potato and broccoli. To ensure your baby gets all the right nutrients, offer him a variety of different colored vegetables throughout a week.
  • Cooked beef or lamb, finely chopped chicken without skin.
  • Yoghurts, cooked custards made with calcium fortified soy or cow’s milk
  • Cottage cheese, grated mild cheddar cheese. May be served with crackers or toast.
  • Egg yolk can be introduced at 7 months, if there is no family history of allergy. (Whole eggs should not be offered before 10 months.)

 

Baby food from 9 – 12 month

At this stage babies should enjoy 3 meals of 1 cup of food and 3 milk feeds of 200ml each per day. It is important that you offer at each meal:

  • Starchy foods like cereal/grain, potato/pasta or bread,
  • fruit and vegetables
  • protein food like dairy, meat, fish or egg.

Which baby foods can your baby eat around 9 - 12 months:

  • Finger food like sandwiches, slices of toast, cheese sticks, slices or sticks of steamed veggies, pieces of fruit such as strawberries, mango and banana.
  • Pasta and spaghetti with sauce, tofu, casseroles, vegetable omelets, patties, baked beans, cereals with milk and yoghurt.