Every parent has a lot of questions when it is time to start solids. Purees, finger foods, Traditional weaning, Baby Led weaning, Combination weaning and the list goes on.
It is recommended by WHO to exclusively breastfeed or give formula milk to the baby up to 6 months. Starting solids before 6 months is not advised as the baby and his digestive system may not be ready. Always consult your doctor and check the signs of readiness before starting solids for your baby.
We tried a mix of traditional weaning and baby-led weaning when we started solids as suggested by our pediatrician. Thus, purees & finger foods went hand in hand for us.
We started with purees when our kid completed 6 months and then introduced finger foods from 7th month onwards.
Slowly we stopped the purees completely and served only finger foods and family food (without salt, sugar & honey) to our kid.
Introducing different textures helped him explore his taste palette. It helped us also in determining what his likes and dislikes were; like – he never loved Rawa/Suji/Semolina Pudding or Kheer or Suji uttapam and we never forced him. Now he loves upma and suji chilla.
Another similar incident was with Lauki/Bottle Gourd. He never liked the purees but enjoys its indian style curry.
It was an experience in itself and here are our learnings from that initial phase:
- It is not necessary that he will like a food instantly. He may not like a food 1st time but if introduced again after some days, he may like it and vice versa.
- Babies have different reaction for liking or disliking a food. Pay attention to it closely and respect it.
- No biscuits should be given to the babies as they have lots of sugar and salt and maida(refined flour) in it. Especially Parle G, which is recommended by our elders.
- If baby doesn’t like a food then it doesn’t mean that it is due to lack of salt or sugar. It is just their preference. Please note they do not know what salt & sugar is and how it changes the taste of food.
- Do not overwhelm the baby with lot of different foods. Let them get used to the concept of actual food as they knew only breast milk as the food.
- Some purees or finger foods didn’t work for us intially but he enjoys it now in other forms like bottle gourd(lauki) puree, boiled cauliflower, boiled beetroot, boiled & mashed potatoes, moong daal.
- Always give cooled down boiled water as babies are still prone to infections. Do not substitute water for breast milk.
- You may introduce homemade juices if doc says ok as it has a lot of natural sugar. We did not give it until 8 months. Do not substitute juice for water.
- You can add flavour to baby’s food by moderately adding herbs like cumin seeds, turmeric, hing, cardamom, cinnamon, basil and black pepper . You can check with doc which other spicies or herbs you can use.
- We followed our pediatrician’s advice at every step than listening to elders and Google, blindly. I strongly advise you to do the same as every child has different health and growth chart.
Here are some recipes to help you plan better.
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Health Tips
- Don’t force-feed the baby.
- No salt, sugar and honey to be given to infants under 1 year.
- Always taste the food before giving it to your baby to ensure the taste and temperature is correct.
- Introduce new food the baby only when he/she is happy and playful and not very hungry.
- Introduce new food in little quantities and observe their reaction. Avoid giving anything else for an hour or so to see if the food suits the baby.
- Don’t introduce new food every day. Give the same food for 3-4 days to make the baby familiar with the food and develop a liking for it.
- Look out for food allergies in the baby.
- Prepare fresh food and maintain hygiene.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely based on author’s experience. Please do not consider it as professional advice.
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Don’t forget to checkout “Introducing Solids to Babies| 6 Months Onwards” post before you start solids for your little one.
