When and how do you start feeding baby food?
Vegetables can form part of baby’s diet as early as the first months of weaning, which may be at the age of between four and six months. What is important is the method of preparation. At the onset of weaning, all vegetables, like other foods, should be strained. By straining, we mean cooking the vegetable till it is tender (not overcooked until it becomes yellowish and mushy) and soft enough to be rubbed against a sieve and crushed into tiny fragments that can be safely swallowed and digested by baby.
Vegetables creamed with a little formula also make a good starting food because of the smooth consistency. The familiar taste of formula (or even breast milk) in baby’s first solids will probably ease the transition to the new taste and texture.
The process of straining at the start of weaning applies to all vegetables, from bulky ones like carrots to leafy ones such as spinach. The most commonly used vegetables at the first stage of weaning include carrots, corn, peas and sweet potato. These are excellent starters because of their natural sweetness and baby should take to them fairly easily if they are well strained, pureed or creamed.
Check out the supermarket shelves too for ideas on what vegetables to wean your baby onto. If you lack confidence to prepare baby’s vegetables at the early stage of weaning, you can make use of bottled baby food that comes with no artificial seasonings or preservatives.
Tomorrow we shall be discussing about Feeding a 7 month baby
