This post in brought to you by Heinz Infant.
Babies grow so quickly and before you know it your little one will no longer be satisfied with just breast milk or formula. At around 6 months old your baby will not be as settled after a feed, may begin watching you intently as you eat or waking up earlier after each sleep. These are just a few signs that could be letting you know it is time to start introducing solids into your feeding routine.
With so many choices available today it can be hard to know where to start feeding with baby solids. For over 60 years Heinz has been a trusted brand, providing quality nutritious baby food that my mum fed me and I in turn used when starting my babies on solids.
Introducing solids to babies is the messiest fun you will ever have and thanks to Heinz Infant a lot of the guess work is taken care of for you. They lovingly prepare just the good stuff in the right texture to suit the stage your baby is at. With each product clearly marked with the appropriate age (in months) you will be able to select the right one each time for your baby.
It is very tempting to simply feed your baby a small portion of what the family is eating to save you time.
Babies have so many more taste buds than older children or adults and the blandest food will taste fabulous to a baby. Starting babies on solids is ideally done after your baby has had a full breast or formula feed and should not be used in place of milk.
Start with a small amount of approximately 1 tablespoon for each meal. It is recommended that you only try one new food at a time and give this to your baby for at least 3 days before adding another. This will allow you to monitor any possible reactions to each new introduction. The following lists are a handy reference as to what is best for your baby.
FOODS THAT ARE FINE TO FEED BABY
Cereal – gluten free cereals such as rice, cornmeal or maize are traditionally the first choice of solid food for babies. Foods rich in iron are vital for baby’s development after 6 months of age and Farex baby rice cereal is the perfect choice.
Hands up if this was your first food!
Vegetables – any vegetable that can be steamed and then mashed or pureed is a great place to start. Try carrot, parsnip, sweet potato, potato, broccoli, pumpkin or cauliflower.
Fruit – pureed apple, pear, mango, banana or avocado are nutrient rich favourites.
Berry delicious!
Whole fat yoghurt – natural yoghurt on its own or blended with fruit.
FOODS THAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED
Low Fat Foods – babies need full fat products for development.
Salt, pepper, gravy and sauces – these are too overpowering for delicate little mouths.
Added sugar or preservatives – can unsettle little bellies.
Raw or undercooked eggs, honey, whole or chopped nuts and cow’s milk – can trigger allergic reactions in the first year. These can be slowly introduced after 12 months of age.
Chopping, steaming and storing home cooked solids for your baby is a great idea, but can also be very time consuming. If sometimes you just need to spend quality time playing with your baby rather than cooking, then you can rest assured that Heinz Infant has sourced and prepared quality produce leaving you more time for fun or maybe sneaking in a much needed nap.
There are 109 products to choose from in the Heinz Infant range that can be used in conjunction with your own food or on their own to ensure you are giving your baby the best until they are old enough to share their own serve of your meals.
What was/is your favourite food to make for baby?
Thanks for this, I didn’t know about honey, I would never have known that could be a problem as it is a natural product.
With so many little ones having to deal with allergies these days, it certainly is a good plan to not introduce anything too early that could be a possible trigger.
I am so far beyond “baby food”! I am now into nutritious teen food. Might be a similar list!
Same here Leanne, which is a good thing as my girls love honey on their peanut butter toast. 🙂
My first son got carefully cooked, scheduled first foods. My second son got cereal then pureed leftover vegies then quickly graduated to eating whatever we were having!
I was so scared of my health care nurse when I had my first daughter as she was very sergeant major like and you followed her rules without question. Most of that flew out of the window with no. 2!
Rice cereal is not really recommended now as it is such a refined carb. We did a mix of finger food and puréed food from the start with the odd pre made every now and then for miss 3 🙂 Miss 13 had a fair share of Heinz back when she was tiny (but plenty of home cooking too!)
It is amazing how times change, millions of babies would probably have had rice cereal as their first food and managed to thrive and now it is not good enough. Both Miss WW’s loved the Heinz jellies and custards as I never bothered to make my own sweet things for them.
We’ve just been going through this as my baby girl is 8 months. She took to solids pretty well, starting off with rice cereal and pureed vegetables that I made at home as well as a few store bought fruit pouches. Now that she’s pretty well established and eating three meals she starting to enjoy some finger foods. It’s messy but fun to see her develop so quickly.
Messy is right!!! Little ones seem to enjoy playing with their food as much as they like eating it. 🙂
I have not progressed beyond a little apple and pear so far, will have to try some of these soon as my little boy is definately getting more hungry.
Now might be a good time to add some starchy solids as these certainly seem to keep little tummies fuller for longer.
Some of the combinations of baby food available now are more adventurous than what we eat, lol.