When the time comes to introduce solid foods to your baby (between 4 and 6 months of age) you're more comfortable knowing exactly what he's eating. Making your own baby food at home allows you to monitor every ingredient in your baby's new diet. You don't need a lot of fancy equipment to make homemade baby food. With a little equipment, some fresh produce and the following guidelines, you can prepare a nutritious meal or snack for your baby. Just see Step 1 to get started.
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Part 1 of 3: Preparing Homemade Baby Food
Step 1. Choose fresh and quality produce
The first step in producing delicious and nutritious food for your baby is to choose fresh and quality produce.
- Purchase organic ingredients, if possible, and make sure fruits and vegetables are ripe and blemish-free. Try to cook all food within 2 or 3 days of purchase.
- Choose ingredients such as apples, pears, peaches (peaches), and sweet potatoes to try first. Avoid foods that are stringy or difficult for your baby to swallow, such as green beans or peas with skin on, unless you put them in a sieve after cooking and crushing them.
Step 2. Clean and prepare food
The next step is to prepare the food for cooking or serving – this includes cleaning the food and removing parts that the baby cannot chew or digest – such as skins, seeds, nuts, seeds, and fat.
- Wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly. Peel the skinned food and remove the seeds. Cut the vegetables into equal-sized squares to cook them perfectly. In terms of quantity, 2 lbs (900 g) of clean, cubed produce will yield approximately 2 cups (300 g) of homemade baby food.
- You can prepare meat and poultry by washing them, removing the skin, and slicing off the fat before cooking. Grains such as quinoa and millet (barley) should be prepared according to the directions on the package.
Step 3. Cook food by steaming, boiling, or grilling
If you're preparing ripe fruit – like pears or soft avocados – you can simply crush them with a fork and serve right away. On the other hand, vegetables, meat, and grains, must be cooked first. You have several choices in cooking methods.
- Steaming is the best option when cooking vegetables, as it retains some of the many nutrients. Use a steamer basket, or simply place a strainer over a pot of boiling water. Steam the produce until soft, usually 10 to 15 minutes.
- Boiling can be used to cook certain grains, vegetables, and animal products. You can boil food in broth for added flavor, if you prefer.
- Baking is a good choice for ingredients like sweet potatoes, cruciferous vegetables, meat, and poultry. You can add a bit of flavor to this ingredient by adding herbs and light spices while baking (don't be afraid to flavor your baby!)
Step 4. When processing baby food, try to do it in small amounts
This ensures the ingredients are evenly mixed. Also keep in mind that some foods will require additional liquid to get the right consistency – this can be water, breast milk, formula or a small amount of leftover cooking water (if the food is boiled).
Step 5. Cool and mash the food
Once the food is fully cooked, allow it to cool completely. Make sure meat and poultry products don't have pink marks, as babies are more susceptible to food poisoning.
- Select a processing method. Young babies need their food crushed to a soft texture before eating, where older babies can eat more lumpy foods. The method you choose to process your baby's food will depend on your baby's age and your personal preferences.
- Some parents choose to buy baby food maker luxury multipurpose, which can cook, crush, de-ice and warm fruit, vegetables and meat. These utensils are more expensive, but make making your baby's food super easy!
- Alternatively, you can use kitchen blender normal, food processor or handheld blender to process food into a soft porridge. These kits are very quick and easy to use (and you don't need to buy any other equipment) but can be very laborious to assemble, clean and disassemble if you make small amounts of food.
- You can also try using a hand-turned food mill or baby food grinder. Both of these appliances do not use electricity and are easy to carry. It works well and is inexpensive, but is slower and requires more physical effort to operate. #* Lastly, for very soft produce like bananas, avocados and ripe baked sweet potatoes, you can simply use fork old fashioned way to crush food into the desired consistency.
Step 6. Serve or store food
Once your homemade baby food is cooked, cooled and crushed, you can serve some right away, then save the rest for later use. It is very important to store your homemade baby food properly, so that it doesn't spoil or develop bacteria that will make your baby sick.
- Scoop baby food into a safe glass food container or plastic container with an airtight lid and place in the refrigerator. Label containers with the date the food was made, so you can monitor freshness and discard food that is more than 3 days in storage.
- Alternatively, you can scoop the food into an ice-covered mold and freeze it. Once all the ice cubes have frozen completely, remove them from the mold and place them in a sealed plastic bag. Each baby food ice cube will be enough for one serving, so remove the ice cubes appropriately.
- You can defrost frozen baby food by placing it in the refrigerator overnight, or by placing a container or bag of food in a saucepan of warm water (not directly on the heat source) for about 20 minutes.
- Crushed fruit and vegetables can be stored for 6 to 8 months, while meat and poultry will stay fresh for a month or two. #* Since making your own baby food can be laborious, a good strategy is to make large amounts of baby food in one day, then freeze it for later use.
Part 2 of 3: Experimenting with Different Foods
Step 1. Start with traditional baby food
Most traditional baby foods consist of naturally sweet fruits and vegetables that are easy to prepare.
- Such foods include fruits such as bananas, pears, blueberries, peaches, apricots, prunes, mangoes, and apples and vegetables such as sweet potatoes, pumpkins, sweet peppers, avocados, carrots and peas.
- These foods are popular because they are easy to prepare and most babies love. These foods are a great start for introducing solids to your baby, but don't be afraid to develop and try more adventurous foods.
- This will help develop your baby's food tastes and make mealtimes more interesting. However, be careful not to confuse your baby – try to introduce only one food and wait at least 3 days before introducing another. This will help you identify the cause of any allergic reaction easily.
Step 2. Experiment with stew meat
Stew is a great first food for babies – it's delicious, nutritious, and can be enjoyed by the whole family too, which is always a bonus!
- Try making a beef stew using a mild Chinese or Mexican flavor, such as soy sauce or chili poblano (yes, chili!). Babies around the world are usually introduced to sharper tastes from an early age.
- Alternatively, you can try cooking pork shoulder with citrus juice for a delicious dinner that will keep baby and the whole family happy.
Step 3. Feed fish as your baby's food
Traditionally, parents are advised to avoid giving their baby fish and other potentially allergenic foods until he is at least one year old. However, this has recently been changed.
- Research published in 2008 by the American Academy of Pedriatics stated that it is safe to feed fish to infants older than 6 months, as long as they do not show signs of allergies (food or other), do not have asthma and do not have a family history of such allergies. that is, too.
- Therefore, you should consider feeding your baby fish such as salmon, which is rich in healthy fats and is highly nutritious. Try to boil the salmon in a saucepan with a little bit of water until it is fully cooked. Allow to cool before crushing (for smaller babies), crushing them into a bowl with carrots or other vegetables, or simply chopping them into small pieces (for larger babies).
Step 4. Give your baby oats
It's a good idea to introduce oats like quinoa or millet to your baby as early as possible.
- Wheat introduces your baby to new textures and supports him using his mouth and tongue in a more developed way, which will help his speech the next day.
- Wheat doesn't have to be boring all the time, you can spice it up by cooking it in chicken or vegetable broth, or mixing it with soft, strong-flavoured vegetables like onions or pumpkin.
Step 5. Try using eggs
Like fish, parents used to be advised to avoid feeding their babies eggs until they were 1 year old. Now, it is believed that babies can eat eggs early on, as long as they don't show signs of allergies or don't have a family history of allergies.
- Eggs are very nutritious, contain lots of protein, B vitamins and other important minerals. You can cook it however you want – scrambled, boiled, fried, or cooked into an omelette.
- Make sure that the egg whites and yolks are both cooked until solid – undercooked or undercooked eggs can cause food poisoning.
- Try smashing hard-boiled eggs with half an avocado, mixing scrambled eggs with crushed vegetables, or adding chopped fried eggs to rice or oatmeal (for older babies).
Step 6. Experiment with herbs and mild herbs
Many parents fall for the idea that baby food should be boring and tasteless – but this is not true at all! Babies are very capable of enjoying a wide variety of flavors.
- Try adding a little rosemary to the pot while boiling the squash for mashing, sprinkling some cumin or garlic powder on cooked chicken breasts, adding a sprinkling of cinnamon to your baby's oatmeal, or adding a little chopped parsley to crushed potatoes.
- Babies can also tolerate spicy food better than you think. Of course, you don't want to burn or irritate your baby's mouth, but you can add a little crushed paprika (which is mild like Anaheim and poblano) to crushed vegetables or stewed meat.
Step 7. Try sour fruit
It may come as a surprise to learn that many babies love the taste of sour foods. You can find out if your baby is one of them by crushing sour cherries. You can also try unsweetened rubarb stew or crushed plums, both of which have a sour and refreshing taste.
Part 3 of 3: Introducing Your Baby to Solid Foods
Step 1. Be careful with temperature
Solid baby food should be served no hotter than body temperature, to prevent burning the baby's mouth.
- Be very careful when heating pre-prepared food in the microwave, as microwaves can heat food unevenly, making certain areas hotter.
- Therefore, when you remove food from the microwave, stir to distribute the heat evenly, then let it cool for a few minutes until it reaches room temperature.
Step 2. Don't store leftovers
When feeding your baby, try to measure out the right portions for each meal. This helps avoid wasting food, as you can't serve leftovers. This is because there is a high chance that your baby's saliva will drip on the spoon when you feed him, which makes it easier for bacteria to grow in the food.
Step 3. Do not sweeten your baby's food
You should not sweeten your baby's food before feeding it. Babies don't need added sugar, especially because of the high rate of childhood obesity. You should not use alternative sweeteners like corn syrup or honey either, as these can lead to a potentially fatal food poisoning in babies called botulism.
Step 4. Avoid exposing your baby to nitrates
Nitrates are chemicals found in water and soil that can cause certain anemia (called methemoglobinemia) in exposed infants. This nitrate is removed from all store baby foods, but can be a problem in homemade foods (especially if you use well water).
- Since the main source of nitrates in baby food comes from using well water, it's a good idea to have your well tested to make sure the water contains less than 10ppm of nitrate.
- These nitrate levels build up in frozen foods over time, so use fresh fruit and vegetables within two days of purchase, freeze prepared baby food as soon as possible after cooking and consider using frozen packs of vegetables such as beets, carrots, green beans, spinach, and pumpkin. (compared to the fresh version) because it contains the highest levels of nitrates.
Step 5. Feed your baby the same food as the rest of the family
Instead of preparing separate meals for your baby, make life easier by grinding or crushing food just like the rest of the family eats.
- This saves you time and effort, but will also help train your baby to eat the same foods as everyone else, which will benefit as your baby grows.
- Babies can eat most of the healthy foods the rest of the family eats, as long as they are crushed or blended to the right consistency – stews, soups and casseroles can be adapted for babies.
Tips
- Mix different combinations of fruit and vegetables once your baby has tried them all on his own without an allergic reaction. Try mixing apples and plums, pumpkin and peaches, apples and broccoli, and so on.
- Add 1 tsp (5 ml) or more of baby milk, breast milk or cooled boiled water to thin out baby food if it is too thick. Add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of baby cereal to thicken the food.
- Try lots of different flavor combinations, such as plum and pear or pumpkin and apple to make the color of the food as interesting as possible, as this will entice your baby a lot.
- Talk to your pediatrician about when it's time to give your baby solid foods. Ask what foods to try first and what foods to avoid in the first year. Feed only 1 new food in 4 days and watch for allergies each time you introduce a new food to your baby.
- Mash soft foods, such as bananas and avocados, using a fork until they reach a creamy consistency for instant food. Add a few drops of baby milk or sterile water if necessary to dilute it.
