Fruit & Vegetable Puree makes babies first food. Learn how to start first solids for babies in this post. Healthy and nutritious baby foods which is packed with nutrients.
Puree for Babies
When my kids where little I used to feed them with variety of fruits and veg purees daily. I have documented all the recipes in this blog in number of posts. Later this year I decided to combine all the post in a single blog post so it will be helpful for many new mothers out there.
About Fruit & Vegetable Puree for Babies
Learn how to make vegetable puree for babies, Fruit puree for babies, apple sauce and dal puree for babies.
Certain vegetables and fruits makes best first food for babies. Apples, carrots can be given for baby from 6 months. They are packed with nutrients and tasty too. So babies will love it.
I love to include exotic fruits like avocado and muskmelon to babies as well.
Introduce solid food to your baby
Don't stop Breast Feeding even if you have started solid food. Continue breast milk with other food too.
When you can start giving Solid Food?
- When your baby's head is steady and when she can sit upright with a support.
- When she starts grabbing things and your plate when you are eating.
- When your breast milk is not sufficient for her.
- When you see that your baby is getting interest in other foods.
- When she always stares at you when you are eating. Eyeing your bowl of food, and keep looking as the food travels from the bowl to your mouth.
Before you start feeding your baby
- The first thing you have to remember is, start with mild non allergenic food.
- Start with less portions, initially your baby need only 3 to 4 spoons of the food. So don't make an entire bowl of food and look for your baby to empty the whole thing. Gradually increase the portion size.
- Never force feed your baby. This will make your baby get a bad feeling about food and she will start refusing all foods and go wild during feeding time.
- Give breaks between each spoonful of feed. I usually leave a couple of mins break between each spoonful and show her toys or make funny faces, so she gets into jolly mood and enjoy the next spoon of food.
- Let your baby swallow each mouthful properly before the next spoon.
After you finished feeding your baby
If you are introducing a new food for your baby, continue that for 4 to 5 days or even a week. Don't introduce new foods each day, so your baby gets to know about the food herself with that taste.
Don't introduce more than one new food on a single day. This may cause problems in her digestion. If your baby doesn't like some food, try that food some other time.
If you find that your baby has some symptoms like vomiting, constant crying, diarrhea and something which makes you think that it is not right with your baby, you have to stop giving the particular food immediately. Give some water after giving solid foods.
📖 Recipe
Puree for Babies | Vegetable Puree for Babies | Fruit Puree for Babies
Ingredients
- Fruits (Apples, Banana, Pear, Banana, Papaya)
- Vegetables (Carrot, Potato, Beetroot, Cauliflower)
- Natural Sweetner (Palm Candy or Dates)
Instructions
- For Vegetable Puree. Boil, Blanch or Steam vegetables till tender. Mash it or puree in a blender.
- For Fruit Puree. Peel fruits and cut it into small pieces. Fruits like apples, banana, guava and pear is steamed and pureed. Papaya and melons are pureed raw.
Notes
- Texture of the puree depends upon you, i would recommend you to make the puree smooth.
- Your baby wont empty the whole bowl all at once, start with few spoons then increase it gradually as days pass by.
- I don’t prefer freezing purees. I make it fresh everyday. But if you are busy or find difficult to get time, then freeze it in individual containers and thaw it overnight in fridge.
- Feeding your baby can be quite messy and takes lots of time. So don't be in a rush when you are feeding. Spend lots of time in feeding.
- Don't give chopped fruits or veggies, even it is cooked. Always puree them or mash it completely.
- Don't add too much salt or sugar in your baby foods.
- Always make your own baby food. Don't give store bought or packaged foods.
- Prepare your food in a hygienic way. Always sterilize the vessels you use for your baby.
- Wash your hands thoroughly before you start making baby foods.
Beetroot Puree for Babies
Beetroot Puree is more healthy and nutritious for babies. Beetroots has not only the amazing colour, it is rich in anti-oxidants,folate, manganese, potassium, vitamin -A and many other properties. After having this puree, your baby poop will be red in colour. Don't panic seeing that, it is because of the beets.
Banana Puree for Babies
In our place we get a banana called as Matti Pazham. It is small in size and easy to digest for baby. You can feed any small variety banana for your baby in there raw form. But nendra pazham which is called as ripe plantain should be steamed.
Green Gram Puree for Babies
Instead of giving the same veg and fruit purees, you can start adding dals to veggies or make simple dal purees for her. Green gram is very healthy for your babies, you can feed this 3 to 4 times a week. Pressure cook dal with garlic, cumin seeds and mash them.
Some times I give sprouted green gram mash to her, it is even more healthy. You can check this recipe for making sprouts and follow the same procedure as this, but use sprouted green gram instead of normal ones.
Guava Puree for Babies
Guava is very good in vitamin C and helps to improve immune system. This makes a great baby food.
Use ripe guava and make sure you remove the seeds from it. Use a spoon to scoop the seeds from them. Now take all the flesh in a sauce pan, add a splash of water and cover it and simmer for 5 mins or till it is cooked. Pierce with a knife to see whether it is cooked. If you goes in easily then it is cooked. Puree till smooth.
Carrot & Potato Puree for Babies
Potatoes are usually bland by their nature. So i love to add other sweet veggies to it to make it more tastier for babies. Normally I add some sweet carrots to it, even you can add a piece of beetroots too. Potatoes makes this puree more creamy and carrots add a natural sweetness to this puree too.
Papaya Puree for Babies
Papaya is one of the super fruit to give babies. It helps to boost digestion and improves it. It has lots of vitamin A, C & E, rich in beta carotine, fiber and folic acid. But i would never suggest giving papaya in the early stage. You can start giving this after 10 month.
Avocado Puree for Babies
Avocado is a great first food for babies. You can start feeding it as soon as your baby starts their solids. Since it is easy to digest, they are great weaning food. Avocado is rich is omega 3 which helps in brain development in babies. You can add some banana to this puree, it adds potassium too.
Avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, that’s the good kind of fat! A medium size avocado contains approximately 322 calories and up to 30 grams of fat – WOW. 1 cup of avocado puree contains almost 700 calories as it would take approximately 2 avocados to make a cup. The benefits of avocados far outweigh the “risks”. You can read more about the benefits of avocado here
Dates Puree for Babies
Dates are a healthy dry fruit that is high in essential minerals and nutrients, making them a superfood for babies and growing children. Dates natural sweetness also makes them an excellent sweetener for baby food and a healthy alternative to sugar.
Boil dates with little water for 10 mins till soft. Cool it a little and puree till smooth. Strain the puree if required and boil till thick. Cool and store in a clean dry bottle in fridge.
1)You can mix dates puree in fruit purees which you make.,
3)For older babies, you can give 1 spoon of this puree daily.
4)Use this in milkshakes to sweeten it.
Spinach Puree for Babies
Spinach puree is a healthy way to include spinach in your kids diet. It is very recently i discovered this method. What i do is, as soon as i buy a bunch of spinach. I wash them well in several changes of water. Drain them and cook them down. I then puree them and store them in fridge. They stay good for 5 to 7 days. I use them throughout the week. I add them to dosa batter, chapati batter, curries.
I add this to dosa batter mainly and feed my 1 year daughter daily morning. She seems to love it.
Cauliflower Puree for Babies
Cauliflower is packed full of phytochemicals which are said to help prevent cancer. Just one cup of cauliflower is packed with Vitamin A, Vitamin C and even calcium. Cauliflower is a great addition to a healthy diet but it causes many people to be a bit gassy.
Cauliflower is a little gassy vegetable, so you have to introduce it to babies after 8 months.
Sweet Potato Puree for Babies
Sweet Potatoes are such a wholesome food to give for babies. It has so many health benefits, read all of them here. I give maha normal potato mash often, but sweet potatoes i give occasionally. But she loves this a lot because of the natural sweetness it has. I boil sweet potatoes and feed her, but to bring out the maximum sweetness from them, it is best to oven roast them, just slice them in half, wrap them in foil and roast it for 40 to 45 mins.
Muskmelon Puree for Babies
Melons are such a wonder food for your babies during hot summer days. Since they are filled with lots of water content, they make a yummy dish for your baby, plus you don't have to cook them. These melons are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C and calcium. It is rich in beta carotene which is good for your babies vision. Choose melon which smells sweet and feed melons which are sweet, because some tart melons can cause rashes in babies.
Pear Puree for Babies
Pears make a great baby food. I give apple puree one day, pear puree the next day and i mix them and make apple pear cinnamon puree and feed her. I also add a dash of cinnamon to spice it up.
Pear makes a great first food for babies since it is less allergenic and it easily digest. Your baby will love it for sure.
Carrot, Potato & Beetroot Puree for Babies
For a variation i added some beetroots in the puree as well. So it is more healthy and nutrition. Beetroots has not only the amazing colour, it is rich in anti-oxidants, folate, manganese, potassium, vitamin -A and many other properties.
Apple, Pear & Cinnamon Puree for Babies
Apples and Pears make a great baby food. Apple Pear and Cinnamon is cooked together and pureed.
Carrot Puree for Babies
Carrots form a best first food for babies. Carrots are rich in Beta Carotene and has tons of Vitamins. Since the veggie is sweet, babies love it so much. This is the first vegetable which i gave maha. The second veggie which i introduced her is beets. But she loves carrots more than beets.
I boiled carrots and pureed it with palm candy water (panangkarkandu) which adds a sweetness to the puree and it clears cough and cold in babies.
Apple Puree for Babies
If you are planning to start your baby with solid food, i recommend you to start with apples. Because apples are non allergenic fruits and there are packed with tons of nutrients which is a perfect fruit to include in your babies diet. So my first baby food recipe is going to be apple puree, also known as apple sauce.
Potato Puree for Babies
The other food which is rich in carbohydrates are potatoes and sweet potatoes. Potatoes are really good for your babies. They have few vitamins in them but they are mainly rich in carbohydrates and starch. I added some milk in this mash to make it more creamy, but you could simply leave it out and add warm water. Never add cow's milk until your baby is 1 year old.
You can even add carrots in this and make it as a double veggie mash. Carrots give a lovely sweetness to the mash and it will be a different food for your baby.
You may add 3-4 jeera while boiling the potatoes. You may either grind it and feed the baby or else take it off before feeding as the essence would be taken in it. This helps the baby from getting any gas problems.
Steamed Mashed Banana for Babies
Bananas are high in potassium. In our place we get a type of banana called as "matti pazham". It will small in size and smells so sweet. We mash them up and feed babies. You don't have to steam them. It is really good for babies. But i have heard that you cannot find it in many places. But i am sure that nendran pazham is easily available in all places. And it makes a great baby food. But i prefer to steam it and feed baby, so it is easily digestable. Plus it is a great food for weight gaining in babies.
Pomegranate Juice for Babies
It is absolutely crucial to feed as much liquid food to your baby either as water or in form of juices. Health packed fruit which is pomegranate, It cures digestive problems in babies, intestinal worms, controls fevers and has lots of liver protection problems.
Watermelon Juice for Babies
Watermelons are a healthy fruit to feed your baby during summer times because this fruit is packed with a ton of water content.
Pro Tips From a Mom of 2
- Texture of the puree depends upon you, i would recommend you to make the puree smooth.
- Your baby wont empty the whole bowl all at once, start with few spoons then increase it gradually as days pass by.
- I don’t prefer freezing purees. I make it fresh everyday. But if you are busy or find difficult to get time, then freeze it in individual containers and thaw it overnight in fridge.
- Feeding your baby can be quite messy and takes lots of time. So don't be in a rush when you are feeding. Spend lots of time in feeding.
- Don't give chopped fruits or veggies, even it is cooked. Always puree them or mash it completely.
- Don't add too much salt or sugar in your baby foods.
- Always make your own baby food. Don't give store bought or packaged foods.
- Prepare your food in a hygienic way. Always sterilize the vessels you use for your baby.
- Wash your hands thoroughly before you start making baby foods.
Frequently Asked Questions
1)From which month you should start solids?
Start giving food when the baby is 6 months. Give always homemade food. Don't give ceralac,farex etc. So kids won't love homemade food when they grow.
2)What is the best nutrition food for babies?
Food should contain 5 star qualities
* Cereal like rice/wheat/ragi etc.,
* Pulse like toor dal etc.,
* Should be solid
* Contain sweet
* contain fat like ghee, butter oil
Best example: Sweet Pongal - Worst example: Rasam Rice
Time Intervals for Feeding Baby Foods?
Leave intervals between each feed, at least 2 hrs. Then only baby will get hungry. Split the day into 5. like 8.30am, 11 am, 1 pm, 4pm, 7pm
8.30am, 1 pm, 7pm - give heavy feed
11am, 4pm - Give light feed
in between breast feeding
How to properly feed babies?
When you are feeding the baby don't show TV. You can feed them showing crow, trees like our grandma do. I know it is very difficult. But you can do it. Eating is like a prayer, so the kid should see the plate and the food.
If she is not ready to eat, DON'T FORCE. Offer some other food, if she refuses then the baby is not hungry. so don't force feed.
How to properly wean a baby?
Start with semi solid, then solid. By the age of 1 she should eat what u r eating. On her 1st birthday, she should sit and eat with you. So give all food including non veg. This will help the child come out of allergy.
Treat your child like an adult. She knows what her stomach knows better than you. So let her decide the food and time of feeding.
How to sterilize baby feeding bowls?
Start by sterilizing the bowls and spoons which you are going to feed your baby. Take the bowl and spoon in a large saucepan, cover it with water and bring them to a boil. Boil it rapidly for 5 mins. Now you can turn the heat off and leave them stay in the hot water till use.
Leaving you with a picture of me with my daughter - Aarthi
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