Banana – offering for the first time (6months+ Babies)

Banana has vitamins and minerals that help Babies gain healthy weight. Bananas are rich in calcium, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins A, B6, B12, fibre and folate. you can definitely introduce Banana early.

Is Banana a good first food for baby? Can I give banana to my 6 months old?

Banana is an ideal fruit to be offered as the first food for the baby. This fruit has a high fiber amount and it helps to improve digestion in babies and kids. 6months old Babies can be introduced to Banana for babies with Baby-Led weaning.

Bananas are easy to digest and are rich in Vitamins, Minerals, fibre and folate. Bananas are known to be a best food to gain weight in babies, toddlers, and kids.

When and How to Introduce Bananas to The Baby?

You can introduce bananas to your baby after 6 months of her age. It is considered as one of the best first foods for babies.

Bananas are the easiest no preparation involved healthy foods you can offer your baby. The consistency is perfect and most babies love its taste.

The texture is a little slippery though and to make it easy to hold, you can keep half the peel on and let your baby hold that end and eat.

If it’s too big, you could cut it lengthwise as well before offering. You could also mash and offer on preloaded spoons.

Alternatively, During the second time when you are giving Banana, you could coat it with nut powders (like almond ground into a fine powder) for better grip.

Keep in mind that it’s better to introduce nuts one at a time and preferably in mornings since they are known allergens and to be on the cautious side.

We found some varieties like yellaki banana are easy to hold even without the peel. You could buy this variety if it’s available locally for you. Else for other varieties if it’s very easily mushy when ripe, best is to offer in one of the suggested ways so the baby doesn’t get frustrated and has a good grip to hold and eat.

Our experience: We introduced it to S during his First week of solids and he absolutely loved it. I initially tried giving the half-peeled bananas. He was able to comfortably hold it and ate the Banana.  

Next time when we got the yellaki variety, we tried giving him a fully peeled Banana. He was able to hold it well and enjoyed eating it. He did gag a couple of times but he managed and was able to bring the big piece out which he chewed. The best part is he was careful the next time when he took a bite. This is quite surprising to observe.