Introducing Vegetables & Fruits to Babies
In Baby Led Weaning, Vegetables and Fruits can be introduced as finger foods once the baby is ready for solids.
Vegetables and fruits are very important for the good health and growth of Babies. They add a wide variety of flavours to your baby’s diet and also provide minerals and vitamins like vitamin C. They are very rich in fibre which helps in regular bowel movements.
Gradually, once you’ve introduced fruits and vegetables, try to make them as part of every meal. In the beginning when you’re starting off with one meal at 6 months, try to always incorporate one fruit or veggie on the side. Continuing to do this as meals add on will help you expose your baby to healthy food choices at an early age and also help in making them less picky towards these foods as they grow up.
We introduced cooked Vegetables and Raw Fruits without mashing, pureeing or juicing them to S when he turned 6 months.The essential idea is to give your child a variety of flavours and textures early on and to help promote an adventurous approach towards food where they are more likely to try new tastes and food items as they grow up.
Vegetables
Give your baby a variety of very colorful vegetables. This is sure to attract your baby and they will want to grab and eat it more enthusiastically. A colourful selection of fruits and veggies would also generally be more nutritious as well as being appealing to the eye.
Nitrates in vegetables
Earlier, parents were recommended not to introduce nitrate-rich vegetables like carrots, beets, turnips, and spinach to their babies’ diet.
It’s true that nitrates might health problems in very young babies lesser than 6 months. But, at 6 months, if you give your baby a variety of vegetables, there is no cause for concern. If you’re very worried about this aspect, you can always opt for organic produce.
Detailed description how to prepare the following vegetables are given.
- Broccoli for Babies
- Carrots for Babies
- Chow Chow for Babies
- Beetroot for Babies
- Capsicum for Babies
- Arbi for Babies
- Sweet Potato for Babies
- Banana Stem for Babies
- Radish for Babies
- Capsicum/ Bell Peppers for Babies
Fruits
Give your child a variety of fresh cut fruits not juiced or mashed. Cut the fruits into pieces that your baby can eat with her fingers. Also do keep in mind that babies almost instantly like fruits and eat more of them since they are sweet. To prevent a preference for sweeter foods setting in, it is generally recommended to start introducing vegetables first to allow them to explore those flavours too.
Detailed description how to prepare the following fruits are given.
Fruit is more nutritious than juice because it contains fibre. Fruit juice is not essential to quench your child’s thirst between feedings, water is the best choice.
To know more about each Vegetables and Fruits, Please click on the link.