Whether you’re an inexperienced cook or a dab hand in the kitchen, introducing your baby to their first foods can be a pretty daunting task! Deciding which foods to introduce them to first and which flavour combinations to work up to will set your little one on the path to taste and texture discovery and can be a fun (sometimes stressful!) adventure!
How To Begin with Purées
If you have decided to go down the spoon-feeding / purée weaning route then weaning can begin with single fruit or vegetable purées.
Some great ones to start off with include:
- Apple or pear
- Mashed banana (no need to cook)
- Mashed avocado (no need to cook)
- Carrot
- Parsnip
- Butternut squash
- Courgette
- Mango (no need to cook)
- Sweet potato
Top tips for preparing your purées:
- Wash, peel, chop and then steam whichever fruit or vegetable you are using until its soft enough to mash up.
- Blend in a liquidiser or mash with a fork if soft enough. Add a bit of the cooking water or breastmilk/formula to get the texture to a nice, soft and slightly runny form which will be easy for your baby to manage
- Always allow the food to cool and test the temperature yourself before giving to your baby
- You can make purées in batches and then freeze – use ice cube trays to save into perfect portion sizes which you can later serve on their own or mix with other flavours to make different combinations
- When reheating always make sure food is piping hot and then allow to cool before serving to baby
Allow your baby to play and experiment with their food, try and keep mealtimes light-hearted and fun and don’t worry too much about how much actually makes it into their mouth! Your baby will love some flavours and not others, but as long as you give them lots of variety from the beginning you will be helping them to develop a varied palette and exposing them to lots of different textures and flavours- preparing them for a healthy and varied diet in the future.
Don’t forget to check out our other weaning blog posts for some expert advice and inspiration!