Super Smoothies

A fruit smoothie is a great way to get several servings of fruit into your baby all at once. Add yogurt for a protein punch and you have an excellent snack that could even serve as a meal. Frozen fruit works best for smoothies, and adding a little juice or milk will thin it out to make it easy for your older baby to drink. Great smoothie combinations include strawberry-banana, peach-mango and mixed berries. You can even slip in some vegetables

Smoothies offer a benefit over juice as a serving of fruit as they contain the whole fruit and not just the juice, meaning your child will benefit from all the available nutrients. They are also more filling and will offer longer lasting energy due to higher levels of fiber. 100% juice is an easy way to get an extra serving of fruits into your baby’s diet, but keep it to one drink of juice a day.

Spectacular Soup

Fruits are generally easier to fit into baby food diet. They are sweet, portable snacks that babies love to eat. Vegetables, however, can be a little more challenging. Even if your baby ate veggies with no qualms in the first months of solid foods, as he gets older, you might find he turns up his nose at them. There’s a simple, delicious way to get extra veggies into your baby’s diet, however – give soup a try!

Soups such as vegetable and minestrone are filled with all sorts of vegetables, and because they have been cooked so well, they are soft and easy for baby to chew and swallow. Because they are infused with the flavor of the broth, they don’t taste so much like veggies. Adding a few crackers will soak up some of the extra broth and make it easier to get the soup into your baby’s mouth.

Watch out for canned soups that can contain a lot of sodium, however. Check labels and buy low sodium versions, or try your hand at making your own soup at home for an even healthier version.

Spread Out the Servings

If you try to fit all of the fruits and veggies in at one part of the day, it’s harder to get enough of them in. Many parents don’t serve a vegetable until dinner time, but lunch and snacks are great times for veggies too!

If you serve a fruit or veggie at each of the three main meals of the day plus two snacks containing a serving each, you have hit your five without even trying. Still, sometimes it can be difficult to get baby to eat a fruit or vegetable at every sitting. Double up the fruits at breakfast by serving oatmeal mixed with berries and banana slices on the side. Do the same at dinner; try mixing finely chopped spinach into meatballs or a pasta sauce, and serve a regular portion of veggies on the side as well.

Fruits and vegetables are vitally important to good health, so make an effort to ensure your baby is getting enough. You’ll set a great example for a lifetime of good eating habits.

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Fresh, Frozen, Canned

When it comes to fruits and vegetables, fresh is always the best choice for optimum nutrition. The process of freezing can damage some of the nutrients, and the processes involved in canning can be worse – including added sugars and salt you don’t need in your diet, or your baby’s. Realistically, however, taking the time to wash, chop, and cook fresh produce isn’t always an option for everyone.

If you are reaching for frozen fruit, be sure to check the label to make sure no extra sugar has been added. For both fruits and vegetables, look for signs of thawing and re-freezing, as this is detrimental to the freshness and safety of the food. Large ice crystals are a sign the food has been partially thawed and re-frozen. Many vegetables are now available in a convenient steam-in-bag format, which takes you from freezer to table in no time flat. The steaming process prevents important nutrients from being leached out into the water when veggies are boiled. Frozen fruits are a great choice for smoothies as they will provide thickness to the mixture.

Canned fruit and veggies are an ok option, but be sure to choose vegetables that have not had any salt added, or rinse them before cooking to remove excess salt. Look for fruits that have been packed in juice and not in syrup, and beware of “no sugar added” versions that actually contain artificial sweeteners. Because canned vegetables tend to be very soft, they are a great finger food choice for babies learning to chew. Remember, the healthiest vegetable is the one your child will actually eat! It does no good to have those fresh veggies sitting on the plate ignored. If canned vegetables are the only type you can get your child to eat, go for it, just be on the lookout for added sodium.

Be Carb-smart

When you are in a hurry, it’s often easy to feed baby quick baby foods that are high in carbs, such as oatmeal, toast, crackers, or cereal like Cheerios. There’s nothing wrong with carbs – your baby needs them! Just make sure that you are choosing high fiber options and also adding fruits and vegetables to keep your baby full and provide all the necessary nutrients. A bowl of oatmeal is a great quick breakfast in the morning, but be sure to add some fruit to up the nutrition value.

Watch out for too many simple carbs, refined grains or anything high in sugar. Choose whole wheat bread and brown rice for your baby rather than white. Baby will be get more fiber from these choices. When choosing snacks like crackers, look for whole grain options there as well. Cereal bars might look like a great on the go snack for baby, but may be loaded with sugar and lacking in real fruit or fiber. Reading labels is the best way to choose good carb options.

Providing a healthy, balanced diet for your baby while living a busy life can be a bit of a challenge. It’s ok to choose some quicker options, as long as you are careful to pick the healthiest ones.

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Advances in Feeding Skills

As your growing baby starts to really catch on to the feeding process, she will start to show more signs of readiness to move on to thicker baby foods. You will notice that baby is opening her mouth readily for food, and will close her mouth around the spoon to get all of the food off. She is less likely to spit food out now – at least, not accidentally! Although still not quite ready to try finger foods, you may notice more attempts to use her hands to bring food towards her.

Your baby is still not really ready to chew, but it’s time to start learning about thicker foods to begin that process. Thicker purees that are not quite as smooth will provide a bridge into truly chunky foods.

Adding to the Menu

Around this time, you can start adding more fruits and vegetables to your baby’s menu, and also start combining them for different tastes. Although it’s ok to start meat as one of baby’s early foods, most parents don’t add it until baby is a little more advanced. Meats are best served mixed with a fruit or vegetable that your baby is familiar with in order to add flavor. It’s not unusual for babies to refuse meats at first. Even pureed, meat has a very different texture from fruits, vegetables and cereal. Combine foods in whatever mixes you like, but make sure to continue the rule of adding only one new food at a time to watch for allergies.

If you are buying your baby’s food in jars, it’s time to make the switch to stage 2 foods. These will be thicker and have more interesting combinations of flavors. If you are making your baby’s food, don’t add as much water to your purees, and leave them just a little lumpy rather than entirely smooth. You can even try serving peas that are not strained to see what your baby makes of the shells.

Eating More Often

At this point, your baby might be ready to have more than one solid feeding in a day. His main source of nutrition, however, remains breast milk or formula. As he grows and his appetite develops, he should be able to have two feeding of solids a day without impacting his intake of breast milk or formula. Feed baby solids a little while after nursing or having a bottle, and let him eat until he refuses more food. Babies are far more in tune with their hunger cues than we are as adults, and they won’t overeat, so it’s ok to let him have all he wants as long as he has already met his nutritional needs through the breast or bottle.

In the coming months a whole new world of foods will open up for your baby, and as teeth begin to appear it will become easier for him to chew new foods and move into thicker, chunkier and more complex foods. Keep introducing new foods, and don’t give up on ones baby has refused before. His tastes are developing and changing; you might find he suddenly won’t eat a favorite food, or develops a new appreciation for one he wouldn’t eat before.

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Your Baby Won’t Starve.

Remember all those night wakings when your baby wailed for food until you came running to provide it? They might be (at least mostly) a thing of the past, but it doesn’t mean your baby is any less able to tell you when he is hungry. When your baby wants to eat, he will make absolutely sure you know about it.

Many parents become frustrated with a baby who refuses baby food time and time again, shutting his mouth firmly and turning away from the spoon. You might feel certain that your baby must be hungry, but your baby feels even more certain that he is not. If your baby refuses food, he probably isn’t just being stubborn, although it can feel that way. He really just doesn’t want the food. Try again in a little while, and you might get better results.

No matter how sure you are that you know better than your baby what he needs to eat, you should never force feed a child. Forcing a baby to eat when he is not hungry will cause him to lose touch with those important hunger cues that will prevent over eating and thus obesity and other health problems. Even if he only eats two bites and then clams up, let it go. You have to trust your baby to know what he needs.

Picking Up on Hunger Cues

Your baby’s most obvious hunger cues are already easy for you to notice. Young babies might root around, chew on a fist, or of course cry. As your baby gets older and is eating solids, however, some of these instinctive hunger cues will start to fade, leaving the crying as the clear signal that baby is hungry. Most of the time, you won’t want to wait until your baby cries to get some food in her.

A feeding schedule is very helpful in older infants to prevent them from becoming so hungry they resort to tears. However, there may be other signs baby is trying to tell you she is hungry, even if you think it isn’t time to eat. If your baby becomes distracted from a task, or watches you eating intently, it might mean she is looking for a snack as well. Soon, your baby will develop the ability to tell you she wants something to eat, but in the meantime, attention to her moods and keeping to a schedule are the best ways to avoid a really hungry, upset baby. Especially at the age just before talking or gesturing really take off, it can be very frustrating to a baby to know what she wants but be unable to express it! Watch your baby carefully for behaviors that might occur right before she eats a good meal. Every baby has a unique way of trying to get your attention.

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Feeding Myth #1: Solids Help Babies Sleep

You’re exhausted, and you feel like if you have to get up one more time in the middle of the night you are going to keel over. It’s not hard for a new parent in a state of sleep deprivation to cling to any possible thread of hope for a better night’s sleep. So when a friend or relative suggests adding solids to baby food diet earlier than you had planned, it sounds fairly reasonable. After all, if baby stays full longer, he will sleep longer, right? Unfortunately, it isn’t true. There is no evidence that starting solids early, or really at any time, has any effect on a baby’s sleep patterns or the duration of night sleep.

Right now, the AAP recommends waiting until baby is 6 months old to start solids. While it may be tempting to start your baby early in search of better sleep, it’s not a good idea. Babies need to be developmentally and physically ready for solids before starting. Giving a baby whose digestive system isn’t ready for it solids might cause gastrointestinal upset – which could disturb sleep even more.

Feeding Myth #2: Fatty Baby Foods Will Make Your Baby Fat

Although a diet high in fats isn’t a good idea for grown-ups, babies need a lot of fat to promote brain development. Babies under 2 should always get the full fat version of foods like milk and other dairy products. Foods like avocadoes are very high in fat, but contain the good fats that your baby needs to grow. Never put a baby on a low fat diet, and if you have concerns about your baby’s weight, talk to your pediatrician.

Feeding Myth #3: Giving a Baby Fruits Before Vegetables Leads to a Sweet Tooth

This popular myth states that if you give a baby fruits as a first food, your baby will refuse to eat vegetables due to having developed a preference for sweet foods. The truth is, there is no evidence that starting fruits first will cause your baby to dislike vegetables. As for the sweet tooth, all babies are born with a taste for the sweet. This natural preference exists because breast milk is sweet, and babies are predisposed to prefer the taste of breast milk over anything else.

Feeding Myth #4: You Can’t Start Finger Foods Without Teeth

Babies can learn to chew even before they have teeth. Most babies will develop their front teeth, the incisors, first, which aren’t even helpful in chewing most foods. Molars don’t usually appear until much later, when your baby is already quite proficient at chewing a number of foods by mashing them with her gums. There is no reason to wait until the first few teeth appear to start finger foods – just watch for signs of readiness and choose foods that will dissolve easily in the mouth, and can be mashed without real chewing.

While these are only a few of the rumors you may hear about feeding your baby, hopefully this list will encourage you to seek out the truth before taking any steps to change your baby’s diet.

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Why Infant Cereal?

It may seem like oatmeal is oatmeal, but there is a difference between baby cereals and those meant for adults. Baby cereals are designed to meet the nutritional needs of infants, which differ from those of adults. Because most babies are not able to eat the same varied diet as a grown person, they require extra nutrients. They are also growing and developing at a rapid rate, which means their little bodies need certain things more than an adult might.

The main difference between a baby cereal and the average box of oats is iron. Cereals designed for babies have been fortified with this important mineral, which helps your baby’s growing body to create new red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body. Some infant cereals are also fortified with DHA and ARA, which are thought to support eye and brain development. In addition to these, baby cereals contain a number of other vitamins and minerals to help your baby grow.

At a certain point, when your child has become proficient at chewing and swallowing other foods, it will be possible to get the entire spectrum of required nutrients from a varied baby food diet. Particularly during the first two years of life, however, most children need an extra boost in the nutritional department.

Other Sources of Iron

Fortified infant cereal isn’t the only way your baby can get extra iron. Most doctors will recommend a liquid vitamin and mineral supplement for your baby, especially after weaning from the breast or bottle is complete. Some of these supplements contain iron – be sure to check the label to be sure before you buy.

If you are planning to breastfeed into the second year, your baby will get more iron than if you switch entirely to whole milk. This still may not be enough, especially as your baby nurses less often over time.

Keeping Infant Cereal in The Mix

As your baby gets older and enjoys thicker, chunkier foods, infant cereal might not be as interesting, especially as it tends to be bland. There are a number of ways to make infant cereal a bit more interesting to an older child, Mix it with chunkier fruits or vegetables, or add raisins and a touch of honey for taste – but don’t do this until after a year old, as honey is not safe for babies under one. You can also blend it with a thicker oatmeal that might be more interesting to your older child’s palate.

If you can’t get your older child to eat infant cereal, don’t despair. There are many other ways to get enough iron in your little one’s diet. Be sure to use iron supplements, and offer iron rich foods such as meat, poultry, eggs, green vegetables and beans. There are also some cereals on the market meant for adults that have been fortified with iron, such as instant oatmeal. Check labels to look for added iron before you buy.

If you are concerned about your child’s iron intake, talk to your pediatrician. A simple blood test can check for anemia to make sure your little one is healthy.

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Recent diet crazes that have instructed people to cut out carbohydrates have caused a general belief that carbs are bad for you, and will cause obesity. This isn’t accurate. Your body needs carbs, and so does your baby’s body. The key is to choose the right kind of carbs to provide nutrition and avoid empty calories.

The Types of Carbohydrates

Carbs come in two main forms: simple and complex. Simple carbs are high in sugar and refined grains. Some of this occurs naturally, but much of it is the result of processing. White bread is a perfect example of a simple carb. It is made with wheat that has been processed and stripped of the portions of the grain that contain the fiber and most of the nutrition. While “enriched” grains have had the nutrition added back afterwards, the fiber can’t be replaced, and you are left with the type of carbohydrate that is broken down quickly by the body. This can cause spikes in blood sugar levels

Complex carbs are foods that contain a lot of fiber, and take longer for the body to digest. They maintain a steadier level of sugar in the blood, and thus more sustained energy and fullness. Whole grains are complex carbs. The grains have been left in their natural form and not refined to remove any part of the grain. They are a great source of fiber as well as other nutrients.

The Benefits of Whole Grains

Eating whole grain foods regulates the digestive system and keeps the good bacteria in balance, meaning less gastrointestinal problems and a healthier immune system. This goes for both babies and adults. Whole grains have been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and also help to regulate cholesterol levels. Starting your baby on whole grains is an investment in future health.

Whole grains are also full of nutrition in its natural state, which is always better than vitamins and minerals that have been added synthetically.

Whole Grain Baby Foods

With the recent push towards whole grain foods, it isn’t hard to find them on the shelves of your local supermarket. When choosing infant cereal, look for brown rice rather than refined white rice. Oatmeal is usually a whole grain, but check the label to be sure. Barley is also a great whole grain for baby, but again, be sure to read the label to make sure the barley infant cereal you choose is made with whole grains.

When your baby is ready for foods like bread, choose a whole grain variety rather than white. Children who start on whole grain breads and aren’t introduced to white bread are less likely to reject it than those who start with white. Bread labels can be tricky, and not every wheat bread actually contains whole wheat grains, so read the ingredients no matter what the label says.

You can also add whole grains to foods like soups. Both brown rice and barley make great additions to your favorite soup. Whole grain pasta is now widely available, and is a smart choice and a great finger food for baby.

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Iron helps the body to create hemoglobin, which is what keeps red blood cells healthy, and makes them red. It carries oxygen throughout the body and provides it to muscles and organs, all of which require oxygen to function properly. As babies are growing quickly, their bodies require iron to create new red blood cells.

Dangers of Iron Deficiency

Babies get iron from their mother in the womb, but after birth it must be included in baby food diet for healthy weight gain and development. Babies who do not get enough iron can develop iron-deficiency anemia, a condition which can cause numerous problems including poor weight gain, fatigue, dizziness, rapid heart rate and decreased appetite.

Iron deficiency symptoms can be slow to appear, as the body’s stores of iron are depleted over time. If they are not replaced, the symptoms will start to manifest. Most cases of anemia are caught prior to symptoms developing thanks to routine testing for hemoglobin levels in babies between 9-12 months of age. Rare serious cases of iron-deficiency anemia do occur, however, resulting in hospitalization.

What Leads to Iron Deficiency

In most cases, a lack of enough iron in the diet is the reason for a baby or toddler to develop anemia. There are other potential causes as well, however.

When your baby makes the switch to cow’s milk at around a year old, the risk of anemia from low iron increases due to two factors. First, your baby is no longer receiving the extra iron found in breast milk or iron-fortified formula. Second, too much milk can actually block iron absorption. This is a big reason why babies under a year old are not advised to drink cow’s milk. Too much milk can damage the lining of the stomach and result in internal bleeding that can further deplete iron supplies. To prevent this cause of iron deficiency, keep your baby’s milk intake to no more than 24 ounces a day. If your baby is taking an iron supplement or multivitamin with iron, serve it separately from milk.

Periods of rapid growth can also deplete iron stores, as the body is using them up at a quicker pace than normal. If you see signs of a growth spurt in your baby, try to add extra iron either in the form of supplements or food in order to replace the stores that are being used up.

If your baby was premature or had a low birth weight, the risk of iron deficiency anemia is increased. Because larger babies who spent longer periods in the womb were able to absorb and store more iron, their supply will last longer and not need to be replenished quite so quickly. A premature or low birth weight baby will need extra help to build up iron stores and avoid anemia.

If you suspect iron deficiency anemia in your baby, talk to your baby’s doctor. Once the diagnosis has been confirmed, your pediatrician will be able to guide you in the right steps to take in order to bring iron levels back up.

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Birth to 6 Months

From birth through 6 months of age, the AAP strongly recommends that you breastfeed your baby exclusively. If breastfeeding is not possible, formula should be your baby’s source of nutrition. Although you may hear recommendations to start your baby on solids as young as 4 months old, the newest research has prompted organizations such as the AAP and WHO to recommend waiting until 6 months old to ensure your baby is developmentally and physically ready to begin solid baby foods.

6 to 8 Months

At 6 months old, your baby may be ready to begin solid foods. Look for such signs as ability to hold her head up easily, ability to sit up with minimal support, and interest in food. When your baby is ready, sometime in this time period for most babies, you can start once daily feedings of the following foods:

• Infant cereal mixed with breast milk or formula to a thin, smooth consistency. Start with rice or barley before moving on to oatmeal or mixed grains.
• Finely pureed fruits such as bananas, apples, pears, peaches, mangoes, avocadoes
• Finely pureed vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans and squash.
• Finely pureed meats
• Whole milk yogurt

You should continue breast or bottle feeding as usual and always serve solids as a secondary feeding after breast milk or formula.

9 to 12 Months

During this time, you can thicken baby’s food and start to leave small chunks in it for baby to chew. Depending on how many teeth your baby has cut, you can try chewier and crunchier foods as well. Your baby’s diet can be expanded to include:

• Infant cereal mixed to a thicker consistency and mixed with fruits or vegetables
• Thicker, chunkier fruits and vegetables, expanded to a wide variety of options.
• Soft, small pieces of cheese
• Finger foods such as Cheerios, small pieces of soft fruits and vegetables such as bananas and cooked carrots, and well-cooked pasta
• Small chunks of well cooked meats
• Eggs, scrambled is best
• One small serving of fruit juice a day
• Toast with peanut butter, cut into small pieces
• Whole milk yogurt mixed with thicker fruit purees

During these months your baby will add a second feeding, probably around 9 months, and then a third by 12 months. During this time, however, breast milk or formula remain the main source of nutrition, and about 75% of calories should come from that source. Solids should be served in small portions after breast feeding or taking a bottle.

12- to 24 Months

During the second year your baby will cut the rest of his teeth and expand his chewing ability. He will also start using a spoon or fork to bring food to his mouth, albeit clumsily. At this point your baby’s foods should look a lot like what you are eating, but cut into smaller bites and in some cases, cooked more thoroughly. Add to the menu:

• Soups with lots of well cooked but chunky vegetables
• Crackers that dissolve fairly easily when chewed
• Whole cooked bite-sized pieces of vegetables
• Whole uncooked bite-sized pieces of softer fruits
• Whole milk, as baby weans from the breast or bottle
• Whole milk yogurt mixed with small chunks of fruits including berries.
• Infant cereal mixed with small chunks of fruits or berries.

By the end of the second year, your child will be able to eat just about anything you eat. Remain cautious about bite sizes however, as choking is still a hazard. Your child should be eating three meals a day along with two healthy snacks, and taking no more than 24 ounces of whole milk each day.

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Avoiding Excess Salt

Sodium is a mineral that is required by the body to maintain a balance of fluids and avoid dehydration. Fortunately, it isn’t difficult to get the required amount of sodium. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to get too much, which can be just as bad as or worse than too little.

Sodium is added to all kinds of processed foods, from canned vegetables to frozen foods. It’s especially prevalent in things like canned soups, which are a popular quick meal option for busy parents. Happily, the food industry has recognized the problem with excess sodium and is offering low-sodium or even sodium free versions of canned foods. Canned vegetables are now available packed only in water. Soups are now available with much lower sodium content.

While home cooking should be safer because we control the amount of salt we put into our foods, we often don’t realize that sodium at home doesn’t just come from a salt shaker. Condiments, seasoning blends, and popular cooking flavorings all contain more sodium that most of us realize. By trying to cook healthy foods at home, you could be serving your child more sodium than is healthy. Again, reading labels is important!

The Sweet Side of Life

The good news is, there is no evidence that sugar really causes children to be overactive, nor does it necessarily lead to obesity – in moderation. The real problem with sugary foods in a child’s diet is that they tend to replace healthier foods, and provide empty calories instead of options full of nutrients.

Sugar is added to all kinds of foods, even those aimed at children – perhaps especially those aimed at children. It’s well know that kids like the sweet stuff, and manufacturers are tuned in to your little one’s sweet tooth. Candy isn’t the only culprit, in fact it isn’t even the main culprit. Fruit “drinks”, yogurt, cereals, granola bars and more all contain large amounts of sugar. While some of these foods might also offer nutritional value, usually due to being fortified, it doesn’t make them the healthiest choice. Nutrients that appear naturally in foods are better absorbed by the body and healthier for kids. Try sweet treats that appear in nature, like fruits and berries, instead of processed sugar for a treat that is both sweet and healthy too.

Everything In Moderation

You have heard it before, and it applies here. Denying kids the odd treat will make them more likely to gorge on it when they do get the chance. And what’s life without a little fun? As long as you keep the sweet and salty treats to a minimum, there won’t be a lasting impact on your child’s health. Making a regular habit of it, however, will set your child up for potential health problems in the years to come.

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