Food Ideas Moms Can Follow
When you start weaning your baby, you may find that you will be working in the kitchen, a lot! This is especially true if you choose to make your own baby food. Most moms find that they are cooking meals for themselves and/or the family and cooking separate meals for their baby. Spending all this time in the kitchen can become tiring, not to mention the fact that cooking multiple meals can be costly in terms of ingredients.
To help you cope with what has become a double load, you may want to try cooking meals that both your baby and your family can eat. As you have learned throughout the article son this site, babies who are being weaned need to be introduced to a variety of foods that have different tastes and textures. You can achieve this by giving your baby what your family is eating, except serve it to them in its pureed and un-salted, un-spiced form.
For example, you can serve your family a thick pumpkin soup as part of one of your meals. This soup (when cooled down) can be fed to your baby. Pumpkin is a great first food for babies, and the texture of the soup is great for babies who are just starting to wean. What you can do is cook the soup and put a bit of it aside for your baby. After you've put some aside for your baby, you can proceed to add salt and spices so that the rest of the family will enjoy it too.
As your baby grows older, other textures can be introduced. For example, you can serve steak and mashed potatoes as one of your family meals. The mashed potatoes can be fed to your baby. Potatoes are great for their starch content, and mashed potatoes is a more advanced texture babies who are about three to four weeks into weaning can appreciate. Like the soup, set some aside for your baby before adding any salt or spices.
A hearty bean soup with bits of meat and vegetables, like carrots, is another wonderful meal your family and baby can enjoy. Bits of beans and vegetables should be in small pieces, and the meat should be in tiny pieces as well. Make sure these bits are tiny enough to mush (if needed.) They will help your baby practice chewing, as well as introduce them to a variety of textures.
There are many other foods you can serve your family and baby at the same time. Usually if you are serving a vegetable dish, a pureed version of this can be fed to your baby. If you are serving a meat or fish dish (and if your baby is well into weaning) a minced portion of this can be served to your baby as well.
The added perk to making recipes that the entire family, including your baby, can eat is that your baby can now join you at mealtimes. Having your baby eat the same time as everyone else will give them a good routine. It will also help them follow this schedule till they're well into childhood and their teen years. What's more is that eating with everyone else will help your baby recognize the other members of their family, which is vital for building their relationships with them.
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