Filled with mixed emotions, it’s that exciting milestone when you first introduce solids to your baby. This step signifies that your little one is growing up, changes are coming, meal times are about to get really messy and their world is about to open up to an exciting array of new tastes and textures.
So get your camera ready, set up your video recorder, make sure you’re not wearing white and get ready for some super cute starting solids moments!
While all babies are ready at different times generally sometime close to 6 months (though not before 4 months) is the perfect time to start experimenting with solid food for babies.
Start with a smooth and pureed consistency, working towards a mash with soft lumps and then from 8 months on you can introduce coarser mashed foods, small soft lumps, chopped or grated small soft pieces, soft finger food while encouraging the art of self-feeding.
So now you’re ready to start trialling some solids but where to start? I’ve put together some yummy ideas below to help you on your way.
From 4 months: smooth and pureed – small amounts of a single ingredient food to start with
* Farex Rice Cereal
* cooked then pureed single vegetables like pumpkin, potato or carrot
* cooked then pureed single fruits like apple or pear
* look out for the blue label jars and cans in the Heinz Baby Food range they are a perfect consistency for this first food stage
From 6 months: mashed food with soft lumps – your baby is ready for different textures such as a thicker, mashed food with soft lumps. They also need foods with a good source of iron to help replenish their depleted iron reserves from birth.
*mashed banana and avocado
*banana, peach and strawberry puree
*Apple Sweet Potato & Mango with Beef puree using the Heinz Apple Sweet Potato & Mango pouch
*Chicken with Carrots & Apple puree
* look out for the yellow label jars and cans in the Heinz Baby Food range they are a perfect mashed range for this stage
From 8 months: soft lumps & finger foods – the stage where independent eating starts to emerge. Your baby is trying to feeding himself with hands, spoons and finger food pieces.
*soft cooked vegetable pieces
*slices of soft fruit
*fingers of bread or toast
*Mini Rice Cakes
*grated cheese
*mini pikelets with Heinz Strawberry and Vanilla Custard
Did you know that Heinz has a 60+ year heritage in baby food? I grew up on Heinz baby food (I’m not telling you my age though) – my mum said I couldn’t get enough of the Apple Puree and Vanilla Custard jars.
After poking around the Heinz for Baby website I must admit I was quite amazing at the wide range of goodies they have from jars, pouches, cans, cereals to finger foods and even an organic baby range.
They source all their ingredients from Australia where possible- apples, pears and peaches come from the Goulburn Valley, pumpkins from country Victoria and meats from suppliers all throughout Australia. Recipes are created by a team of nutritionists who are Mum’s themselves and are tested in their specialist baby kitchen in country Victoria. All their meals are steam cooked and are heat sealed straight away to prevent the need of any preservatives while locking in all the delicious flavours.
Packed with Just the Good Stuff it’s great to know that if you are strapped for time, out and about or just don’t have all the right ingredients at home to make a meal from scratch that you can feel confident that you are still serving your little one a meal that is nutritious, flavoursome, preservative free whist being quick and easy.
What is your favourite tip or recipe for starting babies on solid food?
Why not share your story in the comments below.
The Heinz for Baby website and very active Facebook page have some great tips and recipe ideas for starting solids, and very conveniently broken down into age appropriate categories to help you know what is best for your baby and at what stage. I found a few really helpful printables on their site too, definitely worth a look Heinz Baby Feeding Guide and Finger Food Ideas for 12 months +.
