Food for your beautiful 6-9 months baby

Once your baby starts to grow they need variation in food and taste. So, it's time to get creative! Your 6 to 9 month baby will be eager to try new foods now, and may even start to chew, with those beautifully new teeth. Learn how to create meals that will please his tiny palate! There are no hard and fast rules here. All babies are different, with their own unique likes and dislikes. Just like you and me!

At 6-9 months baby food recipes include softly mashed, or chopped into fine pieces of fruits, vegetables, meats, pasta and dairy such as yogurt and cheeses. Pasta, veggies, and fruit should all be soft cooked and possibly mashed with a fork or masher. (Bananas need only be mashed, l like added some boiled and cooled water to it to make it like a mouse, try it and you will see what l mean.) Raw fruits are often introduced at this stage. Meats and proteins should be cooked and pureed or chopped into small soft bits. If offering Tofu, you need not cook it first. Ensure dairy offered is easily manageable as they may have no teeth at all and if they do they have to learn how to chew.

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How and what to feed, your questions answered

Continue to feed on your baby's cue, whether breast milk or iron-fortified formula
Start with iron-containing foods

Infant cereal is often the first food offered
Offer cereal in a thin runny texture, mixed with breast milk or formula or boiled and cooled water, one flavour at a time, in small amounts
Feed infant cereal from a spoon
Meat and alternatives contain iron and can be introduced at this stage

Next, try vegetables and then offer fruit
Increase texture from finely mashed to coarsely mashed or ground
Offer cooked meat, fish or chicken finely mashed
Offer plain yogurt or cottage cheese, now a days you can also buy baby yoghurt form your local supermarket or convenient store, which is very handy
Create safe and pleasant mealtimes
Sit and eat your meal at the same time

Be Careful of the following

Check with your health care professional before using soy-based formula
Feed one new food at a time, for three or four days. This makes it easier to identify allergic reactions.
Around 7-9 months fruit juice may be offered from a sippy cup
Limit juice to only 1/2 a cup a day.
Too much juice may cause diarrhea and tooth decay, and baby will fill up on juice instead of breast milk
Delay replacing formula with cow's milk until 9-12 months of age
If you are planning on feeding your baby as a vegetarian, a well planned diet is needed.

Avoid:

Adding sugar to your baby's food
Leaving children unsupervised while eating; they may choke.
Candy, snacks, junk food
Dipping pacifiers and nipples in anything such as sugar, syrup or honey
Feeding your baby herbal teas or other adult beverages such as coffee (hot or iced), tea, anything alcoholic
Giving honey in the first year as it may cause infant botulism (food poisoning)

Create safe, quiet and pleasant mealtimes. Your baby should eat happily and with pleasure. Putting pressure on your baby to eat will only lead to a battle of wills. Never force your baby to finish a bottle or eat all the food you have prepared. Let your baby tell you when he is finished. This is the time for your baby to start learning healthy eating habits.

How to prepare baby food:

Vegetables: Wash and peel the skin from vegetables; remove seeds or pits, l like to leave the skin on the zucchini though, as it becomes soft and he can eat it as well. Cut into small pieces and steam over boiling water. Or, wash the vegetables, then pierce the skin with a fork in several places and bake until soft. Remove the skin. You then place cooked vegetables in a bowl, add a little breast milk, formula or water and mash with a fork or potato masher. Once your baby is about 8 months they also suggest if you like adding a bit of cow's milk to your babies diet and l like adding it here, to make a great mash! But check with your health nurse before doing so.

Fruit: Select ripe fruit. Wash and peel, then remove pits and seeds. Cut into pieces. Soft fruits like banana, avocado and peach can be mashed with a fork or potato masher. Cook firm fruit like apples first. Wash and peel, then remove pits and seeds. Slice or cut into small pieces, and boil in a small amount of water until soft. Mash with a fork or vegetable masher.

Meat and Alternatives: Meats should be ground, and can be boiled or poached. Fish can be poached or baked; when cooked, remove the skin and bones before mashing the fish with a fork. Meats and fish are often easier for babies to eat if mixed with other foods like rice or potatoes. Well-cooked beans (like kidney beans) and lentils can be mashed with a fork or potato masher. Hard boil eggs and remove the egg white. Traditionally, egg white is not given to babies until 1 year. The egg yolk can be mashed for your baby with a little breast milk, formula or water.

Once your baby is enjoying pureed fruits and vegetables, (see baby's first foods recipes), it's time to take a look at these interesting recipes for your 6 to 9 month baby, that incorporate a few new flavours and texture.

Yummy Vegetables / Vegetarian Baby Food Recipes:

1. Cheese and Vegetable Supper

Ingredients

5 tsp milk
4 oz cottage cheese
2 oz cooked peas
3 oz cream cheese
1 oz finely grated mild cheddar
1 oz cooked carrots

Method

Mix the cottage cheese, cream cheese, cheddar and milk together until well blended.
Stir in the hot, cooked vegetables.
Finish off with a little sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

2. Carrot and Lentil Soup

Ingredients

1/2 lb dry, rinsed lentils
1/2 lb carrots, peeled and diced
1 small onion, finely chopped
34 fl oz (1 litre) of water
1 tbsp olive oil

Method

In a large saucepan, gently saute the onion in the oil, until soft.
Add the lentils, carrots and water.
Bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours, until the lentils are soft.
If necessary, you can puree the soup once it's cool, adding a little water to thin the mixture.

Feeding your baby is a wonderful way for the two of you to share quality time. Be patient and keep mealtime a happy time. Stay positive and enjoy watching your baby grow. Remember happy baby, happy family!