Weaning foods for your baby

Weaning is a particularly exciting event for new mothers, as they cannot wait to feed their babies food other than breast milk. Weaning is also a very crucial stage of your baby’s development. If done too early, it may harm the proper development of your baby’s digestive system.
Introducing liquids one at a time and then moving over to purees and finally solids is what the experts advise.

1. Apple Juice - Apples are the safest to start with as they are digested easily and at the same time provide nourishment too. Boil pieces of peeled and deseeded apple in a pan. Once soft, mash well and then strain. Use this strained liquid and feed spoonfuls to your baby.
2. Vegetable soups - Clear vegetable soups are a good option too. Boil a few vegetables like potato, carrots, pumpkin, tomato, etc. Mash them well and strain. Feed this liquid to your baby.
3. Dal water - This is one of the simplest and easy to digest form of food for babies. While you boil dal for your regular meals, separate a spoonful of the water that is used to boil the dal. Feed this to your baby, a little at a time.
4. Rice Water - When you cook rice for lunch, try boiling it instead of your regular pressure cooking. The whitish starchy water that bubbles up when the rice is boiling is one of the best weaning foods for your baby.

Juices can be tried with other fruits and vegetables too. Always remember to introduce one thing at a time.

Once your baby is well accustomed to juices and soups, you can move on to purees and mashed foods.

1. Bananas - An overripe, mashed, and deseeded banana is a dream food for every baby. Bananas are filled with nutrients, easy to digest and available all year through.
2. Other fruits - Once your baby has taken well to bananas, move on to other fruits like apples, chikoos, papayas, and muskmelons.
3. Vegetables - A well-boiled and well-mashed potato is the ideal vegetable to start with. Once your baby is over seven months old, you can move on to other veggies like carrots, beetroots, etc.
4. Green leafy vegetables - Wait until your baby is eight months old to start with this. Boil spinach well and puree it into a green paste and feed it to your baby.
5. Cooked foods - From the eighth month onwards, you can slowly introduce her to the foods you eat. Equal amounts of rice and dal can be cooked together till nice and soft. Add a little ghee to this and mix well till it is soft. Feed your baby a small bowl full of this rice-dal mixture. You can also add vegetables to the rice and dal to make it more nutritious.
6. Homemade nutritious mixes - Take a spoonful each of rice, wheat, moong dal, and ragi. Wash well and dry it in the sun. Grind this mixture and keep in an airtight container. Take a spoonful of this mixture, add a little water, boil it and cool it. Feed this highly nutritious liquid to your baby.

When you wean your baby away from breast milk and introduce normal foods, remember to feed the child a little spoonful of water too. As the breast milk intake has reduced and child is getting more of solids, water is a necessity. It helps in digestion and keeps your baby well hydrated.

Avoid the following foods till your baby is a year old:

Animal milk and milk products.

1. Tea and coffee.
2. Nuts.
3. Sugar.
4. Salt.
5. Honey and other sweeteners.
6. Low-fat foods, skimmed milk.

When you introduce solid foods to your baby, always introduce one food at a time. Every baby is different, so be patient while your baby adapts.