Healthy Baby Food Recipes for 6 to 12-Month-Olds

Introducing solid foods to your baby is an important event that demands, wise decisions, careful planning and considerations. For babies 6 to 12 months, transition from breastfeeding or commercial formula to solid foods is a significant milestone. For this, must know about baby food recipes.

This period is very important for developing healthy eating habits of solid foods and ensuring adequate nutrition for growth and development.

This blog post is more than a guide, where you will explore healthy baby food recipes for 6 to 12 month-olds age appropriate foods, feeding schedules, and tips for introducing solids safely and effectively.

When Are Babies Ready for Solid Food?

Based on personal experience and scientific research, it was revealed that babies are generally ready for solids around six months when they are able to:

• Sit up and down with minimal support.
• Show interest in solid foods and reach for it.
• No longer push food out of their mouth with their tongue reflexively.

How to Introduce Solid Foods

It is recommended to start with soft foods, particularly liquids containing blended solid foods, to monitor for allergies. Common first foods include:

• Rice cereal supplemented with iron.
• Puréed fruits such as bananas, apples, and pears.
• Puréed vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, and peas.

For 6 to 8-Months-Old Babies

At this stage, your baby is just starting to exploring the taste of solid foods. Nutritious liquids and soft foods are ideal as they learn to swallow and digest new foods before exploring solid foods.

How Much to Give

Always start with 1 to 2 tablespoons of puréed food once a day, then shift to 3 to 4 tablespoons as your baby gets used to eating solids.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner Foods

• Breakfast Foods: Iron-fortified rice or oat cereal mixed with breast milk or formula.
• Lunch Foods: Puréed vegetables such as sweet potatoes or carrots.
• Dinner Foods: Puréed fruits like apples or pears.

For 8 to 10-Month-Old Babies

Six to eight month feeding habits make your baby becomes more accustomed to eating. Now, you can start adding more variety and slightly thicker foods.

How Much to Give

Give 2 to 4 tablespoons of food per meal, 2 to 3 times a day, in addition to breastfeeding or formula.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner Foods

• Breakfast Foods: Mashed avocado or yogurt added to fruit purees.
• Lunch Foods: Puréed chicken or beef added to vegetables.
• Dinner Foods: Soft-cooked pasta or rice mixed with finely chopped vegetables.

For 10 to 12 Month-Old-Babies

At this stage of life, your baby is capable of eating a variety of textures and flavors. They can easily digest finely chopped foods and small soft pieces.

How Much to Give

Offer 4-5 tablespoons of food per meal, 3 times a day, along with snacks and continued breastfeeding or formula.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner Foods

• Breakfast Foods: Give scrambled eggs with small pieces of toast.
• Lunch Foods: Give soft-cooked vegetable sticks along with yogurt.
• Dinner Foods: Give small pieces of soft-cooked meat, fish along with steamed vegetables.

Formula to Calculate Baby Food Quantity

A general formula has been made to calculate the desired amount of food to your baby based on its body needs.

Give 1-2 tablespoons per meal for each month of age. For example, if your baby is of a 6-month-old, he/she needs 1-2 tablespoons per meal, while a 12-month-old might can eat up to 12 tablespoons per meal accordingly.

Instructions for Adding Salt, Pepper, Sugar, and Oil to Baby Food

• Salt and Pepper: Avoid adding salt and pepper to your baby food because at this age of life their kidneys are not mature enough to handle excess salt.
• Sugar: Avoid added sugars as it cause tooth decay and establish healthy taste preferences.
• Oil: You can use small amounts of healthy oils like olive oil or avocado oil to ensure calories and essential fatty acids in baby diet.

Best Commercial Foods

It is best and always advised by a doctor to use only homemade foods while, using high quality commercial baby foods of authentic brands can be convenient. Use commercial foods with:

• No added sugars or salts.
• Simple ingredient lists.
• Having organic and non-GMO certifications.

Homemade Baby Food Recipes

Homemade foods are best for baby health, as they promote gut flora and avoid gut issues. Here are some homemade baby food recipies:

1: Pureed Sweet Potatoes

1. Peel and chop sweet potatoes.
2. Steam until soft.
3. Puree with a little water or breast milk until smooth.

2: Mashed Avocado and Banana

1. Mash a ripe avocado and a ripe banana together.
2. Serve immediately to prevent browning.

3: Chicken and Vegetable Puree

1. Cook chicken breast until tender.
2. Steam carrots and peas.
3. Blend chicken and vegetables with a little water or broth until smooth.

Scientific Research Regarding Baby Foods

Scientific Research has clearly revealed that early dietary experiences decide the child’s future food preferences and eating habits. A study by Birch, L. L., & Fisher, J. O. (1998) tells the significance of repeated exposure to a variety of healthy foods during infancy to promote acceptance, rejection and preference for these foods later in life. The research found that babies who were exposed to a variety of vegetables were more keen to accept and enjoy them as toddlers than ones who did not expose to it.

Personal Experience

As a parent, the journey of introducing solid foods to my baby was a difficult task. When my first daughter was around six months old, we started with simple purées. She liked the mixture of avocado and banana. I noticed that consistency and patience were key. Initially, she refused to eat it, made funny faces, but with repeated exposure and my efforts she began to enjoy a wider variety of flavors and textures.

Further Reading

For those parent who are interested in further exploring baby food recipes, I have searched for you best books which will provide you insight about a variety of ideas about baby food recipes. These books provide a variety of recipes and tips, which can be a valuable resource for parents. I recommend checking them out for additional guidance on making nutritious, healthy meals for your little one.

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Conclusion

Introducing solid foods is an exciting part of parent’s life because, it lays the foundation for your baby’s future eating pattern and habits. It is difficult to start but, by repeated efforts of offering a variety of healthy foods and textures, you can ensure your baby receives all the desired nutrients for growth and development.