Honest baby food
Best First Foods for Baby According to a Pediatrician
Good nutrition is essential for raising healthy kids, but where do you begin? Today, Dr. Tanya Altmann, a pediatrician and mother of three, is here to share her top first foods for baby, plus tips for developing lasting healthy eating habits. Her expert advice is paired with real-life experience, so it’s practical for all parents.
Every day I talk to parents who are concerned that their toddler refuses veggies or their preschooler only eats beige food or their older child is at an unhealthy weight. More and more evidence points to the fact that healthy eating patterns begin in infancy. If you are reading this article (or my entire book) you are already ahead of the game since what you feed your baby is key to raising a nutrition-loving, non-picky, healthy weight child for life.
Let’s get right to which foods are best when your baby begins to eat solid food. Here are my recommendations for the best first baby foods:
Avocados
Avocados are now a popular first food for baby. Besides being trendy, they are also extremely healthy. High in potassium, fiber and healthy monounsaturated fat, avocados are good for hearts of all ages.
Although some babies can handle fork-mashed avocado around 6 months of age, other babies require a bit of pureeing. When feeding baby, you can add a little water or breast milk to thin the avocado for the first few weeks of starting solids. Before you grab the baby wipes to clean your little one’s mouth, be ready for a funny avocado face to post on Facebook, as it may take a few tries for your baby to take to this new food. You will be able to advance to fork-mashed avocado fairly quickly, then small pieces for her to pick up, smash and self-feed. I always ordered a side of avocado for my babies whenever we went out to eat. My now 15-month-old son loves pieces of avocado with scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Eggs
Speaking of eggs, they are a perfect single-ingredient food to introduce into baby’s diet. Super easy to prepare, this solid food is a convenient and healthy source of protein, fat and other nutrients, all important for babies and kids.
Yes, you can feed your six month old the entire egg (both egg yolk and egg white). Serve a small portion (maybe a tablespoon) of hard-boiled egg that is either pureed or fork-mashed with extra liquid if needed. Also try feeding baby scrambled eggs, again mashed or pureed using a food processor. Scrambled egg pieces are a fantastic finger food for eight to twelve month-olds. Parents often tell me they don’t have time to make eggs in the morning before work or school. My trick? I make eggs at night and just reheat them in the microwave for a fast and easy breakfast option for all ages.
Fish
I talk to many kids and adults who dislike the flavor and texture of fish, simply because they didn’t get used to eating this particular healthy food as an infant. Fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are extremely important for brain and eye development, lending to why it's one of the best first baby foods. Wild salmon is the healthiest fish for babies (and older kids and adults too!).
It’s also low in mercury (compared to other fish). Fish is a great natural source of protein and contains vitamin D — a vitamin that most people need more of.
Initially, puree the fish in a food processor and later advance to fork-mashing. You can add a little moisture with water, breast milk, or organic chicken or vegetable broth, if needed. You can also mix it with pureed vegetables for added flavor. My youngest son loved his salmon mixed with pureedsweet potato. It’s also okay to lightly season the fish, as you would prepare it for the rest of your family. As your infant begins self-feeding, simply break the salmon into tiny pieces and let him self-feed. Be careful to ensure there are no hidden fish bones, as even a tiny bone can be a potentially dangerous choking hazard for an infant.
Nut Butter
We now know that early introduction of nut products can decrease your child’s chance of becoming allergic later on in life. Nut butters are delicious, healthy and convenient new food to introduce into baby’s diet.
Nutrient-wise they offer vegetarian protein, vitamin E and healthy monounsaturated fats. In Israel, a baby’s first snack food is a peanut puff called Bamba and a similar product, Cheeky Monkey, is an organic version now sold in the U.S. Peanut puffs are a healthier alternative to teething biscuits or rice biscuits, which are generally low-nutrient low-fiber filler foods.
With my most recent baby, I melted one teaspoon of healthy creamy peanut butter into one ounce of baby whole-grain oatmeal (not rice cereal, but oatmeal as a first cereal). I added water to make sure the mixture wasn’t too sticky and thick. He loved it! Around eight months you can offer creamy nut butter on your finger for your baby lick off. Once your baby is self-feeding and starting solids, you can spread a very thin layer on thinly sliced whole-grain bread, cut into tiny pieces, and observe as he picks them up and self-feeds. Sticky and fun! I recommend offering peanut products three times a week as the famous LEAP study did to decrease risk of peanut allergy in your child.
Green Veggies
Green veggies have tons of vitamins and minerals. People who eat green vegetables have lower disease rates and a healthier weight. Dark greens such as kale, Swiss chard, and spinach pack the most nutrition, but all green veggies are healthy for babies and kids. Peas, green beans, zucchini, spinach, broccoli and asparagus are especially easy to steam (or boil or sauté) and then puree, fork-mash or cut into tiny pieces. For a toddler or older child who loves green veggies, follow these three steps: eat green veggies in front of your kids; introduce green veggies around six months of age; continue offering them regularly. Don’t stop offering a vegetable just because your baby doesn’t take to it immediately, eventually they will grow to like this healthy food.
Time to Grocery Shop!
By no means are these the only healthy foods you can and should feed your little one, but starting with these five and eventually including all 11 of my essential foundation foods, you will be on the right path to raising a veggie-loving, no-fuss, healthy-eating child.
~Tanya Altmann, MD, FAAP and Beth Saltz, MPH, RD, authors of What to Feed Your Baby, A Pediatricians’ Guide to the 11 Essential Foods to Guarantee Veggie-Loving, No-Fuss, Healthy-Eating Kids
We aim to provide you with the most honest and credible information possible. This article was reviewed for accuracy by The Honest Team and was written based on trusted sources that are linked at the bottom of the article.
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Raising An Adventurous Eater: Start with Homemade Baby Food
When it comes to dinnertime, many parents want their children to do more than simply eat their greens. They're thinking Thai, Indian, Greek and want their little ones develop a taste for a variety of cuisines adults enjoy—or at least give them a shot. So, how can you help ensure your child has an open mind when it comes to trying new foods?
An article in The Washington Post tells of one couple’s determination to have their baby eat pure, whole foods and avoid the bland and beige (one idea for healthy and adventurous eating!).
This isn't surprising considering the new father is a food writer who wants to improve his baby food making skills. So, he meets with a chef and parent of three to learn a few tricks for crafting purees that match the ingredients of the flavorful meals he and his wife enjoy eating. The combinations the chef creates are unique, tasty, and designed for kids: curried carrots, minted pineapple mango, basiled beets and strawberries, sweet potatoes with a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, and cauliflower with cumin.
The good news is that you don’t need a culinary degree to give this a try. Making your own baby food is easy. It’s healthy and fresh because you know what goes into it. You can tailor purees to suit your baby’s tastes and dietary needs. And it's a great cost-saving measure.
Here are three baby food recipes you can make in your kitchen:
Basic Veggie Baby Food: Honest Co-Founder Jessica Alba has a great basic baby food recipe in her book The Honest Life.
This recipe offers solid nutrition for your children and exposes them to the fragrant flavor of ginger.
Ingredients
- 1 pound vegetables. Jessica uses organic carrots, organic squash, organic cauliflower, and organic broccoli.
- Organic chicken stock
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp. fresh ginger
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- Drizzle of organic olive oil
Directions: Combine all veggies, ginger, salt, and broth in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook until veggies are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from stove and place in a blender with homemade applesauce or an organic banana, plus a small amount of organic olive oil. As your child gets older, you can toss in meat and quinoa. Let cool and store in reusable glass jars.
Savory Baby Food: The earthy flavor of sage compliments the creamy (and nutritious!) sweet potatoes. (This recipe has been adapted from Christine Dionese’s recipe on Pure Mamas.
)
Ingredients
- 3 organic sweet potatoes
- 1 organic avocado (does not need to be steamed)
- 3 organic sage leaves
- 1 tsp. organic coconut oil
- 1 Tbsp. organic chia powder
Directions: Peel sweet potatoes and slice into small chunks. Place in a steamer basket and steam until easily pierced with a fork. Add potatoes, avocado, sage, coconut oil, and chia powder to a high-powered blender and blend for 30 second to a minute.
Chickpea Baby Food. This healthy baby food combines fiber-rich chickpeas and healthy greens. (This recipe has been adapted from Mother Nature Network and OurLittleLentil.)
Ingredients
- 1 can organic chickpeas, or chickpeas from the bulk section of the grocery store -- soaked and cooked
- Frozen organic peas
- Fresh organic spinach
- Garlic
- Pinch of cumin
- Organic vegetable broth
- Small amount of coconut oil
Directions: Saute the garlic in the coconut oil for 1-2 minutes until soft.
Add spinach and let it wilt. Add peas, chickpeas, cumin and broth. Blend with an immersion blender or add mixture to a high-powered blender and puree.
Because we know convincing your child to try new foods can be challenging, green chef and contributor Juli Novotny shares some tips for getting your little one to enjoy new flavors:
- Find out what your son or daughter enjoys, what they are just okay with, and what they could get better at eating. Try preparing the foods they don’t care for in new ways and congratulate them on eating the healthy foods they love.
- Explain to your child that healthy food will make him stronger. “My son will eat 10 pieces of broccoli when I tell him that his muscles got bigger from them,” Juli says.
- When your child is in the room grab your spouse or a grandparent and say something like, "I'm so glad I ate my vegetables last night because it got me through my work day," or "I'm so happy that I drank that green smoothie because it made me run so fast today.
” - Don't give up! Keep trying. Sometimes you have to offer a food to him five-plus times before he is willing to try it.
- Kids aren't going to love everything adults love. Adults eat very rich foods—our palates are more advanced and our taste buds a bit less sensitive, so don’t worry if your little ones don't want to try all of the healthy and tasty flavors you enjoy.
What are your tips for developing your children’s palate for a variety of foods?
We aim to provide you with the most honest and credible information possible. This article was reviewed for accuracy by The Honest Team and was written based on trusted sources that are linked at the bottom of the article.
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The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed labeling baby water from September 1
The Ministry of Industry and Trade published a draft resolution in which it proposed labeling packaged water intended for baby food.
Participants in the circulation are invited to label packaged water with the OKPD-2 code 2201 10.86.10.310.
Stages of introduction of labeling of packaged water for baby food0008 Information within the framework of transactions providing for the transfer of ownership From September 1, 2022
to October 31, 2022 (inclusive) Participants in the circulation of packaged baby food
submit to the information monitoring system information about product identification codes
when putting packaged water into circulation.
for these products, as well as within the framework of commission agreements and
(or) agency agreements to the monitoring information system not are transmitted. from March 1, 2023 Circulation participants provide information on identification codes
when displaying goods from retail sale using KKT from March 1, 2023 to 28 February 2025 Participants in turnover participants provide information on identification codes when:
1) putting packaged water into circulation and information on the number of units
consumer packages of packaged water for each product code in the framework of transactions involving
transfer of ownership of these products, as well as under commission agreements and (or) agency agreements
2) withdrawal of packaged water from circulation in case of write-off, damage, etc.
3) export of packaged water to the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union
as part of cross-border trade á nine0024 In the UPD, you will need to enter the code of each unit of goods, transfer this information to counterparties and to Chestny ZNAK.
Prepare in advance for the labeling of packaged water for baby food
Taxcom offers a full range of solutions for labeling bottled water:
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online cash registers, scanners and vending equipment;
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fiscal data operator services;
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electronic signatures for cash registers, EDI and reporting; nine0003
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EDI software and online reporting to government agencies;
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acquiring services and terminals for it;
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individual solutions for filling UPD with marking codes from different accounting systems.
marking
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Business offered to suspend preparation for labeling baby puree due to price increase
- Business
- Andrey Zlobin Editorial Forbes
The business has suggested removing baby puree from a canned food labeling experiment that could start in May.
According to manufacturers, the introduction of a control system in the industry threatens with a shortage and a rise in prices by “at least 10%”
Business proposes to exclude products for children from the labeling experiment for canned meat, vegetables and fruits. This follows from a letter from the association of manufacturers Rusbrand (including Nestle, Danone and other brands) to the Ministry of Economic Development, which Izvestia has read.
Finished reading here
The letter notes that for foreign products, and the level of imports in the segment is 25-30%, the developer offered more expensive technical solutions, which threatens with a shortage of goods on the shelf and an increase in prices "by at least 10%". In addition, Rusbrand does not understand what problem labeling will solve, because it is not known about cases of counterfeit products recorded by regulators in the industry: the industry has established state control over the production, distribution and sale of baby food, increased requirements are imposed on raw materials and materials, and the finished product is packaged in a sealed package, which is subjected to sterilization.
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Related material
The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes to conduct an experiment on labeling canned food for children from vegetables and meat, as well as jams, jellies and nut butters from May 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023. A representative of the department told the publication that the draft government decree on the experiment was prepared on behalf of the President of Russia. He noted that an objective assessment of the cost of introducing marking is possible only during the experiment, and assured that support measures have been developed for the companies participating in the project, including preferential loans for the purchase of marking equipment. nine0003
The representative of the Ministry of Economic Development, which is preparing an assessment of the draft resolution prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, did not respond to the publication's request.
A representative of the Ministry of Agriculture said that during 2021, the price increase for baby food was below the inflation rate. He noted that in order to reduce costs, manufacturers of baby food have access to preferential investment and short-term loans.
Related material
The press service of the Advanced Technologies Development Center (operator of the Chestny Znak system) told Forbes that the experiments are being carried out before the introduction of mandatory labeling of any product groups and allow companies to choose the best technical solutions for themselves that will have a minimal impact on their work. Participation in the experiment is voluntary. An objective assessment of the costs of the industry for the introduction of labeling is possible only during the experiment with the active participation of all participants in the turnover. “Any statements that have been made up to this point can be considered speculation to a large extent, since it is impossible to calculate investments without starting implementation,” the CRPT stressed.
