Introduction of fruits, vegetables, rice, cereals and juices : As the items below are added, do not stop or reduce the ones already started. The object is to foster more tastes and increase the quantity of food to the amount accepted.
Fruits : Mashed fruits are a good first weaning food. They are easy to digest and palatable to the baby.
Mashed bananas: Bananas should be mashed, and then given plain or mixed with malai (cream) or milk. Start with quarter banana, and increase it every week until the baby accepts it.
Boiled and mashed apples: You can also offer apples instead of bananas to your baby. Take an apple and cut it into pieces, taking care to remove the center core. Boil it and then mash it either with a spoon or in a mixer. Start with half an apple and increase it to the limit accepted by the child. It has been observed that apples causes constipation in many babies. In this case, try other fruits like papaya.
Other seasonal fruits: Other seasonal fruits like pears (to be prepared like apples), chikoo (simply mashed), papaya (simply mashed), mango (simply mashed) can also be given. It has been observed that papaya helps soften stools if the baby is constipated.
Mashed and well-cooked vegetables: Vegetables can be added to the baby’s diet a week or so after introducing fruits. Vegetables should first be boiled, then mashed in a blender, and then strained. (It is important to strain the vegetables until the baby is about 7 months old. After the baby is 7 months, straining is not required because vegetable fiber is very nutritious and contains certain useful toxins). Begin with a couple of spoons and then gradually increase the quantity every succeeding week to the limit accepted by the baby. Dark green leafy vegetables, carrots and pumpkin are very healthy. There is no need to add salt to the vegetables, since there is enough sodium in the vegetables. The baby’s system is not ready to handle too much salt in the first few months of life. Ghee, butter or cooking oil can also be added for flavor as well as for calories. Vegetables like spinach are high in iron. In order to improve the absorption of iron into the baby’s system, you need to give vitamin C. Vegetables like tomato and cauliflower contain vitamin C and therefore can be a good complement to spinach. Multivitamin drops also contain vitamin C and can be given once a day, right after a meal.
Porridge : This can be added to the baby’s diet a week after starting mashed vegetables. One to two teaspoons should be given twice a day, between two feeds around 8 am and 7 pm. Keep increasing every 3-4 days to the amount accepted by the baby. Home-made preparations are preferred to ready-made cereals. There are several ways of offering home-made porridge: suji kheer (rava kheer), thin seera with ghee, dalia from broken wheat, ragi (or nachni), soaked bread in milk, mashed boiled rice with milk, phirni, etc.
Mashed and well-cooked khichri or dal and rice : Introduce khichri to the baby’s diet after a couple of weeks. You can add half a teaspoon of ghee, butter or cooking oil to the final preparation. Initially, you should put the cooked khichri in a blender so that it is easy for the baby to swallow. Then you can gradually increase the consistency to a semi-solid state so that the child’s palate starts getting used to regular foods. You can also add vegetables like carrots or spinach to the khichri.
