Educate me about baby foods

[ktmama]

My lo is 7.5 months and has been trying solids for about six weeks. So far he's had sweet potato, banana, pear and avocado. I've also given him tastes of other things I'm eating if they're soft enough. Last night he had some cooked carrots from my stew, for example.

Now, I'm kind of stuck! I need to educate myself about what to give him and read some ideas about nutrition for babies - both from foods and supplements like oils. Any ideas?

TIA!

[JMJ]

Until a year old, food is mostly for exploration and experimentation, not that important for nutrition. That said, any fruits and vegetables are going to be great nutrition. Avoid honey until a year since it can cause infant botulism, and if there are any allergies in your family, you might want to delay introducing those foods. Most babies can't digest grains very well for a while, so introducing them yet is probably useless. Limit salt intake. 1/2 teaspoon of cod liver oil contains a child's recommended dose of vitamin D, assuming no sun exposure.

[lilylumos]

Sounds like you're doing pretty well! We started around the same age, just soft things from our plates and then I made my own food for DD. I think that's the way to go, not only nutritionally but we never had a problem with exploring new textures and tastes - she eats anything and everything now at 15 months and is still nursing strong too.

Agreed that you should not worry about how much he's getting on the nutritional content (as long as it's not junk) until over a year. It's all for fun right now and getting him used to new tastes!

[tana'smama]

http://www.amazon.com/Disease-Proof-...2885702&sr=8-5

I hope the link works--this is a good book to have. It's a book by Joel Fuhrman MD and called Disease Proof Your Child. It also has recipes in it.

Another book is called First Meals by Annabel Karmel. I ordered this with my first baby and now can't find it for number two and may have to re-order.

Both can be found on Amazon.com

Good Luck!!! My ds just turned 7 months and has be EB so far but I need to start thinking about things to try...

[Kelly1101]

I make/freeze my own baby food (we do purees) and I love this site: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Even if you don't do purees, it goes into different foods that are good for different stages, how allergenic they are or aren't, how much vitamin/nutrient is in each kind of food, best ways to cook and/or prepare them, etc. Good for finding out which new things you can introduce.