Top 6 Baby Food Combinations To Make At Home
Babies go through a lot of milestones and firsts. This includes basic activities like feeding! During the first few months of your baby’s life, they’ll only need milk. But once they hit four or six months, this is when they can start taking in other types of food. By this time, parents must have a list of recipes ready to introduce some good food to their baby.
For starters, you’ll begin with single-source pureed food. Your doctor will recommend this to rule out any potential allergy that your baby might have. Then after successfully graduating from stage one purees, this is when you can move on to different forms of food combinations.
For parents, this can be both exciting and challenging. You need to introduce as many food combinations as you can to your baby, so you can get their palate used to different tastes and textures. This is a good way to prevent having a picky eater in the future. There are so many recipes you can read through from KitchenThinker.com and other sources, so you’re never going to be out of ideas.
And with this article, you’ll have a list of ideas for baby food combinations that you can make at home—even as a busy mom.
1. Apple + Cauliflower
The apple and cauliflower combination for babies is a healthy treat. You can serve this to your baby either as food puree, small cuts for baby-led weaning, or as a healthy beverage. Here’s a breakdown as to why it’s great for your baby:
- Apple is one of the healthiest treats for babies. As it’s quite sweet, it can also be easily well-loved—even by a picky-eater. ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’, and there’s so much truth to that saying indeed. Here’s why:
- It Promotes Good Digestive Health: Apples are a good source both of soluble and insoluble fiber.
- Improves Cognitive Health: Apples contain phenolic compounds found effective to fight against free radical damage.
- Helps Kids Have Good Cardiovascular Health: Due to the presence of pectin, apple is also effective in preventing bad cholesterol accumulation in the blood vessels.
- Cauliflower is great to introduce to babies in between their eighth to tenth month. Apart from serving it as a puree, you can pair up the cauliflower with sliced apples for an even healthier and tastier snack, too. Cauliflower is rich in calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin A.
2.Banana + Peanut Butter
Banana and peanut butter puree is a sweet but healthy treat for your baby. Peanut butter is one of the most common allergens in the world. So, it’s not surprising why many parents might fear this combination. But some doctors recommend introducing very little amounts of peanut butter early on because it’s a great way to get over any potential peanut allergy early on.
If you’re planning this recipe, discuss it with your doctor as well to be certain. And always start with a very little amount of peanut butter first. Then, slowly increase it to see if your baby reacts or not.
3.Peaches And Pears
For this recipe, all you have to do is to steam peeled pears and peaches. Then, create a puree out of it. If the resulting mixture is still too thick, you can thin it out by adding a small amount of baby formula or breast milk.
Peaches are healthy to introduce to your babies as it carries the following potential health benefits:
- Helps in the development of healthy eyesight
- Enhances blood circulation
- Supports bone development
Pears can also offer the following advantages:
- It helps boost your baby’s immune system since it is rich in healthy fatty acids which have anti-inflammatory and cancer-protective benefits.
- It’s easily digestible, which is great for babies who are sick and suffering from indigestion or diarrhea.
- It’s not very acidic, so it’s also another great choice if you’re trying to wean your baby off breastmilk.
4.Apple + Raspberry + Vanilla
This puree combination is going to be a hit for your baby! You can also serve this frozen or in mini popsicle forms. You can serve this to your baby as a healthy snack, especially when older children in the family are seen snacking as well. That way, your baby won’t feel tempted to reach out for and ask for sugar-laden ice cream and desserts that older kids are allowed to have.
5.Blueberry + Whole Milk Yogurt
This is a baby food combination that is best given to your little one for breakfast. Adults and older kids can also enjoy this as well. Also, this may help your baby eat better when they sit down with the rest of the family and they see that everyone’s eating the exact same thing as they are.
You can have whole milk yogurt or Greek yogurt for that morning. For your baby, you can limit the toppings to blueberry and any other fruit they’ve already tried. You can do this too for yourself and the other kids, along with sprinkles of granola, oats, or chia seeds if you fancy that.
6.Pineapple Mango
For this recipe, all you need to do is to steam both the pineapple and mango. Then, mix both together into one puree.
Pineapples boast of a strong nutritional value, making them a good choice to serve your baby. For instance, pineapples are rich in the following:
- Vitamin C – This helps boost the immune system
- Vitamin B – Needed for proper development of the nervous system.
Mangoes, on the other hand, also bring in the following health benefits:
- It aids in better digestion
- Promote better memory
- It may help manage anemia, as it’s a rich source of iron
Conclusion
The introduction of solids should be a fun and enjoyable experience for the parents and the baby. Most importantly, you’ll want to give your baby all the nutrients they need for their growth and development. When your baby is exposed to the great, big, wonderful world of food, they’ll learn to get used to different tastes and textures. Moving into their toddler years, your baby will enjoy eating healthy foods. You’ll also find that they will develop their own tastes and favorites as well.