Best Way to Encourage Your Baby to Develop Healthy Eating Habits

As your baby learns how to sit up properly, grip a spoon, and discover how to feed himself over the next few months, he will become an active participant in family meals. And he’ll love it when you all eat together. Mealtimes will also become easier for you as he starts to enjoy the same food as everyone else.

The number of foods you can now give your baby is rapidly expanding. It’s also a good time to set healthy eating patterns that will benefit him for the rest of his life. Advice on which foods are suitable can sometimes change, so check also with a health visitor or at your baby clinic.

Eating for healthy growth

As your baby enters the second half of his first year, he should have two or three meals a day in addition to breast or formula milk, which is still part of his main diet. He can try most family foods, as long as they do not contain added salt and are not too sweet. Introduce them one at a time to check he has no allergies or sensitivities.

Once your baby has been on solids for a couple of months, move on from purees to mashed or chopped foods with more texture, from nine to 10 months old, he should be happy to eat family meals such as chicken casserole or cauliflower cheese as long as there is no added salt, but remember that if three meals a day is not possible then eating little and often can be just as good.

Encouraging healthy eating for life

One of the best ways you can help your baby to grow up fit and healthy – and stay that way – is to encourage him to develop healthy eating habits now.

•  Introduce variety in the form of different tastes, colours, and textures. This will keep him interested in his food; even small babies get bored with the same food every day. Don’t worry if he leaves something new; babies’ tastes are fickle and he may try it again tomorrow.
•  Praise him when he eats well. If you want your baby to love natural, healthy foods, make sure he’s offered plenty of it, and give him lots of praise when he eats it.
•  Avoid sugary “treats”. Sugar, which suppresses the appetite and is harmful to teeth, can easily be avoided altogether for your baby’s first year. If your baby gets used to the idea that sugary foods are a special treat now, he’ll quickly think they are a good thing – and studies show that babies who are exposed to sugar early on develop a stronger taste for it than those who haven’t been offered it so early on.

• Offer healthy snacks. Babies use up lots of energy, and once they are on the move they can quickly become hungry again. Boost your baby’s energy with nutritious snacks such as little pieces of fruit (fresh or dried), natural yogurt, rice cakes, and breadsticks.
• Avoid fast food. Take healthy foods with you for mealtimes when you are out and about with your child so that you don’t have to rely on fast food restaurants; chips, hamburgers, sausages, and soil drinks are all high in fits, salt, and sugar and may contain lots of additives, which should be avoided.