Best Way to Give Your Baby the Right Foods

Your baby should have at least one portion of fish, meal, egg, lentils, or beans every day, since these are the best sources of protein and iron. By the time your baby is six months old, the stores of iron with which he was born are used up, and milk alone will not provide all his daily requirements. Give your baby food from each of the four main food groups every day.

•    Dairy products such as cheese, yogurt, or full-fat fromage frais. Until he is 12 months old, your baby still needs about 500-600ml of breast or formula milk a day. Although he can’t have cow’s milk as a drink until he is one year old, you on now start to add cow’s milk in small quantities to a cheese sauce, for example, or to his breakfast cereal.
•    Starchy foods such as potatoes, bread, noodles, rice, pasta, couscous, and breakfast cereals, foods containing gluten are now fine to try.

•    Fruit and vegetables – increase the variety.
•    Meat and meat alternatives. Start your baby oil with some soft, white flaked fish such as cod or haddock, or some well-minced chicken or lamb lie will also enjoy small quantities of well-cooked lentils or beans. Eggs are okay if they are also well cooked: try a hard-boiled egg, or strips of cooled omelette. Start by giving him the yolk of the egg only, since it is less likely to cause an allergy. Many nutritionists recommend cooked egg while only after your baby is one year old.

Foods to avoid

At this age there are still certain foods that are not suitable for your baby to try. These include:

•    Salt, sugar, and honey (sweeten desserts with mashed banana instead).
•    Fruit squashes and diet drinks. If you want to offer your baby an alternative drink to milk at mealtimes, give him diluted, unsweetened fruit juice.
•    Foods that carry a high risk of food poisoning. These include foods such as mould-ripened cheese, liver pate, and soft-boiled eggs.
•    Nuts. Avoid all nuts and nut products containing peanuts, especially if your family is known to have a history of allergies,
•    Low-fat and high-fibre foods. Babies need more calories and less bulk to give them the energy they need to grow.
•    Foods that present a choking hazard. These include whole grapes, nuts, popcorn, large pieces of apple or raw carrot, uncooked peas, and celery. Even hamburgers and hot dogs are a risk unless they are well chopped up.