Healthy Foods For Babies - Starting Solids

Most parents worry about nutrition and making sure that their child gets good healthy foods into them from the outset. The best food for babies to start with of course is breastmilk and this can remain a source of nutrition and comfort for many years, if a child self-weans. Of course though there comes a time when a child will show an interest in what you are eating and you may opt to start them on solids at the traditional 6 month mark.

You should take into consideration that not all children pick up the desire to start solids at this age and although they might eat some, they may not make a meal out of it until well into their second year. This is normal and natural so I wouldn't worry if your child isn't eating a lot of solid foods as long as they are still provided with mother's milk. Generally some great foods to start babies on are fruit and vegetables. Many people go straight to rice but rice isn't very nutritious even fortified by manufacturers to give it some vitamins and minerals.



The best start for babies is to give them various different types of fruits and vegetables. For fruits there are so many different ones to give your baby. You can mash up bananas and melons and these are great starter foods. For some extra fat, mash up avocado. You can also mix avocado with banana to give it some sweetness. Other fruits that can be easy to give a baby are pears when soft, mangoes and peaches. For vegetables, some boiled sweet potato mashed up is a great starting point. You can also do this with carrots as well. You don't have to introduce a new food every day, in fact you could start of on 1 or 2 for one week and see how that goes.

Generally there is no rush to give your child fifty different tastes. Starting on fruits and vegetables is a good thing for many reasons. Both fruits and vegetables are nutritious, moreso than any other foods and we are always told how we need to eat more of these everyday. If you start your child off on these foods and make them a part of their daily life, they will love them and continue this essential habit into their teenage and adult years.

This is the approach I took with my son who is now 3. He went over to his cousins the other day and she was sitting eating a pile of biscuits. He went over to his bag, pulled out a banana and apple and sat by her and ate them. He chose those, because fruits and vegetables have been in his life everyday. So if you want the best start for your child, start getting them used to fruits and vegetables. Fruits are naturally sweet for a kid's natural sweet tooth anyway, so they should go down a treat.