Home-made food for babies

As a mom of a seven months old baby who, luckily for me, shows a healthy interest in food, I am forever trying to come up with ways to provide him nutritious food as well as introduce his fresh palate to the myriad tastes and flavors of adult food. One thing that's very true of babies is their sense of taste, like their little bodies, is continously developing. So, a food that they reject today might be their favorite next month (or next week). My little one disliked apples a month ago but last week, he was happy to gobble up half an apple. I guess till they are about a year or so old, their palate cannot handle hot/spicy food. Little Ani has had only bland/sweet food till now. He has inherited daddy's sweet tooth and likes to sample everything from Indian desserts like suji/gajar halwa to ice-creams, kulfi, crullers etc. It's really very amusing when he makes a sound like 'hmmm', 'hmmm', when he sees hubby dearest and myself eat something interesting.

It is easy to incorporate fruits into the baby's diet since most fruits can be made into a juice and given in a bottle. But vegetables should also be made a part of the diet not only for their nutritional value but also so that the baby develops a taste for them. It might be difficult to get toddlers to start liking vegetables.

Some of the stuff that I make for him at home is:

• Apples peeled and cut into small pieces and cooked till they become soft. Sometimes I add a little cinnamon to it. Red delicious apples work well for this. Once its cool, I mash it well and feed him
• Sweet potato cooked in water till soft. It can be then peeled, mashed and used for feeding
• Red millets (ragi) soaked in water and ground to extract the milk. This can then be cooked along with very little palm jaggery to form a syrup like consistency (that can be fed using a spoon).
• Carrots grated and fried in a pan for 5 mins. This is then beaten to a paste in the blender. Same can be done for beans/beetroot too.
• Yellow Moong dal (split gram) cooked well and mashed to a paste. This can be given flavored with a little salt and a drop of ghee (clarified butter)

I am sure there are a lot more baby food recipes out there. If you happen to know any, I would appreciate your letting me know.
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It's important to give water intermittently when feeding solids to the baby to prevent choking. I keep boiled and cooled water in a sippy cup and make him drink water for every 3-4 mouthfuls of solids.

You tube is probably the biggest invention of the modern era. Find both baby food and popular nursery rhymes in you tube.