Babies first foods…I’ve covered the very best foods to start off with in my last post. To catch up click here. Once they are eating a good variety of these foods, next comes the introduction of fruit and grain.
Fruit
Just to reiterate, all fruit needs to be in season (freshest) and always local (or, at least, Australian). Please don’t compromise your babies health and nutrition with anything less.
Cooked
Depending upon the season when your baby is due to start solids, you can gently stew or steam peeled fruits such as apple, pear or stone fruits to be pureed.
Raw
Raw fruits that are good to puree or mash include berries, papaya, rockmelon and mango, which are high in enzymes making it easier for baby to digest them. Banana is one of the few carbohydrates that contains the enzyme analyse, which assists digestion.
Dried
As most dried fruits are almost pure sugar and either preserved with sulphites or vegetable oil (both toxic and dangerous), I don’t recommend them for baby. As convenient as they are, I don’t believe they should form part of a young babies diet at all.
Adding a little avocado or coconut milk to the mix helps the fat soluble vitamins to be assimilated by the body. Yogurt or Kefir can be mixed with fruit a little later. Don’t forget to consider a pinch of cinnamon for deliciousness and to help the body to cope with the sugars in fruit.
Also a word of warning. Please don’t overdo fruit. Fruit is NOT a meal and will not adequately satisfy a babies hunger or nutritional requirements. As fruit contains the highly addictive sugar fructose, please limit it to one small serve every couple of days.
Grain
Quinoa, brown rice, and hulled millet can be added in now that baby is eating a range of vegetables and other energy dense foods. To ensure baby is able to digest them and derive all of the goodness from them, all grains (except hulled millet) need to be soaked in water with a little yogurt or whey for at least 6-12 hours before cooking (preferably overnight). Once cooked, puree with a little fat (ghee, butter or coconut oil)and mix through vegetables (or fruit). You can also cook grains in bone broth and puree for a delicious, very nourishing meal.
Please avoid wheat for the first 12 months of a babies life. It places such a burden on a babies digestion (is a cause of allergy) and fills a gap that would be better filled with a more nutrient dense food. As babies stomach capacity is so small, it is critical to their long-term health and development to make every mouthful count. Also, any dairy that is not cultured should also be avoided for the first 12 months.
Now for some wholesome recipes for baby….
Ingredients
Avocado, banana and quinoa pudding with blueberry sauce
- ¼ cup of soaked and cooked quinoa
- 1 small ripe banana
- ½ avocado/s
Baby pumpkin risotto
- ¼ cup of brown rice soaked overnight in a little whey or yogurt
- 1 cup chicken broth or stock
- ¼ cup of pumpkin peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 teaspoon ghee butter or coconut oil
Method
Avocado, banana and quinoa pudding with blueberry sauce
- Process in a food processor until the desired consistency is reached.
- For the blueberry sauce (optional, simply puree a tablespoon of blueberries with a tablespoon of breast milk or coconut milk. Enjoy the mess!
Baby pumpkin risotto
- Place the rice into the broth and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- After about 10 minutes add the pumpkin and continue to cook for the remaining 10 minutes.
- Add the fat of choice and puree to the desired consistency adding more broth if required.
Variations
Any questions, comments and questions welcome.
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Tracey says
I started my bubs on baby cereal and it gave her the worst tummy pains, wish I had started her on these delicious meals instead! They really need to consider changing what is recommended, especially for new mums such as myself. I’ve also heard that giving them meat as a first food is good as it gives them lots of iron, what do you think? (obviously pureed!)
Georgia Harding says
Yes I’ve written about protein here https://wellnourished.com.au/babies-first-foods/. Protein and iron are very important for growth and development and great first foods. I agree re- the standard ‘rice cereal’ rec’s. One of the many flaws in our industrialised food chain guidelines!
Nikki says
Thanks for the great posts. It’s wonderful information when starting solids can be somewhat overwhelming! A quick question, when soaking the grains, how much whey or yoghurt do you add to the water?
Katie says
Hi there, this is so useful my baby is now 10 months old and we are slowly introducing new foods. We have manly stuck to vegetables, fruit, clean well cooked proteins, bone broth, a little grain but not much. Would now be a good time to introduce a little dairy in the form of yoghurt? If so, what type do you suggest? Oh and I love the look of your The Well Nourished Lunchbox, at what age would these suggestions be suitable? Thank you 🙂 Katie
Georgia Harding says
Hi Katie
I don’t have a problem with a small amount of good quality yoghurt – organic, full-fat and unsweetened only is my preference. My Lunchbox ebook is food suitable from bubs to teens so it would be a great investment for you now. It has lots of great savoury cracker recipes which quite a few mums with babies have emailed their appreciation for. I’d stick with the savoury recipes for now. No use developing a sweet palate in little ones.
Good luck, t’s such a beautiful age G x
Benedicte Galichet says
Hi Georgia, my exclusively breastfed baby is 5.5 months old now and showing signs of food readiness. These posts are so helpful! I wanted to check whether you still suggest holding off on wheat until 12 months. We don’t each much wheat ourselves, but the latest evidence around allergy prevention suggests introducing allergens (wheat, seafood, nuts etc.) from six months. Do you agree with this, or would you still hold off on cooked egg white and wheat until 12 months? Thank you!
Georgia Harding says
Hi Benedicte. Yes the guidelines have changed since I wrote this. Without knowing your family / babies health history I can’t offer individual advice. Personally, I began introducing low reactive foods first to my kids, then when they showed no signs of intolerance/allergy, I introduced a wide range of foods including seafood, nuts and whole egg (before 12 months, but we have no family history of allergy and the kids had no issues either). Wheat is tough because it is generally highly processed and just so abundant in our food chain. Like you we eat it, but even now I try to moderate how much. This article I wrote on wheat might help you to decide https://wellnourished.com.au/why-i-avoid-wheat/
For my kids, I just worked on really building the variety of good quality whole foods – this really supports gut health (which protects against allergies) and ensures the best nutrition for your bub. Hope this helps G x
Katherine Cluning says
Hi Georgia, so happy I’ve found your site as I’ve decided I’m going to take my 9 month old back to solids basics in hope It helps the eczema she’s developed since starting solids. So loving the look of the baby pumpkin risotto recipe and just wondered why do you soak the rice in whey? Could you use breastmilk instead? Thank you ????
Georgia Harding says
Hi Katherine. Yes you can definitely soak in breastmilk. It basically helps to breakdown the anti-nutrients in the grain and make it more digestible and the nutrients more available (absorbable). All the best G x
Katherine Cluning says
Well that’s good because I went ahead and did it anyway lol she loved it but it definitely blocked her up so might have to leave it a while to reintroduce and just stick to veg, fruit and proteins. should’ve just done that at the start instead of rice cereal – at least I’ve found my culprit for blocking her up. You don’t have any blogs on eczema that I’ve missed? I’ve search but nothing’s come up
Georgia Harding says
Ah that’s great Katherine that you’ve found that – many little ones struggle with grain so definitely best to avoid in the early days as you’ve discovered.
It’s really tough as a Naturopath to write on health ‘topics’ like eczema as the way I treat it, is very individual. For most little ones, supporting their gut health is a priority (so take a look at all the posts I’ve written on digestion). Some kids need extra liver/ lymphatic or nervous system support (but again that is something I’d determine after a thorough consult).
One topical thing I’ve found very good for most bubs (for relief of itching) is to add rolled oats (tied up in a stocking) to their bath water so it goes milky (don’t rinse them off after). The oats are very soothing and nourish their skin. Hope that helps a little G x
Georgia Harding says
Ah that’s great Katherine that you’ve found that – many little ones struggle with grain so definitely best to avoid in the early days as you’ve discovered.
It’s really tough as a Naturopath to write on health ‘topics’ like eczema as the way I treat it, is very individual. For most little ones, supporting their gut health is a priority (so take a look at all the posts I’ve written on digestion). Some kids need extra liver/ lymphatic or nervous system support (but again that is something I’d determine after a thorough consult).
One topical thing I’ve found very good for most bubs (for relief of itching) is to add rolled oats (tied up in a stocking) to their bath water so it goes milky (don’t rinse them off after). The oats are very soothing and nourish their skin. Hope that helps a little G x
Georgia Harding says
Ah that’s great Katherine that you’ve found that – many little ones struggle with grain so definitely best to avoid in the early days as you’ve discovered.
It’s really tough as a Naturopath to write on health ‘topics’ like eczema as the way I treat it, is very individual. For most little ones, supporting their gut health is a priority (so take a look at all the posts I’ve written on digestion). Some kids need extra liver/ lymphatic or nervous system support (but again that is something I’d determine after a thorough consult).
One topical thing I’ve found very good for most bubs (for relief of itching) is to add rolled oats (tied up in a stocking) to their bath water so it goes milky (don’t rinse them off after). The oats are very soothing and nourish their skin. Hope that helps a little G x
Georgia Harding says
Ah that’s great Katherine that you’ve found that – many little ones struggle with grain so definitely best to avoid in the early days as you’ve discovered.
It’s really tough as a Naturopath to write on health ‘topics’ like eczema as the way I treat it, is very individual. For most little ones, supporting their gut health is a priority (so take a look at all the posts I’ve written on digestion). Some kids need extra liver/ lymphatic or nervous system support (but again that is something I’d determine after a thorough consult).
One topical thing I’ve found very good for most bubs (for relief of itching) is to add rolled oats (tied up in a stocking) to their bath water so it goes milky (don’t rinse them off after). The oats are very soothing and nourish their skin. Hope that helps a little G x
caroline says
Hi Georgia,
Thank you so much for this wonderful site, i get so much from your thoughts and recipes. Just a couple of questions…. when you soak the rice in yoghurt overnight is that lacto-fermentation? And another thing I’ve been meaning to ask: i read something a while back which cautioned about the possible high lead content in bone broth. Due to the build up of lead in animals bones on account of the pollution to which we’re all exposed…. have you heard about this, and do you have any thoughts on it?
Again, thanks so much!
Caroline
Georgia Harding says
You’re very welcome Caroline. Yes you are fermenting the grain when you soak it which really helps to improve the nutrient content/ absorbability of grain. With bone broth, I’ve read about it and from what I’ve seen it is a study that withholds a LOT of information – I love this very thorough evaluation by Weston Price https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/bone-broth-and-lead-contamination-a-very-flawed-study-in-medical-hypotheses/. Hope this helps G x
caroline says
Thanks so much Georgia, that is a great relief.
Sorry, a follow up re the lacto-fermentation – should it be in or out of the fridge overnight?
Thanks again!
C
Georgia Harding says
Leave it out of the fridge overnight Caroline G x
Rebecca Wood says
Hi Georgia,
Thank you so much for your wonderful website and recipes. I have been using it religiously for the last 18 months or more and have all of your e-books.
My second daughter is 7 months old and has been trying solids since she was about 4 months old (she was grabbing at food and very interested when we ate!). She is doing really well and I have used your posts to guide what I have fed her. My first born wasn’t interested in food until she was 8 months old and used to frustrate me when we tried, so this time round I am really enjoying cooking for my second!
However, I would love some more recipe ideas – do you have any suggestions for other cook books/authors that you would recommend? I do make combinations up but would love some other ideas, especially now she is getting older and we can perhaps branch out in the next few months.
Thank you!
Georgia Harding says
You’re very welcome Rebecca, thrilled you have found it useful. I tended to just mix lots of different flavours together when mine were little (comprised of the various foods I’d introduced individually) plus some finger foods (like steamed veggies that were were having as a family). Or I’d serve deconstructed versions of what we were eating. I’m not a fan of creating more work in the kitchen than necessary so I really don’t know of any ‘baby’ recipes. Jude Blereau has a great book ‘Wholefood for Children’ which does have a handful of baby recipes.
As soon as you have introduced a range of foods, get her eating what you are. It’s so important to establish ‘family food’ asap. G x
Rebecca Wood says
Thanks Georgia – I’m notorious for over thinking things which I think I am in this regard (needing recipes) so yes will just keep to combining foods that she has tried. My Mum was just talking to me about that tonight…..!!
I have Jude Blereau’s book and have been combining your information and hers so will continue to do so!
Becks
Bettina Loeffler says
Hello Georgia,
Thanks so much for your wonderful resources.
What are your thoughts on oats if they are soaked properly?
Thanks,
Bettina
Georgia Harding says
You’re welcome Bettina. As long as there are no signs of digestive issues, absolutely, soak them overnight and try them for sure. My kids enjoyed them occasionally when they were bubs. G x
Emma says
Delicious and all gone in record time! Thank you Georgia again for such wonderful recipes
Aly says
Hi Georgia,
I’m keen to try both these recipes but my little man has a suspected cows milk allergy – what can I use as an alternative for the overnight soaking?
Many Thanks
Georgia Harding says
Hey Aly just a squirt of breast milk or simply just soak in water. G x
Aly says
Awesome thank you!