This is a great time to begin including your baby in family meals more and more often. Her eating skills are growing and so is her personality and sense of self. She can eat just about anything you’re eating, so preparing her meals can be as easy as mashing up a portion of your own with the use of a fork.
Your baby’s skills are developing quite rapidly. She can now:
- Chew well
- Cope with a variety of textures
- Easily pick up objects of different shapes and sizes
- Feed herself better
- Recognize words such as “cup”
Aside from the above, your baby is also learning to crawl (and will soon be walking), two major feats that demand more energy, and thus, more calories. Her rapid growth needs to be sustained by a wide variety of nutrients, as always, and this is a great time to begin offering her an even wider range of foods.
Here are a few items you may find useful as your child grows in independence and becomes more and more experienced at feeding herself.
- A plastic food bowl – with a suction pad underneath, to stop your child from throwing the bowl (and the food) all over the place.
- A portable high chair – these can safely clip onto tabletops, for when you’re out and on the go.
- A plastic bib – for easier clean up.
- A molded tray – to catch whatever food doesn’t quite make it into your baby’s mouth.
New Food Ideas (homemade food is always better, as there are less preservatives, fats, sugars and salts as opposed to store bought)
- Omelets
- Boiled eggs
- Boneless fish
- Sliced meats and poultry
- Sausage(turkey is healthiest)
- Canned fruit (in natural juice, not sugar water or high fructose corn syrup)
If you’re going to offer your baby sweets, only do so rarely. Sugar foods may be a high energy food but they are very low in nutritional value. Your baby will be filling up on empty calories as opposed to nutrient rich foods.
As for fast foods, they are high in salt and fats, and it’s best to avoid them along with sugary foods.
Remember to keep breast feeding and/or bottle feeding your precious child until she is at least a year old. This is essential for her growth and nutritional needs.
Question: My baby doesn’t seem to be eating very much at all. Should I encourage her to eat more?
Answer: Your child’s stomach is pretty small, and fills up quickly on solid foods. If she’s signaling that she’s had enough of mealtime, don’t try to coax one last bite into her mouth. This may cause her to dislike the food she’s eating, as well as upset her.
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