Tasty First Purées for Your Baby
Starting solids with your little one is a significant milestone. Yay! You made it this far, and now your sweet bub is about to start exploring the world of food glorious food!
At Joyfull, we’re with you every step of your feeding journey, no matter what that looks like for your family. In this blog, we’re talking all things purée. Forget boring boiled legumes or bland baby rice; there are endless flavour combinations out there to delight your little one’s taste buds. We’ll also explore how to practise responsive feeding and integrate purées with baby-led weaning for a combination approach that works for you.
Purées that Pack a Punch
If you’re about to start your solids journey, you may feel a little nervous- which is normal. At Joyfull, we validate everyone’s choice to feed their little ones THEIR way. And while Baby-Led Weaning may seem like the most popular go-to method these days, starting your baby’s weaning journey with purées is also a GREAT way to feed your baby.
Some benefits of purées include:
- Potentially reduce the risk of choking
- Easy and practical (you can cook in bulk and freeze in portions)
- Endless combinations of flavours to help develop your little one’s palette
- Purée feeding can be baby-led and you can encourage your bub to hold their spoon right from the get-go
- You can have an idea of how much food your baby has consumed. (Remember though, you can trust your baby to know what they need, and their main source of nutrition remains breastmilk or formula until they turn one.)
- There may be slightly less mess to deal with (but we can’t promise 😉 )
For us, we decided on a combined approach. My baby Louis loved both purées and finger foods, and we altered the consistency of the purées gradually as he got older.
By nine months old, he was self-feeding with a spoon and finger foods.
Tasty Purée Combinations from Day One
Contrary to popular belief, purées don’t have to be bland or boring. With a world of flavours available from nature’s garden, your little foodie-to-be can enjoy veggie and fruit combinations paired with yummy herbs and spices right from the get-go. (Which would you prefer: plain steamed veggies or roasted veggies with turmeric and paprika? Yum).
Just imagine what it’s like for your baby to taste different flavours for the first time! By exposing your baby to a wide variety of tastes from an early age, you’re helping them develop a love for food, and it can mean it’s less likely that they’ll be picky eaters when they’re older. (Remember, there’s no need to add sugar salt to your baby’s purées. Also, avoid very hot spices. (If spices are a part of what your family eats regularly, introduce them gently.)
Start your baby off with smooth textured purées. After they become comfortable enjoying these, you can increase the thickness, and then make them lumpier until they can manage a mashed consistency (aim for around eight months old for this. By nine months old they should be enjoying soft finger foods too).
Change up your baby’s menu each day as much as you can to fit your routine. Remember, just adding a dollop of greek yoghurt to an avocado and dill purée can count as a whole new different dish. Keep it simple and remember every day will be different. One day you might end up with half of your lovingly-prepared pumpkin and ginger purée up the wall, and the next they’ll be screaming for more.
It’s one wild and delicious ride.
Getting Started with Purées
Before you begin solids for the first time, ensure you’re ready with all the equipment you need for a calm and peaceful first taste session (remember, at six months old, your baby still gets almost all of their nutritional needs met from breastmilk or formula).
You’ll need a highchair with a footrest in which your baby can sit up comfortably, bibs, a splash mat, and some BPA-free bowls and utensils. To make purées for your baby, you need a steamer, a microwave or a pan and colander and some BPA-free freezer trays to freeze portions of purée.
Pumpkin, apple, sweet potato, banana, and avocado are all great first purée options to start your baby with. Then you can move on to tasty combinations- which you can choose from our Joyfull A-Z of purée. Combo Flavours below.
Ensure the environment is calm and that your little one is well-rested and content before you offer their first taste of purée. Offer it after your baby’s milk feed so they aren’t too hungry. And remember, it’s your baby’s first taste of food- EVER, so expect them to make a (very cute!) face. Get your camera ready, and enjoy this big family milestone.
Baby-Led Purée Feeding
When spoon-feeding your baby, practise responsive feeding by following their cues for whether they want more. Babies know their bodies and appetites, and by allowing them to lead the process, you’re helping them to learn to recognise their fullness and hunger cues.
Never force them to take a mouthful if they don’t want to. Instead, hold the spoon out and wait (patiently) for your baby’s cues to tell you they’re ready for more (open mouth, reaching out for the spoon etc.) Don’t worry if they don’t seem to like a specific purée one day. Chances are they will tomorrow.
Even on your first day of feeding your baby purées, don’t be surprised when they make their first grab for the spoon. You can load it up with purée for them and hand it over.
When they’ve mastered aiming the spoon and delivering its contents successfully into their mouths, you can let them feed themselves completely by just placing the bowl in front of them and handing them a spoon. (Hint: Joyfull’s suction bowls and plates mean food of purée can’t go flying everywhere).
You can also try the 2 loaded spoon technique, where you hand a loaded spoon over to your baby, while you load up the other, ready to go. That’s we designed Joyfull’s Taste Testers Second Spoons in a handy 2-Pack. These two unique spoons offer your baby two ways to eat. The sensory-pleasing ‘Sleek’ spoon has a shallow bowl and an easy-to-grasp wide handle. The ‘Flexi’ spoon has clever sticky prongs to keep food- no matter the texture- securely on the spoon (most of the time at least!)
When your baby self-feeds with purée, it WILL be messy- and so it should be because feeling the textures (silky, lumpy, creamy) of purée is a vital part of your baby’s learning and sensory development.
Delicious Dinner Time Inspo from Joyfull’s Fun Flavour Thesaurus – an A-Z of purée Flavour Combinations:
- Avocado and Dill
- Beef and Beetroot
- Coconut and Pineapple (it’s like a Pina Colada for your bub)
- Date and Yoghurt (Greek or Plain)
- Eggplant and Nutmeg
- Fennel and Orange
- Ginger and Butternut Pumpkin
- Hummus and Capsicum
- Italian Herbs and Broccoli
- Jasmine Rice and Banana (a tasty dessert option)
- Kiwi and Coconut Milk
- Lemon and Lamb
- Mustard Seed (ground) and Spinach (this is a strong flavour, so go easy)
- Nectarine and Mint
- Orange and Carrot
- Potato and Garlic
- Quinoa and Cumin
- Red Lentil and Tomato
- Spinach and Pear
- Turmeric and Cauliflower
- Ube and Cinnamon (this is a yam)!
- Vanilla and Berries
- Zucchini and Parsley
Feed Your Way With Joy
It’s not one way or the other when it comes to starting solids, and there are many good reasons why you may want to start your food journey with purées (for example managing your worry around the risks of choking can reduce it). Offer your little one various taste combinations from the off-set and let your baby lead the process.
Now comment and tell us which purée. from Joyfull’s Fun Flavour Thesaurus you’ll try with your baby next.