Pureed Foods

Starting at about six months your pediatrician may encourage you to increase the variety of your infant’s diet by adding pureed fruits and vegetables and later on pureed meats. Whether or not you decide to make your own baby food or purchase commercially prepared baby food here is some information concerning what benefits to your infants diet adding fruits, vegetables, and meats will have.

What nutrients do infant vegetables and fruits provide?
Infant vegetables and fruits are rich in many nutrients. Here are just a few:
Vitamin A keep eyes and skin healthy and helps protect against infections
Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy
Potassium helps maintain fluid and electrolyte balance in the body
Folate helps produce DNA and form healthy new cells

What nutrients does infant meat provide?
Iron helps carry oxygen in the blood to every part of your body; this helps you to have energy. Iron also helps protect you from infections.
Zinc helps form protein in the body and assists in wound healing. It plays a role in general growth and maintenance of all body tissues.

My baby is ready for solids. How do I start and use the infant foods?
Here are some guidelines for starting infant foods:
Start new foods one at a time. Wait 5 or more days to see how your baby accepts them. If a new food causes stomachache, diarrhea or skin rash, wait a month and try it again.
Always feed the infant foods from a spoon.
Your baby may take only a few spoonfuls of a vegetable or fruit the first time.
Always feed infant foods from a dish. Don't feed your baby right out of the jar. Saliva will make the food spoil faster. Throw out food left in the dish after a meal.
Use refrigerated infant food within 2 days.
Remember, your baby's tastes are different than yours. His food doesn't need salt, sugar, butter, margarine or seasoning.