Healthy Parenting Choices: Understanding Good Diet Choices for Babies

For children between the ages of four months and two years, food must be specially prepared. After all, infants and newborns aren’t quite ready to graduate to table food, and for parents who choose to breast feed, that process can only continue for so long. However, in a world where so many are switching to fast and convenient as the most important factors in a diet, it’s important to remember the impact of those formative years on a child’s nutrition well into their adult life.

The first years of a child’s life are crucial for getting the proper start, especially while so much growth is taking place. Babies are growing and maturing at a rapid rate, developing their coordination and learning about the world, and it is important that children receive the right kind of fuel to take on each new and exciting day. Therefore making the right choices in nutrition is a crucial component of parenting, just as important as ensuring that your child has a safe and healthy environment for playing and sleeping.

While a world where things are done faster and with more convenience might make it seem as though baby food is an item to be bought and tossed into the grocery cart, that’s simple not the case. Baby food has traditionally been prepared at home by parents, but not just those who are living a whole foods lifestyle or engaging in a macrobiotic diet. It wasn’t even until the’50s in most countries that buying pre-prepared baby food was even an option. Best of all, choosing to prepare your own food for your child is helpful for household budgets, as it’s less expensive and more nutritious to prepare a certain amount of baby food at home, and homemade food has significantly less unhealthy additives. It’s also helpful for figuring out early if your child has any potential food allergies, since you know exactly what went into the food.

Preparing food at home is also a welcome burden relieved from many family wallets. After all, it’s a great deal more expensive in general to buy pre-packaged food of all varieties, and baby food is no different. Best of all, it’s one of the occasions in life when you can save money and make something healthier than it would be from the store.

Parents, however, shouldn’t get too eager to start on solid foods, as most children are not physically ready to begin until after six months of breast-feeding. Both the World Health Organization and a variety of accredited pediatric associations recommend six months of breast-feeding before deciding to start with solids. Doing so too soon can have a detrimental effect on health.

The best way to tell if a child is ready to start solid foods is by paying attention to what stage in development he or she is at. Are they able to sit up and fight the urge to push solid items out of their mouth with their tongue? Then it’s time to begin on solid foods.

An important thing to remember regarding babies and food is that their bodies have not yet been introduced to more complicated foods, so that digestion is another factor in choosing what to prepare first. Many parents start out with pureed apples, bananas, and pears, as they are easy to digest and provoke few allergic reactions. Popular vegetables for children include sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and carrots, for much of the same reasons.

When it’s time to get babies started on their solid food diet, an excellent first choice for food is pureeing bananas. This is also particularly easy for parents, since there is no steaming or cooking involved. With a great deal of vitamins and minerals, as well as lots of potassium, bananas are a super-food in their own right. Be sure to peel the bananas thoroughly before pureeing them, and start with small spoonfuls, so that your child has time to adjust to the change. It’s often best to choose organic bananas, too, for even more health benefits.

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