Mamta's Kitchen

Baby Foods & Feeding Children

Bachchon ka Khana Khilana

Mamta Gupta

DessertMain

Ready made foods of good brand names are very convenient and are well balanced in nutrition, but I would use them only when convenient. Children should learn to eat family foods right from the beginning, obviously adapted to suit their age. It is easy to feed your child whatever the family eats, with a slight modification. You do not need to go to a lot of trouble to be able to feed them. There are no strict rules, just be sensible. These are only a general guidelines. You must follow your doctor or health visitors advice. Ingredients and amounts will depend on what you are cooking.

Salt and sugar recommendations for toddlers and children vary, so follow your health visitor or doctors guidelines.

This is not a definitive article, just some suggestions. Ask your health visitor/midwife or doctor for latest guidelines. Dated 2011

Ingredients

  • Points to remember:

  • Do not get anxious at feeding time, a child will pick up on your anxiety very quickly and give you trouble in feeding.

  • Do not shout at them or get angry, meal times should be a pleasure, not a trial.

  • As soon as they can, encourage them to feed themselves, if possible at the same time as the rest of the family. They will learn by watching others and interacting with others.

  • Do not worry about them spilling food, making a mess or spitting out new tastes. That is how they learn.

  • I don't agree with the idea of mothers running after a child, with the plate of food in one hand and feeding them mouthfuls while they are having tantrums or playing hard to get.

  • Give them food in one sitting, not every half hour because you think that the child did not have enough before. If you do that, they will never learn to eat properly and will never really get hungry enough for a full meal.

  • Some mothers give them milk bottle every time they refuse to eat solid foods/proper meals. This is wrong, it makes them lazy in trying new things. It is hard work chewing when you are just learning! Also, a lot milk is not recommended for a child over a y

  • Try to give them unsweetened drinks or plain water. Sweet drinks are bad for their teeth.

  • There should be very little or no salt in baby foods. For toddlers and older children, still keep the salt content low. Seek advice from your health visitor or doctor, who will give you information about latest trends.

  • Keep the fat content to minimum. Large amounts of butter and fat do not make them strong, just fat.

  • Do not add any nuts in baby foods. There is a risk of allergy.

  • Do not add artificial colourings and additives. Be sure to look out for additives in tinned or frozen foods.

  • Keep the spices to minimum, introducing basic spices slowly as the child grows. There is plenty of time for a child to learn to eat hot food later on.

  • Wash your hands, as well as the ingredients, thoroughly when preparing food.

  • It is important to use fresh produce rather than tinned ones, although it is okay to give tinned ingredients sometimes. As tinned foods have additives, there are more chances of allergy from them.

  • If you are making food for a small baby, it should be pureed or sieved, to remove all the solid bits. You can introduce solids bits as the child gets older.

  • Do not continue to give pureed food to toddlers, they need to learn to chew foods and need to have foods with some bite in them.

  • Always check temperature of baby food before feeding. If you use a microwave, mix well before checking temperature.

  • Food from the freezer must be defrosted fully before re-heating. You can make enough for a couple of meals but try not to depend on freezing food too often, unless you are short of time. Fresh foods taste better.

Instructions

  1. Soups:

  2. Home made soups are good and can be nutritious. Boil a few seasonal vegetables, with tomato/potato/onion. Blend, strain to remove seeds and skins. Season very lightly. You can add a teaspoon of rice or lentil, while cooking.

  3. Lentils and Pulses or Dals:

  4. For children, use dals like skinless moong/mung (green gram), skinless masoor (red lentil) or arhar/tur dal (red gram or pigeon peas). You can added grated vegetables/rice to the soups. Keep the salt content very low (nil for very young babies). You can add some turmeric, it is good for digestion.

  5. When cooking dal for the family, add salt and chillies only after you have taken the baby's portion out. You can also add vegetables into the dal, if you are making it specially for the baby.

  6. Lentil become thick when cold. You may need to add water when you reheat them.

  7. Rice:

  8. Make rice a little overcooked and soft rather than completely dry. For small babies, mix it with dal and puree.

  9. Rice can also be cooked with grated vegetables.

  10. Khitchri:

  11. Mix equal amount of moong/mung dal and rice, add a few pieces of vegetable of your choice, a little salt (none for young babies), a pinch of turmeric and enough water to be 3 cm. or 1 inch above the solids. Pressure cook for 3 minutes or cook in a pan until soft and mushy. More water can be added if it becomes too dry. You can give it to the baby mixed with a little natural yoghurt (dahi or curd). Most babies love yoghurt.

  12. Vegetables:

  13. Cook your normal everyday vegetables with minimum salt and spice (none for a baby). A little turmeric can be added, no other spices are required. Turmeric is good for digestion. Take baby's portion out and then spice it up for yourself. Grind it to a puree or break it up with a spoon, depending upon what type of solids your baby is able to eat.

  14. Carrots, beans, cauliflower, courgette/tori, Indian sweet gourd/bottle gourd/lauki, potatoes, aubergines etc. etc. can all be cooked for children. Avoid corn.

  15. Lightly boiled carrot fingers or batons can be nice for the baby to pick and eat himself.

  16. Bread:

  17. Toddlers love to munch on a piece of chapatti or paratha given in their hand. My grandchildren love aloo paratha, made spice-free specially for them. Small slice of bread or chapatti soaked in dal or milk are also good for toddlers.

  18. Toddlers love to have a rusks or a small slice of toast in their hand, which they can bite.

  19. Non-vegetarian:

  20. Get your baby used to fish/chicken more than meat. MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE NO BONES OR SCALES IN THE FLESH. Red meat should be delayed until the child is around a year old. The same principle applies as vegetables. Just cut down on spices and fat, break it up into pieces suitable for your child. Later on, your child may love to hold a chicken drumstick in his hands and eat himself. Most young children love fish-fingers, sausages etc.

  21. Puddings.Sugar should generally be avoided or given in very small amounts:

  22. Ground rice pudding or Phirni, Semolina Milk Pudding, Semolina Halwa, mashed bananas in yoghurt etc. are good. Do not add any nuts to children's puddings. They can have allergies. Peanuts are the worst in this respect. You must watch out for nuts in ready made or restaurant foods too. Raisins or sultanas are okay but a large amount of these can give loose motions. Sugar should also be only small amount. Do not give your child a 'sweet tooth'

  23. Fruits:

  24. Most pureed or chopped fruits are good. If fruits are too hard for the baby, give them a quick steam in a microwave or boil, with minimum water, until a little soft. Mash for babies. Teething children love to bite crisp foods. Keep an eye for them not to bite a large piece off and chock on it! Take all pips out from citrus fruits before giving to a toddler. Very small baby can choke on the skin or pips of a citrus fruit.

  25. Eggs:

  26. Eggs can be introduced later on, perhaps when the child is around a year old. On the whole, children love eggs but remember that some children are allergic to eggs. The amount you can give depends on the prevailing medical trends, so seek advise from your health visitor or doctor. They will know the latest trend.

  27. Generally, a parent will know instinctively what their child can or can not eat and cope very well.

Notes

  • Pureeing the food: Check for latest guidelines. Toddlers are given non pureed food a lot earlier than our generation did. Boil the food to be pureed until tender. This takes only a few minutes in case of fruits and some vegetables. Grind the cooked fruit (some fruits like bananas do not require cooking) in a blender until smooth or pass through a strainer by push the mixture through into a clean bowl using a spoon. All pips and seeds must be removed.

If you have any comments or questions about this recipe, please post them to our Discussion Board. To link to this recipe on the forum, you may use the shortcode [recipe:10335]


Content copyright ©2001-2024 Mamta Gupta and F² Limited. (All rights reserved. No copying without permission.)
Layout and design ©2001-2024 F² Limited. (All rights reserved. No copying without permission.)
Hosted on Mythic Beasts
All comments and queries to webmaster@mamtaskitchen.com