What Foods are Best for Babies

Every new day with your baby is a learning process. There are so many nuances of this complex new person in our life. As a parent, it’s your duty to introduce good, healthy habits in your baby’s first year that will last a lifetime. One of those challenges is knowing what foods are best for babies. When your baby reaches six months, it’s time to start introducing solid food into his/her diet. Arm yourself with the knowledge of food champions that will help aid your baby’s nutritional growth.

Here are a few suggestions as to what foods are best for babies.

Apples
The saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” is quite accurate. Apples contain no fat, nor do they have sodium or cholesterol. The potassium in an apple is thought to help maintain heart health, blood pressure, and weight. It’s an essential food to eat at all stages of life. Babies can enjoy apples in the form of natural applesauce. They’re sweet, tasty, and filling, and provide multiple health benefits for a newborn.

Banana
Another low sodium, low saturated fat, and cholesterol food is the banana. It contains vitamins A, B6, B12, C, E, and K, and many other nutrients important to a healthy body. Babies love bananas because they’re so easy to chew and they add flavor to something bland, yet healthy, like rice cereal. Bananas also provide a good source of potassium and protein.

Sweet Potato
Yams or sweet potatoes are extremely beneficial to your baby’s growth. They are rich in vitamins A and C, and like apples and bananas, provide calcium, potassium, and sodium, as well as magnesium and phosphorous. They can be roasted, steamed, or baked and mashed or pureed into a tasty meal for your baby. As your baby grows, add chicken or turkey to the mix for extra protein.

Broccoli
This floret vegetable is rich in flavor, as well as crunch, and is an excellent vegetable to introduce early into your baby’s life. Broccoli contains fiber and calcium and can be served to your baby in a puree form or simply in small, steamed bites. Some pediatricians recommend chilled steamed broccoli for babies who are teething. In any event, it’s a versatile vegetable your baby can start with early in life for vitamins and good health.

Spinach
Rich in iron, this leafy vegetable has frightened many generations of kids. However, that doesn’t have to be the case with your baby. Starting your child out with spinach at an early age guarantees them the vitamins and nutrition this formable food offers. Steam spinach and puree it to get your baby used to it. Then, add the puree to rice cereal or pastina as your baby’s taste for it grows.

Avocado
Avocados aren’t just for guacamole. Your baby can benefit from the unsaturated fats in this fruit (it’s not a vegetable, technically) that can aid in healthy development. Some nutritionists claim that the fat in an avocado is the closest in similarity to a mother’s breast milk. There’s no need to cook this fruit that’s packed with vitamins A, C, niacin, and folate. Simply peel and pit the avocado and mash the “meat” with a fork. It’s also another good source of potassium, iron, calcium, and magnesium.




Criss White writes about family, pregnancy, and baby topics. To check out some baby shower food ideas, visit Baby Shower Ideas.