Baby-led weaning brings different flavours to your baby in a safe and fun way. You can offer many healthy options that support growing babies. You can download our baby weaning app to make your baby’s food journey easy. You just make sure each food is soft enough to squish between two fingers to keep choking risks at bay and mealtimes safe.
You can offer them a variety of BLW weaning recipes. You can watch your babies explore these foods at their own pace. Cutting food into finger-sized strips, small and soft pieces helps them grab easily. Starting with mild spices and gradually adding more familiar ones lets babies adjust naturally.
The mess is normal and shows that babies are learning important eating skills during infant led feeding that will last them a lifetime. Regular family mealtimes give babies chances to watch, learn, and try feeding themselves healthy foods.
What are the Nutrients Essential for Babies?
Protein
Protein serves as the foundation for every growing child’s body. This mighty nutrient builds strong muscles and helps repair body tissues daily. For example, baby weaning foods like chickpea, paneer, or eggs can easily meet these protein requirements.
Iron
Iron plays a vital role in carrying oxygen to your child’s developing brain. This essential mineral directly impacts learning ability and concentration power in growing babies. Iron deficiency can slow down both physical and mental growth in babies. You can choose from options like spinach, beetroot, or jaggery to meet daily iron needs.
Meat, poultry and fish are excellent sources of iron that get readily absorbed by your baby’s body as opposed to plant based iron sources. However, you can offer plant based iron rich baby weaning foods with Vitamin C to increase the iron absorption.
Calcium
Calcium stands as the key builder of strong bones during childhood growth years. This mineral helps children develop strong teeth and maintains healthy nerve function. Without enough calcium, children might face weak bones and growth problems later in life. Daily calcium needs can be met through foods like curd, ragi, paneer, or sesame seeds.
Omega-3
Omega-3 fatty acids support crucial brain development in growing children. These essential fats help form brain cell membranes and promote better learning abilities. Simple sources include ground flaxseed and walnuts mixed into regular meals. Prepare yummy chutneys from flaxseeds and garlic to add healthy fats and omega 3 into your baby’s meal planning.
Vitamin
Vitamins A and C work together to build a strong immune system. Regular vitamin intake ensures proper eye development and helps wounds heal faster. Common sources like carrots, sweet lime, and guava can provide these vital nutrients.
Yummy Breakfast Ideas
Breakfast sets the foundation for your baby’s healthy start to the day. Starting with the right morning meal planning helps little ones grow strong and stay happy.
1. You can offer them ragi porridge mixed with any fruit of choice. For natural sweetness, you can add bananas and papayas. This combination provides essential nutrients and they can easily digest it as well.
2. You can give them steamed idlis. You can cut them into small cubes or finger-sized cubes so your baby can easily hold them. You can serve it with coconut chutney. You can make this using coconut, salt, and mild garam masala. This adds healthy fats and makes the meal more interesting.
3. Thin dosas with finely mashed vegetables work great. These provide more textures as babies learn to handle different baby weaning foods. The vegetables can be changed daily to provide varied nutrients.
4. Protein-rich breakfasts also become important. You can give them paneer cubes or well-cooked scrambled eggs. These foods help develop chewing skills while supplying essential nutrients.
5. Poha brings variety to breakfast while being easy to digest. You can add peanut powder for protein to the poha to help prevent nutrition gaps in growing children.
You always serve in small and manageable portions and watch the food temperature to keep meals safe and enjoyable.
Lunch Ideas with Flavors
A balanced lunch helps your child stay energised through the day.
1. Dal khichdi stands out as a perfect midday meal that contains proteins and carbs in one bowl. You can add a small spoon of ghee to it. This provides steady energy without making kids feel too full or tired after lunch. You can also sprinkle some flaxseed and garlic chutney over it to make it nutrient dense.
2. Curd rice brings cooling comfort during warm afternoons while supporting digestive health. The probiotics in fresh curd help maintain good bacteria in growing tummies. You can add grated carrots, bananas, papayas, and other soft fruits to bring natural sweetness and important vitamins to the meal. You can add some mashed veggies to it.
3. Vegetable or paneer parathas offer a healthy twist to regular rotis. The vegetables mixed into the dough add essential fibre and vitamins without children noticing. Making them with minimal oil keeps the meal light and healthy. You can serve these with chutney or curd.
4. Rice, dal and sabji provides comfort and nourishment in every bite. You can also add spices like cumin or turmeric to enhance the flavours. This baby weaning food supplies protein and energy. This meal can be made more interesting by changing the type of dal or adding different soft-cooked vegetables each day.
These lunch options can be rotated throughout the week to maintain variety.
Nutritious Snacks
Growing babies need regular healthy snacks to maintain energy throughout the day.
1. Steamed dhokla serves as a perfect light snack which has protein. You can make dhokla more interesting by adding finely grated carrots or peas to the batter.
2. Upma serves as a good snack option. In this dish, you can add every vegetable your baby eats to enhance the taste.
3. You can give banana slices or boiled sweet potato pieces to babies aged 6 to 9 months. This provides fibre and vitamins while being gentle on young tummies. These naturally sweet options help children develop healthy food preferences early in life.
Balanced Dinners
Dinner time needs foods that are easy on the tummy but also nutrient and calorie dense at the same time. This helps babies sleep well through the night and wake up fewer times for milk feeds.
1. You can give rotis with sabjis and dal to make perfect evening meals. It provides protein that helps build strong muscles. You can also offer raitas or kadhi with it.
2. Egg paratha makes for a yummy dinner that will also fulfil your child’s protein needs. Offer homemade chutney or homemade sauce with it to ensure a complete meal.
3. Moong dal cheela makes it easy for babies to bite and chew. You can add a variety of vegetables and paneer to it. You can cut them into small pieces to prevent any choking risks.
4. Methi khichdi is another excellent example of a complete and balanced dinner. You can offer buttermilk or raita with methi khichdi for an extra kick of flavour.
5. Soybean fried rice is a meal that will help your baby feel full until morning breakfast. (younger babies might still demand breastmilk, but that’s fine!) Add veggies of choice to soybean fried rice and make sure the soybeans are cut nicely before cooking and handmashed before serving to avoid choking risks.
Making meal planning relaxed and enjoyable helps children develop positive attitudes toward food. Parents can trust that children will eat the right amount when given healthy choices. Remember that each child grows differently and has unique baby weaning food preferences.
