Make Baby Porridge Yourself – Healthy Recipes

The biggest advantage of homemade baby food? You know for sure what’s in it. And, well, it usually tastes better too. The somewhat greater effort is quickly forgotten. Make baby food yourself: If you know what to look out for when cooking, the preparation quickly becomes a simple routine. We provide you with valuable tips and delicious recipes to try at home.

Make your baby food – our tips

Before you get started, there are a few things to consider. You should know these tips for DIY baby food:

1. Choose organic products: When it comes to the right fruit and vegetables for homemade baby food, you should choose high-quality organic products. So you can be sure that the food has not been treated with pesticides or other harmful substances.
2. Fresh food: You should also only use fresh food. Because the fresher a product, the more nutrients, and vitamins it contains.
3. Prepare ingredients gently: So that the valuable nutrients in the products are not lost during cooking, careful preparation is important. It is better to steam vegetables than to boil them – as briefly as possible. In this way, water-soluble vitamins are not washed out. If you chop all the ingredients beforehand, they will cook more quickly and nutrients will be preserved.
4. Balanced mix: Your baby needs a lot of nutrients to ensure healthy growth. For example, fruit alone does not provide enough energy. And there is not enough iron in a pure vegetable puree – without meat. Start with mashed vegetables. After a little time you can add potatoes – and eventually lean meat, which is easy to puree.
5. Do not season baby food: and why? Well, even if the porridge seems tasteless to you, salt can be bad for your child’s immature kidneys. Other spices can also be left out so as not to overwhelm your offspring’s taste buds.
6. Pay attention to the right consistency: Because a baby has no or only a few teeth, the homemade baby food mustn’t be solid, but finely pureed. In this way, the complementary food can be easily swallowed. Later, small pieces are also allowed.
7. Pay attention to hygiene: Whether preparing, cooking, or storing baby food – hygiene is very important. Ingredients should be washed well under running water to remove dirt. Preferably before cutting, so that no nutrients are lost. So that no germs get into the porridge, pots, and dishes should always be cleaned well.
8. Store correctly: The baby food is homemade and ready to eat – and what if it has become too much? It is best to freeze the porridge in small portions. If you don’t feel like cooking fresh every day, you’ll be happy about this opportunity. In the refrigerator, however, the porridge can only be kept for 24 hours.

Complementary food – when does it start?

The WHO recommends breastfeeding for the first six months. So, from the sixth month, you can start introducing a midday porridge. In between, there is breast milk or the bottle as usual. From the seventh month there is an evening porridge (milk-cereal porridge) and from the eighth month the afternoon porridge (fruit-cereal porridge).

Many babies show signs of being ready for solids as early as five months. Therefore, the introduction of complementary food is generally started between the 5th and 7th months. The signs are: your baby can sit up with help and keep his head up, he is interested in your food, and he wants to put food in his mouth.