Smoothies for Babies - Delicious and Nourishing

They're particularly useful for babies who have problems accepting textured foods and are perfect for little ones who might refuse the ingredients in their 'whole' form... but will slurp away happily when blended into a creamy (and hard to identify) consistency!

These wonderful recipes were submitted by our readers, whose babies are already enjoying these creative concoctions!

Please note: The comments that accompany these recipes are from the parents who sent them in. We recommend that you should always discuss the introduction of any new foods with your child's doctor.

Some of these recipes contain berries. Some babies react to strawberries, raspberries or blackberries, so you may wish to wait until your baby is at least 12 months before introducing those particular recipes. Blueberries, however, are far less likely to cause any reactions.

Smoothies for Babies - Single Serving Fruit Porridge Smoothie

From Aysha in the US

1/4 cup (1 oz) uncooked oatmeal
1/4 cup (2 oz) fresh blueberries (or other berry)
2 tbsp apple juice

1. Place dry oatmeal in blender to break it up.
2. Once oatmeal looks almost like dust, pour in the berries and juice(s).
3. Blend again until berries are chopped up and everything is well mixed and it looks like a smoothie.
4. Now pour mixture from blender to a cup or bowl for your baby to enjoy. Makes one serving.

Smoothies for Babies - Indian Mango Lassi

From Michael in the United States

one whole mango
half cup (4 oz) of plain organic yogurt.
a pinch of nutmeg (or cinnamon)
quarter of a cup (2 fl oz) of organic milk.
half a table spoon of sugar (note from editor - although we understand that sugar is commonly used in making lassi, we recommend omitting it when making lassi for your baby)

You will need a large bowl, a blender, a sharp knife, and a whisk.

1. In the large bowl, pour in the organic yogurt, milk, nutmeg, and sugar (if using).
2. Whisk until all ingredients are well-mixed and fully incorporated together.
3. Add this mixture into your blender.
4. Peel the mango and strip the flesh off the pit. Put this flesh into the blender.
5. Puree until the mango is fully combined with the mixture.

Mesh Feeder For Baby Finger Foods

The thought of offering your baby a piece of food to hold and bite for himself can be a scary one... after all, you've probably been carefully controlling the texture of his food up to now, particularly the size of the pieces he puts into his mouth. Benefits of a Mesh Feeder

stops baby getting 'lumps' of food in his mouthis ideal for teethinghas a 'chill' feature to keep food coolcomes with a storage capcan be used to serve breast milk popsicles!gives great value for money!You may fear that he will - quite literally - bite off more than he can chew, or have trouble 'gumming' the food to the point where he can swallow it.

In fact, we tend to under-estimate our babies' abilities when it comes to dealing with finger foods. Most babies manage perfectly well, some with no teeth whatsoever. Our little ones would usually eat what they could, then simply spit out any tougher pieces or - in the case of certain fruits and veggies - bits of skin.

Nevertheless, the fear may persist. And if you find it's holding YOU back in allowing your baby a little independence at mealtimes, then why not consider using a mesh feeder, sometimes known as a teething feeder?

A mesh feeder is simply a little mesh bag with a handle. You put baby's food into the bag (ideas include raw apple, chunks of banana, frozen blueberries or grapes), then seal it up and give it to your baby.

Your little one can then use the handle to hold on and gnaw away at the bag, creating his own 'puree'.

And the 'puree' is all that will get into his mouth - any peel, seeds or lumpy bits will remain in the bag!

Ideal from around 5 months onwards, the feeder... helps you introduce finger foods WITHOUT the worry!is great for a teething baby - just fill with frozen fruit and all that gnawing will numb baby's gums, stopping the pain (AND the tears!).has a 'chill' feature in the handle, keeping food cool and therefore safe for baby.comes with a storage cap for mess free travel.can be used even BEFORE your baby starts solids... it's a great way to serve breast milk popsicles!is one of those invaluable baby accessories that costs very little but gets used over and over again!

View the original article here

Homemade Food Coloring and Natural Food Dyes

There are - as yet - no studies that categorically prove artificial food colors and dyes are harmful. But there ARE studies that give cause for concern, suggesting that synthetic food dyes may contribute to conditions like ADHD and even cancer.

And whilst the governments of some countries will insist that certain food colorings are not harmful to health, those same food colorings have been banned in other countries - a fairly strong indication that their true safety is a contentious issue!

This page is not designed to comment or partake in the controversy surrounding artificial food dyes. However, we as a family have certainly read enough to feel it's in the best interests of our children to avoid them!

After all - our little ones have been brought up on homemade baby food, chiefly to AVOID unwholesome and artificial additives, so we certainly don't want to introduce them for purely cosmetic reasons... and particularly when there are natural, healthier alternatives available!

This page, then, is designed to help you transform the color of your baby's food in safe and natural ways, possibly even increasing its nutritional value too!

Whether you're looking for a natural food coloring for the frosting on baby's first birthday cake, for dyeing Easter Eggs, or you simply want to create some pink quinoa to tempt a picky eater, read on to discover some ways to produce a rainbow of colors WITHOUT introducing unhealthy - and unnecessary - additives!

Important note: If any of the ingredients mentioned on this page are new to your baby, please observe the four day rule to enable you to identify the cause of any digestive problem or reaction. And remember - you should always discuss the introduction of new foods with your child's doctor.

To boil: Simply cover the food with water, bring to the boil, then simmer for around one hour, until the water has become infused with the color. DON'T EAT THE FOOD OR USE IT IN YOUR BABY FOOD RECIPES - it will be nutritionally worthless, as all the nutrients will be in the water!

You can then use the colored water to cook (and thereby color) another food. For example, you could use the water from boiling red cabbage to then cook a batch of brown rice. Hey presto - pinky-purple rice!

Alternatively, you can add the colored water directly to foods like frosting, but it's important to remember that the water produced by boiling fruits and veggies does NOT produce a deep color in the foods it's added to.

Instead, it provides more of a 'hue' or 'tint' - still attractive, but not particularly vibrant (so don't expect to produce a bright red dye for Elmo using this method!).

To juice: Either use your juicer or cook (if necessary) and puree the foods, either with a blender or by pushing through a sieve. This will produce a more vibrant color than using the boiling method (above) as the pigment is not diluted by water.

...So bear that in mind, particularly if you're coloring frosting (icing). If you're using a dye produced by the 'boiling' method, you might need quite a lot... and this could make your frosting runny. If your frosting recipe calls for the addition of any liquid (for example, a confectioner's sugar/water icing), reduce the amount you use to compensate for the dye.

Where too much liquid is an issue, you'd probably be better off using the 'juicing' method, where the color is more pronounced and less is needed.

This really depends on which method you used to make the coloring. Dyes made with the 'boiling' method are very dilute and their flavour is barely noticeable - you could even get away with using red cabbage water as a frosting dye, for example. If you feel you CAN taste your dye, you can easily mask it - in a frosting, a drop or two of vanilla should do the trick!

Natural food coloring made from juicing fruits and vegetables will have a stronger flavour - on the other hand, less will be needed as the color is stronger too.

Although it's a good idea to try to pair sweet dyes with sweet foods (don't forget that foods like beets and carrots are sweet!), it's worth experimenting a little. You may find that you can blend a 'savory' dye with a sweet food and still produce a yummy result!

It's possible to blend fruit/veggies directly with the food you're trying to dye (blueberries with frosting, for example, to get a purple-pink frosting). However, this may give you a 'flecked' look and little bits of skin may be visible. Straining the cooked fruit/veg then using the juice itself with give a smoother result and more even color. So sometimes you can avoid boiling/juicing and straining altogether, and simply stir chunks of food that stain (like beets/beetroot) into the food you want to dye. For example, you can turn mashed potato pink by stirring pieces of cooked beets around in it, then removing them before serving. This avoids making the mashed potato too thin by adding liquid to it. advertisement
If you really want a natural food dye but don't have time to make your own, check out these natural food colorings by India Tree. They're made from vegetable extracts, with no synthetic ingredients.

Homemade Infant Cereal - Answers to Your Frequently Asked Questions

IMPORTANT NOTE: This information does NOT constitute medical advice and you should always consult a medical professional before introducing new foods to your baby. It is also important to seek professional medical advice regarding your baby's iron levels.

Commercially produced packets of infant cereal are fortified with iron. Homemade infant cereal is relatively low in iron in comparison.

So does this mean you should avoid giving your baby homemade cereal?

No - it simply means that you shouldn't look on it as a good source of iron and that you should ensure baby receives iron from other food sources.

The exception, of course, would be if your child's pediatrician specifically recommends introducing commercial, iron fortified cereal because your baby needs extra iron (if tests have shown he is iron deficient, for example).

It is extremely important that your baby's iron stores remain at an adequate level, as iron is used by the body to make hemoglobin and is vital for the healthy growth and development of your baby's brain.

If your baby's iron levels are adequate when you begin to introduce solid foods (which can be established by your doctor by a simple blood test) then you can - with your doctor's consent - offer homemade infant cereal instead of the commercial variety if you wish.

It's also a good idea to offer other iron rich foods like avocado. You might also like to add iron rich ingredients like blackstrap molasses or wheat germ into the cereal itself.

Your doctor may even suggest offering meat to your baby - in fact, you'll find meat cropping up more and more often on lists of suggested first foods! Meat is an excellent source of iron, in a form that's easily absorbed by baby's body. Research has shown that you can improve absorption even more by finely pureeing/grinding the meat, which also makes it easy to mix with pureed veggies or even cereal for your baby food beginner.

SHOULD I ADD AN IRON SUPPLEMENT TO MY HOMEMADE INFANT CEREAL?

No - you should never give your baby a supplement of any kind unless recommended by your child's doctor. Too much iron can actually be harmful to your baby (we explain this in more detail here).

On our Baby Cereal Recipe page we describe the process of grinding rice grains in order to achieve a fine powder, which can then be cooked with water to produce a smooth cereal.

We've been asked several times if it's OK to use this powder to thicken runny purees, or add 'bulk' to less filling purees (zucchini puree, for example).

The answer is no, because the ground cereal is raw and very difficult for baby to digest. It must be cooked before you serve it to your little one.

Now, you're probably wondering why this doesn't apply to commercial infant cereals, which are often added in flaked or powdered form as a thickener to purees.

And the reason is that commercial cereal has already been cooked, then dehydrated and processed into powder/flakes etc.

If you want to thicken another food with homemade infant cereal, then simply cook it before stirring it in. Alternatively, check out some other ways to thicken your baby food purees.

You certainly can, although some parents do find the texture has changed a little once it's thawed. We've always found the best remedy is to add a little breast milk (or formula) and vigorously stir it in when the thawed cereal is warmed.

Please note that you should NOT freeze homemade infant cereal that contains previously frozen breast milk.

You can find our tips for freezing baby food - and some great accessories to help you do so - here!

If you're looking to save time when preparing homemade cereal, you have another option besides freezing it...

...and that's simply to grind a week's (or month's) supply ahead of time.

This avoids any textural problems you may encounter with thawed cereal. All you'll need to do is cook the powder before serving (which only takes 10 minutes for rice or oats, or 15 to 20 minutes for barley).

It's a good idea to store your ground cereal in the fridge, particularly if it's a whole grain (such as brown rice) which contains the oily 'germ'. This can go rancid fairly quickly if stored in a warm room.

In our experience, some food processors aren't quite up to the job of grinding grains properly. We've always had the most success with grinding ours in the Magic Bullet advertisement (which we use for just about everything). Another VERY useful tool is a Coffee and Spice Grinder advertisement, which does a great job!

We find the best results come from grinding in smaller batches, so if you're having trouble producing a fine powder, it's worth trying to cut down the amount you're grinding in one go.

If you just can't get your homemade infant cereal powdery enough...

...then you have two options.

Put it through a sieve! This is the most simple, effective method of getting rid of the gritty bits that won't disappear and will leave you with JUST the fine power you're looking for. You can dispense with the step of grinding the grain altogether! Instead, cook the cereal as you would normally, then place it in a good food processor and blend it to a smooth puree, adding breast milk or formula as necessary to create the texture you desire. You can use the technique we recommend in all situations where you're trying to get baby to accept a new food!

Start off by stirring a little of your homemade food into baby's commercial cereal, then serve it to him. The next day, increase the amount of homemade cereal you add by just a little. Continue to increase the quantity of cereal day by day, until eventually (we hope!) your little one will happily accept the 100% homemade variety!

You may be advised to do this by family and friends, particularly if you've mentioned to them that you're tired from waking to feed your baby during the night. And if you ARE tired, you may even be tempted to give it a shot!

But PLEASE do not even consider thickening your baby's formula (or breast milk) with cereal, no matter how many times you hear "Well, it didn't do MY child any harm!".

This practice has the potential to do YOUR child harm, which is reason enough to avoid it altogether!

It may cause him to choke. Young babies are not equipped to swallow anything other than milk. The difficulties in trying to cope with thickened milk could lead your baby to inhale the cereal.

It can lead to weight problems. Your baby has a natural ability to regulate his calorie intake (more on this here). Thickening milk with cereal interferes with this ability and provides too many calories for the volume consumed.

Filling him up with cereal may mean his nutritional needs are not being met. Breast milk or formula provide all the nutrients your baby needs, usually for the first 6 months of life. The quantity of milk he consumes will likely decline when his tummy is full of cereal.

If your objective is to get your baby to sleep through the night, you may find yourself getting even LESS sleep than before! Adding cereal to milk can cause digestion problems like gas, which will keep you both awake, or may even lead baby to poop at night... so you will not only WAKE up, you'll have to GET up, too!

Wakefulness at night WILL pass.

If you're still feeling tempted to add 'bulk' to baby's night-time bottle, please be assured that this stage of night waking will pass.

We have five children - we understand PERFECTLY how you feel... and sleep deprivation is NOT funny! The desperation to gain a few hours extra is enormous, we know. But adding cereal to baby's milk is not the answer - it can be counter-productive at best... and it can also be incredibly harmful.

Remember that your little one only has a small tummy, so those night-time feeds really are necessary - as is the closeness your baby feels from contact with you throughout the night.

Although it feels as if it has gone on FOREVER when you're in the middle of it, the period of waking at night really does seem short when you look back on it... we promise! Baby will settle down at night, particularly when solids are introduced... but at a time when his body is truly ready to digest them effectively.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Some pediatricians will suggest adding cereal to baby's bottle, particularly in cases of infant reflux (although we do sometimes hear from parents who tell us that they not only felt this didn't help their babies keep their milk down, but seemed to make them spit up MORE!). Nevertheless, if your baby has infant reflux, please don't attempt to thicken his milk without your doctor's consent.

We hope you found the answers to any questions you may regarding infant cereal - but please do let us know if the answer to YOUR question isn't listed here.

 

Introducing Solids to a Premature Baby - Mom Knows When the Time is Right!

 

My second born was 4 weeks early. Thank goodness for already having a child and for having many mommy pals. At the 6 month checkup, one of the pediatricians in the office yelled at me for not having fed the baby jars of food yet. I told her I had let the baby try but could tell by her tongue reflex and digestive issues, she just wasn't ready for meals yet and that at 6 months, I could tell by the end of the month she might be ready and I'd try her when she seemed ready.

That particular pediatrician insisted my babies health needs weren't being met. I insisted she was not paying attention to the actual child but reading charts that had nothing to do with the actual baby.

At 7 months, the child was ready to start eating foods and her first foods that she seemed to take to best were egg yolks and meats, only light rice cereal but not large quantities, and baby treats that dissolve well like Mum-Mums and vegetable cheese doodle looking things. She likes some veggies and fruits too.

She's more of a snacker than a big meal eater. She's growing, she's healthy and does well if you consider her a preemie instead of going by actual age. I've got a pal who had a baby also born 4 weeks early but hers was better considered by actual age than as a preemie. Proof that not all babies were made from the same cloth.

Note from editor - thank you so much for sharing your story and GOOD FOR YOU for sticking to your guns! One day, we hope, our intuition as mothers will be taken a little more seriously. I'm sure your story will help inspire other mommies to 'follow their gut' in situations like this. Best wishes to you both :)

View the original article here

Zoie's Homemade Baby Food Adventure - Laguna Philippines

Having an easy breezy day!

Battle with spinach lol xoxoxo

My snack for the day

My little girl is now 6 months old.

She was born on Sept 12, 2011. I introduced solid food quiet early, when she was 4 months and a half. I'm not having any issues though.

I fed her with Gerber bottled foods. But lately I discovered 'why pay so much when I can feed her with my own preparations?'.

Thanks for your website and the wonderful baby food recipes you have posted. It helps me a lot in feeding her with wide variations of recipes.

Broccoli is one of her favorites even though I find it weird that she likes it! But I guess it's something in her tastebuds I cannot explain! xoxoxox :)

Note from Christine (editor): We're SO glad you're finding our site helpful :)

Zoie is gorgeous and it's wonderful to hear that she's a broccoli lover - it's such a healthy food. We hope that you both continue to have lots of fun exploring the wonderful world of homemade baby food!

View the original article here

Sugar Free Dessert for Baby and the Whole Family!

This is one of our most recently created recipes and it's been such a success with our family we couldn't wait to share it with you here!

Ideal for babies from 6 months onwards who have been separately introduced to all the ingredients beforehand, this is an extremely versatile dish and one we think you'll soon be preparing often! The pudding is soft and 'squidgy', meaning it's easy for your toothless tot to gum!It's nutritious, containing whole wheat, vitamin-rich fruit, eggs and calcium-packed milk.Although it's a fabulous winter warmer, it can also be served chilled, meaning it's the perfect dessert for any time of year.We've called this a dessert - but it would also make a brilliant breakfast! Prepare it beforehand and you have something nutritious on hand for those busy mornings!When chilled, this dish can be served as a finger food and it's ideal for those doing baby led weaning!It's so tasty that you can confidently prepare this sugar free dessert for baby AND the rest of the family to enjoy!

NOTE: Please do check with your doctor before introducing new foods to your baby. The information given here is for guidance only and does not replace professional medical advice.

This recipe produces just enough for baby to share with mummy and daddy - simply increase the quantities for bigger appetites or if your family is larger.

2 slices of whole wheat bread
1/2 dessert apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (we used Golden delicious)
2 eggs
2 tbsp whole milk (can also be made with breast milk or formula if you prefer)
1 small, ripe banana
1 tbsp raisins*
pinch ground ginger (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*The raisins, even when soft from cooking, may be hard for younger babies to manage. Either leave them out, soften them by soaking in warm water for half an hour and add them to the blender when pureeing the other ingredients, or simply pick them out of your baby's portion when serving.

Remove the crusts from the bread, then cut each slice of bread into 4 triangles.

Grease a small oven proof dish, then layer four triangles of the triangles along the bottom (as shown).

Top the bread with the sliced apple. Sprinkle the apple with the ginger and half of the raisins.

Arrange the rest of the bread triangles on top of the apple.

Blend together the eggs, milk, banana and vanilla (we used our food processor for this).

Pour the mixture over the bread triangles very carefully, so that all of the bread is thoroughly moistened.

Sprinkle with the raisins, then transfer to the fridge and leave for AT LEAST half an hour. If we're serving this for breakfast, we leave it to soak overnight, to make sure that the bread soaks up all the liquid and is really nice and soft!

To cook, preheat the oven to 325 deg F.

Place the dish in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 mins. When ready, the eggs should be set and the top should be pale gold in colour.

Cool to a safe temperature, serve - and marvel over how good a dessert can taste with no sugar!

Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers - the pudding will keep for up to one month in the freezer.

How To Freeze Baby Food - A Step By Step Guide

With all methods...

...You should prepare your homemade baby food, then cool it as quickly as possible to prevent the growth of bacteria. Any food left sitting at room temperature for more than two hours is not safe for your baby to eat and should be discarded.

To cool prepared baby food quickly, try spreading it in a shallow container - you can even sit the container in a pan of cold water, which really helps speed up the process.

How To Freeze Baby Food - Method 1

Thoroughly clean a regular ice-cube tray and spoon your prepared baby food into each section. A lidded tray is ideal, as it protects the food from freezer burn or from picking up any other odours from the freezer. If you don't have a lidded tray, you can cover the tray with food-safe plastic wrap. Some people use foil, although we don't recommend it as you can find that some pieces of foil remain in the food!

Place the ice-cube tray into the freezer and - once the cubes are firm - press them out and place them into zip-top bags, which take up less space in your freezer.

This gives you perfectly sized little portions of baby food - usually around an ounce or so. One cube per meal may be enough for your child at first, but as he grows you may wish to place two cubes in each zip-top bag.

You can also make lots of different baby food flavours by mixing and matching different fruit and veggie cubes - combining a cube of pureed apple with a cube of pureed carrot, for example - yum!

ARE PLASTIC ICE CUBE TRAYS SAFE FOR FREEZING BABY FOOD?

There have been lots of concerns recently about freezing or heating baby food in plastic containers, because of the possibility of chemicals migrating from the plastics and into baby's foods.

Some ice cube trays are specifically designed for baby food (see below) and are free of these potentially harmful chemicals - but if you want to use a regular ice cube tray, then you might like to try a silicone tray, or even one made from stainless steel (the Tickle Trunk stocks one here).

How To Freeze Baby Food - Method 2

This is similar to method 1, because it involves freezing baby food then transferring it to zip-top bags - but instead of using ice cube trays, you can use silicone mini-muffin pans! Their flexibility makes it easy to pop out the food portions - plus, of course, their use goes beyond the storage of baby food when your little one is older!

How To Freeze Baby Food - Method 3

If you don't have any appropriately sized containers for freezing baby food, then you can use the baking sheet/cookie sheet method (although you'll need a little more freezer space initially).

Just spoon your prepared baby food on to a baking sheet to form little mounds (although please note that this won't work as well if your purees are very runny). Cover the entire baking sheet with food safe wrap (or loosely cover with foil), freeze until firm, then transfer the portions of food to a zip-top bag as before.

How To Freeze Baby Food - Method 4

Another good way to freeze homemade baby food is by spooning it into freezer-safe jars and transferring the jars directly to the freezer. Please note, though, that you should never freeze baby food in glass jars unless the manufacturers of the jars specifically state that it is safe to do so.

Jars that are safe to use in the freezer should clearly say so on the packaging - other jars (including commercial baby food jars) are usually not strong enough to withstand the expansion of the food that occurs during the freezing process.

This means that the jar may break or - worse - may experience tiny hairline cracks, which you may not be able to see, but which will deposit tiny shards of glass in your baby's food.

Many parents like to use Ball Quilted Jelly Canning Jars , which are designed for use in the freezer.

How To Freeze Baby Food - Method 5

Probably the most popular method of freezing homemade baby food is to use 'purpose built' baby food freezer trays or pots - and boy, are there a lot to choose from!

Manufacturers, recognizing the growing trend for parents choosing to make their own baby food rather than relying on commercially prepared alternatives, have come up with a whole range of products designed to make life easier! What's more, these products are free from the potentially harmful chemicals that some plastic trays may contain.

Our Homemade Baby Food Amazon store features some of the best selling containers for freezing baby food, plus some other useful accessories for preparing yummy baby food at home...

Labeling your homemade baby food as you freeze it is VERY important.

Making a note of the date will allow you to rotate your baby food 'stockpile' - in other words, you can check that you're using older batches of food before new ones. It will also help you ensure that you use your food within an acceptable time frame (see below for more information).

Equally as important as dating the food is making a note of what's in the container - baby food purees tend to look very similar to each other once frozen!

If you discover that your baby is allergic to a certain food - or if a particular food seems to trigger any type of digestive upset - then having the ability to go through your frozen food supply and identify then remove any 'offending' portions is crucial.

The method you use to label your food depends on the method you chose to freeze it. Some 'purpose built' baby food containers come with a writeable surface, whereas others may require you to affix your own label.

If you've chosen to freeze your baby food in zip-top bags, use the ones designed for the freezer, which usually have a surface you can write on.

HOW LONG CAN I STORE BABY FOOD IN THE FREEZER?

If your freezer is operating efficiently, most types of baby food will be good for up to 3 months.

That being said, we recommend trying to use your baby food within 1 month, before the taste of the food and its nutritional value may begin to decline.

To ensure the best quality of your frozen baby food, place it in the COLDEST part of the freezer - this tends to be the top shelf in upright freezers and the bottom section of chest freezers.

Learn more about the safe refrigeration and freezing of baby food, with tips for dealing with power outages

In our experience, most types of baby food - particularly purees - freeze very well. You may sometimes need to experiment with texture, because the very process of freezing causes any water in the food to expand, breaking down cell walls. This is particularly noticeable when you freeze whole foods - a frozen banana, for example, will be very mushy when thawed - but is less of a problem when freezing prepared purees and meals.

Baby Of The Month - March 2012's Winners

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Here are March 2012's winners of our Baby of the Month Competition.We invite you to send in your favourite picture of your baby... and each month we will feature one of your photographs here!Congratulations to our Baby of the Month for March - beautiful little Myrah, 9 months, from Sydney, Australia

Mum Samridhi told us...

The best thing about our little princess Myrah is her smile. She is an ever smiling child who wishes to talk to everyone who passes by, while exploring the world in her pram, and if you try to ignore her, she will catch your attention by making different noises.

She crawls in the house looking for my laptop charger as she is too fascinated with it. She will tear any paper she gets her hands on.

We started solids at 6 months, luckily she does not fuss over eating and will eat anything being offered to her. The best part during the meals is if she relishes something - she will not let you stop for a minute. Her all time faves are mashed potatoes, pulses and rice cereals.

She hasn't grown a single tooth yet but she relishes fruits such as melon, grapes and oranges. But if I offer her banana she will just turn her face to the TV.

Myrah loves to dance to the tunes of Punjabi and Bollywood songs. She just does not stop rocking, shaking her head and clapping her hands the moment she listens to songs on MTV. She enjoys it a lot when her dad clicks her photos - she poses for them.

The most enjoyable moment is when her dad comes back from the office. She gets overexcited to be picked up by him, as she knows that it's time for a walk now. And if he does not take her out she tries bribing him with her hugs and kisses.

We are very lucky to be blessed with such a cute and adorable daughter. Thank you very much for telling us about Myrah and for sharing her photo!

Thank you, too, to everyone else who entered last month!

Here are some more of our favourite pictures sent in during February 2012...

My baby is very cute and charming. She is always smiling and giggling. She is now trying to stand by taking support. She says 'abbaa', 'babaaa', 'papaaa'. She claps her hands and shouts when she is happy.

She started taking solids from 6 months. I am still breastfeeding her. She likes Cerelac now and having wheat and honey flavor and fruits like banana and sweet potato. She doesn't like formula milk and makes faces when I feed her.

She is a very active baby and loves to watch and play with her own shadow.

She loves fresh pureed fruits and veggies!!

Not a big fan of avocado but loves everything else - her favorite is mixed apples and peaches :)

Aarush, the best and the most precious thing we could have asked for ever! He likes chewing everything that comes in his way... be it his own fingers or my fingers, however he does like cheese, apples, bananas and papayas more than rice and other cereals. Dislike list is blank as of now for solids :)

His day starts quite early in the morning with an awesome smile and some music of laaaaaalaaaaa sort. It just tells us that 'Mom and Dad its time to wake up!' He crawls and tries his best to cross all the obstacles (pillows) that come in his way. He loves to be in the kitchen as he thinks he has lots of things to play with in there.

Thanks to all the Elders and God for their blessings for Aarush!

Bathtime!

He loves cheerios - they're his favorite! Any kind of fruit has been a hit.

Vegetables have been a little harder to get used to. But he's ready to eat just about anything he sees us eating!

Boris likes vegetables and fruits, now he has started to eat fish, meat juice, and cereals mixed with milk. He chews well and seems to enjoy them.

I am so happy when he eats, I feel like I've eaten

Clarence has been eating cereals since he was six months. I introduced him to eating ripe papaya, because he has been constipated since birth and he really likes to eat it. Now Clarence has a regular bowel movement. Yesterday, I just gave him rice with pork soup, and he loves the soup!

He is just a little boy with have a very, very cute smile, whoever faces him! He laughs at everything. We really love our cute bundle of joy!

Dyson loves fruit!! I sometimes can't get him to eat anything but fruit... until I came across your website and found some delicious recipes like the Whole Grain Brown Rice and Blueberry breakfast as well as the Sweet Potato muffins. I'm going to try the Eggplant casserole this weekend and might just make enough for the whole family because it sounds so delicious!

Johnathan in his swing

Johnathan loves everything. We started feeding him rice cereal with mixed fruit and oatmeal cereal with banana, which he likes it to be a little thicker, kind of a pasty texture. It is easier for him to eat it that way.

He likes applesauce, bananas, peaches and sweet potato stage 1 foods. We will be starting him shortly on finger foods.

Johnathan is a very happy and healthy baby. Johnathan was born 12 weeks premature due to HELLP syndrome weighing, 1 lb 14oz, 13 inches long. He has overcome so much since his birth and amazes us everyday with the new things he is beginning to do. He is now starting to say mama. He is sitting up on his own a bit. He still has to support himself or someone to be there to make sure he doesn't lose his balance but he is getting very close to doing it on his own. He took a few steps the other day in his walker. He is truly an amazing little boy!

We love you little guy more than anything!!!

She is our angel very naughty and pretty.

She likes strawberry and kiwi fruits. She is very active.

She is the pet of her Dad and Grandpa!

Sebastian loves adventurous food with spices and herbs!

He shows no interest in baby food anymore, he wants venison red wine with rosemary casserole and NOT pureed peas.

Gotta get on with my cooking now! Thanks for your recipe ideas :-)

Vishakan is my third child. Before him I had twin boys, but they are no more now. Vishakan brought back my happiness in life. He started making my days very busy. He likes to watch Santa Clause. He like rice pancakes with coconut chutney, mashed potato, carrot rice. He enjoys salty foods more than sweet. Also, he wants to try new food daily. I started searching for new baby food recipes for my goodu! He goes BANANAS for his SOLIDS!

Our little man is so happy all the time but during his feedings he just loses his mind with excitement.

Feeding him solids has become an event in the house every night that we look forward to because he loves his food SO MUCH that the sounds that come out of his mouth with each bite makes us just crack up laughing. I don't think we have come across a food yet that he doesn't like. I do have to say BANANAS are his all time favorite fruit. :D

My baby loves solid foods,she gets so excited when its her breakfast/dinner time!

Her favorite meal is fish pie, and the food she is a bit unsure of is melons!

Happy Baby Girl

Loves cereal and fruit... of course she doesn't turn down too much of anything, except peas.

Sofia loves all foods.

Her favourite is a banana - she likes it in the skin and shouts when it needs to be peeled down!

She also loves spaghetti, as you can see in the pic!

My son really loves to eat.. especially when he is eating with us, his family.

He likes rice together with chicken, carrots and mushroom soup. Sometimes he eats cookies and yogurt during snacks and after few hours he will drink warm milk in his favorite sippy cup. And for his dessert, it would be an apple.

And as a mom, I can surely say that apple is his favorite fruit. And it really proves that "an apple a day keeps the doctor away.." Because as you can see, he is really a very healthy cute, handsome and adorable boy.. inside and out.. :) I'm so proud having him as my son.

Our little prince

For our little prince we started giving solids from 6 months. Started with ragi malt, rice cereals. Slowly giving egg and vegetables and fruits. He likes ragi malt, orange and apple. Our prince always likes new tastes. He will get bored with same food. In that way this site is very helpful for me. Thanks.

He loves music, dancing and playing with a ball. Thanks to god for blessing us with little naughty Krishna.

He enjoys solid foods especially vegetable purees.

He started having meat and fish also and he is enjoying it!

My Little one loves to eat anything and everything, of course in the baby food category. He has been a no fuss baby with regard to his food so far :)... though he loves his yogurts and smoothies a wee bit more over other foods.

Can't get enough of this little bundle of joy of ours!

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Baby Of The Month - April 2012's Winners

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Here are April 2012's winners of our Baby of the Month Competition.This month, we have not one but TWO babies of the month - Thing 1 and Thing 2 (also known as Sam and Toby, 6 months, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada)

Mum Dayna told us...

Found your site when looking ideas to prepare my twins' first solids! Starting tomorrow!

Sam & Toby are fraternal twin boys, brothers to big sister Aly (2.5yrs) and big brother Caleb (4.5yrs).

Toby (right) is very calm and content, while Sam is very energetic and "knows what he likes"! Well, we hope he likes your homemade baby food creations, which you've probably started introducing by now! Hope all is going well - and thank you so much for sharing this fantastic photo.

Thank you, too, to everyone else who entered last month!

Here are some more of our favourite pictures sent in during March 2012...

It has been 9 months since I came to this world and since then I have been enjoying every moment of it. I love my mom and dad and they are the world's best parents. They are taking the best care of me.

I hate eating but love playing and running here and there. Running? On my walker actually.

You can read more about me at http://aanyajain.com

After 2 years of waiting, we have now our little angel "Aasiyah" and we are so thankful to Allah for giving us such a wonderful angel! She is now 6 months old.

Every bath time she will try her best to grab all the things surrounding her and if she can't use her hands then she will use her feet! :) She loves to bounce and giggles a lot!

I introduced mashed foods to her when she was still 4 months old. Whenever we were eating, she'd keep her eyes on our food and start drooling. That's the time I decided to start feeding her. Her everyday meal is porridge (boiled watery rice), sometimes with squash in it, as well as cauliflower, broccoli, potato and carrots. I still haven't encountered foods that she doesn't like :)

While feeding her I mustn't stop or let her wait for a long time as she will scream for it and lose her appetite!

She loves fruits and her favorite is mashed apple with pears for "merienda" (afternoon snacks), and biscuits for her finger foods. But remember, give her a new one quickly when she happens to drop it to avoid her loud piercing sound!

I feel so blessed that we have a little angel like her.

Our pretty Eva is going to celebrate her first birthday this month. I think this would be a wonderful gift for her.

She looks like her father and smiles like her mom.

Eva likes to dance very much. She also plays with her dolls. Sometimes she shows off her very extensive knowledge of game characters. So amazing. So cute.

She started responding to sounds at 2 months. It was fun to make sounds and watch her response. Then she started making meaningless sounds.

She is a lover of home made foods, especially South Indian foods like Idili, Idiyappam and Appam with milk. She started eating this when she was three months old. She is also fond of fruit purees.

She is being naughty these days. Sometimes she has a tendency to take things into her mouth. I also notice that she doesn't want to sit anywhere. She just wants anyone to take her for a walk!

I am now waiting for her first call 'Valiyamma'.

She is already preferring finger foods over being spoon fed.

Loves bananas and avocado!

Not big on peas...

Our little Eskimo

Our baby loves to eat, specially now he is trying to learn how to eat on his own...

We notice that our son is even more energetic nowadays, that's why we also observe as parents that he loves to eat more carbohydrates! But we also make sure that he will not miss out on fruits and vegetables.

His fave dessert used to be apple, but now when we ask him.. " Jibrail what do you want to eat for dessert?" He will answer in a very cute voice... "ba-na-na..." An angel voice that really melts our hearts!

He really knows how to interact now a lot with us and with other people. We were surprised the other day, because we heard him mimic the sound of animals like dogs and cats. He even does the gestures of a fish and a penguin! Jibrail really loves to dance every time he hears his favorite songs from Disney channel.

Jibrail is our little angel sent from above. Being a full-time mom is the hardest job in the world but really with the highest paid salary because the pure and genuine love I have from my son is worth it and priceless.

My little princess is just starting on homemade baby food.

She isn't really fond of food yet she still likes her milk. She is just a doll!

She enjoys smooth foods, especially Dhal Rice and Tomato rice. She like corn flakes at breakfast time. She started having meat and fish also and she is enjoying it! First solid food introduced was avocado. Mikey Likey :)

So far Micah is having fun discovering new foods. His favourite foods are sweet potatoes and cinnamon apples.

It is always fun to watch his expressions when tasting a food for the first time.

She was introduced to solid food when she was 6 months and 2 weeks.

Likes papaya puree, sweet potato puree and apple puree but is less interested in rice cereals.

My baby girl is AMAZING. FUNNY. Sweet. Smart and LOVES avocado. She is one happy & healthy little cookie.

My daughter is not a picky eater. Her feeding is always followed by a few silly faces but at the end after making sour faces, sticking her hand in the bowl and tossing some food on the floor she eats it ALL.

Forgot to mention that she is teething finally. She's got two teeth on the bottom and one coming in on the top. HOW exciting! I cant wait to introduce new food when she can chew. THANX for the great ideas!

My Cutie Pie

Niyati is a cute and charming girl. She did not hesitate to eat home made food! From 6 months I started giving her cereals. She eats all veggies and fruits like banana, apple crush and oranges. She eats pasta also.

We call Niyati 'Cherry' at home. She likes music and listening to my songs at sleeping time

She is Mamma's girl. I love her so much.

When Rowan likes something he makes mmm sounds and cries when you stop for a split second! He will try to grab the spoon from you and when he's really into what he's eating, he will rock back and forth in his high chair! If he doesn't like something he will spit it out. If he can't manage to spit it out he will start gagging until it comes up! A couple weeks ago he tried white potato for the first time and he started gagging after eating about half the bowl of mashed potatoes and all of it came up. Good thing for those lovely pockets on the bibs lol.

Rowan is such a happy baby. He loves having his picture taken, as soon as the camera is focused on him he starts smiling. He has 2 teeth and a 3rd one is on the way. He's just starting to crawl but has proved to mommy and daddy that he really doesn't have to! He's pretty mobile just rolling around! We definitely have our hands full with this little guy!!!

My Gorgeous Miracle

Sydney loves solid foods. Right off the bat, she did not enjoy green beans. I can't blame her, she is just like her mama! Her first favorite was peas, until she found sweet potatoes! She loves a variety of foods now, especially avocado and frozen banana. She prefers vegetables to fruits.

She was a high risk pregnancy and was rushed to NICU at birth to have her lungs suctioned. It so hard to believe one day I was watching my little girl praying she would be okay and now she is eating foods!

First bath together

They started eating solids at around 4 months of age and love it all. Their favorites foods are squash and bananas. They have just been really enjoying each other's company and know when one is upset the other will cry too!

They are very happy babies and love being outside.

He loves to eat anything. The carrot and apple soup, recently that I have started is his favourite. He becomes so excited when he sees his father. His best part is his smile. He smiles seeing everybody. We love you Trishit!

He hates vegetables and loves fruits.

He's always active and already walks! He is so smart.

My baby enjoy eating vegetable soup and chicken soup as well as all types of broth and cereal baby food. He also likes apple and banana. He likes biscuit and bread .

Yousuf enjoys eating when he's watching his special toon on TV . Also, he enjoys eating with other family members.

Zoey has been eating solid food made from the Baby Bullet for 5 weeks now. She has tried many fruits and vegetables and there hasn't been a meal she didn't like so far. We saw her Doctor a week ago and he has given us the green light to proceed to other foods since she already handled everything so well. Last night she had green beans with brown rice and loved it. I really enjoy making her fresh food everyday and she really enjoys eating it.

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