Introducing food to your little one

Wow!! If there is something I would absolutely love to discuss about is introducing food to our most adorable little humans. It was the most exciting yet nervous space to be in for me as a first time mom. It was exciting because Vismai could experience a variety of foods, nervous because it’s always a question mark how to start? What to give? What not to give? However the challenge was accepted with no excuses :).

Like you, I was also curious to learn and grasp as much as information available out there on the internet and people around me. I got one pot recipe advice which is like staple food for babies in south Indian households. I have no issues with the recipe, I like it too, it is flavourful, nutritious and filling! But a part of me wasn’t convinced because, come on, I mean he is going to try food for the first time… that means I am building his habits around food and this will affect his food choices in future. Also, with this recipe it’s obvious that he will not be able to experience the taste of individual vegetables or fruit per say. 

With extensive research on the internet and food blogs for kids I understood that it’s actually not that difficult to introduce food to our children. What makes it difficult is our mindset around food. We are very used to eating delicious and tasty foods so we want to offer it to our children as well. All they need is real foods that are steam cooked, and finally mashed to begin with, and as they grow you can encourage them to have different textures and flavors. Remember to introduce them one vegetable or fruit at a time because that way you know if they are fine or allergic to them, and do not add any sugar or salt to make it tasty. Do not add sugar because as we all know that it is addictive and not good for health. Also, make sure to introduce textures as early as possible so that they will feel comfortable later on having them.

Steam cook the vegetables or fruits until they become soft and mash it into semi liquid ( in smooth) consistency at the very beginning, say at 6th month; later when he/she mastered eating semi liquid consistency then continue giving mashed food with solid consistency as in the image above. As they need only a few spoons of food in the beginning, you can always store the excess food in the fridge and take out little with a fresh spoon every time, it will be fresh for two days. Make sure to store it in a separate rack preferably in the coolest place in the fridge. Now that your little one tried all the veggies and fruits and you are aware of his/her allergies, you can be a little creative or feel like a master chef mixing and exploring different combinations of mashed foods. After that (at around 8th, 9th months) try and give steamed veggies that are grated or chopped into very small bites   (your little one will enjoy it as he/she will be getting teeth at that time). Steam cook them in a way that it holds the texture but will melt in their mouth :). Display of many food varieties at a time on their plates can be a bit overwhelming and they end up playing with it instead of eating. So begin with one variety and later on you can add two (one after another works better). 

5 THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN FEEDING YOUR KIDS

Have a designated place

Having a designated place to feed everyday meals would help your little one to get tuned with the routine and understand that food is on its way. Remember, when it is food time, it must absolutely be food time but not a mix of food and screen time. Having screen time while eating is a big no no, as it would interrupt the experience of  enjoying food in every way. Have you ever noticed yourself while eating food in front of TV? If not, try it once. You will be amazed to see how unconsciously you are eating, I mean  you will not pay attention to what you are eating nor how much. Not only that you end up gobbling food rather than chewing it which would result in poor digestion and absorption of nutrients. This applies to your kids as well. I understand, making them sit in front of screen feels tempting especially when they show little resistance and you have very little time to feed, but it only becomes a choice if you consider it. So don’t ever consider it!  

Your attitude towards food choices

Your attitude towards food choices matters because your children are watching you, you are their celebrity and they follow you in real life if not on social media :). We all picked our habits from our elders unconsciously, while some are good , some are not as good as the other ones or bad for instance. At this time of Covid-19 no wonder that everyone is worried about their health and promoting foods that boost our immunity. My mom who is an expert in cooking who always knew which combinations work best for making food delicious and tasty but not necessarily healthy is now talking to me about foods that boost immunity every time when I call her. I mean let us be the example so that eating healthy and real foods will not just be seasonal but become their lifestyle :). It is not possible for them to eat carrots when you are eating a chocolate pudding, so let’s set an example by not just saying but doing what we say!

Stop!!

Stop giving wrong tags and expressions, we all know that carrots taste good but we don’t promote them saying ‘yum!’ to our children instead we make carrot halwa or carrot cake which has a whole lot of butter and sugar in it and say look what I made for you..Mmmm yummm it smells great wow its soo yummy! We will try every possible way to make them eat it. I mean come on what you are saying now will be registered in their minds until they realize it for themselves. Wake up parents!

Food is FOOD, not “Love”

This might sound a little unconventional and I can totally get why. We all have been raised in the households where celebration is food and food is celebration. There is no way one can escape the combination of the “delicious foods” and love of our grandparents, parents and relatives. Here delicious food need not necessarily be nutritious but mostly sugary. So, this creates a confusion which we are often unaware of i.e food is love. If you give an extra chocolate to your kid it means you love her, if you sacrifice that extra slice of pizza for your spouse it’s love. When I say gulab jamun, the Indian dessert, by now your taste buds might have taken you back to those days when you came home from school and mom looked so excited that you would eat the jamun and enjoy it, and this is seen as mom’s love. I mean I saw many parents who signed up or were planning to sign up for a baking course (cakes, cookies etc) but not to any nutrition course. 

Whether it is society or ourselves has got us into this mindset, it’s high time that we have to look into it through a different lens because we are building our next generation, our future. It isn’t an easy pill to swallow but it’s worth swallowing.

Think like a COACH 

Guys this is an absolute opportunity for all of us to learn, understand and nurture a new Life that believes us from the day 1 with no judgments-how cool is that!? If there is someone who trusts me so much and has given me freedom around kitchen and cooking is undoubtedly my dear son Vismai. I enjoy fixing nutritious as well as delicious foods for him because of the freedom and acceptance he has given me. He enjoys steamed vegetables and fruits as much as he enjoys other foods just because I consciously introduced all healthy and real foods from the very beginning. Now he is 28 months old, he himself will take an apple or pear for a snack or breakfast, no magic right!?  

I mean what I am trying to say is that when it comes to feeding your child you better think like a coach. Have you ever seen a coach who would go easy with food choices of  his/her athlete? No right? Because it would directly affect the performance of the athlete. Likewise the food our children eat will affect their growth and development in every possible way. Come on Coaches…we all can do better! 😉