As a pediatric feeding specialist and speech language pathologist, I teach parents to start solids at about 6 months of age (depending on baby’s signs of readiness). My passion is to help them choose, prepare and offer first foods that are simple and safe. Here are three ways I teach parents to use purees and…one (or more) may surprise you!
1. Use Purees to Teach Baby-Led Spoon Feeding: A six-month-old baby can start to learn the skills needed for feeding independence. To assist with this process, they need the right spoon and multiple opportunities to practice. Here are a couple ideas to get you started:- Dipping + Scooping Purees: In the beginning stages of baby-led spoon feeding, help baby be successful by pre-loading the spoon and handing it to baby. With this approach, all baby has to do is bring the spoon to their own mouth. In no time, baby will want to dip and scoop all by their (messy) self! The feeding milestones of dipping and scooping (with a spoon) can developmentally happen anywhere between 6 - 12 months of age, and babies of this age should be offered a small, narrow spoon-bowl with a short, fat, round handle. The Tiny Spoon was designed to those exact specifications!
- Traveling with Purees: One of my favorite on-the-go organic puree brands is Once Upon a Farm. Once Upon a Farm makes delicious, nutrient-dense blends that are easy to bring along for travel. If you want to practice feeding skills with your little one, simply squeeze the puree into the Tiny Bowl, which is designed to encourage baby-led spoon feeding at home or at restaurants or grandma’s house… you name it!
- Thick Purees: When teaching open cup drinking with babies, I offer a thick puree because this texture is easier for some babies to swallow than a fast moving, thin liquid (like water). All you have to do is take a spoonful (or two) of your favorite puree and offer it to baby in the ezpz Tiny Cup. The Tiny Cup is designed to perfectly fit in tiny hands for easy baby-led cup drinking.
- Thin Purees: It’s important to offer baby a thinner puree texture for open cup practice too! Just add an ounce of breast milk or formula to the puree, mix well and serve! The Tiny Cup is perfect for liquids and purees because of its unique cone-shaped design. This design feature allows baby to drink in a safe position (without having to tilt their head back and open their airway).
- Puree Texture: I use a puree as a dip in my feeding method to help baby process the sensory aspects of different textures. Try serving soft, cut-up fruits and vegetables as the dipper and a thin or thick textured puree as the dip. As a sensory bonus, choose colorful purees that expose baby to a variety of vibrant textures. The ‘I Carrot Lot’ by Once Upon a Farm has a bold orange color that is perfect for sensory exploration!
- Puree Taste: The sensory aspect of taste helps baby learn about food. When offering multiple tastes at mealtime, observe which tastes your baby immediately prefers and which ones need re-exposure (sometimes it takes multiple attempts). Taste is a powerful sensory experience that can expand their food repertoire quickly! I have a baby that loves the taste of fresh banana and we stretched that flavor to include banana + peanut puree, melt-able banana cereal puffs, banana bread and banana smoothies. Score!
Let’s get baby drinking AND scooping those purees in style! Check out the First Foods Set, a toolkit that includes the Tiny Bowl, Tiny Spoons and Tiny Cup. The set comes in a variety of chic colors…and the tiny design is SUPER adorable. There are so many ways to use purees; comment below with your favorite and tag us on Instagram (@ezpzfun @onceuponafam)!
I love freezing different purées in ice cube trays and bring my own cube flavor profiles around! I also like to sneak in subtle spices into purées to help develop a more sophisticated pallets!
Thank you! My 4 month old would LOVE this ❤️
Thanks for the post, I never even thought about the thinner purée in a cup. Great tip!
For my older baby (13 months) I purée spinach, basil, and hummus and toss it with some quinoa and brown rice pasta for a yummy pesto-type sauce!
My great grand baby is just about 11 months old. He will not eat any baby food period. He acts like it has just about killed him! He is eating finger foods and likes picking tiny pieces of food to eat. I am concerned about him getting veggies in his diet. I am putting baby food fruits and such in his bottle and mixing it in his formula. I want to try some of these, but afraid we will end up giving all of these away as he won’t touch any baby food. What are your thoughts? PS He loves holding the spoon and trying to feed himself. He really gets excited when he sees his spoon. Help!
I love the part of the article in which it states that you can utilise the purees to teach baby led spoon feeding this allows the baby to feel more independent and attain more knowledge to do more activities alone without the Reliance of there guardian it also allows them to experiment with new tastes and easily tranisition from purees to solids in a matter of time.
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