Newborn Baby Care and Needs

Baby Finger Food Recipes

By Najiah

A baby can be introduced to baby finger food by the age of 8-9 months old, but it can be older to certain baby, it all depends on the readiness of the baby to eat such kind of food. Baby finger food can be given to a baby at his/her snack time, normally once to twice a day. Here are some baby finger food recipes:

 Milk Fruity Jelly

Ingredients:

1 sachet of jelly powder

6 table spoons of formula, mix it with 400 ml of water.

100 g of melon

100 g of watermelon

100 g of strawberry

100 g of pineapple

How to make it:

Mix 1 sachet of jelly powder and formula milk, cook it on small fire. Mix all the fruits with blender then add it to the jelly and formula milk just before it boil. Then put it in the jelly mold.

This recipe is for ten molds, and each mold contains more or less 22 kkal of energy, 0.8 g of protein, 0.4 g of fat, and 5.4 g of carbohydrate.

Banana Pudding

Ingredient:

100 g of Cavendish banana, make mush banana.

50 ml of water

1 table spoon of formula milk

1.5 table spoon of gelatin

How to make it:

Mix the milk, water, and gelatin. Cook them on top of boiling water. Lift it up after 5 minute. Then, mix them with mush banana, and put them in molds. It’s better if you have rectangular shape mold, so it’s easier for the baby to hold.

This recipe is for ten molds, and each mold contains more or less 100 kkal of energy, 1.4 g of protein, 0.4 g of fat, and 26 g of carbohydrate.

6 Rules in Giving Baby Solid Food

By Najiah N

1. Give Solid Food Step by Step.

 Introducing solid food to a baby is sometimes hard and sometimes it’s easy, depends on the baby. For the first 3-4 days, give the same kind of solid food.  Give it in a small amount and increase it consistently day by day. We need to do this to know whether the baby is allergic or not to this kind of food.

2. Frequency and Feeding Schedule.

For the first few days, give the baby 1-2 times daily of solid food, and then you can consistently increase it to 2-3 times daily. See baby feeding schedule.

3. The Selection of Baby Food

Introduce first to baby solid food that doesn’t cause allergic, usually contain low protein like cereal (rice, brown rice, oat). For vegetables, choose like potato, pumpkin, green bean, zucchini. For fruits, choose papaya, banana, sweet orange.

4. Introduce to Many Kinds of Taste

Introduce a baby to many kinds of taste and texture by giving a verity of food. When a baby is introduced to vegetables, normally s/he will like vegetables when s/he grew up. His/her memory will tell the food that s/he already had since very little.

5. How to Make and Give Solid Food

For the first stage, make a runny solid food, by adding breast milk or formula at the end of the making process to avoid loss nutrition. Use baby spoon, from baby feeding set. Put a small amount of baby food at the tip of the spoon and put it on the middle of the baby’s tongue, and see how s/he reacts. If s/he smile, it means s/he likes it, but if s/he doesn’t seem to like, or even cries, stop the eating session right away and try it again some other time.

6. How to Store Baby Food

For the reason of practical, many parent make baby food for one day, instead of making it every time the baby has to eat. We need to know how to store it, so the nutrition in it doesn’t vanish or less vanish. Put it in small food containers, and different container for each meal. Put them in the fridge, make sure the lid of the container is tight, to avoid any contamination. At each meal time, take one container and warm it up by putting it on a warm water.

Baby Feeding Schedule

By Najiah N

From the age of 6 months, a baby should be introduced to solid food. There are stages of giving solid food. At first you should give a very small amount of food. Try a runny milk porridge and then add the thickness and the amount consistently until at last your baby is able to eat the family meal at the age of  1,5-2 years old. Baby’s ability in eating the family meal differ from one and another, depends on many factors such as how many baby teeth that has grown, whether your baby has any allergies or not, etc.

Even though your baby is not able to eat the portion that s/he should has, but one of the key to successful giving solid food is consistent. Feed the baby at a feeding schedule like my baby feeding time plan example.

06.00am -08.00am           Breast Milk, or formula

09.00am                                 Solid food, can be porridge, cereal, etc.

11.00am -12.00                   Fruit, can be orange juice, banana, papaya, etc. 14.00pm -15.00pm            Solid Food, can be porridge, cereal, etc.

17.00pm -18.00pm           Snack, baby biscuit and milk (breast milk or     formula)

18.00pm -next day.          Breast milk anytime the baby wish or formula 3-4 times all night.

This schedule is off course very flexible depend on the condition. But try to make a baby use to this schedule, if once a while you miss this schedule, it’s ok. After 18.00pm, please don’t give any solid food to the baby, it lighten his/her metabolism, so s/he can sleep tight.