Importance Of Selecting The Right Baby Food

Importance Of Selecting The Right Baby Food

There’s nothing better for a mother to see her baby happily wiping off food from his/her face. Introducing solid foods to your baby can be fun, but it can get complicated at the same time. What’s the ideal time to start? How to prepare? What should come first?

Ideally, you’ll need to expand your baby’s diet beyond breastfeeding after he/she has reached some markers. This includes being able to hold the neck in an upright position, increase the weight and being able to stand with support. If your baby has already passed the breastfeeding stage, you should now plan the new diet that consists of proper nutrition to fuel steady growth.

There are several options when it comes to selecting food for your baby. You can either choose to make the baby food at home, or turn towards the supermarket if you have an 8 hour job to take care of as well.

However, it’s important that you should be careful when choosing baby food from the stores and market. The LA times published an article on baby food manufacturers who were sued for lead warning on the labels. Exposure to lead can inhibit proper brain development of the child and also result in a low IQ level.

Christy Burkes, a mother of 2 from Los Angeles, decided to contact personal injury lawyers in Los Angeles after finding out that her younger son had a low IQ level because of lead poisoning from packaged food. Personal injury lawyers are also available in other cities to deal with such issues and get compensation for babies as well as individuals themselves.

Los Angeles and other major cities in U.S. also have some government-based programs for managing children suffering from elevated blood lead levels.

The best thing you can do is to prepare food at home. Oh wait, what about your job? The best solution is to prepare the food in advance for 3-4 days so you don’t have to worry about preparing it every day.

To make your own baby food:

1.  Find out the nutritional needs of your baby

Your baby requires a different combination of vitamins and minerals, so it’s important that you do a little bit of research in online journals, parenting libraries, child nutrition blogs and even books to find out what’s proper nutrition for the child of your age.

2.  Purchase vegetables, easy-to-eat fruits in limited quantity

When purchasing fresh food items, make sure they have no sign of defects because you don’t want to feed your baby sub-standard food. You should also avoid purchasing too much of a single item because it may spoil if you don’t use it for 3-4 days.

3.  Cook thoroughly

The last thing you want to do is feed your baby half-cooked food. While you can steam, boil or bake the food, it’s important that you make sure it’s thoroughly cooked in the end. You can also cook certain fruits such as pears and apples for using in baby food.

4.  Find out the taste preference of your baby

You can find out if your baby prefers a mean with a single flavor or a combination of flavors and prepare the food accordingly. For example, if a combination of flavors is selected over a single flavor, you can use a blender to fix most of the food.

5.  Use containers and refrigerator

As you’ll be preparing in advance for the next few days, you can store the food in containers and place them in the refrigerator. However, any of the stored food should be used before a week.

If you just can’t find time to even prepare in advance, there are organic food options available at grocery stores and supermarket that are much better and safer than conventional packaged options.

No one can take care of baby better than you. Choose or prepare the healthiest food for your baby to ensure proper growth and development.