Does everything need to be cooked?

[guyshahar]

Hi there

We are about to start weaning our 6 month old baby. I understand that the most common starter foods are apple, pear, banana, rice cereal and avocado. My question is, does everything need to be cooked? e.g. do the apples need to be stewed or can they just be grated and purreed?

Thanks

Guy

if the pear is really ripe and soft then it wont need cooking. Banana and avocado also dont need cooking as they are ok to mash/give in chunks. Apples are more of a choking risk so I would probably steam them a bit to soften them before offering.

Banana gave my first DS serious constipation.

Also, make sure that you start baby on one new food at a time, having it for a few days maybe mixed with baby rice, as then if baby has any allergies, the offending food can easily be identified.

I used to spend a day pureeing (sp???) lots of different veg/fruit and then put it all in ice cube trays in the freezer.

I found that a useful book for weaning was the name that can't be mentioned Contented Baby Book of Weaning. I didn't follow the menus to the letter or the routine, but it was great in that it listed lots of foods and said when a child could eat them. Also, gave a good idea of how much baby should be eating.

I realise now I haven't answered your question and apologise if you knew all the above, but now I've typed it all I'm going to damn well post it!

Not only does it not need to be cooked, it does not need to be pureed either.

You can try a wide range of foods and textures, raw or cooked, mashed, lumpy or finger foods. Any plain food is good - there is absolutely no need to start with baby rice. All of ours started on carrots and sweet potato, which caused their poo to stain their bums orange!

Only if your families are prone to allergies or intolerances do you need to do the one new food every three days rota. It's useful if you think a food might be upsetting your baby, and to ensure they get variety, but it's not strictly necessary.