baby-breastfeeding-300x200 Nourishing Baby: REAL First Foods For Your Little One

Nourishing baby from the start begins WAY before you introduce solid foods.  Pregnancy and even before is the time to start enhancing your little one with the best nutrition you can.  Following a healthy, clean diet before and during pregnancy is ESSENTIAL for growing a healthy baby. For more on this see my primal pregnancy posts HERE.

Breast is best for baby for at least 1 year! YES , you heard that right….1 FULL YEAR. Breastmilk is BEST plain and simple. Its science and fact and you can’t dispute it.  Baby formula is created to try to replicate breastmilk but falls short in MOST areas.  Breastmilk is literally LIQUID GOLD to your baby packed full of immune enhancing factors along with many many other benefits to baby and MOM!  Breastmilk is forever changing as your baby grows and the flavor changes daily depending on your diet! Formula can’t do that!

Around 6 months is when I usually introduce my littles to the tastes and textures of actual food.  (I continue to breast feed on demand but usually at this point the feeds are before naps and bed and a few through the night.)

Contrary to popular belief rice cereal is NOT a good choice for babies.  They do not yet have the ability to digest grain and feeding them grains to early can lead to a leaky gut, allergies, and inflammation.

baby-eating-food-300x200 Nourishing Baby: REAL First Foods For Your Little One

So What Are the Best first and finger foods for baby?

Here are some nourishing REAL FOOD suggestions and what I always fed my littles first!

  1. Soft boiled pastured egg yolks-a good source of choline, cholesterol and arachidonic acid for baby’s developing brain.Grass-fed yolks will also be rich sources of vitamins A, D, iron and folic acid.
  2. Organic Avocado (mashed at first)-excellent source of healthy fat for baby.
  3. Organic banana(mashed at first)-good source of vitamin B6, manganese, vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, potassium, biotin, and copper.
  4. Organic sweet potato+grass fed butter (mashed at first)-full of vitamin A,vitamin C, manganese, copper, pantothenic acid and vitamin B6,potassium, dietary fiber, niacin, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and phosphorus.
  5. Grass-fed butter-the perfect fat for growing babies that contains an ideal fatty acid profile, and balance of fat-soluble vitamins.  Butter is also a great source of iodine and other minerals.
  6. Organic peas (mashed at first)-Green peas are a very good source of vitamin K, manganese, dietary fiber, vitamin B1, copper, vitamin C, phosphorus and folate.
  7. Bone broth-homemade bone broth from the bones of chicken,duck,beef,lamb or fish is rich in the amino acid glycine, contains valuable minerals, and is also full of gelatin which supports healthy digestion.
  8. Plain organic grass milk yogurt-rich in enzymes, lactic acid and good bacteria which together help digestion.
  9. Soft grass fed beef or pastured lamb stew meats-excellent source of iron , zinc, and protein.
  10. Salmon roe (fish egg) (when baby is big enough to pick up food his or herself)-extremely rich in vitamin D and also rich in vitamins, trace minerals , and DHA.
  11. Lacto-fermented foods like sauerkraut or pickles-rich in enzymes, lactic acid and good bacteria, which together help digestion.

Get in the habit of preparing your baby’s food and it will soon become second nature! Time spent in the kitchen on nourishing foods means far less time spent at the doctor!

START THEM YOUNG!

Breastfeed and Teach your babies tastebuds to Love REAL CLEAN NOURISHING foods and you are making the BEST investment for them for life! They will thank you later!

Health is the Ultimate Wealth!

Be Well!

Susie R. 🙂

Try this recipe from The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care. It was my baby girls FAVORITE!!!

DRIED APRICOT PUREE (6months and up)

Bring 2 cups filtered water to a boil with 1 pound unsulphured dried apricots and simmer for 15 minutes. Reserve any leftover liquid to use for the puree. Puree adding the reserved liquid as necessary to achieve a smooth, thin paste.  Blend with butter or cream.