Baby's Story

As far as chopped and mashed food is concerned, children that go to daycare and kindergarten tend to adapt quicker to food than those that eat at home. The problem (if it really is a problem) is that in school they follow programs so that children learn to change their eating habits. However to the contrary, in the home, sometimes the fear that the child will not eat enough causes the parents to start solid food feedings later on, which is a mistake. Chewing is necessary for a child’s gums and for their teeth to be healthier.

From the age of one, a child will need to be able to eat his or her first meals with a spoon and leave the blender for very specific cases. A very effective system to habituate a child to eating meat is giving it to them half blended and the other half finely chopped, which is the mixed together and fed.

When food is blended, specifically raw foods, certain nutritional changes occur to the food because the tissue and fibers of the food is blended. For this reason it is necessary to eat them and then store them right away because they become quickly altered and lose nutritional value such as vitamins. This alteration can be seen specifically in fruit and vegetable juices. Mashing food with a fork or cutting it into small pieces with scissors for example avoids the food from becoming altered and better conserves the nutritional value of the food. On the other hand other changes occur such as a change of flavor, color and texture. 

During the first year of a child’s life, a few very important changes in their way of eating takes place.
A child’s pediatrician should always indicate the child’s feeding changes.

• Vegetable or chicken soups should always be the first thing fed to a child and they should be alternated with the milk given to the child.
• Once a child starts eating puree and blended foods you can introduce him or her to a variety of foods.
• When a child is born the senses of taste and smell are more developed in a baby.
• Because of this reason it is important the mother avoid eating certain foods while breast-feeding.
• Children should eat in a quiet and relaxed environment.
• It is important to pay attention to the likes of a child. Little by little, get the child used to the foods he or she doesn’t’ like and if the child simply does not want it, give him or her something else to compensate for it.
• Do not feed a child a new type of food in an abrupt way.
• When feeding a baby food that is not blended make sure to start out with small quantities and always accompany the food with a puree or blended food.
• When a baby’s teeth start coming out and his or her mouth hurts, give foods that the child can sink his or her teeth into to help alleviate the pain.
• Be very careful when feeding a baby cookies or bread as a child can easily choke on them.

Although commercialized foods are well balanced, they cannot replace the homemade foods that are made exclusively for the baby.

To make baby food cooking easier, you can freeze already cooked foods and heat them up in the microwave when it is time to eat.

The sooner you start feeding your child finely chopped foods, the better because it will help the child’s gums to harden and will encourage healthy teeth.