Indian Foods For Babies: How To Introduce? Ways To Reduce The Spice Levels

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Many women wean their babies off breast milk as early as 3 to 4 months of age. Others wean their babies at 6 months of age. Other mothers may breastfeed for as long as a year or more.

By doing so, your baby will be able to benefit from breastmilk, and it will also allow his digestive system and immune system to mature. Breast milk alone does not provide enough nutrients, particularly iron, after six months. Therefore, you will need to introduce solid foods gradually.

When your child is six months old, he or she can begin eating solid foods. Infants can begin eating a variety of foods from a variety of food groups by the time he or she is seven or eight months old.

Infant cereals, protein-rich foods, fruits, vegetables, grains, yoghurt, cheese, and other foods are included in this category [1][2].

What Is The Best Way To Introduce Solid Foods To My Child?

In the beginning, allow your child to try one single-ingredient food at a time. This will allow you to determine if your child has any allergies to that particular food. Wait three to five days between trying new foods.

Your child will soon be able to eat and enjoy a variety of new foods before you know it.

Whenever other foods are introduced, introduce potentially allergenic foods as well [3].

• Starting out with single-ingredient fruit and vegetable purées and cereals such as rice is a good way to get started. Introduce more ingredients, flavours, and textures between 6 and 7 months under the cover of breastfeeding. You may introduce gluten, which is mainly found in wheat, between that time and 7 months.
• A small amount of cow's milk may be used in cooking as early as six months. However, you should wait until your baby is one year old before providing it as a main drink [3].
• In the first six months, you should offer purées. At seven to nine months, you should introduce mashed or minced foods (not purées) and ensure that some lumps are included. You should use a fork to mash food and not a blender to make the texture lumpy.
• After seven months, you may introduce finger foods. From 10 months onward, meals should be more adult-like. The items should be chopped or minced with textures that encourage your baby to chew.

What Is The Best Way To Introduce Indian Food To Babies?

Obviously, the primary concern is the spices and masalas in Indian food - any parent would be concerned if it would upset their little one's stomach. However, Indian cuisine is more than just spices [4][5].

Here are some to introduce Indian foods to babies:

• If possible, start the baby eating Indian food while your baby is still in the womb and breastfeeding so they become familiar with it before they eat it on their own [6].
• When your baby is about 6-7 months old, try feeding them blends of rice, meats, and vegetables that are low in spice.
• If you are starting your baby on purees, you should include traditional Indian flavors such as garam masala, onions, garlic, and ginger.
• Also, you can begin by mixing very soft rice with butter, lentils, and very soft mashed meat, and then slowly add the food you would normally consume [7].
• Include Indian flavors in pureed vegetables and finger foods, even adding curry powder/garam masala to scrambled eggs.
• You should include a pinch of turmeric in the first solid food you feed your baby [8].
• Then slowly introduce cloves and cumin after a couple of weeks.
• Once your baby begins to consume more complex solid foods, use minced ginger and garlic in their food. You can also add a small quantity of homemade ghee to their food.
• If your child complains about the spicy nature of the food, give them flavoured/unflavoured yogurt after the meal. This seems to have helped several parents incorporate Indian cuisine into their babies' diets more easily.
• Serve raita on the side - it will help cool the food if it is too hot. Also, children enjoy dipping their food in it.

Indian Foods For Babies

You can still make your baby's food tasty even if you do not add sugar or salt to it. To flavor food, use garlic (lehsun), ginger (adrak), powders such as turmeric (haldi), cumin (jeera) and coriander (dhaniya), or whole spices such as cumin (jeera), fennel (saunf), cinnamon (dalchini) and cardamom (elaichi).

The baby naturally prefers sweet foods, as breastmilk contains milk sugars, but it is also beneficial to introduce them to savoury foods.

If you need to sweeten food, use fruit or breastmilk instead of sugar.

On A Final Note...

Consult your doctor about your baby's diet, particularly if he/she is a picky eater. Also, don't forget to give your baby any supplements prescribed by your physician.