Your baby's first food

I am a second-time Mom and I feel quite an expert on the subject of feeding healthy food for kids. I am a full-time mother and I believe in the power of a parent's influence on children's diet.

Infants must be introduced to solid foods when they turn six months. Why so? Because study shows that infants at this age have lesser chances of developing allergies. Those that were introduced to solid foods as early as four months are allergy-prone - reason being that they haven't developed fully their immune system.

Only organic and non-processed food should be introduced to your babies in their first year of life.

The best "first food" for me is ground rice. Rice does not have any known allergens and does not contain any gluten. Glutens are found in rye, wheat, and barley. Young infants introduced to gluten-rich food are prone to gluten-sensitivity since their young intestines cannot digest it properly. This is the very reason why I don't introduce cereals to my children if they are less than a year old.

There are many ground rice available in the market but nothing beats making your own. This ensures cleanliness in your child's food. Grinding rice is very easy with the help of a grinder or a food processor. I use Philip's grinder. I mix one part of brown rice and one part of white rice and grind them together. I store the ground rice in an air-tight container. To cook it is really easy.  Just boil ¾ cups of water and add a tablespoon of ground rice. Whisk it while it's cooking and after 7 minutes, you have your first baby food! Remove from heat. When your cooked ground rice comes out thick, just add a tablespoon (or two) of either breast milk or formula milk to come up with a nice consistency that suits your child. Feed it to him for the next three to five days. This is another test to check whether your child is allergic to a food you introduce. When red patches show up after you introduce something new to your baby, stop giving it to him and immediately consult your child's pediatrician.

After the introduction of rice, the next best thing to offer is potatoes. Again, it's very simple to make. Just boil it and mash it. For your desired consistency, just add breast milk or formula milk. Feed it again for the next three to five days and check for any allergic reactions. Next in line are carrots. Carrots are best cooked when steamed. This ensures that the needed vitamins such as beta-carotene are intact as oppose to boiling it. With carrots, I use Munchkin's Baby Food Grinder. Again, I mix the ground steamed carrots with either breast milk or formula milk.

It is important to note that mothers or care givers should not introduce any salt or sugar in our children's diet when they are less than a year old. From their 6th month to 12th month, they should be taking their food as it is: bland. Why so? This will give them enough time to get familiar with the taste of vitamin-enriched vegetables as it is and not be biased. Babies, like adults, can become opinionated too. When something sweet is being introduced to them, they would want nothing more than that every time you give them something. Babies, like us, can't resist sugar. Giving salt is a no-no too. Salt in their food can destroy their not-so-developed organs especially the kidneys.

For the working mothers, there is no excuse in not giving your babies organic, non-processed foods. When you are making food for your babies, prepare them in batches. Place them in ice cube trays and put them in freezers. Once it is in ice form, take them all one by one and place them in a zip lock container and store them back in the freezer. Ask your care givers to give your babies a cube at mealtime. Do not forget to let them thaw it first. When thawed, just add breast milk or formula milk. Anything is doable when you, as a parent, desire for your baby to be eating healthy too. This is what I mean when I said we can influence our child's diet. This is when the old adage "Start 'em young" is best applied.

I will share more on what else to give our babies and what products out there are best to use as tools as we pave way for a healthy nutrition for our young.

Officially, I'm re-programming my brain. Now, it's in thinking mode. From now on, you will hear/see more often of me.