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Homemade baby food

How to make delicious, pint-sized cuisine for your baby

Lisa Bendall,

Originally published in Today's Parent July 2004

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You wouldn’t find it on the menu of a four-star restaurant — but, to a six-month-old, mashed ripe banana is the highest form of culinary art. Just ask any parent of a toothless infant who’s gummed the sweet fruit, and eagerly uh, uh’d for more. Switching to solids is an exciting time for both parent and child. And as junior busily explores the tastes and textures of new fruits, vegetables and meats, many parents are opting to make some or all of his food themselves.

An introduction to solid foods is just that: an introduction. At six months, your baby gets the nourishment he needs from breastmilk or formula. This means you can focus on presenting a variety of tastes rather than worry about a balanced diet. The eating experience is a part of his infant education; he is learning about tastes and textures, to forge the path for later food ventures.

“The whole point of starting to feed your child is to teach him how to chew,” says Anji Shukla. She’s with FoodShare in Toronto and leads workshops on preparing baby food. With homemade foods, “you can control the textures more.”

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