Starting your weaning journey can be a daunting experience so having a weaning plan is crucial. Here we have put together the complete guide to first purees, how to prepare them and which ones to give. Preparing homemade baby food means you know exactly what your baby is eating. Once your child is ready to start weaning, it is crucial that they eat whole-foods to provide the best fuel possible for their development and rapid growth. In order to ensure that you have the right tools to help you along on this journey we have put together this guide for baby's first purées.
Tips to Remember
Weaning is a gradual process and your baby’s palate is delicate. Remember that everyday things for us such as broccoli, carrots, apples and pears will appear strong in flavour to them this is why we recommend beginning with single ingredient purées and then moving along to combination purées once they have had time to adapt.
- The first food for your baby should be quite runny as swallowing isn’t too great.
- Thin your babies purées with water, breast milk or baby formula.
(If you intend to freeze extra portions only add milk before you serve). - The first food to introduce is the mid morning meal.
- Offer your baby their milk at 11am and then give them their solid food between 12 and 12:30pm.
Make sure they are not too hungry as this is just a taste. - Start off with your 4-6 Month Weaning Pots so that if you have started before six months you have not affected their milk intake.
- For each stage of weaning we have the perfect portion size for your baby. Our Starter Weaning Set gives you five sizes and ten of each size so that you will have enough pots to bring you through each stage of weaning.
Our top First Purées:
Broccoli:
Trim the head of broccoli, cut into small pieces and place in a steamer for roughly 8 minutes. Purée with a little water until smooth. Perfect to batch cook and freeze in portions with the 4-6 Month Weaning Pots.
Butternut Squash
Squash is a wonderful first food for your baby. Why not pair it with apples like in our Butternut Squash and Apple Puree recipe?
Butternut Squash & Apple Purée
Beetroot:
Trim and scrub the beetroot, before wrapping in tinfoil and baking for 45 mins at 200 degrees. Allow to cool slightly before peeling under running water while still warm. Chop roughly and add to your blender with enough water to get a soft purée.
Cauliflower:
Break into small florets, then steam for roughly 10 minutes until tender and cooked through. Purée with a little water until smooth. Try this simple Cauliflower Puree, perfect to store in your Starter Weaning Set.
Root Vegetables:
- These are great alone or in combination. Carrot, Parsnip with the core removed and Sweet Potato are great options.
- Peel and slice all veg before steaming until tender. Blend with some water until you have a smooth purée.
- Alternatively, you can bake Sweet Potato whole for about an hour at 190°C before slicing in half and scooping out the flesh. Blend with some water until you have a smooth purée.
More on Weaning
Before you start to wean it is important that you have all of the right equipment in order for the process to go as smoothly as possible for both you and your baby. See our Complete Weaning Guide for details.
More information on what foods to feed your baby in the first year.
Read our complete guide to weaning.
Now sure when to start weaning? Check out our blog on How to Start Weaning.
Check out our First Foods recipes for inspiration.
