During my Weaning Wednesday on Instagram and during my weaning webinars I am regularly asked what fruits to serve to baby, when can I serve them and how to serve them. Below I will lay out my advice on the best and safest ways to serve fruit depending on your baby's age and ability.
4-6 Months Old - Steam & Purée
At this age, you are only starting to introduce solid food to your baby. Start with small amounts of fruit purée like my avocado and banana purée or my melon and avocado purée. At this stage of weaning, your baby will not be used to texture and as they are only learning to feed you should blend into a runny purée to serve.
Your 4-6 month old will not be able for large amounts of food so please see my portion guide on the ideal serving size for this age group and beyond.
6 Months Old - Blend or Mash Ripe Fruit
At 6 months old if your baby is ready for more texture, you can start to blend and mash your fruit. For hard fruits like apples, steam your fruit for at least ten minutes or until tender. For fruits like bananas, this does not need to be steamed and you can simply mash it to your desired consistency.
My apple & cinnamon purée is a great one for an added kick of flavour and as cinnamon is a natural pain reliever it is great for teething babies!
7 Months Old - Grate Fruit
By 7 months old your baby will be able for more textured food, and by this stage is starting to develop their pincer grasp, so grating fruit is a great way to go. Apple is a fabulous one to grate as you can include the skin which holds most of the nutrients! Other fruits that are suitable to grate are pears and mango.
Why not try my homemade baby muesli topped with some grated fruit or berries?
Offering Fruit as Finger Food
From 6 months you can start making finger foods available to your weaning baby so that the thought of finger food isn't alien to them as you progress through the weaning stages. Younger babies from age 6-8 months old will generally use their whole hand to pick up food, so remember to cut it into sizes that can safely be held in their fist.
If you are using a hard fruit like apple or pear, steam it until tender and you can easily squash it between your thumb and forefinger. Cut into finger size pieces and allow your child to suck or gnaw on it. As fruit can be slippery, you could coat it in ready brek to give it some grip.
For softer fruits like banana, you can cut it into bigger pieces with some skin left on to use as a grip handle. This is also an option when serving mango, slice into fingers with some skin left on.
As your child develops his pincer grip, you can then cut the fruit up into smaller size pieces.
Remember, until your child reaches the age of 4 you should always quarter grapes.
