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Baby Food Recipes

Nourish bub with healthy baby food recipes for reusable pouches

Starting solids can be a daunting experience. There is so much conflicting advice out there like when to start and what to start with. It's really hard to know what the right way to start feeding baby food is. Below are some recipes to start but my one piece of advice is if your baby gets constipation when starting solids just pull back a little and take it more slowly. I have over 30 years of experience with digestive issues so it's a topic I'm extremely passionate about. 

First Baby Foods for Homemade Squeeze Pouches

Stage 1 is where your baby tries solid food for the first time. It is usually around 6 months of age although some countries advocate solids from 4 months old. In Australia 6mths is the current recommendation to start nourishing bub with solid foods.  Always try just one food at a time and start with only a small amount (a teaspoon full is fine). Leave 2-3 days between introducing each new food. Introduce each new food mid morning so that if there is a bad reaction it is easy to seek medical help. It’s best to feed a little milk (breast or formula) about half an hour before so that your baby does not get frustrated (which happens if they are super hungry).

Once your baby has tried a few fruits and vegetables you can mix and match the food purees that the baby is ok with. Different cultures recommend different foods for a child’s first meal. Here we focus on fruit and vegetables, but some cultures introduce baby rice porridge or bone broth in this stage also. Please seek advice from your doctor about what is best for your baby. At this stage, if you use Little Mashies reusable pouches you would use them as a container to store and transport your home made baby food, or to freeze it.

I love these baby food recipe idea's for starting solids!

Zucchini baby food puree   Cauliflower Broccoli Baby Puree   Curd, Rice & Spinach Puree

Baby Food Recipes 6-8 mths old

Our baby food recipe book is packed with ideas for starting solids but here are a couple more puree ideas to get you started. With my first daughter Ariella I started with only fruits and vegetables but with Lola I started with egg yolk and chicken liver! Pretty different right! Feel free to use the coupon code BABY if you'd like to grab the recipe book. It will remove the price so you'll get it for free :) Just add it to the cart and purchase as you would if you were paying and then pop the code in before it asks for cash. It will remove the price and email you a copy.

Banana Baby Food Puree Banana and Avocado Baby Puree Apple and Banana Baby Puree  

Baby Food Recipes 8-10mths

Stage 2 consists of foods that are a little more acidic, or harder to digest. This stage also marks the introduction of more complicated food combinations. Puree foods well and add a little liquid so that they are smooth and runny.

We love to include home made organic/grass fed bone broth in our recipes (1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon) to make the puree more smooth and extra nourishing. Bone broth contains the unique combination of essential amino acids, minerals and gelatine that repair and grow cells.

If your family does not yet make bone broth feel free to make puree smoother using any liquid including cooking juices, home-made stock, breast milk, water or formula.

At this stage Little Mashies reusable food pouches can be used to feed your baby, to freeze your baby food or to take home made baby food with you on outings.

Baby Food Recipes 10-12 mths old

Stage 3 contains puree combinations that are a little more complicated, including grains and meat, as well as spices. Depending on the age of your child you may make the purees thicker, or more of a mashed texture. There is no right or wrong with the order of introducing foods because every baby is different and develops at a different rate.

It’s a great idea to experiment with recipes rotating steaming and baking, or using the purees as a sauce to coat finger foods, pasta, rice or on top of toast.
Get creative and if your baby is fussy get vegetables into them via smoothies or inside Little Mashies pouches. We have a great smoothie recipe book about to be released.

For older babies Little Mashies can be used for smoothies and yoghurt, as well as purées and dips. They can be frozen and used as an ice pack, or defrosted in a bowl of warm water when needed.

We also use Little Mashies for healthy custards, mousse and dairy -free home made yoghurts. When you buy Little Mashies products we give you access to all of our recipe books free so that you can make your own healthy foods to nourish your bub.

Here are some nourishing baby food recipe idea's for 10-12 mths. We love our recipes for this age! The baby food combinations really get fun.

   

        

Reusable Pouches For Baby Food

Little Mashies reusable food pouches can be used as soon as you start your bub on solids, usually around 4-6 months. You can start by making healthy baby food in bulk and storing and transporting it in Little Mashies reusable food pouches. Our baby food recipes are suitable for freezing in our refillable food pouches. You can freeze your refillable baby food pouches and take them to the shops or on errands. Simply warm them up under a hot water tap, or defrost our reusable pouches in a bowl of warm water. You can also get spoons that attach directly onto the spout of our reusable food pouches to feed your baby directly from the Mashies food pouches. These food pouch spoons can be purchased from most chemists.

When your baby hits the independence phase he or she will want to be in charge of feeding. You can use Little Mashies reusable food pouches to reduce the mess involved in this baby food stage. Simply give them the food pouch with your healthy home made food inside, and make it easy for yourself. Of course remember to remove the lid from the food pouch before you give it to your baby.

When your baby is older you can use Little Mashies refillable food pouches for yoghurt and smoothies for daycare. Older school kids use food pouches for smoothies, yoghurt, healthy chocolate mousse, home made custard, jelly etc. 

When you order Little Mashies reusable food pouches you not only get the highest quality product but you get over 50 beautiful recipes to help you through your journey from starting solids to school lunch boxes. Our aim is to make your life easier and to help you feed your child delicious, nutritious healthy food.

BABY feeding FAQS

Simply add it to the cart, pop in the coupon code, and it will remove 100% of the price.

At 6 mths of age you can introduce a range of puree's to your baby (see our baby food recipe book and use coupon code RECIPE to remove 100% of the price at the checkout).

For baby led weaning you skip the baby food puree altogether and start with large (2 finger sized) pieces of the food. We would of course do this on our Little Mashies sucky platter! So from 6-9mths of age in baby led weaning foods should be the size of about 2 fingers so that the baby can pick it up and self feed. They also need to be well cooked so they are soft, and with no loose pieces (for example tiny florets that can break off on broccoli, or a slice of apple that's so thin it can break when gnawed on).

From around 9mths with baby led weaning you chop the food very small (to avoid choking). I would suggest 2-4 grains of rice in size. It's a small piece so that if they swallow it whole they won't choke. In traditional baby food recipes this is the stage where we mash food so it has a little texture.

At around 12mths of age in baby led weaning the food goes up to bite sizes (and this is the same in non baby led weaning kids), about fingernail sized pieces. Of course some babies will be on a different timeline depending on whether they have heaps or a few teeth.

Every baby is different and you just have to watch carefully and get to know how your baby is with food. Never leave them alone whilst eating, and I also recommend sitting them at a table with you for all meals if you can. It helps set the expectation for later in life and you can be a role model for how to eat well. Around 18mths you can offer your little one larger serves again (so a whole apple for example) so that they can learn to take smaller bites themselves, to chew, and to swallow.

It is widely recognised that babies should start solids around 6 months of age. At this time reusable baby food pouches can be really convenient to take your homemade healthy puree with you when you are out and about. Spoon attachments are available so you can feed your baby directly from the pouch from 6 months old. Without a spoon attachment babies usually start feeding themselves pouched food around 8 months old. This is when they hit their independant phase and what to do everything themselves. A pouch is a lot cleaner than a bowl and spoon in these circumstances. We do however advise that you give your baby a variety of meals, not just ones that are in a refillable pouch.

Refilling your reusable yoghurt pouches is easy! Simply turn the reusable food pouch upside down and open the wide double ziplock at the bottom of the pouch. Once the zipper is open you can spoon yoghurt into the pouch or pour it in (out of a jug or bottle).

If you are concerned about making a mess you can use a kitchen funnel so that all of the yoghurt stays away from the yoghurt pouch zipper.

Another idea that we commonly do at home when filming videos (but it would also be useful when holding a baby in one arm), anyway.. the idea is that you put the pouch upside down in a glass (with the lid on), open the ziplock and the glass acts like a second hand, holding the pouch still whilst you spoon the yoghurt in. This is what I do when I only have one hand to use for the refill!I also tend to refill my reusable yoghurt pouches in bulk. I'll buy a good quality yoghurt from Coles or Woolworths and will fill a whole 10pk of pouches in one go so they are all ready for snacks on the go.

My kids always want to eat when they are out and refilling the reusable pouches one at a time just doesn't work for us. The only time i do that actually is when I've pureed a meal that my toddler refused, put it in a reusable pouch, and given it to her again. Oh and the other time I do singles.. there are two actually. When we go for ice-cream (it is so much cleaner when in a pouch), and when I have leftover smoothie (again, it stops me getting smoothie all through my car, pram, or playroom).

Little Mashies refillable yoghurt pouches are compatible with pouch filling machines that are on the market. Our spout is universal so even though we don't think you need a filling machine, our reusable pouches will fit. All of our yoghurt and baby food pouches come with anti-choke lids as standard.

Cleaning reusable baby food pouches is easy! We have designed Little Mashies refillable yoghurt pouches without corners so there are no places for food to get stuck (we would hate your little one to get sick from old food stuck in corners)!

When you open the ziplock you can see all the way through the pouch to ensure it is clean. If you have a dishwasher you can clean the pouch using that, otherwise you can wash your reusable baby food pouches by hand and this takes around 20 seconds. Little Mashies squeeze pouches are BPA Free and are safe to wash with warm water.

If you need some meal ideas for your refillable pouch you can find home made yoghurt here, baby food recipes here, and pouch smoothie recipes here.

Now, to clean your Little Mashies food pouches by hand simply open up the ziplock at the bottom and take off the cap. Run warm water through the open ziplock with the baby pouch facing downward so the water comes out of the spout and into the sink. The shape of Little Mashies reusable pouches acts like a funnel, pushing out food and making the pouch very easy to clean.

To start washing your reusable pouch, squirt some dishwashing liquid into the refillable pouch, then use a baby bottle brush to clean the inside walls (just like a baby bottle). To clean the spout use a straw brush (like the ones we have here), and clean it in the same manner that you would clean the teat from a baby’s bottle. Give the reusable pouch a rinse and place it over a kitchen utensil in the drying rack to dry. If you don’t have time to dry it fully place it in the freezer until you are ready to use it again. Do not put wet reusable food pouches in dark cupboards or draws. They are very easy to dry if you have removed the cap, and placed something inside the zipper to keep the pouch open (we use a whisk, tongs or a spatula).

Note that if you continuously wash your pouches in the dishwasher the high temperature will make the zipper wear out more quickly. At home we wash our pouches mostly by hand because it is so quick and easy and then just use the dishwasher when we have had loads of kids over and served reusable yoghurt pouches or smoothies to them all.

Oh and while I remember if you use the code RECIPE at the checkout it will remove 100% off the price of the baby food recipe ebook so you can get some inspiration for your refillable pouches.

Some parents start introducing a sippy cup or straw cup to their babies around 6 mths of age. This can make it easier to transition from breastmilk or bottle feeding around 12 mths of age. Most paediatricians recommend babies 18 mths or older use an open sippy cup rather than a bottle, so anytime before then is fine. This is why we have a 4 in 1 sippy cup, so that you don't have to purchase seperate products as your baby moves through the stages of learning how to swallow and drink. To shop the Little Mashies silicone sippy cup, check out our baby feeding range here.

All of our baby food recipes are contained within our ebook. You can get a free download by using the coupon code RECIPE at the checkout. Simply add it to the cart, pop in the coupon code, and it will remove 100% of the price.