Every parent witness their child’s growth with great enthusiasm. They look for new changes in their children day by day and observe it like a gardener observing their baby saplings. Similarly being a part of their adventurous journey through food is also something that can get you goose bumps and make you thrilled in a daily basis. The development of the baby from stage 1 to stage two may feel a bit fast as you may not have got ambient time in experimenting with all the ingredients in stage one. Stage two is a clear continuation of stage one with simple differences specially in tis texture. So need of worry, here to we have a variety of foods you can make for your kid with all your love.
Stage 2 of Baby Food
Instead of bumping right to the content of the stage one foods, let’s rewind a bit to the earlier stage of baby food. The stage one or the complete puree stage contains external food which are completely turned to liquid puree texture without lumps, this stage starts almost when the baby is 4 months old and last to another 2-3 months of time, the symptoms of the child wanting to enter the different stages of food will naturally occur and will be visible from the eating pattern of the kid. To evolve to the higher level, it is the texture of the puree that is changed. The second stage evolution signs gets evoked in the child almost by the start of the 6th month. Here the food will be a bit thicker than stage one and is still smashed to remove large lumps off.
Stage two foods are more equipped to meet the deficiencies that may evolve in the child within the past six month time period. It mainly emphasizes on the iron deficiency, as it is the most common and most likely to occur deficiency especially in certain targeted group of people, that include, women in the menstrual phase, pregnant women, infants, people with heartaches and so on. The most common signs that these people show when they are prone to iron deficiency are dizziness, fatigue, paling on skin, tiredness, breathlessness and so on.
The Second Stage Of Food For The Babies May Stay Up To 6 Months
Many get confused with the difference between stage 1 and stage 2 foods. The main difference is the age that the foods satisfy. While stage one foods are for the kids aged between 4 and six months, stage two are for those six to 9 month toddlers. Then comes the texture, the stage 1 is more water like while stage 2 foods are more consistent. Then comes the number of ingredients. When the stage one food is mostly a single ingredient food, stage two is a combination of tastes, which makes it more scrumptious. The amount of food that take to ill your kids tummy will also have a drastic increase. While a few teaspoons of stage one food was enough to fulfil the child’s need the quantity of food consumed at stage two will make you happier on your kids appetite.
The Perfect Time To Shift To Stage 2
Nature is a wonderful creation of god. He has created everything with its own characters. Even human beings. The child itself shows the natural indicators of whether he is ready for solid foods and if he needs a shift of change. While positioning to sit in a straight posture was the main indicator of starting solid foods there are much more prevalent signs that the child use to clue you that it is ready to have stage 2 foods. This may include any few or sometimes all of the below signs. As everyone is unique your cbild may show even more signs. That’s why you need to be more attentive towards your child during their initial stages of development.
The tongue reflexes of the child can get almost lost and he or she may not push out the spoon or the food that is fed to them. They would feel hungry even after a good meal of stage one as it won’t satisfy them anymore. And your knowledge about their allergy tolerance is also a sign that you can start mixing the ingredients.
There are a series of precautions that every parent should be aware of. As in the adventures in adventurous parks, feeding your child during the parenthood especially early parenthood is an adventurous process. It needs a lot of patience and perseverance as the result is not instant and moreover the baby may not accept the changes at the first. The most dangerous part is the avoidance of precautions. Some of the major precautions to be kept in mind during feeding the child with stage two food are:
- Avoid the usen of materials or ingredients that may lead to choking. Nuts, seeds and items of the same texture that requires a bit of stressed bite are to be avoided even in this stage.
- To avoid blotting within the gut, honey is to be forbidden even at this satge of foods.
- Some parents tend to use juices instead of breast milk while mixing the puree and making it up to a liquid form. If milk is not available do use ambient amount of water never go for juice at this point of time
- This warning is something every parent is always aware of and would always comply with. Always have your child seated upright on the chair and make sure they are secured well within their positions. Also have a watch on what the kid intends to do.
Some of the recipes that you can make for your child to introduce them to the world of stage two foods are :
- Sweet potato, mango with ginger puree:- This can get the baby to the new bold taste of ginger. The sweetness of mango and sweet potato, with their contrasting ttenderness and toughness when added with ginger can blow up the kids taste buds and let him to a stage of satisfaction and wanting more.
- A combination of apple mango banana can be one of the sweetest, and that having high content of calcium, iron, minerals and vitamins. Being iron-rich this combination can help to eradicate the menace of iron deficiency that may atlast end up being anaemic.
- Apple and broccoli combination: Continuing with apple as an ingredient combining broccoli, which has various health benefits and help in the gut functioning is meant to be a high- benefit yielding food for the kids.
- A combination of many a kind of fruits like apple, strawberry, raspberry, blue berry etc. can help in the immune sytem build up of the child which naturally occurs to ceratin percentage with the consumption of the mother’s milk alone. After starting the solid food and when time passes, the minerals that the baby’s body acquire by consuming the mother’s milk alone depletes. Thius introducing this combination can help in restoring the immune system replenishement function of the mother’s milk.
- Apple and kale: Both apple and kale individually itself serves as a high nutritional element. Combining the both can help to combine the nutritional bvalue also. A single plate can serve a variety of minerals in such a way. Kale which has a bitter taste may get rejected by the kid. But when apple is combined with the same, it becomes a bit more consumable by giving it a sweeter taste.
- Combining apple with butternut or any other vegetable and fruit can go well.
- Mixing the fruits and sprouted veggies and smashing it to a better consistency, which looks a bit thicker than the stag 1 consistency or simply thicker than normal water can add up to a platter of stage 2 food.
- Adding a bit of non veg can also be considered at this stage. While adding meats, make sure it is boneless and crush and smash it up to a level where it requires minimal mouth activity by the child.
Some of the recipes that you can make for your child to introduce them to the world of stage two foods are :
- Sweet potato, mango with ginger puree:- This can get the baby to the new bold taste of ginger. The sweetness of mango and sweet potato, with their contrasting tenderness and toughness when added with ginger can blow up the kids taste buds and let him to a stage of satisfaction and wanting more.
- A combination of apple mango banana can be one of the sweetest, and that having high content of calcium, iron, minerals and vitamins. Being iron-rich this combination can help to eradicate the menace of iron deficiency that may atlast end up being anaemic.
- Apple and broccoli combination: Continuing with apple as an ingredient combining broccoli, which has various health benefits and help in the gut functioning is meant to be a high- benefit yielding food for the kids.
- A combination of many a kind of fruits like apple, strawberry, raspberry, blue berry etc. can help in the immune sytem build up of the child which naturally occurs to ceratin percentage with the consumption of the mother’s milk alone. After starting the solid food and when time passes, the minerals that the baby’s body acquire by consuming the mother’s milk alone depletes. Thius introducing this combination can help in restoring the immune system replenishement function of the mother’s milk.
- Apple and kale: Both apple and kale individually itself serves as a high nutritional element. Combining the both can help to combine the nutritional bvalue also. A single plate can serve a variety of minerals in such a way. Kale which has a bitter taste may get rejected by the kid. But when apple is combined with the same, it becomes a bit more consumable by giving it a sweeter taste.
- Combining apple with butternut or any other vegetable and fruit can go well.
- Mixing the fruits and sprouted veggies and smashing it to a better consistency, which looks a bit thicker than the stag 1 consistency or simply thicker than normal water can add up to a platter of stage 2 food.
- Adding a bit of non veg can also be considered at this stage. While adding meats, make sure it is boneless and crush and smash it up to a level where it requires minimal mouth activity by the child.
Store Bought Stage 2 Foods
Do you find yourself busy to make the purees that your child needs? Here too, we have a series of natural, healthy solutions that would make you happy. There are many puree pouches available in the market that gives the same quality of that is synthesised at home. Some of the famous pouch makers include:
- Beechnut: These are available in glass jars as well as small pouches. Normally their pouches are of good quantity and quality and most of the parents are into their apple based products while the avocado, banana, pear, pineapple and all else are worth trying.
- Gerber: These purees serve the same taste as that of the homemade purees and are available in plastic tins, jars or even in pouches. The quantity in each of the container differs, though they serve the best of their quality. The oatmeal and chicken noodle are the most famous from their side.
- Earth’s best: It serves tins or pouches of purely organic purees which you can serve your child without a second thought. Sweet potato, barley combination of theirs is one of the best. While pasta with tomato or white bean is one of their special recipe.
- Plum: One of the best packed purees. If you are in a journey and needs to carry small puree pouches for your child, this would be one of the best options. As of all the above mentioned puree givers they too provide unique recipes which include their special spinach and pea, pumpkin and beans purees.
If you are having some of the puree at home, making a mixed treat of homemade puree and store bought puree would be a treat for your child. While allowing your child to have the store bought one, be sure that you have an eye upon them as they have small lids, which may cause choking, if swallowed. It is always better, serving them in a bowl and keeping the rest of the pouch out of reach of the children. This not only applies to the puree bottle, but whenever you leave your child near articles, chances are there for them to explore the smaller parts of their toys, or whatever they encounter. So in order to avoid difficult situations it is better to have an eye on them.
Children grow fast. We won’t ever get ambient time to observe their growth. Specially this stage of food taking that is between the age of six months and nine, they do have a faster pace of growth into the next level. Researchers say that by the mid of this age, that is almost by the later stage of the 8th month the children get used of the food pattern and develops themselves an ability to have pieces of crunchy finger foods. By this you can reduce the amount of breast milk being fed. But it is never advised that the feeding of the milk to be stopped before the child reaches an age of a year or so. The infants themselves will have a reduced consumption of milk, which you need not bother, but never deny them the right to have it, as it is required for them to be well hydrated throughout the period. Researches done in AAP conclude to the fact that babies at this stage of development intakes about 24 to 32 ounces of breast milk. During the initial stage of solid food introduction, they may use to have had a quantity between 24 to 40 ounces of breast milk. The reduction itself complies that the baby although consumes external food needs a particular amount of breast milk until they reach optimum level of development.
