Did you know that your baby does not have to eat rice cereal as a first food? To grow a healthy baby with a hearty appetite for real whole foods, you can introduce your baby to avocados, bananas, pears, mangoes, and sweet potatoes. Start with a single food for a period of a week. Then slowly add other age appropriate foods to their plates, one at a time. These healthy and nutritious foods make really great first foods for baby because they are easy to digest and full of vitamins, minerals, fats and other nutrients a growing baby needs.
Avocado – a great first food for baby for 4 to 6 month old babies. Avocados burst with essential fats and nutrients that a growing baby needs. Smooth and creamy, avocados are easily digested and well tolerated by most babies!
Vitamins: A, C, Niacin, Folate
Minerals: Potassium, Phosphorus, Iron, Magnesium, Calcium
1. Peel and take out the pit of a ripe avocado – do not cook
2. Cut “meat” out and mash with a fork or cut into pieces for babies able to pick up small foods
3. There should be no need to use a machine as just like bananas, avocados have a very soft consistency and texture. Avocados do not need to be cooked
4. You can add breast milk or water to thin, if desired.
This is my youngest at 6 months old enjoying avocados as a first food (on left). And this is her now, at age 2 (on right). She still loves avocados and other whole, real foods.
Pam Andrews
