There’s so much magic in rediscovering life with your little one. Opening them up to the limitless experiences this world has to offer and what it means to live a life of bliss, balance, health and full of love. Every sensation, every experience is open for them—all you need to do as parents is guide them.
Noa is growing so much, so fast, but I feel insanely honored every day to be her mama. I’ve gotten so many questions about how I’ve been introducing real foods into her diet and wanted to share my experience and has worked best for us. More than anything, this is a period of play and experimentation. It’s connecting with your little one and allowing him or her to be CURIOUS. There’s a saying that goes, “Food before one is just for fun.” This stage is all about experimenting together and figuring out what works.
Our little miss Noa started with solids at 6 ½ months and I knew she was ready because she started to be very curious about food. She would reach for plates of whatever food was around her and was really interested in whatever I was eating. So much so that she would actually try to grab food from my mouth. All I’ve done is facilitate this initial curiosity. She still gets most of her nutrients and vitamins from breast milk and we still breastfeed 6 times a day, every 3 hours. She only tries food in-between when she’s awake and full of energy.
Instead of dictating what she does or doesn’t eat, I’ve been introducing her to a LOT of ingredients at a time. All of which are clean and organic - a whole lot of fruits and veggies, and more recently, organic nut butter! She eats everything; she’s definitely not a picky eater. What can I say? She gets it from her mama.
Some other tools & tricks that have worked for little Noa during this curious + playful phase:
Pureed food is the BEST way to get in a lot of nutrients + superfoods (of course!) - I’ve introduced both Green Dream and Berry Bliss to Noa, especially Berry Bliss because of all the vitamin C
This is a phase to experiment with a variety of spices, sweet flavors (fruit), salt flavors (a little bit of sea salt) and textures
Combine foods + ingredients in different ways, especially if they seem initially confused about it - Noa was initially not interested in kale by itself but tried it in smoothies and she’s liked it!
When trying a unique and potent ingredient (i.e. fennel) you can offset the taste with potato, banana, or pear
One major tool we’ve found to work is introducing allergy foods early on in her diets Did you know that most Israelis have no peanut allergy? One cause of this has been said from introducing little babes to peanut early on. Bamba is a peanut-butter puffed snack and is in almost every Israeli home (including ours) and everyone enjoys them from kids to adults! They have a great texture for infants and it helps babies to familiarize with the flavor profile and sensations of peanuts. One study has shown that babes introduced to allergic foods (primarily peanuts) are less likely to develop this allergy later on in life.
We’ve also been relying on a sample of baby foods and products to help ease this transition and make it a safe and enjoyable experience.
Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder: So great for fruits + veggies. We add frozen fruit to it which has also helped with teething.
Happy Baby Organics Puffs: These are so great for snacking and have so many different flavors. They melt in her mouth, are sourced from clean ingredients, full of vitamins, and encourages self-feeding.
Baby Mum-Mums Rice Crackers: Rice biscuits created especially for teething and are entirely gluten-free and non-GMO certified. The best part is that they melt in her mouth easily and are easy to hold.
Square Baby Food: Personalized puréed baby food with real, whole ingredients. They help customize a food plan based on your baby’s age, diet restrictions and preferences. Each blend incorporates a little’s ones recommended servings of fruit, veggies, proteins and grains. Noa loves them!
Yumi: These baby foods are created for each stage of food introduction + development. They begin with single ingredient puréed blends, then move to soups with 2 ingredients and finally, multi-ingredient chia or quinoa puddings. All their blends are organic, gluten-free, low in sugar and nutrient-dense—just the way mama eats!
Once Upon A Farm: Super clean and super simple organic baby food that offer a TON of flavors and varieties. Noa loves, loves, loves the applesauce blend. These are so easy to take on-the-go and I don’t have to worry if she’s still getting the right nutrients and vitamins into her little body.
If you’re curious about what to feed your baby from the foods that already exist in your kitchen. Here’s the food that Noa has gravitated more toward and what has worked best for her. But everyone is different and what works for my babe might not work for yours. Just like us!
Fruits: Asian pear (her first food), berries, banana, mango (frozen from Trader Joe’s)
Veggies: Carrot (to chew on), avocado (great finger food), sweet potatoes, cucumber
Combos: Whole grain cereal mixed with bone broth (her favorite) and smoothies
Right now, we’re staying away from honey until she turns one due to a risk of botulism. You can bet that she’ll be trying organic raw honey on her first birthday!
It’s been such a joy to watch Noa try out different foods and find the magic behind taste. I love creating recipes for her and can’t wait for the many more we’ll be trying.
Simple Purée Recipe
1 pear
Handful of peas
Handful of spinach
¼ tsp of Green Dream Superfood + Protein Blend
Combine and blend in a baby food processor and serve! YUM!
Do you have a little one starting to experiment with food? Let me know if any of my tips + tools worked for you! Share with me on Instagram using #PhilsophieSuperfoods or #PhilsophieLove.
