It is good to introduce apple as the first fruit for the babies.Though we get a lot of good ones ,ready-to eat from the store,it is always nice to give the babies fresh home-made foods whenever possible.

Ingredients:

• one apple
• one small cinnammon stick

peel the apple and cut it into small pieces.

heat a pan and put the apple pieces and cinnammon stick with a little
sugar(optional) and stirr it

when it is done take the cinnamon stick out.

cool it and serve it.

A very tiny piece of cinnanamon stick is enough,just for flavour.

P.S.Cinnammon is good for toddlers but for the babies first year it is good to make without the cinnammon.

After so many readings and consultation with the doctor, when we think the baby is ready to start on solid foods, next thing that comes to every mothers mind is what to start with and how to start?

The best thing to do is talk to your doctor about what and how to give too.
Even though the baby is started on solids it is really important that feeding breast-milk or formula is comes first during the first year.

There are a few simple things to know and make sure what to do when starting on solids.

• First, expect to be messy
• It is always good to be slow when feeding the babies. Give your baby very small amount of food when you start, since he should practice to use his tongue to swallow the food.
• We should remember that the babies tummies are really tiny.Even a spoon full of food can make them full.
• Also expect changes in color and consistency of babies stools.
• Look for allergic reactions, such as rash, fussiness, runny nose,upset tummy etc., when introducing each new food.

Doctors always make sure to start with rice cereal which will be easier for the babies to digest. Though breast-feeding I pumped little breast-milk everyday to mix with the rice cereal when i first started solids for my son. It is good to give it in a watery consistency. Since it has breast-milk it will be easier for the babies to like it and get used to.

Make sure to introduce just one new food a week, so that there will be enough time to know how the baby likes that food and to know whether it is allergic to the baby.

Also whenever you start with a new food,  give in the morning, so that if the baby is allergic to the food we will be able to know before the end of the day.

When we give the baby a new food and some how he doesn’t like it or is allergic to it, stop giving that food and wait at least a week to give him any other new food.

I remember, I started with rice cereal and breast-milk in the mornings alone for the first whole week when he was four months old and the next 10 days i gave him twice a day in the morning and in the evening.

After that we can start with vegetables and then fruits.In case of vegetables my doctor said it is good to start with yellow or orange veggies like carrot, sweet potato, squash etc.,

In case of fruits,most of them start with apples and continue with pears , banana, prunes etc.,

Expect constipated stools, specially with rice cereal and apples.

When i start with these things i keep on going.But i guess these are the basic things moms should know about when they start giving solids to their babies.Also it is important to make sure not give the foods that should be kept away in the first year.

Like apple as the first fruit,in vegetables it is good to start with carrots.Mostly all the babies like carrots.

Ingredients:

• Peel the carrot and cut into small cubes.
• steam cook the carrots nice and tender and puree them.
• Add water for required consistency.

Apples,Peaches and Sweet Potato are good to cook along with carrots when the baby is good to eat mixed food.

Many parents wonder what is the right time to start solid foods for their baby .Thinking about starting solid foods to babies,the first thing to do is to consult your baby’s pediatrician and to see  is your baby ready for solid foods?

    We can make an early start with the solids as early as 4 months.But the current recommendation is the breast-milk or formula should be the main nutrition for the babies till 6 months.It is good to introduce solids any time between 4 months and 6 months.
Things to look ,if the baby is ready for solids are
   

• Your baby should be  able to sit well and upright when supported ,so that he will be able to swallow the food.
• Baby needs to be able to control his head.
• Good weight gain and growing appetite -the baby may seem to be hungry even with eight or nine feedins of breast-milk or formula.
• The baby will be curious in looking into your plate when you are eating.

    I remember with my son,i use to tell my mom that i feel like breast-feeding him the whole day,as his appetite was growing so much.And he will be always lookin at my mouth whenever i am having my meal or snack and trying to grab it.

When i thought of giving solid food to my son my doctor told me i could sart giving him solid food after 4 months if i want to.But still breast-milk or formula should be his main food till he is atleast 6 months old.as the doctor instruction i started giving my son rice cereal liquified with breast-milk just in the mornings for about too weeks.

    After 2 weeks,i started giving him in the evening too.In my place i remember people telling it is good to introduce variety of foods between 4 months and 1 year old.Also it is really important avoid foods which are not good to give before 1 year like egg,nuts,honey etc.,And also it is very important to look for if the baby is allergic to any new foods introduced.

All the moms come to know about the toddlers temper tantrum starting with the terrible twos. Toddler’s tantrum because they are so much frustrated of wanting or needing something, but could not express it to get it. They all do it mainly when they are hungry, tired, bored.

I can remember when my son started with his first tantrum. It was just a week before his second birthday he started showing tantrums, who was till then just a curious, active kid. I remember him crying and screaming for things to be done. I was just so much overwhelmed by his crying and screaming, it was at that time I started to browse and read about toddler tantrums.

We can all know how we get scared and not knowing what to when they start this, but all the moms who have all gone through this can tell that this will pass through once they were able to talk and express what they need.

What can we do to reduce tantrums ?

• Maintaining a regular routine helps a lot, set meal times and snack keeps them full and a regular nap time and bedtime routine make them feel comfortable and put them in a good mood
• We can teach them easy toddler words to express their basic needs like want to eat, go to potty, need to sleep etc.
• We can keep some of their comforts handy, like favorite blanket, toy or book, to give them when they need it.

When it comes,

• We need to be always prepared expecting any tantrum to happen when not expected. Keeping ourselves calm, help us a lot to deal with them, because it becomes worse when we get frustrated ourselves.
• Make sure they are in safe surrounding and out of harms way. Sit with them, make eye contact with them and try to explain things by the way they can understand.
• Diverting them from the situation helps them too. Sometime pretending not to notice their tantrum works too.

However frustrating it is to us as to them at that time, it’s just a phase in their growth and will out grow it. My son is four now, he has come out of all the tantrum days gradually, when he started talking good. But as we all know we are not peace all the time because, I know because my son is still in his cranky days, which is frustrating too, but not like terrible twos. Though he goes on doing it, still I can sit with him and talk about it.