Indian Baby Food Chart - Best Practices

The baby’s advent in your life heralds the beginning of a new life. Lots of joy, laughter, and happiness make your life complete. The baby brings love and completeness but also entails a lot of responsibility for the parents.

Every baby is different and needs a slightly different diet and quantity in comparison to other children of their age. Also, it is important to remember that babies grow very rapidly in the first few years of life and need a highly nutritious diet to help them grow optimally.    

Infants can be fussy and want a little less or more of certain food items. That is nothing to stress about as every baby is unique. Solid foods can be introduced to children at about 6 months and you can add new foods until the age of two as your little one adapts to the new taste and texture.

The Best Choice For a Newborn to 4-5 Months

The newborn is best suited to drink breast milk or formula. The best way is to feed the newborn on demand or every two to three hours in the daytime and about three to four hours at night time. This timing may be slightly different for each baby.  Breastfed babies may require more feeds than a formula fed baby as breast milk is more easily digested than formula.

There will be many words of advice for you in the new mom days. Well-meaning elders will advise water, sugar water, coconut water, glucose water, juice and so much more to help with augmenting milk as the only source of food. But do resist the temptation and restrict the baby’s intake to milk in the first 4 months or so.

If you do feel compelled to start something more in the first few months do try to wait until close to the 6-month mark.

Try new foods very gradually and try not to give cereals before 6 months as babies are generally not able to assimilate protein before this age. Vegetable purees, soup, juices, mashed soft fruits are quite palatable.

How to Introduce New Foods to the Baby? (Baby Food Chart Month by Month !)

If you are a mother and wondering, How much solid food for 6-month-old?

The 3-day-rule is the best option for 6 months and above aged babies. Solid foods should be added one at a time and continued for 3 days. The baby should be watched carefully for any adverse reactions during this time. If you notice any rashes, changes in pooping patterns or bloating, your baby might not be adapting to this particular food. Take a break and start another food in the same pattern.

You should try pureed and liquid foods in the beginning. Ensure that the food is well cooked and mashed so that there are no lumps that the baby can choke on inadvertently. After all the young one is being introduced to solid food for the first time. It is a good idea to make thin purees and make them thicker as the baby gets used to the food. Use a strainer to make even and smooth purees.

Indian Food Chart for 6 Months Baby​

Six-month-old babies can have a mind of their own. They are a little independent by this time and can generally understand tastes and likings. You can see signs that your little one is ready for solid food. She can sit independently with back support and can close as well as open her mouth around a small spoon.

Your baby may still show signs of being hungry after a feed of either breast or bottle feed.

It is generally good to start with things like daal water, diluted well-cooked rice, rice cereals, fruits and vegetable purees and soups. As the baby gets used to this kind of food you can make the purees lumpier and maybe avoid straining the puree.

Keep adding new fruits and vegetables in combination with a known taste. For example cook carrots with pumpkin, potato or Lauki for different texture and taste.

Milk is still an important part of the child’s food list as it takes a lot of time for the baby to acclimatize to new foods. The baby needs to be comforted with the familiar taste of milk. New food can only be introduced at 3-day intervals. Make sure that you try a new food at home only. It is important not to force your baby to eat more solid food forcefully. The quantity will grow gradually.

(Also Read, How to Increase Baby Weight – 11 Tips to Reduce the Panic)

It is best to give soft home-made food that is nourishing to a 6-month-old. Apple and suji halwa, suji and banana sheera, carrot and rice, peas, French beans, gourds and cottage cheese are good options to start with.

It is good to include whole milk yogurt to the little one’s diet. The baby needs good nutritious protein-rich food to grow well. It is best to avoid salt, sugar, and honey as additives. These can be restrained for as long as possible.

7 Month Baby Food Chart

As the weeks go by you can add more grains to the baby’s routine. Starting with a single grain is a good idea. Add grains like Ragi, millets, barley, kuttu or buckwheat, rajgira or amaranth, pulses, and wheat to the child’s food chart. Ragi can be made into pancakes or chillas, moong daal chillas, upma, and khichdi can be smart options to titillate the taste buds of the baby.

As new foods are introduced, try and juggle with textures, making foods less pureed to more semi-solid states.

Now, new fruits like pears, mango, plums, seedless dates, grapes. Kiwi, litchi, guava without seeds can be introduced. Do add some water, about 3 ounces or so to ensure healthy bowel movement. The baby may have either constipation or diarrhea in response to new foods. Keep a close eye in case of discomfort.

The 7-month-old baby crawls and explores and the energy needs of the baby change. You can now think of progressing towards a more solid diet and the dependence on milk reduces considerably. It is still recommended that you continue breastfeeding till at least the end of the first year.

Feeding an 8-month-old

The 8-month-old baby is ready to experiment with finger foods and a few spices. Some cumin, aniseed, salt, asafoetida, ajwain can be given to the baby. Mashed foods can now be given as finely chopped pieces and whole wheat pasta, chapatis and rice with thin daal and finely chopped vegetables are safe for your little one. Eggs, tofu, paneer can be now added to the diet in small amounts. Toor daal and whole Daals are considered digestible at this age. Egg whites may contain allergens but yolks are considered quite safe for your baby once cooked.

It is important that you as a mother should be able to gauge your child’s needs and readiness for new food and introduce them in time. Do follow the 3-day-rule as a norm to keep the baby safe. Babies at this age have just begun their journey with food and start developing strong tastes and dislike at this early age too!

It is imperative to cook fresh food for your baby and discard any leftovers. Babies have very tender digestive systems and any disruption may cause her to fall sick. It is also important to consult your doctor every time a new food is introduced or the baby has an allergic reaction to any food or has a stomach upset.  Both loose motions and constipation need to be tackled with urgency and care.

Babies are highly resilient and versatile. They learn to appreciate the taste, smell and texture of food very fast and have distinct likes and dislikes by the end of the first year. Expose your baby to new tastes and teach her to explore. The world is her oyster and her love affair with food will continue if the introduction is right!