Banana brown rice cereal

17th December 2010

Banana Brown Rice Cereal

1 small ripe Banana
1+half chinese soup spoon Brown rice cereal
30ml - 50ml of Milk

 

Simply mashed the banana with a fork and mix it into the cereal. its the easiest fruit to add to cereal! baby r loves bananas! she fininshed her cereal really quickly and she wanted more! the only problem i had and have no answer to is what type of banana should i give baby r? the reason for this is... in asia we get 2 types of bananas. the long and whiter kind or the short and very yellow bananas... when i was pregnant, i was told to stay away from bananas esp the long kind. its said to be "too cooling" to be consumed during pregnancy. so is it safe for baby to have it? will it be too cooling? i gave baby r the yellow flesh banana... just to be safe.

i am pretty lucky that baby r tries all the food i gave her and so far so good that she like all her food. got some expert notes to help baby try new food below just to guide myself if i ever have problem introducing new food to baby r.

Here are some tips for helping your baby try (and eventually eat) new foods:

* If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Your baby may hate his first, third, and ninth exposure to carrots, but the tenth time may be the charm. (so far, i am pretty lucky then! tot all babies would love to eat carrots)

* Experiment with different ways of presenting food. Your baby may not like bananas by themselves, but he may love them mixed with his favorite oatmeal cereal. (Just be sure not to introduce more than one new food at a time, so you can see if he's allergic.) Likewise, your older baby may prefer shredded steamed carrots to sliced.

* Try new food when you and your baby are at your best — when you're both well rested, in good spirits, and healthy.

* Your baby will be more open to a new food if he's hungry (but not overly hungry), so give him his new food first.

* Don't stop feeding your baby if he makes a funny face — it doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't like what he's tasting. He may just be reacting to the distinctly different taste. (baby r kept Boooo'ing once and i tot she didnt like it... but it was her usual peas+carrot porridge. then i realise she was feeling hot! so my dad fan her while i fed her and she finished her porridge. another incident was she kept booooo'ing as she didnt like the cooled porridge, warmed it up for her and she continued to eat it all up!) 

* Babies are easily distracted, so keep TV, music, and toys to a minimum during mealtime. (i didnt allow the TV to be on and no toys! as baby r is really easily distracted and i didnt want her to be difficult, moving her head all over looking at things as then feeding will be very difficult and i didnt want her to look messy, with the food all over her face!)

* If your baby seems interested in holding the spoon, give him his own. That way he can feel more like an active participant without slowing down the feeding. (pretty soon baby r would want the spoon! she tried to guide my mil with the spoon today!)

* Give your baby your undivided attention during feedings, whether you're holding him on your lap or facing him in his highchair. Try to keep your facial expressions positive, even if you're serving a food you detest. (my rule is that she is fed in her highchair at all times! i dun want her on anyone's lap thou as she tend to move all over and wiggle non-stop and she would reach for things near her. i always encoucage her by telling her its yummy and smile when she take her food off the spoon! she would smile back and make my day! i tell her she is a good girl when she take the food without making a mess! that encourage her to open up her mouth and she take the food off the spoon nicely.)

* Let your baby see you eating the same food he's eating. He loves imitating you. (whenever she tries new food, mil would ask me if its sweet, nice, is the texture ok... and i would try it infront of baby r and haha tell the truth thats it good but i wouldn't take a whole bowl of peas+carrot porridge myself!)

* Your baby may like a new food but still only eat a few teaspoons of it. That's perfectly normal. (i was sceptical if baby r would take pumpkin, so i gave her some puree to try and she didnt make a face then i added the puree to the cereal!)

* If your baby gives you the thumbs-down on a particular food (closing his mouth, turning his head, throwing the spoon), don't force it. Try again in a few days and he may surprise you by gobbling it up. Forcing food or showing your frustration may turn mealtime into a negative experience full of power struggles.

* Switch things up. Your baby may tire of eating bananas at every meal and give up on them entirely. Plus, a varied diet is more nutritious for your growing baby. (trying a few more new food and i do up a menu for 8 mth old!)

Note: Wait until your baby is a year old to give him certain foods such as honey, peanut butter, cow's milk, shellfish, citrus, and egg whites.