Skip to main content

HOW TO INCLUDE BABY AT THE TABLE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

 

(Family Features) Your baby’s first holiday season is one to treasure. While you’re busy making memories, remember enjoying a meal together as a family is also a convenient and practical learning opportunity for your little one to explore the world of eating and solid foods.

Babies learn to eat new foods when they are exposed to them. They see their parents model healthy habits or having the opportunity to try new foods, including fruits and vegetables.

Fruit and veggie purees like Gerber 1st Foods and 2nd Foods purees help ensure babies experience a variety of flavors made from real, nutritious foods. The baby food line includes seasonal varieties such as butternut squash, pumpkin and sweet potato plus pear, blackberry orange, peas and apple zucchini spinach.

“I often see parents worried about their baby’s nutrition, especially during the busy holiday season,” pediatric dietitian Marina Chaparro said. “As a parent myself, I firmly believe in having convenient and practical options like packaged purees on hand that do not compromise on nutrition or taste. Options like Gerber's selection of vegetable, fruit and dinner purees conveniently expose babies to a variety of new flavors, including those that may be on the holiday table, but don’t include any added sweeteners babies don’t need in their diets at this stage in their development.”

Chaparro offers these tips to begin forming healthy eating habits and include your baby at the table this holiday season:

  • Don't feel like you need to feed your baby separately. Instead, incorporate your baby in the holiday fun. If you’re visiting family, ask for a highchair or bring a portable one to ensure your baby is comfortable and safe.
  • Stick to your usual feeding routine so your baby doesn’t get overly hungry or cranky. It’s OK if baby needs to eat before or after the main event; he or she can still be at the table with a nutritious snack or favorite toy. One option is Gerber Natural Whipped Banana Apple Blueberry Melts, which are made from 95% fruit, real egg whites and contain no added sugar.
  • Rather than preparing a different holiday meal for your baby, head off the potential of a future picky eater by sharing the same meal everyone else enjoys. You can serve small portions of the same food finely chopped and safely prepared for baby or provide baby with premade food with traditional holiday flavors. Finely shredded turkey pieces and homemade mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes are perfect for babies who are picking up food and eating on their own. For younger eaters, look for developmentally appropriate purees that match what’s on the grownups’ table.
  • Allow your baby to play with his or her food. Offer a silicone spoon and allow him or her to explore purees and get messy. Research from Cambridge University found allowing kids to use all their senses to explore foods may help reduce picky eating later. 
  • Focus more on the experience and less on how much makes it in that little mouth. As parents, it can be difficult not to worry about how much food your baby eats. Instead, focus on providing nutrient-dense meals and a positive environment for your baby to enjoy and interact with the food.

Explore more tips for creating healthy eating habits this holiday season and beyond at Gerber.com.

Helping Baby Discover New Tastes

  • When considering which to serve first – fruits or veggies – no hard rule applies, so do what feels right for you and your baby. Remember, it can take up to 10 tries with a new food before he or she decides to give it a go.
  • If you’re using baby food packed in a pouch, be sure to squeeze it into a bowl or onto a spoon for feeding for babies under 1 year old.
  • Growth spurts can influence hunger. Let your baby’s hunger and fullness cues guide how much he or she eats. Offer a wide variety of foods so he or she can experience different tastes and learn to accept new foods.

 

Photo courtesy of Getty Images (parent feeding baby)

 

SOURCE:
Gerber

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4 TIPS FOR A PRODUCTIVE 2021

  4 Tips for a Productive 2021 (Family Features) This year has taught many workers a thing or two about being productive when offices and homes blend into one. As the calendar turns to 2021, consider these key products and processes to stay productive next year. Find a system (and stick to it): Creating an organizing system is an easy way to ensure your at-home workspace is ready for optimal productivity. Designate space to house all your work items – a drawer, cabinet or box – and keep work items organized by type (pens, papers, computer gear, etc.) At the end of each day, transitioning to “offline hours” can be easier when you have a place to stow your work items. Start your day clean: Studies have shown cleanliness has a direct impact on productivity. Yet, many people struggle to find the time and energy to clean, especially at the end of a busy day at home. An option like The DEEBOT T8 from Ecovacs provides a hands-free cleaning experien...
Post a Comment
Read more

UNDERSTANDING HOW POCKET LISTINGS WORK

Have you ever wondered what a “pocket listing” is?  Learn a little bit about this trend in hot markets and how an agent familiar with pocket listings can help you sell your home faster or find homes which haven’t hit the market yet. If you’ve been searching for a home or have been considering selling your home, you may have heard the term “pocket listings” from real estate agents or even friends and family. What is a pocket listing? Where did the term come from? How are pocket listings being used today to buy and sell homes? Pocket listings are homes which are for sale but not yet widely advertised or entered into typical MLS databases. Often an agent will enter into an agreement to sell a home, but will first reach out to their personal and professional network to see if anyone may be interested in a quick, private purchase. Ideally, the agent knows someone or another agent who has a client interested in the home and the whole process of listing and marketing the ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

UNDERSTANDING MULTIPLE OFFER SITUATIONS

In a seller’s market, multiple offers are not uncommon. But what does that really mean?  And how should you and your agent work together to generate the most interest in a multiple offer situation? Find out more in my post…  When inventory is tight and a market heats up, sellers often dream of finding themselves in a multiple offer situation. In a multiple offer situation, more than one potential buyer submits a written offer on the home. With multiple offers on a property, the listing agent can then try and “shop the top offer” in order to try and get the best deal possible for their client. If you live in a hot market, how do you structure your listing in such a way that you get the best possible offers in a multiple offer situation? One strategy for cultivating multiple offers is letting buyers know that the seller will only entertain offers on a certain date. Rather than deal with offers dribbling in one at a time, there’s a deadline for offers. When thi...
Post a Comment
Read more