Odunayo Bolarinwa
In Nigeria and the rest of Africa, it is a norm or culture to breastfeed a baby exclusively for the first 6 months of his or her life.
The reason for this rule is not far fetched, breast milk has essential benefits a child needs for it development and its importance cannot be overemphasized. At the attainment of 6 months, other foods are to be introduced to the baby in form of puddings and mothers are always confused about what to feed their babies thereafter. The only thing must mothers opt for is cereal which can be very boring for the little one.
Here are homemade healthy foods that can be made for your baby;
Pap
Also known as Akamu (Igbo) or Ogi (Yoruba) is Nigerian corn meal made from wet corn starch. It has a distinctive sour taste and is processed from dry white or yellow corn. After processing the raw wet corn starch is then prepared with hot water before serving as a meal.
It is a common food that can be easily made for babies. To make it more nutritional, you can make it from the crash yourself and pick the different kinds of millets you want. For every made portion made, add milk and crayfish to it. It should be cooked properly on fire before giving the baby.
Semo
Semo as it’s popularly called is Semolina, a coarse flour made from durum wheat, a hard type of wheat that is ground into a flour. It can be used to make pap (porridge) for babies instead of using the wet corn starch. It should be runny but not too watery, add some milk and crayfish to it like that of the pap. It should be well cooked on fire before giving it to the baby. And if it is in form of solid, it should be extra soft and can be eaten with the leaf Corchorus (ewedu) that has been cooked with Titus fish and grounded crayfish with a pinch of salt.
Potatoes
Very well cooked tender Irish/sweet potatoes should be mashed with drops of olive oil or butter, add grounded crayfish and flanked Titus fish. The same thing can be done with yam. Just ensure it is well cooked and tender. To switch things up, you can boil slices of carrots with the potatoes and mash together with a bit of red oil with flaked fish and crayfish.
READ ALSO: Why You Should Use Baby Teether For Your Infant.
Oats
Blend the oats properly in the dry blender mill, make it on the fire like you do with the pap or semo. Then add milk and a little sugar. You mash half of a banana into the oats to give it really nice taste.
Rice
Cook rice to be extra tender, add butter or olive oil, add crayfish and Titus fish. The same thing can be done with noodles.
Fruits
It is good to introduce fresh fruits to babies very early. It is better than concentrated preserved drinks. Blend fruits and juice it out for you baby. You can mix two different fruits and get a very nice juice for your toothless baby.
Eggs
Egg have a lot of nutritional value, for a six months old baby, mash the yolk into their food to give them all the nutrients required for their growth.
Want to learn more about weaning your baby? Put your questions in the comment box below.
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