RECIPES & TIPS (6-8 MONTHS)
General principles during meal preparation & feeding
Safe preparation and handling of food:
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Practice personal hygiene, cleanliness of cooking utensils and food when preparing and feeding your infant or toddler
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Wash your hands properly before preparing food. Don't forget to wash your child's hands before eating
Feeding practices:
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Avoid feeding complementary food using bottles and teats
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Smooth purees and mashed food can be given at the start but move on to lumpier food as soon as your baby is read
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Breastmilk (or formula milk) should be your baby's main drink until 12 months of age
Choking prevention:
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Always supervise your child when they are eating to reduce the risk of choking
Around 6 months
There are plenty of options when choosing the first food for your baby when he/she starts her weaning journey. It depends on your culture, personal preferences, and finances. The main thing is to give unprocessed foods.
Examples of unprocessed foods: vegetables, starchy food (porridge, rice, potato, oats), pulses (peas, beans, lentils), and fruits.
Start with one single type of food. You can start with starchy food. Then, introduce savoury vegetables (green beans, broccoli, spinach) so that your child will learn to accept vegetables in the long run. Next, sweet vegetables (carrot) and fruits can be introduced (pear, apple)
If using commercial baby food, have a look at the nutrient information for any added sugar or salt. This food may be less nutritious, sweet, and too smooth compared to the food that you can easily prepare yourself.
Courtesy: First steps nutrition trust
Never add sugar
& salt
Do you know?
A range of starchy foods can be offered as first foods. You can cook and mash rice, porridge and other cereals instead of buying commercial infant food.
Courtesy: First steps nutrition trust
Courtesy: Nutritionist's Choice Cookbook, Nutrition Society of Malaysia
Week 1
Start with starchy food (i.e rice). Rice is easier for digestion.
Add breastmilk to the rice
Texture: Smooth (blended/sieved)
Avoid instant cereal
Frequency: 2x/day
Week 2
Start giving vegetables (i.e carrot, pumpkin, brocolli, spinach)
Texture: Mashed (puree)
Add rice with vegetables
Frequency: 2-3x/day
Week 3
You can now try to introduce a food from the protein group (i.e chicken/ fish/pork/ lenthils)
Texture: Minced/mashed
Congrats! Your child has been introduced to a variety of food groups. So you can start serving combination of foods in single meal (add rice & veggies)
Frequency: 2-3x /day
Week 4
Besides introducing protein group, you can add fruits for your child!
Texture: Mashed (puree)
Examples: Pear, mango, banana, papaya and watermelon
Frequency: 1-2x/day
Courtesy: Nutritionist's Choice Cookbook, Nutrition Society of Malaysia
Courtesy: First steps nutrition trust
Courtesy: First steps nutrition trust
Courtesy: Nutritionist's Choice Cookbook, Nutrition Society of Malaysia
Don't forget...
Teach your child from 6 months of age onwards to drink from an open cup
Breast milk or formula milk, and water is the ONLY DRINK your child can take at this age!
" Don't worry about portion sizes at this age. There are days when my girl eats less than others, and sometimes she rejects the food that I offered for the first time. This is normal. "