Christmas Meal Inspo!

Are you in the process of weaning your little one and unsure what to feed them over the Christmas period? I’ve created this quickfire guide to fun festive food – I hope that it helps!

Babies

If you’re weaning your baby earlier than the 6 months that is advised by the World Health Organisation (we advise that you don’t unless you’ve been given the nod by a paediatric dietican for medical reasons), then your baby will need puree. Dairy, meat and gluten isn’t advised prior to 6 months, but you can make some super yummy puree dinners using Christmas dinner ingredients!

Potato, spinach, broccoli, parsnip, cauliflower, and a few cranberries would be bostin’! Or, any combination of Christmas dinner ingredients other than dairy/meat/gluten. You can also mix a bit of breastmilk or formula in.

Post 6 months….

BLW

Are you going down the path of Baby-Led Weaning? If you are, then your job is done for you.

All you need to do is cook the EXACT same meal for everyone, just taking care to cut baby’s food into finger sized pieces. Gravy is optional – low salt gravy, or specialist gravy made for little ones is a good call.

You can buy beef stock cubes made especially for little ones at Boots here!

Roasted parsnip fingers, roast potatoes, carrot batons, strips of turkey (or whatever meat you’re having) and a lump of mash will go down a treat on the highchair tray! If you use honey for roasting, bear in mind that honey isn’t safe for kids under 1.

Chunky purees for Traditional Weaning

If your baby is being spoon fed by you, you’re going down the path of Traditional Weaning – adding in finger foods at any point won’t mean you’re doing BLW too, they’re two entirely separate concepts, but both have their merits!

What is the difference between baby led, and traditional weaning methods? Healthy Little Foodies explains here.

If your baby at this point is on purees, depending on their age and level of advancement, you can simply chuck all meal ingredients together to make a meal suitable for baby, to the correct level of smoothness or lumpiness. Breastmilk or formula can be added in lieu of gravy as gravy is rather salty, but low salt stock or baby stock (available here) is a handy alternative.

You can also complement a spoon-fed meal with some of the finger foods I mentioned above, if you feel your baby is at the right stage.

Click the image to see more!

Finger food snacks

If your little one is on the Traditional Weaning pathway, you can still offer some finger food on the side as it’s a great way to hone their fine motor skills. Finger food snacks are also great for little ones on the route of BLW! Here are some festive themed snacks…

Gingerbread men; this is a great recipe from BBC Food. Sugar can be substituted with stevia if needed.

Made for Mums have a fab cheese pastry straws recipe for kids here!

Healthy fruity jelly – messy but sensory! This recipe from MamaCook is a really tasty sweet treat and will be super fun for baby to try to eat off their tray!