Avocado Baby Food: A Simple Shortcut To Baby Solid Food

baby sleep habit
A simple shortcut for introducing your baby to solids, is avocado baby food.

The wise ones say start your baby on vegetables before you give them sweetened things such as fruit purees. Avocado seems to be a happy compromise.

The same wise ones are currently saying that vegetables should be introduced at about 6 months of age. They should have had my eldest son who was demanding the same as everyone else as soon as he was big enough to sit up and take notice.

Avocado is an ideal first food

The unsaturated fats it contains are good for baby's brain development as well as their central nervous system.

Its smooth texture is perfect as well as being nutritious. Avocados contain no salt or cholesterol, but do contain iron, potassium, fibre and vitamin E.

How to make avocado baby food

• You can just mash up some avocado or mix it with a little banana, apple sauce, stewed pears, yoghurt, fromage frais and so on. A great meal is to mix crushed crackers, avocado mash and a little basil.

• You might want to add a little yoghurt in order to achieve the ideal texture for your child.

• Or you could try mixing it with cooked and minced vegetables too - squash, parsnips, broccoli, cauliflower and so on.

But what about the fat?

Firstly, we all need some fats in our diet in order to function - both breast milk and formula contain fat. A whole avocado contains 30 grams of monounsaturated fats which are said to be good for the heart. Secondly, it also contains about 700 calories. But we all need calories and you are only going to give your baby a little anyway. If in doubt ask your paediatrician.

How to choose the right avocado

Choose fruit that are dark green with no signs of wrinkling and give slightly under the fingers. When preparing roll the fruit around on your work surface. This makes it easier to separate the flesh from the skin. It requires no cooking.

Most of us don't want to eat baby food, but in the case of avocados I make an exception.

Just slice it in half and when you are ready, remove the stone by sticking the blade of a knife into it and giving a little twist. If you are only using one half at a time leave the stone in the unwanted half and cover it with cling film as this will preserve that wonderful creamy colour and texture.

How to store avocado baby food

If you freeze avocado mash or puree it tends to go brown, but your baby won't mind. It keeps its colour better if you freeze it in slices and then mash when it is time to eat.

Although you should probably not give your child citrus fruits before about one year old, you can dip avocado slices in a bath of water with a few drops of lemon juice before freezing, in order to keep that buttery colour.

However you look at it, avocado baby food is definitely something every parent should try sometime as a solid infant food.