"Egg-licious"

I started Egg for Nevan as per everyone's advise post his 9-month-Measles vaccine. But I have begun only with Egg Yolk & not the Egg Whites & will start Egg White only when he is 1+. 

As a reminder, please follow the Four-Day rule for your baby when you introduce egg yolks.

Before the recipes, Benefits of Yolk are as follows:

Egg yolk supplies essential nutrients for the brain development, it has all of an egg's Vitamin A, D, E, B3 and B12; along with Choline, Good Cholestrol & Iron & Folic Acid

After a look out over the internet, advise from experienced moms & personal experiments I hereby present to all you mommies some recipes for EGG YOLK for your babies. As one of my old posts said, I love giving variety to Nevan so giving only a boiled egg to him seemed killing to me so I found my way out...

So let's come to some Egg Yolk recipes:

1. BOILED EGG: Boil one or two eggs (Hard-Boiled) & simply separate the egg yolk from white after de-shelling. Mix it with some formula milk or normal milk you use to make it of a lil sticky consistency & give your lil one to relish it. Personally, haven't added any flavor or seasonings in it as I wanted Nevan to get the actual flavor of egg & relish it.

2. SCRAMBLED EGG with MILK: Separate one or two egg yolk from white. Mix 2 spoons of Milk to the yolks & blend. Heat a non-stick pan & put a spoon of ghee/butter. Put the blended mixture on the pan & mash it to cook completely. Serve the yummy scrambled egg to your baby. It will be soft & easy to eat

P.S.: Pls ensure that the yolk is fully cooked.

3. BANANA SCRAMBLE: Mash half a banana with a fork. Mix the mashed banana to two egg yolks & blend. Heat a non-stick pan & add a teaspoon of ghee. Cook the mixture until completely cooked. Serve the fluffy  egg to your baby. It will be soft & easy to eat

4. OATMEAL SCRAMBLE: Heat one teaspoon of ghee/butter in a frying pan. Add roasted oatmeal along with some (mashed or pureed) vegetable & fruits of your child's choice of flavor. Whisk two egg yellow's in a bowl separately. As the oatmeal+veegie/fruit mixture is stirred, add the whisked egg yolks & keep cooking till the yolk is fully cooked. It can be made in any consistency according to your baby's eating habits. The cooked scramble can also be served with some fruit/veggie dip to make it a more softer.

5. CHEESE OMELETTE: Mix two egg yolks with a small piece of cheese & make a fluffy omelette out of it on a non-stick frying pan. Serve with some boiled vegetables as finger food to complete the meal.

6. EGG FRIED RICE: Warm a pan with some ghee or olive oil. Mix egg yolks with milk & prepare as in point 2 above. Mix some pre cooked rice & pureed or diced soft cooked veggies to the above egg scramble. Cook untill the yolks are fully done.
P.S: All the veggies can be used as per babies flavor & liking. If needed puree or mash the veggies to baby's preferred texture or consistency.  

7. EGG & VEGETABLE SOUP: Make vegetable soup by boiling blending and straining all veggies that your child takes. Do add some salt for flavor. Boil two eggs and mix the egg yolk (post de-shelling) in the soup. Ensure that your soup initially is not very thick as the yolk makes the dish more thickened.

8. FRENCH TOAST: Break two egg yolks and mix it with some milk. Take some soft & fresh brown bread and cut the corners further making small four squares out of each piece. Dip the bread in the egg & milk mixture and cook over a shallow pan from both sides. 
This should be served to your baby who chews well, else can be served with a vegetable soup or vegetable/fruit puree as dip.

If there are any other innovative recipes which I have missed......pls do leave your comments!!!

Oats as First Foods for babies....

Oatmeal or Oats makes a yummy & nutritious food for babies. Infact, its goodness makes it amongst the better first food (grains) too.Oats are high in fiber, calcium, protein & even traits of Vitamin B, B6, magnesium & phosphorus reducing an chances of constipation and is also one of the least allergic foods. However never to forget the Four-Day Rule before serving anything new to our lil angels.

I usually use instant Quaker Oats for our house and do not get into other details of another hundred type of oats available in the market.

For Nevan, he is a man of variety so I have to innovate myself and make his food with different flavors for him to eat them on a daily basis.Oats to babies 6m+, personally I started with them when he was around  6 1/2 months.


Oatmeal for Babies (Basic Preparations):

1. Dry roast oats in a small quantity over the gas. ( However you can roast them in 3-4 drops of ghee once your baby is 8m+).
2. Grind them to make 'Oats Powder'
3. Make this powder once a week and keep it handy for quick recipes (Extremely important for working moms).

Oatmeal for Babies in Formula Milk:

1. Add oats powder & water and cook over the gas for a couple of minutes.
2. You can make the oats as per the desired consistency by adding water.
3. Remove from fire & add formula powder.

Oatmeal for Babies in Regular Toned Milk:

1. Add oats & milk and cook for a couple of minutes.
2. Attain desired consistency by adding milk.

Oats with Fruits: Nevan loved banana's & pear's; and I did not want to take the risk of rejection of oats from him so I cleverly introduced oats to him with his favorite fruits for good 10 days before he developed a flavor for them. Additionally this also helped me give him a fruit per day along with oats.

So you can add Oats with Mashed fruits like banana, chickoo, avocado or with Pureed fruits like Apple Puree, Pear Puree, or with other fruits like Blueberry's, Peach, Apricot, etc.

Oats & Prunes: On days when Nevan is constipated, I add mashed Prunes to his oats too (do read the post on Constipation).

Oats Vegetable Upma: Add boiled vegetables to oats and cook over gas. Add coriander leaves, roasted jeera, salt for taste. Vegetable like Bottle Gaurd, Ridge Gaurd, Potato, Sweet Pumpkin, Carrot should be started with; then tomato, brocalli, beans, peas, etc should be followed as the latter are difficult to digest.

Oats Kheer: Cook Oats in milk or water as desired and add little cardamom & cinnamon for flavor. Keep consistency in check.

Oats with Egg (for 9m+): Heat a little oil in pan, add oats along with veggies or fruits of your desire. Then add two egg yolks (whisked separately in a bowl). Gently scramble & fry the mixture until the yolks are fully cooked. The Scramble can either be cut into small pieces for the baby to have it easily, you can even serve it with a fruit puree as a dip. Else can be made in a pureed form for easy gulp down.

Hope this helps you guys to feed oats to your lil one's !!!

LIST OF FIRST FOODS for your BABY....Introducing Semi-solids Part 2

I don’t believe there is any magic age when babies are ready to start solids. Being ready is an individual thing and it happens at different ages for all babies. Plus I also took into consideration when I was ready to start on this journey....coz in the end it's me who has to manage the affair's on a daily basis.

To begin with, do read the Four-day rule before introducing any external food for your baby. And for the first few months, you might end up finding yourself WEARING more of baby's first foods than he actually eats....so enjoy that too!

Also note no matter what's on the menu, the texture of your baby's first foods should be super smooth and practically dripping off the spoon. As your baby becomes a more experienced eater (usually within a month of starting), gradually reduce the liquid you add and thicken the texture.

A handy list of the FIRST FOODS (in the order to serve) is as follows:

1. Lentil Soup (Dal ka Pani): Refer here for recipe here
2. Mashed Banana/ Chickoo: The easiest to serve & feed as they can simply be mashed (with a fork or hand) and served without any cooking. Also the easiest to carry in your diaper bag as they can be served as instant snack to the baby even while your shopping in the mall!
3. Mashed or Pureed Avocado: Avocado is high in water content, proteins & mineral. It can be scooped out & mashed & served; they too do not require any cooking.
4. Lentil & Rice water: After Lentil soup, its next in line. Rice makes it rick in protein & starch.
5. Apple / Pear Puree: These fruits are great for introducing flavor to the baby's bland (taste) life....They need to be peeled & cut into small pieces before steaming them and making a puree of a desired consistency by adding boiled & cooled water.
6. Mixed Vegetable Clear Soup: Start by giving clear soup & gradually move on to giving boiled & mashed vegetables. You can start with vegetables like - carrot, beetroot, bottle gourd, sweet pumpkin, ridge gourd. And in a second phase add- peas, beans, capsicum, tomato, onion.
7. Sweet Pumpkin Puree: Simply pressure cook pumpkin & attain a desired consistency & feed.
8. Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup: Pressure cook & blend to attain the desired consistency before feeding.
9. Curd: Curd can be served to all babies 6m+; it should be home-made curd & at room temperature. It can be served as it is or by adding some fruit flavor. Do not mix any sugar/jaggery to the curd & serve.

Also, simultaneously introduce water as introduction of semi solids might lead to constipation. You can begin with 2- 4 spoons of boiled & cooled water & gradually increase quantity according to requirement & weather conditions.

If your baby rejects what you've got, try again tomorrow and the next day and the next. Some babies need to be introduced to a new food four or five (or more!) times before they'll accept it, so perseverance is key.

Bon appétit!

My baby didn't poo from so many days.....CONSTIPATION!!!

Well let's begin by saying this that it is VERY VERY NORMAL for your baby to have Constipation/ Hard Stools. So DO NOT PANIC!!!

Nevan was a regular poo-er (definition: a baby who poop's minimum 2-3 times a day) and we had gone to stay at nani house. Well in my excitement of being at my mom's place I payed less attention to his every small habit and easily missed upon noticing that he hasn't poop-ed since two days. Suddenly when I realized it, I was in a panic state like every first time mom.

I immediately called his Pediac just to hear; 

          " It's normal if your breast-fed baby is poo-ing Seven times in a day to Once in seven days"

And it's true as breast milk is used up fast due to the high metabolic rate and results in urine only, no poop; so raise an alarm only if the constipation persists for more than a week.

Let's now come to Home Remedies to tackle the constipation in babies (especially babies who have started with some solids):

1. Give adequate amount of water to the baby, preferably luke warm water at regular intervals.
2. Boil / Soak overnight a few raisins in water and strain them out. This water can either be given directly or mixed in baby food for consumption
3. Prunes can be given by mashing them in a little boiled & cooled water 
4. Papaya assists in easing out the stools (only to 6m+ babies)
5. Other fruits like Pear, Peach, Plums are also helpful in constipation/hard stools; they can be used on a regular basis too. Can be served to the baby either in puree form (preferred) or as diluted fruit juices.
6. Adding fiber rich cereals like Oats as a part of baby meal
7. While another thing which I have never tried but heard from a friend's experience is: Add a little sugar or mishri (crystalized sugar lumps) to your baby's boiled & cooled water.

Foods to avoid during Constipation / Hard Stools (The following should be avoided unless suitable to the baby after following the Four-Day Rule):

1. Banana
2. Apple
3. Potato 
4. Ragi

Also avoid giving the baby oils like Castor Oil, Aloe Vera, etc in any form or amount to aid hem/her during constipation.

The above mentioned remedies are only home-remedies; pls contact your Pediatrician in case the above is not effective or the baby persists to have Constipation for more than a week.

Looking forward for any other remedies used by you momma's which I do not know!!!