Zara's Diet

Deciding on how to wean Zara was not an easy task for me. To be frank, I would really like to use the Baby Led Weaning (BLW) approach where instead of starting with purees, they straight away start with healthy whole food for the baby to hold and munch. It is believed that this method teaches the child motor skills and contrary to what the old school taught us, studies shown that BLW babies has minimal chances of choking compared to babies who started with purees. However, the method can be very tedious and it is hard to apply when someone else is taking care of Zara when  I am at work. So we started her with natural purees of vegetables and fruits. 

As time passes by, we (hubs and I) give Zara the chance to explore. We do get a few stares for feeding Zara watermelons, nasi beryani, rice soaked in vegetables, pasta and what not. Seems like she is eating anything like we grown ups do, just at a much softer diet and minimal (like very minimal that there isn't most of the time) salt. Alhamdulillah, she seems to be eating well (not a picky eater). We get asked a lot on what's her diet like. Our answer is simple, as long as the food is not processed, NON-GMO, not salty and does not contain MSG, if she wants to try it, we would give it a go. For example, we were at Hokkaido Sushi when we gave her some of my Salmon Teriyaki (sans the sauce). She really enjoyed it and looking at her excitement was definitely pleasurable.

feeding Zara Mushroom, Chicken and Brocolli Soup.

We really try our best to avoid junk food but give way to rice rusks to help her with the gum itch she's been getting when her teeth is about the come out. Sure, her well being is our main concern. We only let her have the rusks or Organic Puffs when she had her milk and main meals.

Zara sharing Organic Puffs with her cousin Khyra. There's a lot of debate on whether these banana snacks are junk food. However, I'ld rather have her munching these than those GMO stuffs.

One of the best thing about this is watching her enjoy her food and I am glad that I get to contribute by cooking for her. I bought the App called Annabel Karmel's Guide to feeding your baby and toddler. There, they taught us ways of how to add flavour to our food without using salt. For example, prunes and thyme add flavour to bolognaise. The tips I got from there gave me ideas on how to improvise the recipes for my lunchboxes. Eating healthy does not have to taste boring. :p Zara loves the meals i tried from Annabel Karmel. If you have a baby, you should try it. Good luck and Enjoy the Process!