… for the first solid meal after 4 months

After 4 months, the demand for nutrients cannot be met from breast milk or formula alone. Therefore, at this point, one can start with supplementary food.

The first porridge meal should be introduced step by step. The first attempts of feeding porridges and solid food is new and possibly difficult for your child. At first, a child may try to make the porridge come out of its a extrusion reflex which an infant has. This disappears at approximately 4 or 5 months or age. Therefore, have patience and continue to try and feed your child porridge.

The first solid food should be a vegetable meal. This replaces the lunchtime breastfeeding or bottle feed. As carrots are mild and very digestible, it is recommended to feed your baby a warm carrot meal for the first solid meal. The sweetness of carrots eases the unfamiliarity of solid food for infants. Begin in the first two weeks of feeding spoonfuls of pureed carrots. We recommend adding 2 teaspoons of sunflower oil to approximately 190 - 200g of vegetable in the form of a baby food jar or freshly prepared meal. Start by feeding less spoonfuls and increase the amount to that of a baby food jar (approximately 190g).

A small tip: try using a plastic spoon as it is not as cold as a metal spoon and this will be more pleasant for your child.

…for the next vegetable meal

Should the carrot meals agree well with your baby during the first 2 weeks, the pure carrot meal should be replaced with a carrot-potato mix. In turn, two weeks later, we recommend adding meat (approximately 20 g) to the pure carrot-potato mix. Meat contains important nutrients and assists the absorption of vital iron. Lean beef, veal or turkey should be used. Another option is to use vegetable-meat baby food jars from organic agriculture.

As of 6 months, instead of carrots, other vitamin-rich vegetables or vegetable baby food jars such as broccoli, fennel, spinach or cauliflower may be used. These lunchtime vegetable meals can be complemented with the use of a Holle grain porridge to create a wholesome meal. Just mix 2 tablespoons of Holle Porridge (favourite type) and 3 teaspoons of sunflower oil with the hot vegetables. Once cooled it's ready to eat!

…for the non-dairy fruit meals as of 5 or 6 months

The fruit meal is a further meal which should be introduced. This replaces the afternoon breastfeed or bottled formula meal. In this case, simple, traditional fruits should be used such as apple, pear, bananas or peaches. We recommend introducing exotic fruits or a mix of several fruits only after having fed your child the traditional fruit porridge for a period of time. The preparation follows in combination with the Holle Organic Grain porridges. Just mix porridge with previously boiled water, add pureed fruit or fruit from a baby food jar and it's ready to eat! Details for further recipes can be found on the packaging of all Holle Grain Porridges.