Christmas is a great time to be starting to think about weaning your baby. Or, if you’ve just started introducing solid foods, it may be even better. There are so many seasonal foods available at this time of the year that are just perfect to offer to your infant too. Additionally, Christmas is all about family and food. So trying to involve your little one in mealtimes around this period is a perfect way to help influence their eating habits for the better.
Don’t forget that as well as turkey and Christmas pudding, Christmas is also about filling your plates with vegetables. Carrots, parsnips, sprouts, cabbage – you name it, and (especially early on in weaning) vegetables are perfect first foods for your baby too.
On top of this, we know two very important facts from research which also makes baby’s first Christmas perfect…
- Vegetables are the best foods to offer babies first when you start introducing solid foods.
- Including children at your meal times helps them with development and food acceptance.
All elements of the Christmas meal are pretty good for your child. However, it’s good to make sure you get the texture right and that you’re not adding any sugar or salt to foods you’re giving to baby. Additionally, other recommendations around this time still stand too. Such as introducing allergen risk foods after 6 months and only one at a time, so you can notice any allergic reactions.
Your baby may be just starting out and is having purees. They are on mashed and finger foods by now. Or if they are at a later stage and having only slightly chopped adult food, Christmas is a great opportunity to offer up some great food to your little one.
Most young children can simply have a version of your Christmas dinner that suits their age and stage. Offering the same or similar foods to what you’re eating is great too. It helps to make sure that your children copy and learn to eat the same foods as the rest of the family. Which can make feeding much easier later on! Additionally vegetables, potatoes and meat can all be served in multiple ways – soft cooked, as finger foods, mashed, pureed or even whole.
As an example of a perfect Christmas dinner for baby, see my recipe idea below. Remember that you can, of course, change any of the vegetable suggestions that are made and swap in other veg if you have it. Remember to also try and keep baby’s meals as similar to the meal you’re having as possible. It’s just the gravy, salt, or any added sugar that you need to be a little wary of.
Baby’s Christmas Dinner Recipe
Servings: around 2-3 servings, but this will vary from child to child and depending on their stage of feeding.
Ingredients:
- 150 g mashed or minced cooked turkey (swap for ¼ cup of lentils if you’re baby is vegetarian or vegan)
- ¼ onion chopped finely
- 1 small potato, peeled & chopped finely
- ¼ cup of cabbage
- ¼ small swede, peeled & chopped finely
- 2-3 sprouts, chopped
- a dash of olive oil
Method:
- Cook the onions in some olive oil until it is slightly brown
- Then add the potato, sprouts and swede and cook for a further 5 minutes before adding the cabbage.
- Cook on a low heat until all vegetables are soft.
- Use a fork to mash the cooked turkey and add it to the vegetable mixture.
- Blend or mash (along with a dash of baby’s usual milk) to desired texture, depending on your little one’s weaning stage. Add more milk to make the mixture thinner or just a little milk to make the texture nice and thick.
More baby’s dinner recipes
Let me know if you or your little one tries the recipe and please feel free to send in your own recipe ideas too…
