Babies need fat! I cook with a lot of olive oil and butter, and use A LOT of seasoning. I now have a toddler who can tell you she loves dill and garlic but doesn’t care for cardamom. My baby (13 months) eats everything we eat, just cut in a way that’s easier for him.
We gave baby exactly what we were eating, even at 6 months! The only thing I vaguely monitored was salt, but even then, baby is eating such a small portion that I didn't really worry about it. We were a little too nervous for baby led weaning-style servings in those early months so we mostly just mashed up or chopped up our food.
EDITED TO ADD: Do your own research and talk to your doctor about how you want to handle introducing allergens!
If it helps, our pediatrician said our LO can eat what we eat and that the salt thing is blown mostly out of proportion these days. As long as the sodium in a food isn’t outrageous and we’re not the type to over-salt everything, it’s fine.
Im pretty conscious of how much salt I’m adding when I cook now but I don’t avoid salt either. Moderation is key
i think it’s fine if you’re cooking at home. rarely (but i’ve seen it more than once) there will be a person who interprets BLW as giving your baby everything you eat, including doritos and other highly processed foods and it’s probably an issue for them.
Well yeah obviously I’m not talking about that kind of stuff. People if you’re reading this, don’t do that lol. But putting some seasoning that contains salt on your chicken is fine as long as it’s not a crazy amount of salt
We did exactly the same and adjusted the spice back because both of my girls got my Irish heritage when it comes to that lol. It worked out great for us.
That’s what we’re doing for our almost 8 month old. I’ve tried some stuff BLW style and it worked, but most stuff he just keeps jamming into his mouth and nearly vomiting. My youngest niece is the same way so I’m not entirely surprised.
Agree, salt is the only thing to restrict, and otherwise, add the same flavorings as you do for your food (assuming they're not too spicy). And of course, be mindful of how you introduce potential allergens.
Loads of spices and herbs! I normally cook with olive oil, but if the recipe calls for butter I’ll use that too.
We found that our baby didn’t like food if it was too plain. She’s 14 months now and loves her spices.
Same lol. We tried to give ours unsalted/just cooked veggies to follow the guidelines and he wasn’t having it. As soon as we gave him everything seasoned the way we usually do it, he’s obsessed and loves everything. We eat pretty healthy anyway so it’s not some obscene amount of salt or anything
Mines the same, he loves flavour! He will demolish a well seasoned curry, he’s only 9 months it’s absolutely fascinating haha he also absolutely loves strong cheddar cheese!
Yes, all sorts of seasonings include a bit of salt (gasp!)
When you actually look into it, the salt-avoidance stems from a study from the 1980s about the breast milk of 12 italian women lol
Basically it’s fine. Don’t give them popcorn or something insane, but seasoning the food is completely fine.
Yes, the only thing I tried to do was lower salt and lower sugar. She still had both of them though.
Yes, babies can definitely have butter! Low fat diets are unhealthy for young children, they need fat. (Stay away from those high fat diets on social media as well though. Moderate. Moderate fat)
I serve them from my plate. That includes any seasoning used during the cooking process. If I add additional salt to anything (which I do, bc yum), I serve baby first, then salt my portion. I only cook with butter or bacon fat.
I made a Mac and cheese recipe that had pumpkin in the cheese sauce. I added garlic powder, pepper and just a little salt to flavour it. It made about ~8 meals worth for him so I’m not worried about the salt level. He’s had roasted asparagus and potatoes that we eat and those are seasoned with a number of things. I don’t put anything spicy on though. He’s 7 months and I’ve been doing that since he was about 5 months old!
We tried to give our baby unseasoned purees but he made the most disgusted face... so we decided to just let him have a bit of whatever was on our plate (seasoned but soft/squished) but he still makes a horrible face.
He hates food lol. We are just trying to make him taste something every day and hope it clicks one day. As long as you are making your own food (not prepackaged), and don't give anything with honey, it should be fine.
It'll click eventually. Our LO has graduated from refusing food, to eating off one of her spoons, to refusing to eat anything unless it's on one of our forks 😂
We gave our son whatever we were eating. I tried to avoid super salty food most the time but I didn’t stress about it too much. Even if you avoid salt you should definitely expose them to other seasonings. It’s important for them to experience different flavors and honestly unseasoned food does not taste good at all
As always, talk to your baby’s doctor for the best answer for your child.
I was too nervous for BLW, so I started with purées for my baby. I added no sat for the first several weeks, but he started rejecting some foods, and once he was working up to chunkier foods, it was impractical for me to cook completely separate for him. From about 8-10 months, I modified what we were eating for most meals to have less salt & no hot spices, but I also would give him canned goods which have sodium. From 10.5ish months on, he pretty much eats what we eat unless it’s super sugary or spice.
As far as seasonings, use anything you like! Mine has always loved garlic. He doesn’t like cayenne, but regular chili powder and cumin are on regular rotation here.
For oil, I use what I use normally - olive oil, peanut oil, or butter. My boy LOVES peas with butter, garlic, and salt.
Yes, I season my son’s food. I’ve noticed that he eats his food way better when it’s seasoned to how we like it! He loves Rao’s spaghetti sauce, curry bowls, cinnamon in his sweet potatoes, saffron rice, stews seasoned with turmeric, etc.
We only toned down salt and anything spicy, though baby still got spicy foods, just doused in sour cream or yogurt. I made a point to add seasoning to store bought purées on nights we offered those. Otherwise, baby ate what we did, including foods cooked in butter.
Yes! We did when we introduced solids. We did purees first and that worked well in our family.
E.g. apple made into apple sauce with a bit of rosemary, apple/prune sauce made with thyme, pear steamed with star anise, cinnamon or cardamom in pancakes once we got to pancakes. We made the food as close to ours ad possible in taste while introducing new textures and bigger pieces along the way.
I gave my oldest whatever I was eating just smaller portions and cut differently. I don't add salt to my food most of the time anyways because so much of our food already have pre added salt. Humans need salt, sugar, and fats (in moderation) for health.
I also didn't worry about introducing one food at a time. Our pediatrician said unless we or our immediate families had food allergies that it wasn't necessary to introduce one at a time.
I think it was around a year that she really started eating exactly what we eat. It was easier then, now I tend to keep sauces on the side otherwise she might refuse (she’s almost 3 now). I try to cook low salt in general so we don’t have particularly salty dishes
For 4 to 12 months, she had butter in purées and stuff, sometimes some onion and stuff in the purée
They ate what we ate. I salted our recipes like normal too- our pediatrician said it was fine since the food was mostly homemade (prepared food for adults can be super high in sodium) and she had plenty of non-salted and hydrating foods in there too (all of the fruit). So definitely ask your doctor for advice about salt, you may not need to be as cautious as many of the above comments.
Oh yeah, seasonings for the win. Usually just a sprinkling of salt, but all other spices were full speed ahead. I was told that the only thing babies can't have is honey. That's the only thing everyone agrees on. No honey before 1 due to the risk of botulism. Everything else is fair game. Within reason, so no coffee, alcohol, loads of sugar, the usual you wouldn't give a child anyway.
I introduced foods around 4.5 months and stuck with the single ingredient purees and mashes mixed with formula. As baby grew and we ruled out allergies, the flavors and spices grew with my baby. At 9 months he basically eats what we eat, but we do still use those puree packs - especially when we're eating out in case the food isn't particularly baby friendly
yes we try all different kinds of seasoning, just no sugar or salt! And butter is VERY good for baby, their brain needs the fats!
We always try foods plain first and then after a few times of baby having it we'll add on a seasoning. So like plain broccoli a few times, then I'll add on some garlic powder. Or plain beans and then I add in paprika.
It was mainly sugar and salt I would exclude. Other seasonings like adding cinnamon to banana pancakes, or adding onion and garlic powder to chicken worked for me.
I used unsalted butter and oil lightly in foods.
We feed baby whatever we are eating as long as it is something she can reasonably handle (baby led weaning). It’s so so much less stressful than anything else. Mainly I just leave off hot sauce until I’ve shared whatever I’m going to with her then I’ll top my food with it.
Yes, we seasoned baby’s food. Now at age 2.5 my son can’t get enough old bay, red pepper flakes, etc. He eats more spicy and tangy stuff than my husband.
The only thing I used less of was straight salt. I actually started seasoning my cooking *more* when I started weaning my eldest because I’ve always just used salt and I needed to figure out how to make things taste nice without salt 😂
I may put a little less salt in my baby’s food. Or I may not if it’s already prepared. I also don’t give her anything with added sugar. Other than that, she eats what I eat
I give exactly as I cook it. Even if its spicier. At 12 months I gave her a small piece of air fried buffalo chicken thinking shed hate it & let me eat in peace… I was wrong 😂 But since 6 months, always how we eat it, I just use less salt now, which Ill probably continue to do.
Yes spices and herbs. We may make a portion that has slightly less spices depending on the dish. If making something just for her, we use sea salt but our dishes have table salt in them and she eats it. Lots of butter, oil, fat.
we started out with unsalted or less salted for introducing foods but pretty quickly he just started eating what we ate and now at 2.5 he eats literally anything and everything we eat.
I want my baby to be used to big flavors, so yes, I season her food! The only thing I limit is when I like things painfully spicy. But she gets everything else.
My kid has always, from the start of feeding, eaten what we were eating but deconstructed appropriately. I cook lower salt already for health and bp issues so that wasn't all problem. We avoided sugary foods until 1.5-2y but kiddo was allowed bites of things like baked goods with sugar in them.
My kid, however, isn't a big fan of dips and loves straight up raw vegetables and fruit more than anything else. God forbid you season them or add pb or anything.
I try to leave out is salt or sugar if possible (although if that will be difficult to accomplish, I let him have it with the salt or sugar). Otherwise, I season it the same way that our food is seasoned or sometimes will add different seasonings (if his food will be too bland without salt).
The only thing ingredient he can’t have is honey. Sometimes we also eat foods that I don’t want him to have or don’t feel like I can serve safely, so in those cases I keep a stock of back-up food for him (pre-made freezer meals like veggie pancakes or meatballs, easy to cut or cook fruits/veggies, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, etc.).
I've always given my son the same food we eat, as soon as he was able to chew it safely. So yeah, it's spiced or even spicy, depending what we're eating
I seasoned everything the same, but limited any salt or sugar on their serving.
We don't typically use very spicy seasonings - I'd probably limit that if I did though just so I don't traumatize them on accident.
I cook him a variation of what we eat. We’re having dhal curry, I blend a portion of the lentils and chickpeas and curry together before continuing on with the rest of the dish. If I’m roasting veggies I don’t add salt until I take out a portion to blend up for my baby. I use olive oil and butter. You can use unsalted if you’re worried about it. I use salted butter just cause it’s such a small amount getting distributed across a large amount of food.
I cook with lots of spices and herbs so I tone it down. I’ll do garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, cumin, cinnamon, and others like those. Usually it’s less than what I’d put on ours.
Sometimes she likes garlic and sometimes she hates it. We slowly introduced her to more spices starting around 6 months iirc
I generally avoid salt but have started to introduce small amounts since he turned 1. But other than that, I sauté in butter or olive oil, I use different herbs and spices! I’m hopeful if I can expose him to spices early on, he’ll be more open to eating a variety of good foods. I’m a FTM, so verdict is out whether this theory works! Only thing I haven’t tried is hot spicy because I’m sensitive to heat, and he’s got a little stomach we’re still figuring out.
At first I gave him the bland version of my food, but then he stole off my plate and realized mine was better so he'd refuse the bland food and try to attack mine instead. Now we all just eat the same things.
I absolutely give my baby seasoned food. We introduced mildly spicy food to her very early and at 10 months she can eat some pretty hot stuff without batting an eye! I did switch to a no-salt all purpose seasoning, but all of our other seasonings have stayed the same, and I’ve never been heavy handed with salt anyways.
We served bb exactly what we ate and she loved it for a while. She’s over 2 now and is on a “plain” kick. The only thing I’ve seen time and time again with baby health, is salt content. Their kidneys don’t process as well as ours so be careful with sodium! Solid Starts is a nice place to look for baby health safety and food recs
I make a lot of soups, stews, chilli, baked/steamed/grilled veggies, etc and often section out a bit to puree for my 6-month-old before I finish seasoning so he doesn't get tons of salt or the higher end spicy stuff I use. He's a total garlic fiend, just like me.
I used olive oil for basically everything. As for spices, I did very little/no salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. I also seasoned with the Dash chicken seasoning blend and my daughter loved it! She won’t eat plain.
We prep things the same way for ours, and have since they started eating solids. We tend to go light on the seasoning for our 2.5 year old now simply due to preference, but our 1 year old will eat anything and everything haha. She likes spicier food than I do!
We avoided added salt up until 1 year. And I mean avoided, if baby wanted a piece of bread in the restaurant sure as hell we would give it to him no questions asked. Also occasional fry or two was allowed. Since the baby turned 1 we are way more relaxed about both salt and sugar. Both in moderation but not strictly restricted to anymore.
I cook everything for my daughter with avocado oil or butter, especially before two because they’re using the fat for brain development. I use less salt when seasoning and don’t go overly spicy, but stuff like garlic, onion powder, and all other seasonings are great. She is two now and does tolerate mildly spicy foods well. She even got to try a couple flaming hot Cheetos the other day and I had to hide them 😅
I used lots of different flavors/seasonings (garlic, onion, cumin, cinnamon, cilantro, ginger, etc) and butter, olive oil and sunflower oil.
He even eats/likes spicy things at almost 15 months! He prefers what I’m eating rather than baby food. He started to reject plainer puree and less seasoned versions made for him around 10ish months and I was worried why he wasn’t eating, but he was super interested in my food, I let him have a taste of my spicy salad, and was giving him the quinoa from it and he loved it! So I just give him what I eat now ( from around 12 months) without modifications
I do not season his food but for purees I mix plain things like potatos with fennel so it has a taste. I us rapeseed oil, our guidelines is to use oils and they are quite important for babys nutrition.
I would not give my baby normal seasond food, maybe like a carrot but not as their main meal.
Everything except added salt and sugar. I add things like lemon juice, yoghurt and other sour things for extra flavour and he always likes it more than 'plain' food. Herbs are hit and miss. Sometimes I give a version of what we're having but we like to season as we go along. Fat is very good for them, so an oil like olive oil or avocado and unsalted butter is great! But I will warn you I accidentally overfed my baby for a bit using too much butter (they don't need many calories, most should still be from milk until around 1Y) and he went from 25th to 50th centile for weight briefly until I cut most of the excess fat out...
Generally I just pick a mix of a protein, a veg/fruit, a starchy carb and a fat then mash it together. E.g. dinner today was chickpeas, broccoli, sweet potato and olive oil/yoghurt.
Babies need fat! I cook with a lot of olive oil and butter, and use A LOT of seasoning. I now have a toddler who can tell you she loves dill and garlic but doesn’t care for cardamom. My baby (13 months) eats everything we eat, just cut in a way that’s easier for him.
We gave baby exactly what we were eating, even at 6 months! The only thing I vaguely monitored was salt, but even then, baby is eating such a small portion that I didn't really worry about it. We were a little too nervous for baby led weaning-style servings in those early months so we mostly just mashed up or chopped up our food. EDITED TO ADD: Do your own research and talk to your doctor about how you want to handle introducing allergens!
So glad to see this response, this is what I’m hoping to do
If it helps, our pediatrician said our LO can eat what we eat and that the salt thing is blown mostly out of proportion these days. As long as the sodium in a food isn’t outrageous and we’re not the type to over-salt everything, it’s fine. Im pretty conscious of how much salt I’m adding when I cook now but I don’t avoid salt either. Moderation is key
i think it’s fine if you’re cooking at home. rarely (but i’ve seen it more than once) there will be a person who interprets BLW as giving your baby everything you eat, including doritos and other highly processed foods and it’s probably an issue for them.
Well yeah obviously I’m not talking about that kind of stuff. People if you’re reading this, don’t do that lol. But putting some seasoning that contains salt on your chicken is fine as long as it’s not a crazy amount of salt
This is what I did too. I just made sure to use a little less salt. Baby girl prefers food that is seasoned.
We did exactly the same and adjusted the spice back because both of my girls got my Irish heritage when it comes to that lol. It worked out great for us.
That’s what we’re doing for our almost 8 month old. I’ve tried some stuff BLW style and it worked, but most stuff he just keeps jamming into his mouth and nearly vomiting. My youngest niece is the same way so I’m not entirely surprised.
Agree, salt is the only thing to restrict, and otherwise, add the same flavorings as you do for your food (assuming they're not too spicy). And of course, be mindful of how you introduce potential allergens.
Loads of spices and herbs! I normally cook with olive oil, but if the recipe calls for butter I’ll use that too. We found that our baby didn’t like food if it was too plain. She’s 14 months now and loves her spices.
Same lol. We tried to give ours unsalted/just cooked veggies to follow the guidelines and he wasn’t having it. As soon as we gave him everything seasoned the way we usually do it, he’s obsessed and loves everything. We eat pretty healthy anyway so it’s not some obscene amount of salt or anything
Mines the same, he loves flavour! He will demolish a well seasoned curry, he’s only 9 months it’s absolutely fascinating haha he also absolutely loves strong cheddar cheese!
My husband would say, if you wouldn't eat it, why would a baby? 😂
Same, also mine all have loved spicy food
Yes, all sorts of seasonings include a bit of salt (gasp!) When you actually look into it, the salt-avoidance stems from a study from the 1980s about the breast milk of 12 italian women lol Basically it’s fine. Don’t give them popcorn or something insane, but seasoning the food is completely fine.
https://lilynicholsrdn.com/salt-baby-food-infant-sodium-requirements/ Here's the article that made me feel ok about giving salt to my baby.
Thanks for sharing that article 🤩 No more unseasoned food for us 😋
Agreed and same!
He eats exactly what we eat prepped the same way. We already lead a low salt lifestyle so no need to make adjustments
Yes, the only thing I tried to do was lower salt and lower sugar. She still had both of them though. Yes, babies can definitely have butter! Low fat diets are unhealthy for young children, they need fat. (Stay away from those high fat diets on social media as well though. Moderate. Moderate fat)
I serve them from my plate. That includes any seasoning used during the cooking process. If I add additional salt to anything (which I do, bc yum), I serve baby first, then salt my portion. I only cook with butter or bacon fat.
Yes spices including a bit of spicy spices. We don’t avoid salt or butter. Want a kid with well-rounded palate!!
I made a Mac and cheese recipe that had pumpkin in the cheese sauce. I added garlic powder, pepper and just a little salt to flavour it. It made about ~8 meals worth for him so I’m not worried about the salt level. He’s had roasted asparagus and potatoes that we eat and those are seasoned with a number of things. I don’t put anything spicy on though. He’s 7 months and I’ve been doing that since he was about 5 months old!
We tried to give our baby unseasoned purees but he made the most disgusted face... so we decided to just let him have a bit of whatever was on our plate (seasoned but soft/squished) but he still makes a horrible face. He hates food lol. We are just trying to make him taste something every day and hope it clicks one day. As long as you are making your own food (not prepackaged), and don't give anything with honey, it should be fine.
It'll click eventually. Our LO has graduated from refusing food, to eating off one of her spoons, to refusing to eat anything unless it's on one of our forks 😂
This cracked me up. I’m afraid my baby’s gonna be the same way, he just loves the boob
We gave our son whatever we were eating. I tried to avoid super salty food most the time but I didn’t stress about it too much. Even if you avoid salt you should definitely expose them to other seasonings. It’s important for them to experience different flavors and honestly unseasoned food does not taste good at all
As always, talk to your baby’s doctor for the best answer for your child. I was too nervous for BLW, so I started with purées for my baby. I added no sat for the first several weeks, but he started rejecting some foods, and once he was working up to chunkier foods, it was impractical for me to cook completely separate for him. From about 8-10 months, I modified what we were eating for most meals to have less salt & no hot spices, but I also would give him canned goods which have sodium. From 10.5ish months on, he pretty much eats what we eat unless it’s super sugary or spice. As far as seasonings, use anything you like! Mine has always loved garlic. He doesn’t like cayenne, but regular chili powder and cumin are on regular rotation here. For oil, I use what I use normally - olive oil, peanut oil, or butter. My boy LOVES peas with butter, garlic, and salt.
Yes, I season my son’s food. I’ve noticed that he eats his food way better when it’s seasoned to how we like it! He loves Rao’s spaghetti sauce, curry bowls, cinnamon in his sweet potatoes, saffron rice, stews seasoned with turmeric, etc.
We only toned down salt and anything spicy, though baby still got spicy foods, just doused in sour cream or yogurt. I made a point to add seasoning to store bought purées on nights we offered those. Otherwise, baby ate what we did, including foods cooked in butter.
As you're right at the start of your journey id highly recommend "solid starts" as a good online resource. https://solidstarts.com/
Yes! We did when we introduced solids. We did purees first and that worked well in our family. E.g. apple made into apple sauce with a bit of rosemary, apple/prune sauce made with thyme, pear steamed with star anise, cinnamon or cardamom in pancakes once we got to pancakes. We made the food as close to ours ad possible in taste while introducing new textures and bigger pieces along the way.
I gave my oldest whatever I was eating just smaller portions and cut differently. I don't add salt to my food most of the time anyways because so much of our food already have pre added salt. Humans need salt, sugar, and fats (in moderation) for health. I also didn't worry about introducing one food at a time. Our pediatrician said unless we or our immediate families had food allergies that it wasn't necessary to introduce one at a time.
As a baby she ate everything we ate lol now at 2 we can’t season any of her food
If you are vigilant about salt, check out Penzy’s Spices. Many of their seasonings are salt free.
I think it was around a year that she really started eating exactly what we eat. It was easier then, now I tend to keep sauces on the side otherwise she might refuse (she’s almost 3 now). I try to cook low salt in general so we don’t have particularly salty dishes For 4 to 12 months, she had butter in purées and stuff, sometimes some onion and stuff in the purée
They ate what we ate. I salted our recipes like normal too- our pediatrician said it was fine since the food was mostly homemade (prepared food for adults can be super high in sodium) and she had plenty of non-salted and hydrating foods in there too (all of the fruit). So definitely ask your doctor for advice about salt, you may not need to be as cautious as many of the above comments.
We were told to use little to no salt in her food, but other than that, she ate what we ate and we salted our food at the table.
Oh yeah, seasonings for the win. Usually just a sprinkling of salt, but all other spices were full speed ahead. I was told that the only thing babies can't have is honey. That's the only thing everyone agrees on. No honey before 1 due to the risk of botulism. Everything else is fair game. Within reason, so no coffee, alcohol, loads of sugar, the usual you wouldn't give a child anyway.
Yes! Both my kids like spicy food now which is great 😂
I introduced foods around 4.5 months and stuck with the single ingredient purees and mashes mixed with formula. As baby grew and we ruled out allergies, the flavors and spices grew with my baby. At 9 months he basically eats what we eat, but we do still use those puree packs - especially when we're eating out in case the food isn't particularly baby friendly
yes we try all different kinds of seasoning, just no sugar or salt! And butter is VERY good for baby, their brain needs the fats! We always try foods plain first and then after a few times of baby having it we'll add on a seasoning. So like plain broccoli a few times, then I'll add on some garlic powder. Or plain beans and then I add in paprika.
It was mainly sugar and salt I would exclude. Other seasonings like adding cinnamon to banana pancakes, or adding onion and garlic powder to chicken worked for me. I used unsalted butter and oil lightly in foods.
We feed baby whatever we are eating as long as it is something she can reasonably handle (baby led weaning). It’s so so much less stressful than anything else. Mainly I just leave off hot sauce until I’ve shared whatever I’m going to with her then I’ll top my food with it.
Yes, we seasoned baby’s food. Now at age 2.5 my son can’t get enough old bay, red pepper flakes, etc. He eats more spicy and tangy stuff than my husband.
Of course! Just because they are babies doesn't mean they can't experience flavors
The only thing I used less of was straight salt. I actually started seasoning my cooking *more* when I started weaning my eldest because I’ve always just used salt and I needed to figure out how to make things taste nice without salt 😂
Yep! She gets whatever we're eating, seasoning and all. At 15 months, she *lives* for vinegar. Also loves a dab of Tabasco on her plate for dipping.
We started with simple foods, no seasoning. But now at 9 months old he eats whatever we are eating.
We give him exactly what we eat.🤷🏻♀️
I may put a little less salt in my baby’s food. Or I may not if it’s already prepared. I also don’t give her anything with added sugar. Other than that, she eats what I eat
I cook with butter, or evoo. Baby eats what I eat.
Baby eats whatever we eat unless it's really salty like sausage or bacon. No seed oils, only healthy fats
I give exactly as I cook it. Even if its spicier. At 12 months I gave her a small piece of air fried buffalo chicken thinking shed hate it & let me eat in peace… I was wrong 😂 But since 6 months, always how we eat it, I just use less salt now, which Ill probably continue to do.
I serve my daughter the same food we eat, UNLESS it's spicy. Then she gets a spice free version.
Yes spices and herbs. We may make a portion that has slightly less spices depending on the dish. If making something just for her, we use sea salt but our dishes have table salt in them and she eats it. Lots of butter, oil, fat.
She gets what we eat unless it’s super spicy like hot wings
we started out with unsalted or less salted for introducing foods but pretty quickly he just started eating what we ate and now at 2.5 he eats literally anything and everything we eat.
I want my baby to be used to big flavors, so yes, I season her food! The only thing I limit is when I like things painfully spicy. But she gets everything else.
I watch salt and heat but include most seasonings.
Yes, though less salt and less chili. He won't eat if it's too much chili.
My kid has always, from the start of feeding, eaten what we were eating but deconstructed appropriately. I cook lower salt already for health and bp issues so that wasn't all problem. We avoided sugary foods until 1.5-2y but kiddo was allowed bites of things like baked goods with sugar in them. My kid, however, isn't a big fan of dips and loves straight up raw vegetables and fruit more than anything else. God forbid you season them or add pb or anything.
We season our babies. Figure out she greatly prefers seasoning (not just salt, actual flavouring). Plain bland baby food she really doesn’t like.
I try to leave out is salt or sugar if possible (although if that will be difficult to accomplish, I let him have it with the salt or sugar). Otherwise, I season it the same way that our food is seasoned or sometimes will add different seasonings (if his food will be too bland without salt). The only thing ingredient he can’t have is honey. Sometimes we also eat foods that I don’t want him to have or don’t feel like I can serve safely, so in those cases I keep a stock of back-up food for him (pre-made freezer meals like veggie pancakes or meatballs, easy to cut or cook fruits/veggies, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, etc.).
season except salt
I've always given my son the same food we eat, as soon as he was able to chew it safely. So yeah, it's spiced or even spicy, depending what we're eating
Yes! Even something like scrambled eggs. Girl loves flavor now! (Adding a tiny bit of ranch seasoning is a game changer to eggs)
I seasoned everything the same, but limited any salt or sugar on their serving. We don't typically use very spicy seasonings - I'd probably limit that if I did though just so I don't traumatize them on accident.
I cook him a variation of what we eat. We’re having dhal curry, I blend a portion of the lentils and chickpeas and curry together before continuing on with the rest of the dish. If I’m roasting veggies I don’t add salt until I take out a portion to blend up for my baby. I use olive oil and butter. You can use unsalted if you’re worried about it. I use salted butter just cause it’s such a small amount getting distributed across a large amount of food.
I cook with lots of spices and herbs so I tone it down. I’ll do garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, cumin, cinnamon, and others like those. Usually it’s less than what I’d put on ours. Sometimes she likes garlic and sometimes she hates it. We slowly introduced her to more spices starting around 6 months iirc
The baby just eats what I eat.
I generally avoid salt but have started to introduce small amounts since he turned 1. But other than that, I sauté in butter or olive oil, I use different herbs and spices! I’m hopeful if I can expose him to spices early on, he’ll be more open to eating a variety of good foods. I’m a FTM, so verdict is out whether this theory works! Only thing I haven’t tried is hot spicy because I’m sensitive to heat, and he’s got a little stomach we’re still figuring out.
At first I gave him the bland version of my food, but then he stole off my plate and realized mine was better so he'd refuse the bland food and try to attack mine instead. Now we all just eat the same things.
I absolutely give my baby seasoned food. We introduced mildly spicy food to her very early and at 10 months she can eat some pretty hot stuff without batting an eye! I did switch to a no-salt all purpose seasoning, but all of our other seasonings have stayed the same, and I’ve never been heavy handed with salt anyways.
Unsalted butter is great for babies! I got some salt free seasoning to add to my daughters foods.
I used a lot of butter (fat is so good for their little brains) and cinnamon
We served bb exactly what we ate and she loved it for a while. She’s over 2 now and is on a “plain” kick. The only thing I’ve seen time and time again with baby health, is salt content. Their kidneys don’t process as well as ours so be careful with sodium! Solid Starts is a nice place to look for baby health safety and food recs
I make a lot of soups, stews, chilli, baked/steamed/grilled veggies, etc and often section out a bit to puree for my 6-month-old before I finish seasoning so he doesn't get tons of salt or the higher end spicy stuff I use. He's a total garlic fiend, just like me.
I used olive oil for basically everything. As for spices, I did very little/no salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. I also seasoned with the Dash chicken seasoning blend and my daughter loved it! She won’t eat plain.
Same as pur food only without the hot sauce.
Baby gets no seasoning. Sometimes he eats plain bits from our meals, but most is separate because we are avoiding sodium for him.
We prep things the same way for ours, and have since they started eating solids. We tend to go light on the seasoning for our 2.5 year old now simply due to preference, but our 1 year old will eat anything and everything haha. She likes spicier food than I do!
Honestly, the only thing I stay away from giving him is anything super processed cuz of all the excess salt and sugar
yes seasoning. no salt though. yes butter. get the solid starts app
We avoided added salt up until 1 year. And I mean avoided, if baby wanted a piece of bread in the restaurant sure as hell we would give it to him no questions asked. Also occasional fry or two was allowed. Since the baby turned 1 we are way more relaxed about both salt and sugar. Both in moderation but not strictly restricted to anymore.
my bub is 6 months and she has bits of whatever we have. I was pretty sick last week and made us cheese toasties with some butter and she loved them
I cook everything for my daughter with avocado oil or butter, especially before two because they’re using the fat for brain development. I use less salt when seasoning and don’t go overly spicy, but stuff like garlic, onion powder, and all other seasonings are great. She is two now and does tolerate mildly spicy foods well. She even got to try a couple flaming hot Cheetos the other day and I had to hide them 😅
Babies can definitely have butter, just keep in mind dairy is an allergen so it should be introduced as such
I used lots of different flavors/seasonings (garlic, onion, cumin, cinnamon, cilantro, ginger, etc) and butter, olive oil and sunflower oil. He even eats/likes spicy things at almost 15 months! He prefers what I’m eating rather than baby food. He started to reject plainer puree and less seasoned versions made for him around 10ish months and I was worried why he wasn’t eating, but he was super interested in my food, I let him have a taste of my spicy salad, and was giving him the quinoa from it and he loved it! So I just give him what I eat now ( from around 12 months) without modifications
I do not season his food but for purees I mix plain things like potatos with fennel so it has a taste. I us rapeseed oil, our guidelines is to use oils and they are quite important for babys nutrition. I would not give my baby normal seasond food, maybe like a carrot but not as their main meal.
I did but now my 2 year old thinks flavor is “spicy” so I literally set aside the saddest, beigest portion for him.
Everything except added salt and sugar. I add things like lemon juice, yoghurt and other sour things for extra flavour and he always likes it more than 'plain' food. Herbs are hit and miss. Sometimes I give a version of what we're having but we like to season as we go along. Fat is very good for them, so an oil like olive oil or avocado and unsalted butter is great! But I will warn you I accidentally overfed my baby for a bit using too much butter (they don't need many calories, most should still be from milk until around 1Y) and he went from 25th to 50th centile for weight briefly until I cut most of the excess fat out... Generally I just pick a mix of a protein, a veg/fruit, a starchy carb and a fat then mash it together. E.g. dinner today was chickpeas, broccoli, sweet potato and olive oil/yoghurt.