Lily has been having baby food for about 2 and a half months as I write this, I’d say she’s now an expert on baby purees 😉 I started weaning her at 22 weeks (5 and a half months) as I thought this might stop her waking at night. It didn’t, BUT it did make her a happier baby – she was desperate to eat! So I thought I’d share with you some baby puree ideas along with her favourites.

How I started weaning Lily

I have gone with the baby puree route mixed with baby-led weaning (when baby feeds him/herself). I started with baby rice but this made her constipated, so I went straight to fruit and veg as this is gentle on the stomach and easier to digest. I also had to teach Lily to drink water, using the basic £1 Tommee Tippee beaker – this took a week or so of trying until she got the hang of it.

I started off with one vegetable or fruit at a time, trying a new one every 2 days to rule out allergies and so she could taste each one. I did it the easy way, where you chop the chosen veg/fruit up, boil it in a saucepan of boiling water for about half an hour until really, really soft. I pureed using my Tommee Tippee blender (or a hand blender does as well), with some of the water it is cooked in. Then I portioned into little pots to freeze – I got a pack of 8 baby pots from Tesco for £3. I now have some bigger Vital Baby pots (I got 4 from TK Maxx for £2.99) as Lily has bigger portions now.

The little Tesco pots hold 50ml, so when I needed to feed Lily, I would defrost 2 of the pots in the microwave by warming up for 2 minutes. Our microwave is a low 700 watt one, so adjust according to your wattage.

When googling for recipe ideas, I always found they suggested to cook the veg in onions, roast them, steam them, all this faffing about – I prefer the simple boil in water approach, to keep life simple. I pureed for months 5 and 6, and then from 7 months I mashed with a potato masher.

Lily’s favourite purees are sweet potato with red peppers, and parsnip and pear puree. When feeding her, I put finger food on her tray as she likes to feed herself too – mushy brocolli florets, green beans, bits of Tyler’s dinner (pizza fingers, chips, potato waffles), Heinz biscotti biscuits, Organix snacks, bread, doughballs. I also introduced a bit of protein from 7 months alongside these purees – chicken, salmon, tuna, cod, omelette. After lunch or dinner, I give her a Petit Filous pot as dessert which she loves.

50 EASY Baby Puree Recipes

Here are 50 EASY baby puree ideas, where you just boil the fruit/veg and puree. They are all freezable apart from avocado. After warming up, you can add milk to these purees, and add cheese to the vegetable purees.

1. Pear
2. Sweet Potato
3. Carrot
4. Apple
5. Green Beans
6. Brocolli
7. Parsnip
8. Cauliflower
9. Pumpkin
10. Butternut Squash
11. Avocado (No cook, just blend with baby’s milk)
12. Potato
13. Swede
14. Mango
15. Peach
16. Banana
17. Papaya
18. Apple and Pear
19. Sweet Potato and Carrot
20. Sweet Potato and Parsnip
21. Parsnip and Carrot
22. Sweet Potato, Parsnip and Carrot
23. Parsnip and Pear
24. Parsnip and Apple
25. Brocolli and Potato
26. Sweet Potato and Red Pepper
27. Brocolli and Cauliflower
28. Butternut Squash and Pear
29. Sweet Potato, Carrot and Broccoli
30. Red Lentils, Butternut Squash and Tomato
31. Red Lentils and Sweet Potato
32. Green Beans, Butternut Squash and Carrot
33. Swede and Parsnip
34. Swede and Carrot
35. Swede and Pear
36. Courgette and Cauliflower
37. Carrot, Parsnip and Potato
38. Leek and Potato
39. Red Cabbage and Apples
40. Carrot, Mango and Strawberries (blended cooked carrot with fresh mango and strawberries)
41. Carrots and Turnips
42. Avocado and Cherry Tomatoes (no cook, just blend with baby’s milk)
43. Avocado and Pear (no cook, just blend with baby’s milk)
44. Brocolli, Cauliflower and Courgette
45. Peach and Blueberries (no cook, blend with water and pass through a sieve)
46. Chickpeas, Courgette and Carrot
47. Butter beans, Parsnip and Carrot
48. Sweet Potato, Squash and Apple
49. Watermelon, melon and banana (no cook, just blend)
50. Butternut Squash and Banana

I hope this is gives you some ideas if you are weaning your baby. The key here is doing different combinations to keep it interesting, and you can also add herbs while you are boiling the veg to add more flavour.

What does your baby like eating? Do you have any other suggestions – do let me know!

Sabrina x