Advice pls: Starting on Solids

Cat_tail,
u are most welcome
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Quakers and Odie,
thanks for the tips!
my baby hates water! i tried giving water, but ended up baby spit out
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Mummies,
I need some advices here. My baby is 7mth old, can i start porridge now? As my baby is with nanny, how do i go about preparing the ingredients for nanny? I don't think i want the nanny to go marketing and cut/wash the fish or veg, is there a way to prepare them beforehand so I can leave it for her to cook at mealtimes?

secondly, do i need to get a slow cooker for nanny to cook porridge? I do have one at home, but hardly use.

Last question, what sort of ingredients can i first start off with? I worry the porridge is too bland, since baby taking cereal with milk all the time.

Thanks in advance!
 


lani,

thanks alot for the advice. well, i dun have much support u see.. as for myself, i dun eat home cooked food.. then my hubby is the sort who dun care dun care one.. so i really got no support.. he dun even care if bb eat porridge or eat cereal or drink milk only.. its not dat he doesnt care for bb, he can do things like bath n change diaper but for feeding wise, he couldnt care less..

oh i didnt noe the gerber strawberry puff cannot eat.. cos at the taka bb fair, i wanted to buy the sweet potato one only then the promoter ask me to take two and recommended me the strawberry one so i just take lor..

but for cereals, is there a possibility of being alergic to gerber fish n veg cereal?

i agree dat my in laws way are wrong but i cant oppose cos my sis in law three kids are taken care by my mum in law.
as regards to my mum, she told me not to cook porridge for bb cos bb doesnt like porridge and its a waste. she say later after one yr old then give it to bb. haiz.. no support again...

how to make ikan bilis powder?

frozen peas n frozen corn are those found at ntuc like the ones adult eat? those mixed vegetables?

my bb drinks very little milk. 400ml per day is ok is it? is there a minimum that bb should drink or is it ok if bb only drink like 300ml per day?

hmm my baby also hates water. hubby dun care again.. sigh..

lani,
so lucky yr baby always home cooked food. yr bb is so lucky to have a mummy like u.. i wish i could b like u but..
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i wish i have someone to guide me step by step.. i cant roughly understand wat u guys type in here but im the sort who need to see exactly how to do.. cos i very scared i do it wrong.. cos if i do wrong also, no one will noe..
 
hi mummies,
Do you use any special brand of rice that is softer to cook the porridge or just any normal rice? Mill the rice means crashing them into small bits? Is it a must to do so?
Sorry if it's asked before as too many postings that I've missed. Thanks
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Hi cakey,

I have checked with my mum. You can go to those provision shop inside the market and tell the guy that you want to buy rice for cooking porridge. They will know which one. My mum used that for my girl. So far, i also used that and i have never mill the rice.

You can soak the rice before cooking it and it will soften faster.
 
momoko,
the best 1st solid food to intro is rice cereal. then you can start feeding pureed veggies and fruits and later introduce other types of cereals like brown rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, barley cereal and multigrain cereal.

janey,
at 7 mths can already start porridge. but after cooking should blend, unless your bb is ok w/ eating coarser textured food already. you can make chicken or fish porridge, and add maybe 2-3types of veggies in it. some veggies i recommend are pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, spinach, brocolli, zuchinni, turnip, cauliflower, sweet corn, peas, green beans. just mix & match 2-3 different types lah. and yes, it's best to give the nanny a slow cooker.

if you are cooking fish porridge then the fish once cooked can just mash-mash and it's soft enuf to feed bb. but if you wanna feed chicken the chicken has to be pureed.

actually it's a myth that bb won't like bland food. in fact they are very used to bland food and would usually gag if given anything too strong-tasting. it's us adults that don't like bland food, and we assume that bb's tastebuds are the same, when in fact they are not at all.

do you bring your bb to nanny's house every morning? if so, you prepare the ingredients (ie slice/chop) every morning, then bring over to nanny's hse and ask her to cook using those ingredients.

nur,
ANY mummy, whether SAHM or FTWM can be like me lah, it's not hard, just must tell yourself that you want to do the best for your bb, and just do it lor.

making ikan bilis powder - 1st you soak the ikan bilis (to get rid of the saltiness), then you dry roast in a pan (or kuali) or can toast in toaster, till slightly crispy, and just dry blend in a blender. store in an airtight container. each time you cook porridge, can add 1tsp into the porridge. it's high in calcium.

and yes, frozen peas and frozen sweet corn are those types you see at the frozen section in NTUC. you can either buy the mixed frozen vege (corn/carrot/peas) or the single vege type, ie just frozen corn, or just frozen peas. those are very easy to prepare, just steam or boil, then blend and freeze into cubes. if your bb can take coarser textures, can add directly to the pot of porridge when you are about to cook it.

for 8mth old, mumimum milk intake per day is around 16oz (approx 480ml), but it's best if she can drink around 18-24oz.

twinsmummy,
at 10mths old any type of cheese should be fine. but most bbs seem to like those kraft singles, or philidelphia cream cheese spread, or the laughing cow brand.
 
hi gals

i would like to knw more,since i already let my bb try nestle rice cereals mixed wif fruits n vegs,do u come across any others brands n wif other flavours for bb 7-8 mths old?Thanks
 
hi lani, which brand of rice cereal is good? i mix with ebm is ok? intro at lunch feed? do i have to wait till my boy is consistent with his milk intake? cos now sometimes he can finish 180ml sometimes 120ml only...
 
lani,

regarding ikan bilis powder, soak the ikan bilis for how long? dry fry means just put in an empty frying pan and on the fire? means no need oil or water or anything? fry how long? low or high fire? so blender until turn into powder is it? the container must store in fridge or not? can use for how long? so everytime cook porridge put the ikan bilis powder even if i want to give bb peas?

regarding mixed frozen vege, boil how long? blend with water or not?

regarding milk intake, if she doesnt drink 480ml per day, is it ok? cos nowadays she no appetite. btw, may i noe teething is the period when the teeth havent grow or the teeth is oredi halfway grown?

im sori if im asking ridiculous questions here.. hope u dun find me a nuisance..
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<font color="0000ff">nur</font>
nice to c u here, u asked all the Q in my head, keke. how's yr cough, much better?

<font color="0000ff">Lani</font>
re: broccoli puree
Hb &amp; I ate it all today, dare not give my bb anymore.

re: 2nd solids meal
Yesterday MIL cooked scallop porridge for my niece &amp; my bb. My bb could only eat the porridge without the scallop bits as he can't chew yet.
 
Lani,
thank you so much for your help
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Can i ask a few other question?

For 2-3 type of veg, can i give potato, carrot, spinach Day 1, then sweet potato, spinach, pumkin Day 2? I heard we cannot give too much "orange" food for straight 2 or 3 days? is this true? How do you normally combine?

For ikan billis, which type to choose? i notice market sells different type.

Sorry to ask so much question :p
 
Ixwong,
do u mind me asking how you cook the porridge? I got slow cooker at home, but hardly use. It has "high", "low" and "auto" function. Which one to choose?

Is it also necessary to use "song he" and not our usual rice grain?

How do you go about putting in the fish and veg?
Can you share your steps in cooking a simple fish porridge?

Thank you in advance
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hi quackers, ixwong,
Thanks for yr advise and the mummies here who take time to share
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Shall try it out soon.
 
ladies,
i answer all your questions later in the afternoon when my dd is napping ok? she is unwell today, got runny nose and fever, so bringing her to PD later.
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janey
I wash the rice grains, mill them into smaller bits using wet mill, place into slow cooker, add 3-4 scoop of water/stock and turns on AUTO. porridge will be done in abt 2 hrs.

Yes, can use the usual rice, no need 'song he'. For fish/veg porridge, I would slice the fish thinly and chop the veg finely. When porridge done, add them in and cook for a while longer. Before feeding, mash the fish into small bits.....
 
hi all, my first time in this thread... hope to learn and share with all of you...

sp... with regards to brocolli, i think it is true that it may cause wind in bb's stomach... but i learnt from someone that if you give bb only the florets part (i.e. without the stem) then it should be ok... i also steamed it till soft then blend it and i do keep frozen cubes of it and fed it to my bb, and she seemed fine... perhaps if you want to try brocolli, can try just the florets portion... oh, and remember to wash the brocolli cleanly cos brocolli compared to cauliflower seems to have more pesticides... :D

i see a lot of discussions on porridge and way to cook it... just to share the way i do it (following my mum's method), put abt a tablespoon or less of washed rice in a pot and put water and i normally boil it for abt 30 mins over stove to get it 'open' up and soft... together with the rice, i wld put in a piece of pork (for flavor) and when the porridge is almost done, i add in a piece of fish... oh, when u first start boiling the porridge, need to stir it to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pot, subsequently after that, u juz need to stir it once or twice... when it's time to feed my bb, i will only scoop out the porridge with the 'water' as well as the fish and feed it to her... of course i do a bit of grinding in a bowl (cos the porridge would be soft by then) before i put it into her mouth... for me this seems to be an easier way cos i dun hv to wait 2 hrs for porridge to be cooked in slow cooker... heehee

one question i do have on cheese is that, i want to give my bb cheese (she's 8.5 mths now) but i dunno which one to give... looked at some of the brands available in the supermarket but dunno which one is good? does cheese have sodium content in it? if yes, are they high? wat would be the recommended brands for bb this age and how shld it be served to bb?
 
Hi all this is how i prepare my bb's fd.

I am giving any kind of fish/veg/potato/carrot. Steam it in a small tin together in the rice cooker and then grind them together. Fast and easy. Haha actually lazy.

What do you think?

All types of veg and fish can give right?
 
Hi everyone,

I just started my baby on semi-solids at 6mths. I gave him Heinz rice cereal for 3 days, and started on apple today. He doesn't seem to like both. He gives this reallllyyy sour face when he tastes it, as if I just gave him the Super Lemon sweet! He refuses to even open his mouth after that. My mum says he's just not used to the feeling of the spoon and food. Am I doing something wrong?? I dont think this is normal...

Thanks in advance for any advise!
 
hi, melbz,
I think yr boy's reaction is normal leh! Hehe!

My bb (7.5 mo) still gives that kind of face when we feed new food, but if he likes the food, he'll open his mouth for more. If he doesn't, he'll turn away.

hi, plim,
Thanks for sharing! We bought organic broccoli &amp; only used the florets, but still end up like that, sigh.
 
Hi Ixwong,
Thank you for your explaination. Can I ask a few other question? :p

What is wet Mill?? What kind of scoop you use to measure the water? Do you measure the rice before you put into cooker? Thanks!
 
Hi Melbz,
Do you feed the apple alone?? Try to mix into the rice cereal and feed, I do that and my bb takes it well. BUT, if i feed apple alone, bb will also spit out. I always mixs fruits into cereal, only banana and papaya i give without.

Another thing, the rice cereal must use the usual milk your bb drink so bb will eat well. Be happy and enjoy the feeding!
 
momoko,
heinz rice cereal is good. yes you can mix w/ EBM or FM. maybe you should wait till your bb is 5mths old before introducing solids/semi-solids, esp since now his milk intake is still inconsistent. you don't want him to drop his milk intake too much.

tuffy,
at 8mths can give wheat-based cereals, pastas already, unless of course your bb is extra sensitive and suffers from allergies.

nur,
you can soak for 5-10mins. yes dry fry means just fry in empty pan over fire, no oil, water etc. just fry in a frying pan over low heat till the ikan bilis just turns crispy (but not until too crispy and burnt). then blend until becomes powder, and it's best to keep in the fridge, so that it can last longer. i think you should be able to keep in fridge for 1mth. and ea time you cook porridge can add in 1tsp of the powder, even if you want to feed peas, etc.

for frozen vege, i'm not too sure how long it takes to boil you just agak-agak lah. you test by taking a piece of the veggie and eat it yourself! once it tastes cooked already then done lah. if still hard then not done yet lah. and you will need to add a little bit of water when you blend. just use the water that was used to boil the veggie, then will have more flavour.

if your bb is not taking 480ml of milk then you can't really force her to drink more right? as long as she is taking most of her milk, and is growing well, it should be fine. however, there are other ways you can increase her milk intake. you can actually try adding it to her food. eg, since you feed her cereals, add more milk to the cereals. you can also feed her cheese and yoghurt, since these are all high in calcium and can be good substitutes for milk.

teething period starts from the time their gums start to itch already, which means the teeth wanna come out. that can start as early as 4mths old. they will start drooling alot, and constantly are biting on things. some bbs may even have mild fever, watery stools and loss of appetite. you can help ease the itchiness by giving them teething toys (chilled teething toys are more soothing) or giving them teething biscuits after a meal. sometimes giving them chilled hard fruits or veggies to gnaw on also helps sooth it.

janey,
carrots cannot give too much to bb. but i think pumpkin and sweet ptato should be ok. it's best you don't give 2 types of orange veggies in one day.

your day 1 combi is ok, but maybe day 2 it should be pumpkin, spinach and something else that is not orange (maybe zuchinni or corn or cauliflower), then maybe day 3 sweet potato, brocolli and another veggie.

for me i put in 4 types of veggies - sweet potato, brocolli, spinach and zuchinni. i read that brocolli is considered a "super veggie", ie it is the BEST veggie to feed bb, so that's why i give it to my dd everyday. but brocolli doesn't taste very good lah, so to mask the "bitter" taste i combine w/ a sweet veggie like sweet potato. other sweet veggies that can help mask the taste are carrots, peas and corn.

actually hor, i also don't know which type of ikan bilis is best. i just buy the standard one they have at NTUC.

i also use the Song He brand rice. I think it's the Thai Thom Mali rice, if i'm not mistaken. At Prime and Giant Supermarkets they sell in 1kg bag, so very easy for me to store.

cooking porridge in slow cooker - the best setting is "Auto" cause then you don't have to constantly watch it. however for me i set on "high" and it takes about 1.5-2 hrs for the porridge to cook.
 
Hi Lani

I have been following this thread closely and really put up alot of tips here
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Really thanks to you and all the mummies here.

I just bought my ikan bilis today and will try to make the ikan bilis powder. Luckily you highlight to us not to give so much orange veggie like carrot. I really dun now about this.

For the pasta, we have to blend it after cooking right? Btw, what brand of cheese should we buy for our 8 month old bb?
 
Hi Lani,
a BIG thank u! can i ask something? For frozen veg, like broccoli or spinach, potato, sweet potato or pumpkin, how long can we keep?? OR we can't keep spinach or caixin at all? I never try freezing them for longer than 3 days....
 
thanks lani, i will try heinz when my boy turns 5 mth old then!!! now i stretch his feeding interval to abt 4hrs, and he can finish 180ml liao...
 
sp,
great to see u here too. ya ive been asking stupid qns here.. haha.. so paiseh.. btw im still coughing abit la.. but lucky my bb cough ok oredi..

hmm theres so many good tips here but its kinda difficult for me to absorb.. but will try to..

lani,
since my bb is having the allergies, i shouldnt introduce new stuffs to her is it? or is it ok to start with the ikan bilis powder? the ikan bilis powder wont cause allergic to her, will it?

anyway, ya true that i cant force her to drink milk. i tried adding milk to nestle rice cereal but she dun want. she seems to b hating the milk nowadays. cos 1mth back, she has this sickness of vomiting out her milk everytime she drinks it. but if give cereal, she never vomit. but after every milk feed, sure will vomit out the milk. then few days after that, she refuse to drink milk at all. then few days later wen she ok wif milk, her milk intake drop drastically. its like she dun like the taste of the milk anymore. just hope its ok..
is Song He brand rice, the Thai Thom Mali rice, is the rice to cook porridge? can use to cook normal rice also? actually wats the diff if we use the song he one and the normal rice?
a funny thing happen yesterday, 3 mini explosions happen wen i tried to cook the carrot using the microwave. hahaha... silly me! now i phobia to use the microwave oredi.. havent use it till now.. hehe..
 
lani:
u said food taken out from fridge muz be microwave... i dun have it. so is it efficient to juz put the pureee food in a bottle and warm up with water?

as for puree peas, i read somewhere here that we have to "remove" the skin 1st before blending the pea? how to remove, juz mash and take out the inside portion?
 
Lani and other ladies

Can advise when can give bb rusk biscuit. Btw, I planning to start giving my 4.5 mth old son solid soon.
 
janey
The blender set usually comes with cup blender, wet and dry mill. Wet mill is the one we use to mince garlic. As for measurement, I would cook a handful of grains with 3-4 soup scoop (those we use to stir pot of soup) of stock/water.
 
Hey sp and janey!

Yeah he's been giving me the sour face everytime... even for rice cereal. The problem is... he refuses to open his mouth! There is no way I can force the spoon in.

I gave my baby apple alone. The rice cereal is mixed with his usual milk. I bought a different brand (more expensive obviously!) of apple today and will try again. Hopefully he'll like it better. *cross my fingers* I smile while feeding him, and he smiles back. And of course... all the food starts leaking from the sides of his mouth. Haha! Quite funny actually!

I'm just wondering if I should stop semi-solids for a few days and start again? Or should I just continue trying everyday?
 
tomatoes,
are you referring to ABC pasta? whether to blend or not really depends on whether your bb is already ok w/ eating coarser textured food. if still cannot then need to blend.

for cheese, you can try kraft singles or chesdale singles, or philadelphia cream cheese, or the laughing cow brand.

janey,
frozen vege can keep for 1mth. i've kept frozen spinach before, but not cai xin.

momoko,
yah, 4hr intervals they will usually drink more. my dd's milk feedings was at 4hr intervals from ard 4mths old till 7mths old - that's when she started taking proper solid meals. now her mealtimes are 3hourly.

nur,
you can definitely introduce new stuff to her, but you must watch VERY closely for any signs of allergy. you must feed that new food item for 3 consecutive days, to make sure that she is not allergic to it. if she shows any signs of allergies then must stop feeding her that food item.

sometimes bb vomit out the milk is because they drank too fast. have you checked if the teat hole of the bottle is too big? or maybe she is lying down (or her body positioned too flat) when she is drinking milk? some bb's may also need to take a break in the middle of the milk feed, in order for them to burp out any wind/air, before they can resume drinking the milk.

maybe because after so many days of vomitting, your bb got phobia of drinking milk already, so now she drinks alot less. try to find out the cause of her vomitting out the milk, and try to resolve that.

the Song He thai tom mali rice can also use to cook our normal rice. it's just that when you make porridge, it's very nice and smooth and soft.

btw, you cook the frozen mixed vege in the microwave? why don't you just steam or boil over the stove? when you cook in microwave you cover it isit? usually should not cover completely if you don't want the food to explode.

mybabydream,
i think for peas, when they say to remove the skin it usually means remove the skins when you actually buy the whole pea pods (ie the peas are still in the pods). if you buy regular peas that have been removed from the pods no need to remove skin liao.

as for heating up food, my advice is to use a microwave, as that is the best and most effective way of ensuring that the food is heated up till hot and therefore all the bacteria will be killed. i am not very comfortable with using water to heat up bb food from the fridge, as i am not sure if the temp will be high enuf, so i won't advice you to do so.

summer,
rusks are usually given to bbs who are starting to teeth, so that's usually around 7-8mths old.

melbz,
if the initial attempts at feeding your bb solids was a traumatizing experience for him, then i would advice to stop for a few days before resuming. but if it wasn't then you can keep trying everyday.
 
Hi Lani

Yesterday, finally did the ikan bilis powder as I was on half day leave... It smell really nice
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Thanks for the advice on pasta and cheese. Will go buy the cheese tonite!
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inc,
usually about 2mths, but sometimes longer - depends on how receptive your bb is to porridge. just myst be patient and perservere lor.

tomatoes,
the ikan bilis powder can even use for our normal adult cooking you know! very shiok if you add to your soups or stir fried veggies...mmmmm...
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Oh izzit... must make more next time! hehe

This weekend will try my best to make the pasta wif cheese for my bb. Hopefully she likes it. Btw, who do i cook the chicken if I want to add that in it? I can also freeze the balance of the chicken into cubes rite?

Btw, how is your girl now?
 
Hi ixwong,

Today's my porridge failed
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. After milling, the grains sticked together and the porridge became lumpy when done. Is the final pdt suppose to look like those cantonese type porridge? Sigh... this mummy a lousy cook. Can't even cook a decent bowl of porridge.
 
hi lani,

i read tat u say give bb cereal for abt 2 months. well, i'm having a big problem wif my little girl. she's now 8.5 months. i gave her cereal since she was abot 6 months. have been trying to give her porridge for the past 2-3 weeks. bt she really doesn't take to it. she'd cry and complain and complain whenever we give her porridge. tried to change to potatoes, bt she doesn't like it either. i add either chicken or fish to her porridge / potato along with a veg. she jus refuses to eat it. she insist on having her cereal (Friso) for every meal. if don't give it to her, she'd jus complain and cry...if she's ignored she'd rather sit there with her mouth shut and look around than eat her porridge / potato.

any advice on wat to do? i thought maybe i gave her cereal for too long a time. that's y she's so fussy now.
 
Hi Lani,

Thanks! I would be stopping solids over the weekend and resuming next week. I'm praying hard that everything goes well after that. Just one more qn... at the start, approximately how much of the puree does baby swallow as compared to what drools out?
 
tomatoes,
you cook the chicken on its own, ie either microwave or pan fry, then puree. so you can add in about 1 cube of pureed cooked chicken meat (use breast or fillet meat) to the cooked pasta. the rest of the pureed cooked chicken meat you can freeze in ice cubes as per normal.

babykhoo,
i think your dd reject porridge because she loves the taste of the friso cereal too much. i heard from other mummies that friso cereal is very delicious and sweet, so alot of bbs really love it, but the bad thing is very difficult to wean them off it.

what you can do is, add in about 1-2tsp of plain porridge to her friso cereal when you are feeding her (so that means the friso cereal amount decrease a little bit). do this for 3-4 consecutive days, then increase the amount of plain porridge by about 1-2tsp again, and decrease the amount of cereal. feed this amount for 3-4 days, then repeat the process again, until finally one fine day she is eating all porridge, and she won't even notice it! actually hor, they will notice it, but because they have gotten used to the taste of porridge already so they don't really mind.

this is what i did w/ my dd. she completely rejected porridge for a long time, until finally she ate it at ard 9-10mths old!
 
melbz,
it really depends on the bb, and what they like and don't like. when i 1st fed my dd rice cereal, practically ALL of it was drooled or spat out. then she was ok w/ it after the 3rd day or so. most of the purees i fed her she ate, but initially she didn't really take to brocolli. i know for sure the ones that she drooled/spat out ALOT (actually practically all of it!) were the jar pureed veggies, that's why i stopped giving her jar food.

don't worry. drooling/spitting out the food at the beginning is VERY normal. that's why they call this intitial stage "1st tastes". it's just to get our bbs accustomed to the taste and texture of solids, and not really to nourish them w/ it. it's only after the age of 6mths that they need the nourishment from solids.
 
lani,

thnks. its comforting to knw my bb not the only 1 who rejects porridge. still got hope for me.

when i add porridge to the cereal she will recognise the diff n make noise. shld i continue for 3-4 days or shld i stop for 1 or 2 daz then try again??
 
Hi lani

try carrot puree aft 2 wks of heinz rice cereal. he spit it out..so add milk n then ceral b4 he eats again. he loves rice cereal..hv nt tried fruit.. once pass 6 mths dun nd to cook the friuit rite..

aft carrot 4 3days.. wat next:p. spinach or pumpkin...or potato..

Tks.
 
Hi Lani

I din make the pasta for her. In fact, I make mashed potato with pureed chicken and mix veggie. She din like it at all. In the end, I ate it on my own, quite tasty leh..

Today I went to Isetan and bought a ice cube try with cover. I think it is worth it rather than putting the try into storage bag for freezing
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I freeze the remaining of the pureed chicken and mix veggie.
 


Lani
My boy also dun quite like porridge leh...he is 9mths now. He only likes carrot or sweet potato porridge...he hates spinach. What other types of green vege can I give him?

Today I bot brocolli, plan to steam then mash it...dunno can or not leh....coz it seams quite HARD.

When can I give him pasta? tomatoes? Is there any website that shows what type of vege, fruits etc that we can introduce to bb at different mths.
 

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