Between five to six month
At this time you can start introducingpureed solids, beginning with baby rice and then any vegetables, followed by fruits. Use the vegetables you’re eating, but don’t add salt during cooking. How to cook: Cook the vegetables until soft, then puree until smooth, adding boiled water, add more water if it’s too thick. When you start mixing flavors, use a maximum of three ingredients, and make sure to use the freshest ingredients.

At Six Months
By this time start introducing a little chicken meat, tropical fruits, berries, dairy products, and oats. Don’t give commercial bread and commercial breakfast cereals as both contain enormously high levels of salt which is not good for the baby’s health. It is best to just make your own bread or just give them pasta, which most little ones love to play with as well as eat. Organic oat-based cereals are excellent too but don’t forget that they can be very filling so keep the portions small to avoid the risk of excluding other types of healthy food from baby’s diet.

At Nine Months
Start offering eggs, beans and fish.

At Age 2
From the age of two you can give shrimps and other shellfish, but its best to wait another couple of years before letting them eat mussels, scallops or oysters.

Pre-school years
This is your last chance before your child get exposed to unhealthy foods, so now’s the time to train your child to eat healthy foods. Slowly introduce them to more adventurous foods like grilled chicken breast with roast vegetables, which children often prefer to steamed or boiled vegetables. Start using more garlic, onions, herbs and spices in cooking and always make sure that they have plenty of fresh fruit to go with it.

Weaning tips:

• Don’t try more than one new flavor a day.
• Try out new foods between meals as a taster so baby doesn’t associate foods he or she doesn’t like with mealtimes.
• If some food gets spat out, don’t give up; it may take six or more attempts before baby accepts that particular taste.

Note:

• Children shouldn’t be given nuts or seeds like peanuts and peanut butter until they’re five because of the risk of allergic reactions.
• If you have an option, buy organic food and make sure you wash them before use, even organic ones.

Although children need about 15 minutes transition time fully adjusted and ready for the evening, children at this time to act and put unrealistic demands to their parents. He or she will “tyrant”, like bedtime and the needs of 12 stories, 252 kiss, and he or she can not even leave the room.

Here are 3 strategies for bed time routines, if your child is more than 15-20 minutes to settle down and go to sleep.

The first is to ensure that you have your child at least 10 minutes warning before going to sleep. It is useful to use the TV as a natural ending time. You can tell your children “after this show it is bed-time”.

Secondly, after the show, you should ensure that you do not allow them get a chances to “get out” of going right away. Things like “I’m hungry, and I’m thirsty, or I have to go to the bathroom for a third time” can be legitimate request. However, it is best that the child doesn’t eat or drink anything at least 30-40 minutes before bed.

If you child insist on reading a story allow them to pick one or two stories. The total amount of time to read a child must be between 10-15 minutes. Longer reading times than that can cause power struggles and especially when they are afraid will be used as “ammunition” to keep you there.

In conclusion, also remember that your child tends to do what works. So the simplest way to change his or her difficult behavior during bed time is to not make his or her strategy work anymore.

When you live with this kind of mentality and in this kind of society, it’s easy to see why we learn to live a lifestyle that is impatient. We don’t really know how to deny ourselves things, for the most part.

For those of us who keep one foot in the “slower-days-of-simpler-living” kind of lifestyle while keeping the other foot in pace with the trends of today, it can be both a struggle and a blessing to know the differences of these two worlds. While struggling against getting caught up in the busy, fast-paced, stressful way of living, it is a blessing to be able to tap into that part of yourself that knows how to work hard for something, and to be patient while waiting for your dreams and goals to be realized. It’s an internal payoff and reward that a “get-it-now” mentality can’t touch.

Children who have learned how to be patient and to wait for things in their lives tend to be happier and more content because they know the worth in receiving those blessings. They don’t just take them for granted or expect them. They also tend to be more generous because they have developed a compassionate and empathetic heart just by going through the process of being denied things immediately in their life. They don’t feel empty inside because there is a sense of worth being built into who they are.

We can get into the rut of wanting to give our children the whole world. Yet the whole world isn’t really what they need. They need to learn valuable lessons and the rich rewards that come with working hard for something. They need to learn to wait. We will help mold some individuals who feel complete and who have “substance” to them, if we can simply teach them at times, that waiting is necessary in life.

As a parent, I think it’s very important to pass this lesson on to your children. Teach them the value in waiting and in wanting. It is one of the best things you could ever do for them. Some day, they will thank you for it.

by Dionna Sanchez