Lunch another fun meal in our family and it’s definitely one of my twins’ favorites to eat! We often skipped lunch when we first started solids and my babies were between 5-7 months old. Around the time they turned 8 months old, I started making a point of providing them with some good lunch options every day! My twins are ten months old currently and still getting the majority of their calories through breastmilk. So if we are out for a whole day, sometimes I just offer them rice puffs or bambas, or skip lunch altogether. But on the days we are home, which is almost every day, they normally eat lunch alongside my husband and I!
I generally try to offer a protein/iron food, a carbohydrate/energy food, and a fruit/vitamin c food. Here are just a few of our favorite combinations!
Protein/Iron Foods for Lunch
- eggs, fully cooked
- ground flax seeds, ground hemp, chia seeds
- nut butters (nut butters should always be very thinly spread)
- well cookedbeans and legumes, smashed or refried
- lean meats
- plain whole milk yogurt
- plain hummus
- hard cheese
Fruits/Vitamin C Foods for Lunch
- mango— cut into strips, small pea sized, bites, or placed in mesh feeders
- berries—smashed, halved, or placed in mesh feeders
- kiwi & melon— cut into sliced fingers or small pea sized bites
- banana—cut into pinky finger sized stripes
- citrus fruits—canned mandarins are an easy choice, other citruses must be peeled, seeds removed, inner skins removed, segmented, and cut into small bites.
- avocado— cut into slender fingers or small pea sized bites
- finger sized sliced vegetables spears (celery, cucumber, bell pepper?)
- steamed broccoli or carrots
- quartered cherry tomatoes
Carbohydrates & Energy Foods
- small chickpea sized bites or sliced fingers of whole grain toast topped with a thin layer nut butter or avocado
- well cooked rice
- well cooked pasta
- cheese quesadilla
One important thing to keep in mind while preparing meals for babies is sodium intake. Babies under 12 months should consume less than 400mg of sodium per day! The recommended amount is 200mg per day. Since sodium is such a common ingredient in store-bought foods, I try to make as much from scratch as possible!
To plan a menu, simply combine one food from each category! Here are just a few of our favorite combinations:
Salmon Burgers with Diced Cherry Tomatoes and Sliced Green Peppers
My babies LOVE cherry tomatoes! They are a great source of vitamin C, so I often pull them out for lunches. I have tried both homemade and store bought salmon burgers. I prefer homemade, because making them from scratch allows me to control the amount of sodium my babies eat!
Hummus, Rice Puff Crackers, Steamed Vegetables with Butter
Finn and Eli adore hummus! It is a great source of iron and fiber. I try to pair it with some form of rice, like these happy baby organics rice puffs, to provide a full protein for my babies as well. These rice puffs have a lot of good vitamins and minerals, and are a great way for babies to work on their pincer grasp!
Shop Happy Baby Organic Rice Puffs Here!
Avocado Toast
Toast is a favorite in our families! My babies love every variety of toast — French toast, avocado toast, toast topped with butter, hummus or nut butter. It makes a great teether! I buy artisan breads from the bakery or make overnight sourdough for them. Pre-sliced breads tend to have a lot of added ingredients! When choosing a bread for your baby, be sure to check the ingredients. Wheat breads often have honey as an ingredient, Honey, even in baked goods, is not safe for babies younger than one year! Bread can also have a fairly high sodium count, so that is another good thing to watch out for. Here I’ve served avocado toast, which is an energy food, with iron-rich hummus and vitamin C rich bell pepper spears!
Soft Steamed Rice Mixed with Yogurt
This seems like sort of a funny combination, I know. But my babies literally love this meal! In fact, they will eat pretty much anything that has some yogurt mixed in. Yogurt is so good for a baby’s brain development and gut health. I try to offer a little to my babies every day! I love mixing it with rice because then my babies get a prebiotic (from the rice) and a probiotic (from the yogurt) in the same meal. It’s so good for them! The yogurt also makes the rice really sticky, making it easier for my babies to pick it up with either a palmar grasp or a pincer grasp. Here I’ve served it with cuties, a good vitamin C food, and cucumber spears!
Cheesy Omelette served with Avocado and Diced Tomatoes
Honestly, my babies don’t like eggs. I’ve tried every way I know of to prepare them and they still will barely eat them! But, if you’re babies enjoy it- eggs are a great food for breakfast, lunch or dinner! You can mix them with a low sodium cheese (like mozzarella) for an omelette, or served them hard boiled or scrambled. I like offering them alongside tomatoes and avocado for some good vitamin C and healthy fats!
Simple and Safe Baby Led Weaning
If you’re looking for more detailed information on great BLW lunch ideas for babies, I’d recommend checking out this book! It’s been such a helpful resource for me on our baby led weaning twins journey!
Purchase a copy of Simple and Safe Baby-Led Weaning Here
