6 Choices of fruit for babies that are good for consumption a day

Babies are still in the learning stage until later they can eat smoothly. But the problem is, not just any food can be given to your little one. The reason is, they are still difficult to swallow and digest food that is hard. Well, fruit can be one of the answers to the baby's daily nutritional intake. So, what are the good fruit choices to give to babies?

Why is fruit good for babies?

Exclusive breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for babies until they are six months old. However, after six months, you should slowly introduce solid foods or complementary foods to breast milk (MPASI).

Especially when the baby has shown signs of ready to eat solid foods, meaning that he is ready to start learning to eat.

In order to support their growth and development from an early age while at the same time fulfilling the nutritional needs of babies, the food given to babies must consist of a variety of nutrients.

In addition to protein intake for babies, carbohydrates for babies, and fat for babies, other nutrients that are no less important for babies are fiber, minerals, and vitamins for babies.

You can help meet the baby's vitamin, mineral, and fiber needs at the same time by giving him various types of fruit.

Yep! Pure fruit is easy to serve, rich in nutrients, and has a delicious taste.

Interestingly, the soft and fluffy texture of the fruit can help babies learn to eat, grasp their own food, and learn to chew.

In fact, launching from the Better Health Channel page, consumption of fruits can help reduce the risk of developing various diseases.

This is because the content of vitamins and minerals present in fruit helps strengthen the immune system or the body's immune system.

Not only that, the high fiber content in fruits also smoothes the digestive system, thereby preventing constipation in babies.

Wide selection of fruit for babies

Seeing its good benefits for babies, of course providing fruit as one of your little one's daily meals is the right and good choice.

So, to help you choose fruit for your baby and make him not bored at the same time, here are some good fruits that can be selected:

1. Apples

Apples have many nutrients such as potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, vitamin A, and vitamin C and other minerals that are very good for growing children.

Apples are not only easy to digest, but also do not cause allergies for your little one. You can give apples to your little one in the sixth month of learning to eat complementary foods (solids).

According to Indonesian Food Composition Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, 100 grams (gr) of apples contain 58 calories (cal) of energy, 14.9 grams of carbohydrates, 0.3 grams of protein, and 0.4 grams of fat.

There are also 2.6 grams of fiber, 6 milligrams (mg) of calcium, 0.3 mg of iron, 130 mg of potassium, and 5 mg of vitamin C in apples.

Tips for processing apples:

1. Prepare an apple that has been peeled.
2. Cut the apples into small pieces and place them in a heat-safe container.
3. Steam the apple slices in a saucepan for about 3 minutes.
4. After steaming, puree the apples with a fork or blender.
5. You can also add cinnamon to taste.

2. Bananas

You can actually introduce the benefits of bananas starting from the age of your little one four months. However, the ideal recommended age for starting solids is six months.

Banana is a fruit that is good for babies and is often used as a complementary food to breastfeeding. The reason is, this fruit has a soft and smooth texture, so it doesn't make it difficult for your little one to crush or digest it.

In addition, bananas are easy to get at a relatively cheap price. You can choose Ambon banana, golden banana, or milk banana.

Most importantly, choose ripe bananas if you are going to give it to the baby.

Tips for processing banana pulp:

1. Peel and cut the banana into small pieces.
2. Add breast milk or baby formula.
3. Then crush it using a fork, or grind it in a blender.
4. Banana porridge ready to be served.
5. You can give it directly to your little one by scraping it using a spoon.

3. Avocado

Another great fruit recommended for babies is avocado. Avocados are a great source of unsaturated fat and vitamin E.

In addition, avocado has a soft texture and has a delicious taste making it suitable to be used as a complement to breastfeeding.

In 100 grams of avocado, there are 85 calories of energy, 7.7 grams of carbohydrates, 0.9 grams of protein, and 6.5 grams of fat. Meanwhile, the vitamins and minerals consist of 10 mg of calcium, 0.9 mg of iron, 278 mg of potassium, and 13 mg of vitamin C.

Tips for processing avocado:

1. Prepare half ripe avocado.
2. Peel the skin and take the pulp.
3. Mash the meat using a fork or blender.
4. You can also add banana, milk, or other fruit which can add a little flavor.

4. Kiwi

Kiwi fruit is rich in fiber and vitamins A and C. However, its acidic nature can sometimes cause diaper rash or mouth rash in babies.

Therefore, be careful to watch for signs of an allergy when you are giving it to your baby for the first time.

The nutritional content that can be found in kiwi fruit includes 42.1 calories of energy, 10.1 grams of carbohydrates, 2.1 grams of fiber, 215 mg of potassium, 23.5 mg of calcium, and 64 mg of vitamin C.

Tips for processing kiwi:

1. Peel the kiwi fruit and cut into small pieces.
2. Smooth the chunks with a fork, blender, or food processor.
3. Kiwi pulp is ready to be served.

5. Papaya

Apart from being sweet and delicious, papaya is also rich in folate, fiber, and vitamins A, C and E. The fiber and enzyme content of papaya found in papaya is very good and good for baby's digestion.

That is why many people make papaya as a natural remedy for constipation problems.

Each time you give 100 grams of papaya, the baby will get 46 calories of energy intake, 12.2 grams of carbohydrates, 0.5 grams of protein, 0.1 grams of fat, and 1.6 grams of fiber.

In addition, the content of vitamins and minerals in papaya includes 23 mg of calcium, 1.7 mg of iron, 221 mg of potassium, and 78 mg of vitamin C.

Tips for processing papaya:

1. Prepare ripe papayas that are dark yellow and orange in color, and make sure they are free of blemishes.
2. Wash the papaya with a mixture of water and vinegar to remove bacteria.
3. Rinse under water and pat dry.
4. Peel the skin and slice the papaya in half, don't forget to remove the seeds.
5. Wash the papaya again to remove any remaining seeds.
6. Cut the papaya into small pieces and mash.
7. Papaya pulp is ready to be served.

6. Guava

One of the benefits of guava includes lots of vitamin C. That is why guava is often relied on to help boost the immune system.

The dietary fiber in this one fruit can also help improve the baby's digestive system. Just like various types of fruit for other, herbal seeds also contain many nutrients.

In 100 grams of guava there are 49 calories of energy, 12.2 grams of carbohydrates, 0.9 grams of protein, 0.3 grams of fat, up to 2.4 grams of fiber. Not only that, guava is also rich in 14 mg of calcium, 1.1 mg of iron, 52.8 mg of potassium, and 87 mg of vitamin C.

Tips for processing guava:

1. Cut the guava in half.
2. Remove the seeds using a spoon.
3. Cut the guava into small pieces and steam using it for a few minutes.
4. Blend in a blender.
5. Add water to get the desired testure.

How to make fruit preparations for babies

Offering fruit to babies is actually the same as introducing a variety of other new foods. Sometimes, your little one can immediately like it, so you don't need to persuade him repeatedly to taste the fruit.

Meanwhile, at other times, there are certain types of fruit that your baby may not like so that they are reluctant to try again.

When the baby has difficulty eating and refuses the fruit you serve, you should not immediately give up. This aims to prevent nutritional problems in babies.

Instead of stopping offering the fruit, you can still try giving it a few more times to make sure your little one really doesn't like it.

Based onChildren's Diet Handbookpublished by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, introducing new foods to babies is not enough just 1-2 times.

Usually, it takes about 10-15 times to conclude that a baby doesn't want to or doesn't like eating these foods, including fruit.

In order for babies to be more excited about trying different types of fruit, you can be creative to make various fruit dishes.

Here are some ways to present fruit in a way that is more attractive and good for babies:

• Provide cereal with additional fruit slices.
• Give pancakes mixed with fruit.
• Give a fruit salad with yogurt.

For babies who are less than 12 months or 1 year old, giving fruit juice to babies is not allowed.

New babies can drink juice when they are more than 12 months old. However, for fruit slices, you can serve just one fruit or mix several types of fruit that have just been tried with your little one's favorites.

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