Feeding by Color
Calories, fat content, fiber, protein, vitamins. All of these are things that my husband and I wanted to keep track of when we started our daughter on solids. Unfortunately, short of creating a cumbersome spread sheet and logging the data for how many ounces of which food she consumed at any given time, we just couldn?t keep up. A half jar here, a couple of spoonfuls there – not to mention the times we?d feed her while we were out and then lost or threw away the food containers.
After a few weeks, I came up with a trick to keep track of what she was eating ? or at least that she was eating a somewhat nutritionally balanced diet. Remember how they tell us as adults to eat a variety of colors in each meal? That?s the premise behind my feeding by colors baby diet. Each morning, I set aside the jars of baby food I plan to feed her that day, as well as notes on any fresh fruits or vegetables or dry foods, and make sure that there are several colors represented. Usually, there?s an orange or two (such as sweet potatoes or carrots), green (peas, green beans, spinach, pears), pink/red (applesauce or raspberries), brown (meats, grains), and sometimes a yellow (squash, corn or bananas) or purple (prunes or grapes).
I?ll be the first to admit that it isn?t a fool proof diet ? we are no longer counting calories or grams of vitamins and minerals ? but we are giving her what I have come to see as a variety of foods and a variety of flavors each day. In fact, it?s a lot more colorful than my own diet tends to be, which has got me thinking ? maybe I need to start my husband and myself on this diet as well! Maybe not with baby food, but with making sure our dinner plates represent a variety of colors.
Be sure to also give your child enough fluids throughout the day, including water and juice, and dairy products.
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