Can my baby have my Cultural foods?

Oliver’s cupboard founder highlighted that lots of foods suggested to offer to babies, when introducing solid foods happened to be very different from her cultural foods. We want parents to feel encouraged to try new foods but not dismiss their cultural foods due to the general advice given.

Here are some of our top tips for considering your cultural foods:

To start off your baby may have single flavours from vegetables, as they develop and progress there weaning journey consider what these foods look like in your culture. Speak to a health professional if you are not sure.

With home cooked foods, the concerns is around salt and sugar being added to food, so refrain from doing so but herbs and spices are fine. Your baby’s food does not have to be bland. Oliver’s cupboard encourages you to consider what spices and herbs are relevant to your culture and introduce various flavours.  

Be encouraged to allow your baby to try your cultural foods. Consider the cooking methods used and still include a variety of foods to meet their nutrient requirements.

Remember:

Herbs and spices can help to expand your babies taste buds so do not be shy to add those in.

Once weaning is established this may be introduced at around 7 months, after more singular foods have been introduced, you can move onto a variety of flavours and tastes. If spices in your culture tend to be hot, just consider the taste as opposed to pain from hot chilli, some of which could irritate your baby’s mouth or skin.