Carrots For Baby Led Weaning

Carrots are great as a baby lead weaning food, plus they’re are naturally sweet, full of flavor and packed with vitamins and fiber.

Carrots can easily be introduced between 6 and 8 months of age making a great stage 1 food for babies (as they can easily be pureed) or served whole (sticks) as finger food – for baby led weaning.  Below I’m presenting how to cook carrots for BLW, how to cut and serve according to baby’s age.

Carrots For Baby Led Weaning

Preparing carrots for babies with baby-led weaning method allows them to use their hand and fingers to pick up and feed themselves. Similar to breastfeeding it gives babies more control over how much they put in their mouths, based on hunger levels.

You can serve plain cooked / raw carrots or incorporate into baked goods such as these soft carrot muffins or these carrot cookies.

How To Prepare The Carrots For Baby Led Weaning

If you’re asking how soft should carrots be for baby led weaning – they should be soft enough for you to smash with your fingers, but still able to hold it’s shape. So that your baby could easily be able to gum or chew it even without teeth.

• For 6-month-olds babies, offer the carrots (steamed and soft) sliced into thick strips or sticks so your baby can hold them in the fist and chew from the top down.

• For a 9 month old baby you can start cutting the carrots up into tiny bite-sized pieces or shreds (again: steamed and soft) that he/she can easily pick up. That’s usually when the child has developed her pincer grasp.

• At 12-18 months the carrots should still be cooked to a soft consistency and should either be served in thin slices, shreds, or diced into small pieces.

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How To Cook Carrots For Baby Led Weaning

When preparing carrots you have several options:

Steaming Carrots

Steaming is the best method for cooking and preparing carrots when starting baby led weaning. Steaming is a gentler way to cook because they don’t come in contact with the boiling water. Through boiling carrots are losing more than 50% of their antioxidants.

How To: Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a saucepan fitted with a steamer basket and cover with a lid. Steam the carrots for 12-15 minutes (it depends on the size), covered.

This short cooking time allows them to retain some of the structure and texture, also protects most of the carrots‘ vitamin C content, which can be lost during cooking.

Roasting Carrots

Roasting makes the flavor of carrots just so much better, the caramelization of natural sugars in carrots will add another layer of flavor.

How To: Place the carrots (cut into fourths lengthwise) in a bowl, toss with a touch of olive oil (and salt – if baby is 12 months and older). Spread in an even layer in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 400F.

Related: Carrot Soup For Babies, Toddlers, Kids

How To Boil Carrots For BLW

To boil carrots for baby led weaning and to diminish nutrient leaching into the boiling water, it’s best to boil carrots with the skin on. Then you can cut into desired shapes once soft and cooked.

• Bring a pot with water to a boil.
• Add the carrots to boiling water for 7-8 minutes, then drain (timing depends on the thickness of the carrots). For larger whole carrots – it takes about 10 minutes.

• Season if necessary, then you can cut into desired shapes or mash. Use a crinkle cutter for a crinkle cut look.

You can also use the cooked carrot leftovers, grate them and make a baby friendly carrot salad.

Freezing Carrots

Freezing is another great way for making carrots soft enough to chew and mash, while still maintaining their shape. First you need to wash, peel and cut the carrots into long, thin sticks (dry well).

Place them on a tray lined with parchment paper in a single layer and freeze. Then you can transfer all together in a single container. This is a convenient way to take out small amount whenever you need and they become soft enough once thawed.

Related: Carrot Puree For Babies By Stage + Combination Ideas

Raw Carrots For Baby Led Weaning

Some babies can start eating raw carrots at 14 months, it depends on the number of teeth and your child’s eating/chewing skills. If you observe that your child is quite skillful with chewing and biting, then there shouldn’t be a problem.

To serve, peel and cut the carrot in half (if it’s large). You can also offer a smaller full sized carrot to gnaw on the larger end, they’re less likely to splinter apart like a carrot stick would. And always watch because some pieces can break off and become a choking hazard.

Can You Use Baby Carrots For Baby?

Baby carrots are very convenient due to their readiness to be eaten. BUT serving baby carrots or preparing food with baby carrots for babies might not be the healthiest option.

Baby carrots are basically regular carrots, peeled and cut up into smaller pieces. Then they are washed in a chlorine solution (as antimicrobial treatment similar to the chlorination of drinking water).

They say it’s a weak chlorine solution so we shouldn’t be worried about it, but according to scientists, even small amounts can alter the gut microbiota composition by reducing the populations of beneficial bacteria [1] and lead to gut dysbiosis. Which has now been linked to most of chronic non-communicable diseases in our days.

Younger babies are even more susceptible because their gut microbiota is still forming until about age three [2], and a disturbance in this process may cause immune diseases such as food allergies, atopic dermatitis, and asthma.

So to be safe it’s best to choose fully grown organic carrots. Peel and cut whenever ready to eat.

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