Since the melons are mostly made up of water, they’re easily digested and make a great finger food for babies 6 months and up (baby led weaning) or pureed. They require minimal chewing especially when your baby may not yet have teeth. Make sure to cut and serve the melon according to your baby's age if you're doing baby led weaning.
For baby led weaning at 6-7 months: slice the melon into thin, wide, long pieces (see pic) so they could hold it in their hands and suck on it, without sliding or biting off. Large thin pieces will avoid the danger of choking.
For more experimented eaters (8 months+) you can cut into “graspable shapes” about the size of your thumb finger. Long enough so they can bite off what sticks out of their small hand.Since the melon is pretty slippery, I prefer to use a crinkle knife. The wavy edges add grip and prevent the pieces from sliding off baby’s hand.
Once your baby starts to develop the fine motor skills (at 10-12 months and up), you can transition from finger size cut melon to larger slices (thicker half-moon pieces) with the rind on or not. Just make sure you wash the skin well. Again, you can use a crinkle cutter for less slipperiness.
You can transition to smaller chunks of melon (bite size pieces) at around 12 months when they can easily use their their pincer grasp skill and an utensil.
Melon puree for baby
Run the melon cubes through the food processor and make a puree, no need to add anything). For small babies (6months+), melons are best served alone, in order to prevent an indigestion.
Melon smoothie for toddlers
Mix the fresh melon cubes with frozen and blend with liquid of your choice until smooth. You can mix the melon with mint leaves, or other easy digestible fruits like citrus and berries.
Frozen melon popsicles (ice pops)
Add ingredients to a blender. Pulse until smooth, fill some mini pop molds and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving to your baby. This is actually great for teething toddlers, the cold is very soothing for their pain.
Notes
If you’re just starting weaning at this stage, a 6 months old baby will only be able to eat the equivalent of a 2/3-inch to 1-inch chunk of melon (or 1 tablespoon of melon puree) at a time.
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