BANANARAMA!

"Wooo-woooo," indeed.

Another classic baby food!  Obviously I don’t recommend feeding fruits like bananas until the baby has reached 6 months—as directed by my pediatrician, What To Expect, & Your Baby’s First Year books—for a couple of reasons: 1.) Babies don’t need to get used to sweeter-tasting things early on because it will be harder for them to eat non-sweet items like vegetables later.  Babies do love sweets so it’s easy to want to give them first, but when you get your first face full of spit-out peas you’ll wish you hadn’t. :/  AND, 2.) The high sugar content in fruits like bananas make them harder to digest in tiny tummies so you can end up with gas & *GASP!* fussiness.  I’m not going to say to not do it at all because it’s your choice, but babies develop a taste for sweet things very quickly.  Just saying…

Bananas are a staple fruit for sure.  They’re portable (well, unless you’re packing a tree around most fruits are, but you get my point.) they’re convenient, they’re nutritious, they’re CHEAP.  At around $0.55 a pound you can always afford a good banana.  They’re also one of the simplest fruits to turn into baby food.  Bananas are packed with potassium*, vitamin C, fiber, & omega-6 fatty acids^….  (Omega 6 fatty acids & other “essential fatty acids” are important in food because the body is incapable of making them itself, but they’re necessary for us to live!)  Unfortunately they’re also packed with sugar, but everything in moderation!  They’re natural sugars, but I’m always going to stress to vary your child’s diet once you’ve weeded out the food allergies.  Preparation couldn’t be easier!  The older your child gets, the less time you spend making a banana!  Early on it’s pureed, later it’s mashed, later it’s cut up into chunks, and even later you just peel it!  Ahh, convenience.

So here’s the lowdown on potassium & babies: Babies need at least 500mg of potassium each day according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.  One serving of this banana puree (half a medium banana) has roughly 300-400mg of potassium.  Sweet!  Potassium is necessary for all cell function in the human body.  Like salts, potassium is an electrolyte & electrolytes are crucial for electrical impulses to make their way through the body from the brain.  These impulses are needed for absolutely every bodily function including the heartbeat & breathing.  Anyone who has too little potassium, infant or adult, runs the risk of their heart stopping.  It’s an easy vitamin to get in your diet & even easier with potassium-rich foods such as bananas, avocados, and cantaloupe.  That is by no means a complete list!

Babies love bananas, so I promise your little munchkin will love this recipe!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

½ medium, ripe banana (a few brown spots)

¼ cup warm water

Cut banana into chunks, put in food processor, pulse a few times, adding warm water periodically until puree reaches desired consistency.  You can also push it through a food mill & add water if needed.  If any chunks remain, you can push the mixture through a sieve, but chances are they are going to be small enough for a child over 6 months.  Honestly doesn’t get easier than that!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peace & Baby-Love,

Elias's mommy

*If your baby has suffers from hyperkalemia, talk to your pediatrician about his/her intake of foods containing lots of potassium.

^… To get more information on Omega-6 fatty acids & their role in the body, check this out! http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/omega-6-000317.htm

Sources: http://www.webmd.com; http://www.umm.edu (University of Maryland Medical Center); “What to Expect: The First Year” book by Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, & Sandee Hathaway, B.S.N.

Wouldn't sound half as good if they were "apple-rama"
or "tomato-rama."