If you’re looking for a delicious new fruit to introduce to your baby, why not give guava a try? It not only tastes wonderful, it’s highly nutritious, too!
Guavas have a wonderful, tropical aroma and taste, although they are actually grown in many countries across the world. They are very high in vitamin C (weight for weight, they contain five times as much as an orange!) and they are also a good source of potassium.
If you would like to give your baby a guava to try, then choose one with a pale yellow colour that feels fairly firm (if guavas become over-ripe, they lose some of their vitamin C content). But don’t get one that feels hard, because this may be a bit too sour for your baby.
Wash the fruit, cut it in half lengthwise and remove the skin – it’s a little tough for your baby to cope with and also has a vaguely bitter taste that he may not enjoy.
Remove the guava seeds for your baby – but try eating them yourself, instead, because they are just as nutritious as the flesh!
You can then serve the fruit, which should be sweet and juicy, to your little one.
You can introduce guava to your baby from 6 months, with your doctor’s consent.
Introduce just a little at first, to ensure that it doesn’t cause any digestive problems. Also, make sure you introduce it by itself or with a food that your baby is already safely enjoying – that way, you will be able to tell if it causes any allergic reaction.
It’s easy to include guava in baby’s menu…
You can puree guava (it actually has a texture similar to pear) and serve it from a spoon – or try mixing it with another favourite fruit! Pureed banana and guava is yummy!
You can serve little pieces of cut-up guava to an older baby as a finger food.
If you’re feeling adventurous, try mixing a little pureed guava with sweet potato – it tastes fantastic! And guava puree makes a wonderful sauce for pork, too!
So why not see if you can find some of these tasty and healthy little fruits at your local supermarket and put together some gourmet meals for your little one!