A hill that I will die on: “purees should be included in the starting solids journey.” Purees are a great texture, and one that many parents feel comfortable starting with! They are excellent for self-feeding from a spoon, offer great nutrition in small portions, and they provide some hydration as they are a solid AND a liquid. (Hello let’s prevent constipation!)

Some babies start with purees and then move right along to mashed solids, soft solids, and so on with no issue. But lots of babies get “stuck” on purees and have some difficulty moving up the texture hierarchy. Since we want baby to be chewing soft solids by 9 months of age, this can feel stressful. But, it’s something that can be worked on little by little over time! These are our top tips for how to help baby get off purees and get to chewing!

Thicken Up the Puree

If you’re offering a thinner puree like a Stage 1 or Stage 2 baby food, it’s time to make it thicker. Using something like an Amara Organic Baby Food packet can make that simple. It’s powder, so you add as much or as little liquid as you want! This allows you to make it as thin or as thick of a puree as desired. Start off with a little water, breastmilk, or formula mixed in the packet, and only add a little at a time so you can control the thickness of the puree. You can always add more liquid to make it thinner if baby is having trouble with the thicker texture. So start off a bit thicker than you typically do and go from there! Next time, make the puree a little thicker and keep working at it!

You can also use naturally occurring foods like cream cheese, sour cream, hummus, and thick applesauce to make thinner purees thicker! Try to increase bite size and thickness at meals!

Use Crumbs

Take the puree you are using and add some texture by sprinkling in some crushed dissolvables. Amara Organic Smoothie Melts or other Puffs/crackers are great to crush and add into a puree that your baby likes. I like to mix them with applesauce or yogurt! Just use a fork, crush, and sprinkle in.

Once the crumbs mix with the wet puree and your baby’s saliva, the crumbs will turn into a mashed consistency. This thickens the puree and will prompt baby to mash. Add more crushed crumbs to the puree overtime to thicken it, or even sprinkle on top of each spoonful to really add some texture into every bite!

You should start to see your baby’s mouth move up and down in an emerging chewing pattern in response to this increase in texture!

Offer Puree and Mashed Foods Together

To slowly get to a mashed consistency, add a little mashed food (like banana, peaches, avocado, or mango) to a puree that baby enjoys. Over time add more and more of the mashed texture until you can fully transition over to it! Take it as slow as baby needs, and try to let baby self-feed the bites. If they are in control, they may be more interested in trying the bites.

My favorite combo is adding mashed banana to Amara’s Oatmeal. It tastes delicious and offers baby a lot of nutrients! You can use oatmeal, quinoa, or another grain of choice as a base if you’d like!

If you prefer to use a thicker base that’s not a grain, mashed potatoes of any kind are great for making purees thicker or lumpy foods smoother.

Go To Dissolvables

Sometimes a complete change in texture can go really well! Offer baby a dissolvable solid like Amara’s Organic Smoothie Melts or other dissolvable Puff. You can offer half to start if you’d like and then offer a full melt! The melts do exactly what their name suggests- MELT on contact with saliva. So baby can mash the melted texture down and swallow it. Sometimes a jump to this texture can jumpstart baby’s chewing journey.

Think of dissolvables as a bridge that helps littles go from purees and mashed foods to soft solids!

Feeling “stuck” on purees can be hard! Take it slow and read baby’s cues. We expect baby to be mashing and chewing by around the time they are 9 months old. Work up that texture hierarchy as best as you can to help baby along on their feeding journey.