Baby weaning tips: Starting with non-vegetarian foods - boiled eggs

If boiled eggs are your choice of food for starting non-vegetarian food for your baby, here are few tips to keep in mind.

If you are a non-vegetarian and started weaning your baby, you might be eagerly waiting to start on non-vegetarian food. However, experts believe that the right age to start your baby on non-vegetarian food is not before nine months of age. So, even I waited for that long before I could introduce my daughter to non-vegetarian food. However, I started it only after one-year of age. My choice was to start with boiled eggs. But many nutritionist believe that the best way to start non-vegetarian food is to first introduce fish (soup, broth and then move on to chucks of grilled and steamed fish) before moving on to poultry. Since I started with poultry, here are a few things you need to keep in mind when you start with eggs:

1. Always give your child hard boil eggs. Soft or undercooked eggs can lead to intestinal infections or loose motion. Boil the eggs for at least 10 minutes before you offer it to your child.
2. Wait till the eggs have cooled enough. Let them cool down to room temperature.
3. Don t allow boiled eggs to stay for too long at room temperature without removing the outer shell as they tend to become rubbery. Your child might detest the cold rubbery egg white.
4. Initially, your baby might not like to have the yolk. So don t force feed. Instead, break the white part into small chunks and offer her.
5. Start giving her the yolk once she starts taking the whites and enjoys it.
6. At the beginning, avoid adding salt or pepper powder to enhance the taste. Try it once she is comfortable, then add the condiments. It is better to avoid it completely.
7. Once she starts having both the white and yellow parts of the eggs try some other preparation like scrambled eggs or omelets.
8. No matter what you offer, always remember to cook the eggs well and don t leave it undercooked. Undercooked eggs can pose a threat of stomach infection in small children.

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