Past the sixth month, your baby is ready to get started on solid foods, and baby fruit feeders are among the best options you have for doing that. These simple devices are a great way to introduce your baby to various solid foods. But what are they? What types are the best to use, and what foods can you put in them? We will answer these questions in this post, so read on.

What Are Baby Fruit Feeders?

Otherwise known as a fresh food feeder, a baby food feeder is a pouch-shaped feeding aid that allows a baby to chew on solid food and swallow in small amounts. Chewing and swallowing call for a degree of muscle control that babies don’t have yet. So, they have a high risk of swallowing the wrong amount or in the wrong way and choking. However, a fruit feeder's pouch helps control how much food they swallow at a time. Basically, the baby chews on the pouch with the food inside, and the chewed food filters into their mouth in bits.

Fruit Feeder Types

Fruit feeders are usually made of mesh or silicone, the latter being our strong recommendation. This is because silicone is easier to clean and it is BPA-free. It can also double as both a fruit feeder and a teething toy.

Mesh feeders, on the other hand, are a lot harder to clean and are not exactly BPA-free. As such, as we explore our picks for what to put in a baby fruit feeder, we will favor silicone.

What to Put in Baby Fruit Feeder

The fruit feeder is ideal only after your baby is 6 months old, and they may continue with it till they get the hang of chewing and swallowing. But there are ideal foods to offer your kid throughout their feeder period, and we’ll explore some of them and why they are ideal. So, here’s what to put in a baby fruit feeder for your kid.

1. Grapes

The best types of foods for babies learning to chew are soft fruits rich in nutrients, and grapes are definitely one of those. They’re soft and easy to chew, and there are many types you can put in your kid’s fruit feeder. These include:

• Concord grapes, which have a deep bluish-purple flavor and rich, full flavor, are the most commonly used for jelly and grape juice.
• Cotton candy grapes, which have a yellowish color and taste like cotton candy
• Moon drop grapes, which have dark blue skin and a crisp bite
• Crimson grapes, which have dark pink skin, seedless, green flesh, and are a popular snacking grape

Grapes contain many nutrients your kids need, including Vitamin K, B2, and B6, Potassium, and protein.

2. Bananas

When it comes to what to put in silicone feeder for 6-month-old children, bananas take the cake. These fruits are soft, easily mashed, and chewable and are usually one of the first foods fed to babies when they’re at least 6 months old.

According to Jill Castle, a childhood nutritionist and co-author of Fearless Feeding: How to Raise Healthy Eaters From High Chair to High School, they are the ideal first fruit for babies because they are so high in vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium. 

Before fruit feeder time, bananas can be rapidly blended with breast milk or formula. And once they are old enough to use a fruit feeder, you can put some (along with other fruits, if you like) inside the feeder and let them chew on it.

3. Apples

The relevant adage is that an apple a day keeps a newborn healthy. Because newborns frequently "grow out" of the amount of iron they are born with, babies often have a problem with insufficient iron. This is why, when you wean your baby,  it's crucial to ensure they are getting enough iron-rich food to compensate for iron loss from breast milk. 

Apples and other fruits with a lot of vitamin C help newborns absorb iron. You can give your kid lightly mashed apples in a fruit feeder at six months. However, that’s just baby steps. As they get older, you should gradually reduce the mashing assistance till you only have to dice the apples. You may also add in a few soft veggies and some egg yolk.

4. Red Meat or Poultry

As far as re-upping your kid’s depleting mineral supplies is concerned, meat is another potent source to consider. Red meat, especially steak, is rich in iron and zinc. 

Red meat is also what to put in silicone baby feeder if you are intent on supplying them loads of protein and Vitamin D. Poultry is also a very nice option to consider, as it contains a lot of other minerals like Potassium which can maintain the health of the body’s red blood cells.

You might want to start with cooked, soft poultry, like chicken. However, you can also slowly include red meats like lamb, beef, or pork. Any meat should always be wholly cooked until the juices run clear, and any bones should be removed before you place them in the feeder.

5. Avocados 

Despite being green and frequently mistaken for a vegetable, avocados are actually a fruit rich in vitamins C, K, and folate. You can start introducing avocados to your baby's diet at four to six months old through the baby feeder.

One of the most crucial things about avocados is their fat content. During the first year of life, babies need a lot of fat in their diet since their brains are rapidly developing; avocados are a great way to meet this need for your kids. Before putting it in the feeder, you can even mix it with other fruit like bananas or apples to further improve the content per diet. 

Other Great Foods to Try Out

Here’s what to put in the baby fruit feeder apart from what we have looked at:

• Fresh or frozen strawberries
• Watermelon
• Roasted butternut squash
• Fresh or frozen mango
• Fresh, skinned cucumber
• Roasted or boiled sweet potatoes

Final Thoughts

Baby fruit feeders are an excellent way to teach your kid to chew and swallow safely. And as we have seen, there are many nice foods you can put in these things for your kids. However, especially in the case of foods like meat, you should always cook the food well so your kid can chew them with ease.

Also, as we have seen, silicone fruit feeders are the best to use as they are safer and more convenient. So, if you want a great baby fruit feeder for your kid, you should try a silicone one like Fruuti. Fruuti silicone feeder is well-designed and will make experimenting with new tastes and textures for your kid a total blast.