Ways to thicken liquids:
- Commercial thickener (Caution! Some thickeners cannot be used with premature babies or babies younger than one year – check with your doctor)
- Finely ground baby cereal such as rice cereal or other grain (blend it in a blender for finer consistency)
- Powdered baby formula
- Yogurt
- Applesauce
- Sherbet
- Well pureed fruit or vegetable
- Chia seeds (Some people have allergies to chia seeds)
- Finely ground flax seed, oatmeal or wheat germ (these also add whole grains and fiber but be aware of any possible food allergies, such as gluten allergy)
Thick liquids
- Tomato juice
- Pureed fruit
- Buttermilk
- Chocolate milk
- Pediasure
- Instant breakfast
- Pureed soup
Puree
- Baby food (stage 1 and 2)
- Thin cream of wheat
- Custard
- Flan
- Pudding
- Yogurt (no fruit or grain)
- Pureed cooked vegetables, except root vegetables and stringy vegetables like squash (steaming vegetables maintains the most nutrients)
- Applesauce
- Pureed fruit
- Hummus (pureed chick peas)
- Baba ganoush (pureed eggplant)
Puree with small chunks
- Mix very small chunks of food with puree-consistency food, such as canned tuna or crushed egg yolk mixed with Greek yogurt
- Stage 3 baby food
- Cooked cereal such as rice cereal, cream of wheat or oatmeal
- Mashed banana mixed with pureed fruit
- Thin mashed potatoes and gravy
- Mashed avocado or guacamole
- Soft noodles cut very small
- Rice pudding
- Scrambled or hard-boiled eggs, cut very small (no runny eggs)
- Pudding such a tapioca
- Pureed cooked root vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin,
- Thin purees thickened with baby cereal
- Cottage cheese, small curd
- Ground meats such as pate, liverwurst, very finely ground sausage meat (these can also be missed with yogurt to soften them)
- Pureed beans such as refried beans, lentils, black beans, fava beans, etc (beans are an excellent source of protein)
Soft foods
- Baked goods such as muffin, biscuit, bread, waffle, cake, soft cookie
- Baby puffs that dissolve in the mouth
- Crackers
- Finely shredded meat
- Rice (don’t feed this to kids who get food up their nose when they eat)
- Canned tuna or salmon (be sure bones are removed from salmon or pureed. Salmon bones are edible when pureed and are a good source of calcium.)
- Boneless fish
- Soft cheese
- Soft cereal
- Small pieces of pasta
- Canned fruit
- Potatoes
Please comment below and share your experience with us, or give us a feedback about this article. If you think some tips are not included here, please let us know so that we could share them with the rest.
