Your baby is 8 or 9 months old and just as you think everything is going swimmingly  with your little one slurping his way through your pureed carrots and sweet potatoes you decide to ditch the blender and it all goes downhill. Well rest assured you are not alone, the transition from perfectly pureed to lumpy food can be quite a challenge.

Its not a good idea to continue with smooth purees for too long or your baby can become very lazy about chewing and the longer you leave it the more difficult it will be. Another good reason for introducing more lumpy food is that the muscles a baby uses for chewing are the same muscles that are used for speech development so this will help your child utter his first words.

Its surprising what a few teeth and strong gums can get through…but I find that babies don’t like smooth purees with the occasional surprise lump but prefer an overall lumpy texture. Stirring tiny pasta shapes into your baby’s puree is a really good way to introduce texture.

To help you get your little one happily chomping his way through his meal, I have brought out a range of mini organic pasta shapes especially designed for babies from  7 months.  Here are some of my favourite Baby Pasta Recipes for you to try...  

• Three Cheese Sauce
• Tomato, Sweet Potato, Cheese
• Veggie Pasta Stars
• Pasta Shells with Salmon
• Pasta Stars with Carrot
• Bolognese Sauce
• Tomato Basil Sauce