Best Fruits and Veggies for Baby

You’ve successfully navigated through cereal and are ready to expand your 6-month-old baby's diet—broccoli and berries and bananas. For those ambitious souls looking to make their own baby food, the aforementioned along with peas and avocado are great puréed or mashed. A world of healthy eating awaits.

Bananas are a good first food and convenient for busy parents. Serve them alone or mix them with breast milk. They're also good with organic brown rice cereal made for babies.

“Bananas have essential protein, vitamins and minerals,” says family physician Dr. Joel Fuhrman. “Also, bananas can’t be contaminated by pesticides because their skin is so thick. It’s one fruit you don’t have to buy organic.”

If you want to kick off this baby milestone with a veggie, choose carrots. Celebrity chef Ludo Lefebvre did.

“This was the first food we fed our twins,” the chef says. “Just a simple, steamed carrot purée. Now they love them roasted with a little butter and cinnamon.”

Lefebvre's online series Ludo Baby Bites helps parents and children discover fun and healthy foods.

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From carrots and peas to apples and pears, purees are the perfect way to introduce new foods to your baby.

"Alternate fruit with vegetables cooked in a pressure cooker or steamed then puréed," says Fuhrman in his book Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right. "Hand baby mills are easy and convenient for puréeing cooked vegetables." To make them extra mushy and easy to digest, add the remaining liquid from the steamer or pressure cooker to the purée.

Avocado is a healthy fat important for even the littlest eaters, Lefebvre says. He and his wife fed their twins avocados at 6 months.

“I think the love of guacamole must start at an early age,” Lefebvre says. “You can just mash up an avocado or mix it with mashed bananas, which tastes delicious."

A bowl full of berries is a naturally sweet treat for your little one and carries a beneficial punch. "Berries are the most powerful fruit for our immune system and health," Fuhrman says. "This is a food you would want to try and buy organic or frozen," he cautions because of pesticide use.

Lefebvre suggests roasted berries mashed up with bananas.

Because your baby's digestive system is still developing, it's best to wait on hearty greens. But English peas are a vegetable most babies can handle at a younger age—even raw. “You can use frozen peas, but if you have the time, fresh English peas are the best option,” says Fuhrman.

When your baby's ready for something new, Lefebvre suggests mashing English peas, pink grapefruit and chopped mint.

Pears are a great source of dietary fibers and vitamin C. Mixing pears or other fruits with a vegetable or protein provides a balanced meal, says Dr. Natalie Digate Muth, a pediatric resident at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA.

"You could do fish with sweet potato and pears and purée it together," says Digate Muth, who's also a registered dietitian.

RELATED: 10 Foods That Make Great Purées

Beets are fiber-rich and great immunity boosters. “My twins love beets!” Lefebvre says. “I mix them with blackberries and lavender vinaigrette to make a salad for the whole family to enjoy.”

But Digate Muth adds a word of caution about that vinaigrette. It may cause reflux, so use sparingly at first. Also, don't be alarmed if the wet diaper looks pink after a beet meal. That's normal.

Certain foods are crucial for healthy growth. “Cruciferous greens like broccoli and cabbage are important,” Fuhrman says. They support immune function and build resistance to allergies, asthma and autoimmune conditions.

Don't rush the introduction, Lefebvre cautions. "I learned not to serve [cauliflower] before 8 months the hard way," he said. "It can cause gas in tender digestive systems."

If you decide not to purée, serve in small pieces to avoid choking.

Protein-rich beans pack fiber and nutrients. "Babies like almost everything. You don't need to add much to their food," says Digate Muth, author of 'Eat Your Vegetables' and Other Mistakes Parents Make. Mashed or puréed beans make a complete meal.

If they spit out food, don't fret. Digate Muth says they are simply learning to eat the new food. "Expose your baby to as many different flavors as possible to minimize the risk of future picky eating," she says.

For a super booster, Fuhrman suggests adding sesame seeds to any homemade fruit or vegetable purée. Sesame seeds are one of his top recommendations because they are rich in minerals, vitamins and fiber.

Getting your baby's taste buds accustomed to healthy treats versus refined sugars is important. “Dates are the perfect sweet treat to sneak a little fiber into the babies’ diets,” said Lefebvre. “They are also rich in vitamin A. Because they are pretty chewy, I just remove the skin, dice fairly small and serve them for dessert.”