There are so many health benefits of pap for babies. Nigerian pap also known as ogi or akamu could be corn pap, millet pap or even guinea corn pap depending on what grain is used to process the pap meal.
For my baby pap, Sometimes I like to mix up to 2 or 3 grains together to ensure my baby gets the carbohydrates in all three grains plus any other nutrient particular to each specific grains.
When I blend together corn, millet and guinea corn, there is this feeling of satisfaction. It feels like I’m giving my baby a richer pap than just millet pap alone or guinea corn pap alone.
In my head, I always know that feeding a baby plain pap alone can lead to malnutrition. That’s why we try our best to fortify baby pap with more nutrients by adding other ingredients depending on the baby’s age.
On my next post, we will list out all the things you can add to your baby’s pap for more health benefits. According to what the baby can digest at any given age. So? Check back later or we may just list them on this post for easy access. Check below:
For now, let’s focus on health benefits of pap for babies so that we don’t lose focus. We have numerous health benefits that babies can derive from eating Nigerian pap.
What you add to baby’s food will tell the nutritional benefits of that food. Baby pap that contains only millet cannot offer health benefits like baby pap that contains crayfish, palm oil, banana, egg and so on.
To make baby food delicious and also nutritionally healthy, we must add those nutrients to the food before feeding a baby.
Baby pap alone with just grains can lead to malnutrition in babies. What we can do to prevent this baby malnutrition is to make sure that the food or pap is not served plain. As parents or caregivers, we have to always add ingredients that can help boost the quality of the food or pap for babies.
10 Health benefits of pap for babies:
- Whether we feed our babies millet pap or guinea corn or maize pap, they’ll grow healthy and strong provided that the food is loaded with nutrients that can help add health benefits for their good.
- Pap provides protein for babies. Protein is very important in growing babies and cannot be ignored. Adding crayfish, soya bean powder or poached egg or even milk to your baby pap will ensure that she gets enough protein from pap. This is even double for babies who still take breast milk. You can add eggs, powdered crayfish and even milk to babies pap to provide them with protein.
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Another health benefit of pap for our baby is vitamins. Babies who enjoy blended strawberries or ripe bananas in their pap are already enjoying the benefits of these fruits.
- Fat and oils is another nutritional value of pap fortified with palm oil
- When I shared on how I feed my 3 month old baby with pap, I showed complete steps including the addition of palm oil to the pap.
- Pap on it’s own contains carbohydrates and this supplies babies with energy. They need this energy to grow stronger and to be able to stand, crawl and walk on their own. Most times people ask what to feed their babies to gain weight. As a five time mum of grown women and a baby, I advice them to add more carbs to meals. Energy from pap is awesome for babies.
- Pap is made with clean water. That water on its own is an amazing nutritional value for the baby. Water helps the food digest in their tender digestive system and helps keep the little ones hydrated too.
- Do you know that pap can be made without sieving out the chaff? Yes. If you soak millet and then blend or mill it very smooth, there won’t be any need for filtering the starch out. When baby pap is made using this procedure, there is enough roughage (bulk) in the pap to help with bowel movements. For mothers who sometimes say that their babies do not poop regularly, it could be because there is not enough roughage in what the cutie is being fed. Its easier for them to toilet when there is some bulk and not just smooth starch.
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Apart from carbohydrates, millet is rich in minerals like iron, phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, and Vitamins like; C? E, K and Vitamin B6. Millet pap adds all these nutrients to your baby to help him grow stronger and healthier.
- When all these ingredients are added to pap for babies, their millet, guinea corn or maize pap meal is a balanced meal. The baby will sure enjoy all these health benefits if we remember to add the ingredients listed above
Now let’s look at the things we can add to pap to make it richer for a baby.
WHAT CAN I ADD TO PAP FOR MY BABY?
- Soya bean powder
- Soya bean milk
- Roasted Groundnut powder
- Sugar
- Honey (with caution) Not all babies can digest honey
- Palm oil
- Crayfish powder
- Dried catfish powder
- Ripe bananas
- Strawberry
- Fruit smoothie made with a blender.
Do not use all these items at once please. I only use soybean powder made from roasted soya beans and honey for my 3 month old babies. I do not add everything on this list at once. Try them to see what’s best for your baby. Every baby is different and unique.
For you, what else do you add to pap for your little baby to enjoy?
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