To help make shopping for baby food easier, Wattie’s has created labels with different colour background cues and added ‘age and stage buttons’ to all their baby food so you can choose what you need at a glance.
Each colour range has a different flavour or texture to suit baby’s age and stage of development.
Blue Labels are for Stage 1 first foods. These are pureed foods for your baby when they’re first starting out on solids at around six months old (but not before four months). Look for the blue label Wattie’s baby foods in a can or jar, or the blue boxes of rice cereal.
Red Labels are for the next step Stage 2 foods. These foods are mashed with soft lumps ideal for babies from around six or seven months onwards. The Wattie’s red labelled baby food range is designed to give your baby more tastes and textures.
Yellow Labels are also Stage 2 foods, but little extras. These are suitable dessert-style foods for babies from around six months onwards. They’re not essential, but they still offer a range of nutrients and give more variety to your baby’s diet.
Green Labels are Stage 3 foods. These foods are suitable for babies from eight or nine months onwards. They provide more challenging textures to help encourage chewing and jaw development, which is important for speech. There also have a wider variety of new tastes for curious taste buds.
There are a very small number of babies who are allergic to particular ingredients. Refer to the product labels clear ingredients list to identify anything unsuitable for your baby.
The age range is a general guide too. Babies will vary in what foods they can manage and when, but the labels ensure that no products will have ingredients unsuitable for babies younger than the age shown.
Remember that just because your baby is progressing through the stages, it doesn’t mean you need to stop feeding them from the previous stage if it’s a favourite of theirs. You can also add other cooked fruit or vegetables to increase texture.
For more information you can chat to your Well Child or Plunket nurse, or for more information on these products you can ask one of our experts
