Once you've gotten the hang of making baby food, it may be tempting to start puréeing everything in sight. And, once your baby is about one year old, you can serve him most of the same foods that you would consume. However, there are a few items that you should either wait on, or purchase pre-made.

Root vegetables (carrots, beets, turnips) and leafy green vegetables (spinach, lettuce, collard greens) can contain more nitrates than most other vegetables. This is mostly because these vegetables have more exposure to soil and ground water. Excess nitrates in young babies can lead to problems with their oxygen saturation, a rare but potentially fatal problem. Because of the high concentration of nitrates in these vegetables, it's best to wait either until your baby is seven or eight months old, or use commercially prepared versions if you want to feed them to your baby. Commercial baby food manufacturers can screen for nitrate levels in their vegetables, but this screening can't be done at home. If you choose to make your own versions of these foods earlier than eight months, avoid using the cooking water as a liquid thinner (since it will contain additional nitrates) and use organic vegetables, which aren't grown in nitrate fertilizer.

Once your toddler starts eating “chewing foods,” or ones that require a few more teeth, you will also need to be very aware of choking hazards. Foods such as hot dogs, grapes, peanuts, and popcorn are dangerous for children who do not yet chew their food thoroughly, and these should be avoided altogether or fed to a child only under close supervision.