When you look at a pumpkin patch, most think of excited children walking up and down the rows trying to select the perfect specimen to tote home, but maybe you should think about pumpkins as a great food for babies and toddlers.

"Pumpkin can be a good early food for babies and toddlers," says Peggy O'Shea, a Boston-based nutritionist and president of the Massachusetts Dietetic Association. "Pumpkin can be prepared in many ways that are baby- and toddler-friendly. They are a fun food to involve kids in the preparation of, and pumpkin is packed with many great nutrients – it is high in vitamin A, beta carotene and is also good source of iron and potassium." O'Shea says pumpkin also is low in fat and high in fiber.

Pumpkin can be prepared in a number of different ways. "It can be baked or steamed, poached or boiled," O'Shea says. "Just keep in mind that the longer you cook it, and the more liquid it is cooked in, the more nutrients that are going to be lost during the cooking process."

The soft-cooked pumpkin can be diced up as finger food for older babies, or pureed for smaller babies. "You can also use canned pumpkin," O'Shea says. "You can also try adding different flavors to the pumpkin such as cinnamon, nutmeg or a little bit of butter. Pumpkin soup or adding pumpkin to other food such as pancakes or waffles is another great option for getting kits to eat this nutritious food."

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