Starting Solid Foods

2/14/2008

The decision as to when and how to begin feeding your baby solid foods is a difficult one, as your decision may have implications later in your child’s life. Fortunately, you can customize your answer to fit the needs of your child and family. Although parents are often anxious to start solid foods, there’s actually no need to rush into this. There are definitely benefits to breastfeeding exclusively for a child’s first six months to a year.

Here are some critical points to remember when mulling over the introduction of solids:

• If you start adding extra feedings of formula or calorie-dense cereals too soon, you may end up overfeeding your child and increasing his risk of obesity later. Then there’s the “grandma factor”—a desire to feed one’s little darling little treats all day or push more foods at meals as a sign of love.
• Be prepared for mom’s milk production to slack off. This occurs naturally as the baby gets more calories from other sources and sucks less vigorously. This balance between baby’s demand and mom’s milk supply is a great example of the beautiful synchronicity that exists between mom and baby.
• The smell and quality of the baby’s stool will change—and not for the better—with the introduction of solid foods.
• A baby’s apparent interest in the foods her parents eat should not be confused with a need for solids. Babies are just naturally curious.
• Adding solids will not normally improve sleep patterns at night.

I usually advise considering solid foods for formula-fed babies at five to six months of age. A baby taking in more than 35 ounces of infant formula a day could start solids sooner. Hold off on solids for breastfed babies until six to eight months or later.

There are two basic rules for success with solid foods:

1. Take it slowly. It’s easy to overfeed a baby, but infants really only need very small amounts of food. The main goal at first is just to get the baby used to new tastes and textures.

2. Introduce one new food at a time. This will help detect any allergies, sensitivities, or intolerances of specific foods. Watch for rashes, hives, very loose stools, or vomiting.

What foods can be eaten when?

• Start with cereal. The general order is rice cereal, followed by barley cereal and oatmeal. The cereal can be mixed with expressed breast milk, infant formula, or water. Start with a soupy consistency and gradually make the cereal thicker. Look for organic cereals to avoid environmental toxins.
• Next add orange vegetables such as squash, carrots and sweet potatoes. I strongly recommend you buy organic fruits and vegetables. You can buy organic baby foods or cook and/or finely puree fruits and vegetables yourself in batches, freeze in ice-cube trays, and warm or defrost when needed.
• Then fruits such as applesauce, peaches, and banana.
• Then green vegetables such as peas and green beans. At this point you can give a child cereal, a fruit, and a vegetable once a day, increasing to twice a day eventually. Try to vary the combinations every few days so that Baby doesn’t become bored.
• At seven months, you can add plain yogurt or creamy cottage cheese if your family eats dairy. Liquid milk is a no-no until one year of age. Processed dairy foods, however, contain casein (milk protein) in a form that doesn’t cause the same subtle bleeding in the baby’s stomach that milk does.
• At eight months, you can add pureed chicken or poultry.
• At nine months you can add healthy finger foods such as Cheerios, which combine pleasing taste and texture with a chance to improve dexterity and fine motor skills. Avoid hard fruits and vegetables or cookies, as they can break off and cause choking. Baked apples and pears are okay, since they’re soft.