First Foods - Take 2
Are you ready to put a spoon into that baby's mouth now? Yes? (No? Start with Part 1)
Before we start, I have to say something to put you at ease. After some years learning about different approaches to starting babies onto solids, I have come to one conclusion. Most methods work. There are, and have been, many ways to do it, and many of them seem to work just fine. I've heard of Irish mums plopping their roast dinner... meat, gravy and veggies... in the blender with some water, pouring it in the bottle and cutting a bigger whole in the nipple for junior to drink out of. Some people do one food at a time, carefully watching for negative reactions. Some people offer age-appropriate foods off their plates to include baby in the family meal. Most of these work for most kids. A lot of folks find they can mix and match to suit their needs. So if what I say does not resonate with you, then tuck it away just in case you need a 'Plan B'.
Because with babies, 'Plan A' is often rejected.
So here we go... Is your baby ready?
Signs of readiness
When to introduce solids is debatable. There are people who will tell you earlier and some that will swear you shouldn't start until kids are 9 months old, when their digestive systems are more maturee. And like most things, I think the main reason there is so much variability is because IT DEPENDS ON THE BABY! A good thing to remember, as I learned from Cyntia Lair when I was in school...
LOOK AT YOUR BABY, NOT THE CALENDAR!
6 months of age is when most people start thinking about starting solids. Why? Well, maybe it's because many of the signs of readiness show up around then. Some babies start running low on their iron stores around that time. But some babies are ready earlier, and some much later. Here are a few general things to look for:
If you can say yes to these questions, your baby might like to start now.
But here is something important to remember now... your child's digestive system is still immature and will not be ready to handle most foods until around 10 months of age or older! This means that if you start at 6 months, you will need to remember that baby will not be able to digest many foods. So what should you choose? I like to think about it this way...
What can they digest easily now? Breast milk. Lactose (simple sugar), casein (protein) and fats.
What are they not used to digesting? Things like complex carbohydrates, fiber.
See, if you give baby foods they cannot digest properly, they are going to be uncomfortable. They will get a tummy ache, get a little gassy... just like you do when you don't digest properly. And it is possible that they might absorb things incompletely digested that might cause them to have a negative reaction. So it's best to stick with stuff that is easy to digest... especially if you start before 9 months of age. And most people seem to do that.
FIRST FOODS TO TRY
Avacado, banana, egg yolk, applesauce, cooked sweet potato... any of these mashed and mixed with a little bit of breast milk or formula to give it a familiar taste. (I'll give more suggestions below)
WARNING: No matter what you feed them, a breast fed baby will start having REALLY different poos after they eat ANYTHING other than breast milk. And that can be a little disconcerting to your baby. Yes, they get to push.
Now we're going to start talking about your method of introducing solids. I subscribe to the philosophy of introducing one food at a time for 3-5 days to make sure there is no negative reaction, and to slowly get baby used to new tastes. Then I move on. This is probably because I know a lot of kids w/ food allergies and sensitivities. And it is hard and annoying to have to go back, eliminate everything and try it all again. It's often easier to just go slowly at first when babies don't give a rat about variety. Because they don't. Here is my method (in no particular order of preference of what YOU should start with).
Here's a nice link to a great list of first foods for babies. I won't reinvent this wheel. Cynthia has a lot of good info. http://www.cookusinterruptus.com/index.php?video_id=113.
CALENDAR TIME
Now here is something I always tell people to do. Put this stuff on the calendar. Not in a real organized way... just in a rough way. In advance, write down what foods you want to be trying (I'll give you suggestions later). Like, it's December now... in Feb write that you want to start non-gluten grains, March: protein foods like chicken, April: Yogurt, etc. The reason for this is that you're doing all this research now and it's fresh in your mind. But you see, you're not sleeping well and...
YOU NO LONGER HAVE SHORT TERM MEMORY.
Sorry, but it had to be said. So do yourself a favor and write it on your calendar. But not just that... when you start a new food, jot it down on the calendar too. That way if something comes up, you can just look back and review it clearly without having to rely on your non-existent memory to see if it might have something to do with a food.
Having sleep-deprivation induced memory loss is annoying, but there is no shame in it. Just use calendars and timers, lists and schedules and you won't burn the house down (or dinner) or lose your baby.
I don't like to assume foods will harm us. But I find going slowly is really easy and we don't have to be too obsessed about food sensitivities if we just write some things down so we can always go back and look if something comes up.
You talk about negative reactions... what should I be looking for?
There are a few sort of non-specific signs that your baby is not getting on with his food very well. Of course, they could also be caused by teething, illness, vaccinations or some other mysterious cause. But this is what to keep an eye out for and put on your calendar if you're watching:
Runny nose, sneezing, skin rashes, redness of face and cheeks, diarrhoea or mucus in stool, ear
infections, personality change, dark circles under eyes or constipation.
Like I said... make an note of it, make a judgement call to keep it or not, and move on.
Are you with me still? Let's review...
Now remember... remember in Part 1 when I said your baby is still getting most of their nutrition from their milk? I wasn't lying. They are. So keep eating lots of nutrient dense foods EVERY DAY, EVERY MEAL with lots of water. Nursing moms need an especially nutrient-dense diet. Not just for your baby's health... for yours. That baby of yours is literally sucking every good bit of nutrition you have to offer. You know that brain of yours all made up of omega-3 fatty acids? Yep, baby gets it. So you need to eat if you want to heal. Cod liver oil, greens, water, protein at EVERY meal, water (did I already say water?). Now your baby... don't worry so much about his nutrition in this first month or so. Their milk takes care of it for the most part. You are just expanding your baby's pallette, teaching them to eat, and introducing them to your food culture. But this is a big job.
Expanding their pallette: This is a great opportunity to give your baby all sorts of new flavors. If she doesn't like it, try it again next week... and the next. Just keep trying. Don't fight her, just try new things and stop when she isn't interested. Make it fun. Your baby still loves you and just wants to be with you. This won't last much longer, so make the most of it.
Teaching them to eat: This means they don't get it yet. It means choking is a very real danger. Please never leave your child alone to eat. Not in the kitchen... and especially not in the back of the car. And be mindful of choking hazards. Avoid popcorn, raw carrots, apple pieces, raising, whole grapes, nuts, seeds, nut butter, dry cereal, rice cakes until they are one year old. At this point, just their milk, and their purees will do.
Introducing them to your food culture: What do you do while you eat? Do you enjoy your food? Is meal time pleasant and un-stressful? Are family members appreciative and respectful towards the person who prepared the food? Are there rules about that? Is there snacking going on all day long? If you feel like you would like to change your food culture for the better, this is a perfect time. A week at a time, both you and your baby could be moving towards a more healthy relationship with food.
If you are starting around 6 months, you've got a month to play around with these foods and be really relaxed about it. Start around lunch time (or whenever is convenient for you). Maybe try it just before a milk-feeding time, then clean him up and finish with a nice bit of breast milk or formula and a cuddle.
Some ideas for first foods between 6-8 months (no salt, no sugar, no honey!)
Cooked vegetables: Steamed or baked. Then pureed with some water until smooth. Carrots, squash, yams, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower.
Fruit: Bananas and avocados can be mashed raw, as they are high in enzymes and easily digested. Hard fruits like apples should be cooked into applesauce. Very soft peaches can be mashed up and eaten raw. Just make sure it's not lumpy until they master the whole swallowing thing.
Egg yolk: Boil a whole egg for 4-5 minutes. Peel shell and discard egg white. Mash up egg yolk with breast milk.
Babies... like adults... like sweet flavors. Have you ever tasted breast milk? Sweet city! Help them explore some foods that aren't so sweet. Mixing it with that familiar taste of milk helps.
What about water for my baby? I like to start offering a sippy cup of water during their meal at this time. Show them what it is, offer a drink at each meal. That's enough. They will get it and will help with the transition from nipple to sippy cup later on. (Just water. Plain water. Unflavored. Unsweetened. Water. Remember the whole 'Start as you mean to continue' thing?)
Iron enrichment: A baby is born with a supply of iron in their body that they get from their mother. How soon they start to run low depends on things like their mom's diet and how soon the cord was clamped. Many pediatricians recommend a fortified baby rice cereal at 6 months to give them the necessary nutrition and iron. I think every child is different, but I personally don't care for this advice all the time. First of all, a baby can still get their nutrition from their mother if she is well-nourished. Second, this is a highly processed food and doesn't taste very good. I'd rather give a child a whole, natural food. The Weston Price Foundation talks about giving a child small amounts of liver to supplement their diet for this reason. Here is the link to their site if you'd like to hear more about their recommendations. You can also fortify your own baby food with a sea vegetable called DULSE! Dulse is a red algae that has a very nice, mild flavor. Like all sea weeds, it is high in essential minerals and trace elements. But dulse is particularly high in iron. You can buy dulse flakes and sprinkle small amounts in the food you cook and puree for your baby. I'll talk more about the how for that later on.
Whew, that's a lot of information. I'll come back next week with a little bit of a list of foods to progress to and some practical tips on food preparation, storage and food safety. I hope this has been useful!
For more practical how-to on making food yourself and good food safety tips, go to Part 3!
Before we start, I have to say something to put you at ease. After some years learning about different approaches to starting babies onto solids, I have come to one conclusion. Most methods work. There are, and have been, many ways to do it, and many of them seem to work just fine. I've heard of Irish mums plopping their roast dinner... meat, gravy and veggies... in the blender with some water, pouring it in the bottle and cutting a bigger whole in the nipple for junior to drink out of. Some people do one food at a time, carefully watching for negative reactions. Some people offer age-appropriate foods off their plates to include baby in the family meal. Most of these work for most kids. A lot of folks find they can mix and match to suit their needs. So if what I say does not resonate with you, then tuck it away just in case you need a 'Plan B'.
Because with babies, 'Plan A' is often rejected.
So here we go... Is your baby ready?
Signs of readiness
When to introduce solids is debatable. There are people who will tell you earlier and some that will swear you shouldn't start until kids are 9 months old, when their digestive systems are more maturee. And like most things, I think the main reason there is so much variability is because IT DEPENDS ON THE BABY! A good thing to remember, as I learned from Cyntia Lair when I was in school...
LOOK AT YOUR BABY, NOT THE CALENDAR!
6 months of age is when most people start thinking about starting solids. Why? Well, maybe it's because many of the signs of readiness show up around then. Some babies start running low on their iron stores around that time. But some babies are ready earlier, and some much later. Here are a few general things to look for:
- Can your baby sit up in a high chair unattended?
- Will your baby accept a spoon in their mouth without pushing it back out with their tongue?
- Can your baby pick up small objects?
- Is your baby getting interested in what YOU are eating?
If you can say yes to these questions, your baby might like to start now.
But here is something important to remember now... your child's digestive system is still immature and will not be ready to handle most foods until around 10 months of age or older! This means that if you start at 6 months, you will need to remember that baby will not be able to digest many foods. So what should you choose? I like to think about it this way...
What can they digest easily now? Breast milk. Lactose (simple sugar), casein (protein) and fats.
What are they not used to digesting? Things like complex carbohydrates, fiber.
See, if you give baby foods they cannot digest properly, they are going to be uncomfortable. They will get a tummy ache, get a little gassy... just like you do when you don't digest properly. And it is possible that they might absorb things incompletely digested that might cause them to have a negative reaction. So it's best to stick with stuff that is easy to digest... especially if you start before 9 months of age. And most people seem to do that.
FIRST FOODS TO TRY
Avacado, banana, egg yolk, applesauce, cooked sweet potato... any of these mashed and mixed with a little bit of breast milk or formula to give it a familiar taste. (I'll give more suggestions below)
WARNING: No matter what you feed them, a breast fed baby will start having REALLY different poos after they eat ANYTHING other than breast milk. And that can be a little disconcerting to your baby. Yes, they get to push.
Now we're going to start talking about your method of introducing solids. I subscribe to the philosophy of introducing one food at a time for 3-5 days to make sure there is no negative reaction, and to slowly get baby used to new tastes. Then I move on. This is probably because I know a lot of kids w/ food allergies and sensitivities. And it is hard and annoying to have to go back, eliminate everything and try it all again. It's often easier to just go slowly at first when babies don't give a rat about variety. Because they don't. Here is my method (in no particular order of preference of what YOU should start with).
- New food #1: Mashed banana... wait 3-5 days. No reaction. Keep banana in and go to #2.
- New food #2: Egg yolk and banana: threw up. Stop egg yolk. Go to #3.
- New food #3: Applesauce and banana... wait 3-5 days. No reaction. Keep applesauce AND banana and move to #4.
- New food #4: Cooked sweet potato, banana, applesauce....
- #5: Broccoli........ #6: Cauliflower.......you get the picture?
- #10: Try that egg yolk again. If she pukes again, or has another obvious negative reaction, put it off until she is a year old to see if she can tolerate it then.
Here's a nice link to a great list of first foods for babies. I won't reinvent this wheel. Cynthia has a lot of good info. http://www.cookusinterruptus.com/index.php?video_id=113.
CALENDAR TIME
Now here is something I always tell people to do. Put this stuff on the calendar. Not in a real organized way... just in a rough way. In advance, write down what foods you want to be trying (I'll give you suggestions later). Like, it's December now... in Feb write that you want to start non-gluten grains, March: protein foods like chicken, April: Yogurt, etc. The reason for this is that you're doing all this research now and it's fresh in your mind. But you see, you're not sleeping well and...
YOU NO LONGER HAVE SHORT TERM MEMORY.
Sorry, but it had to be said. So do yourself a favor and write it on your calendar. But not just that... when you start a new food, jot it down on the calendar too. That way if something comes up, you can just look back and review it clearly without having to rely on your non-existent memory to see if it might have something to do with a food.
Having sleep-deprivation induced memory loss is annoying, but there is no shame in it. Just use calendars and timers, lists and schedules and you won't burn the house down (or dinner) or lose your baby.
I don't like to assume foods will harm us. But I find going slowly is really easy and we don't have to be too obsessed about food sensitivities if we just write some things down so we can always go back and look if something comes up.
You talk about negative reactions... what should I be looking for?
There are a few sort of non-specific signs that your baby is not getting on with his food very well. Of course, they could also be caused by teething, illness, vaccinations or some other mysterious cause. But this is what to keep an eye out for and put on your calendar if you're watching:
Runny nose, sneezing, skin rashes, redness of face and cheeks, diarrhoea or mucus in stool, ear
infections, personality change, dark circles under eyes or constipation.
Like I said... make an note of it, make a judgement call to keep it or not, and move on.
Are you with me still? Let's review...
- Check for readiness
- Pick some first foods
- Plan it out roughly on your calendar so you don't have to read this stuff again 3 months from now.
- Try one food at a time and write down when you introduce new foods on your calendar too.
Now remember... remember in Part 1 when I said your baby is still getting most of their nutrition from their milk? I wasn't lying. They are. So keep eating lots of nutrient dense foods EVERY DAY, EVERY MEAL with lots of water. Nursing moms need an especially nutrient-dense diet. Not just for your baby's health... for yours. That baby of yours is literally sucking every good bit of nutrition you have to offer. You know that brain of yours all made up of omega-3 fatty acids? Yep, baby gets it. So you need to eat if you want to heal. Cod liver oil, greens, water, protein at EVERY meal, water (did I already say water?). Now your baby... don't worry so much about his nutrition in this first month or so. Their milk takes care of it for the most part. You are just expanding your baby's pallette, teaching them to eat, and introducing them to your food culture. But this is a big job.
Expanding their pallette: This is a great opportunity to give your baby all sorts of new flavors. If she doesn't like it, try it again next week... and the next. Just keep trying. Don't fight her, just try new things and stop when she isn't interested. Make it fun. Your baby still loves you and just wants to be with you. This won't last much longer, so make the most of it.
Teaching them to eat: This means they don't get it yet. It means choking is a very real danger. Please never leave your child alone to eat. Not in the kitchen... and especially not in the back of the car. And be mindful of choking hazards. Avoid popcorn, raw carrots, apple pieces, raising, whole grapes, nuts, seeds, nut butter, dry cereal, rice cakes until they are one year old. At this point, just their milk, and their purees will do.
Introducing them to your food culture: What do you do while you eat? Do you enjoy your food? Is meal time pleasant and un-stressful? Are family members appreciative and respectful towards the person who prepared the food? Are there rules about that? Is there snacking going on all day long? If you feel like you would like to change your food culture for the better, this is a perfect time. A week at a time, both you and your baby could be moving towards a more healthy relationship with food.
If you are starting around 6 months, you've got a month to play around with these foods and be really relaxed about it. Start around lunch time (or whenever is convenient for you). Maybe try it just before a milk-feeding time, then clean him up and finish with a nice bit of breast milk or formula and a cuddle.
Some ideas for first foods between 6-8 months (no salt, no sugar, no honey!)
Cooked vegetables: Steamed or baked. Then pureed with some water until smooth. Carrots, squash, yams, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower.
Fruit: Bananas and avocados can be mashed raw, as they are high in enzymes and easily digested. Hard fruits like apples should be cooked into applesauce. Very soft peaches can be mashed up and eaten raw. Just make sure it's not lumpy until they master the whole swallowing thing.
Egg yolk: Boil a whole egg for 4-5 minutes. Peel shell and discard egg white. Mash up egg yolk with breast milk.
Babies... like adults... like sweet flavors. Have you ever tasted breast milk? Sweet city! Help them explore some foods that aren't so sweet. Mixing it with that familiar taste of milk helps.
What about water for my baby? I like to start offering a sippy cup of water during their meal at this time. Show them what it is, offer a drink at each meal. That's enough. They will get it and will help with the transition from nipple to sippy cup later on. (Just water. Plain water. Unflavored. Unsweetened. Water. Remember the whole 'Start as you mean to continue' thing?)
Iron enrichment: A baby is born with a supply of iron in their body that they get from their mother. How soon they start to run low depends on things like their mom's diet and how soon the cord was clamped. Many pediatricians recommend a fortified baby rice cereal at 6 months to give them the necessary nutrition and iron. I think every child is different, but I personally don't care for this advice all the time. First of all, a baby can still get their nutrition from their mother if she is well-nourished. Second, this is a highly processed food and doesn't taste very good. I'd rather give a child a whole, natural food. The Weston Price Foundation talks about giving a child small amounts of liver to supplement their diet for this reason. Here is the link to their site if you'd like to hear more about their recommendations. You can also fortify your own baby food with a sea vegetable called DULSE! Dulse is a red algae that has a very nice, mild flavor. Like all sea weeds, it is high in essential minerals and trace elements. But dulse is particularly high in iron. You can buy dulse flakes and sprinkle small amounts in the food you cook and puree for your baby. I'll talk more about the how for that later on.
Whew, that's a lot of information. I'll come back next week with a little bit of a list of foods to progress to and some practical tips on food preparation, storage and food safety. I hope this has been useful!
For more practical how-to on making food yourself and good food safety tips, go to Part 3!