Starting Solids

When your child is ready for solids, there are a lot of things to consider.

How do you introduce new foods? What about food allergies? Which kind of baby food to buy? Should you make your own? When do you introduce solids?



Introducing Solids:

Talk to your pediatrician before introducing any solids. Some friends/acquaintances of mine started rice cereal early (and some have reasons to do this - reflux, etc). Be careful in doing this because it can cause allergies - 'they' don't know, but 'they' think introducing solids too early can cause allergies. They in this case are drs who advise to wait until 6 months to introduce solids. My dr said never to give a baby rice cereal in a bottle. I didn't know this before I bought bottles that were y or x cut (for letting solids pass through). Each dr is different and some as I stated above are told to do this due to reflux or other issues. I'll be honest and say it was tempting to start solids sooner because I've heard stories from moms that said rice cereal helped a baby sleep through the night sooner. This isn't true. All babies STTN (sleep through the night) at various points. Some babies can do this sooner (more on this on another post) and some won't do it forever. Breast fed babies wake up sometimes more a night because breastmilk digests more quickly than formula. My almost 8 month old is still not STTN. Some babies weeks old can STTN and every baby is different. I was given rice cereal early and I came out fine - you will hear people say that and that could be true, but maybe it isn't the best thing to do. My mom gave it to me since I was always hungry and formula alone didn't fill me up. I was a huge baby.

This website is awesome at knowing when to start solids and how to introduce solids:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

It also has some homemade baby food recipes.

We started a few days before our son turned 5 months. Your pediatrician must give you the green light and your baby should have good head control. We started with rice cereal once a day for several weeks. We started veggies right before 6 months. We followed the rule to introduce a new veggie and to wait a few days to see if your baby is allergic to the food. The website above explains how to do this. Make sure your husband/partner/SO knows this. My husband decided to buy jars of baby food and thought it would be fun to get one jar of each food. I had to explain to him that ideally you want several jars of one item to introduce over the course of several days. It was my fault since I didn't tell him this (assumed he knew it) before he went to buy groceries.



Jars:

We buy earth's best and make some of our own baby food (another post for this subject). My husband did buy Gerber organic a few times because they make prunes and I never saw that earth's best had prunes and we were told to use prunes to avoid constipation. Our child is almost 8 months and hasn't had prunes yet, but we have prunes if he needs them. You need to do some research and figure out what is good for you and your child as far as baby food. Baby food can get expensive and babies eat purees for months. For example, our son eats at least 3 jars a day - sometimes more. Earth's best are cheapest at Target, not online (at the current time). They are about .78 cents each or around that price. Buying jars of baby food can be very expensive, so we decided to make some of our own food (like I said more on that later).



What to start first:

Each pediatrican is different. Mine recommended veggies, meats and then fruits. We didn't really follow that advice. We did stage 1 jars or veggies and fruits and then when he was 6months we moved to stage 2 purees and introduced some meat purees. Once you have done the 3-4 day allergy test, you can keep feeding your child that item mixed with anything else. For example, if you introduce sweet potatoes (our first veggie) and your child is eating it with no problems, you can introduce chicken w/sweet potatoes and then check for a reaction to chicken. Some pediatricians recommend veggies/fruits and then meats at 8 months or so. Ask your pedi for a sheet on what to introduce and also a sample menu for a 7/8 month old (if they have something like that). A sample menu might say 'give 3 meals plus X amount of formula or breastmilk'. It might have more detail on what those 3 meals should be (meat, veggie or fruit). At 7.5 months we do about 3 meals a day with usually a fruit for breakfast (sometimes mixed with rice cereal or oatmeal - both introduced around 5 months), a veggie or meat puree for lunch and the opposite for dinner. Sometimes he gets 4 jars a day or more depending on if he is hungry. We have not intoduced snacks, but I will put more information (another post on snacks). You will find that once you introduce solids you may have to give your child less formula/breastmilk. They should still have a substaintial amount of breastmilk/formula. (probably more than 24 oz a day, but check w/your dr).



What are some items they SHOULD NOT eat:

Our pedi said we could introduce egg earlier, but we have not yet since we know babies can really be allergic to eggs. They used to say to introduce egg after 1 year, but I think things have changed (again check with your pedi and if you have a family history of allergies your child may be more prone to allergies). You should never give honey to a child under 1. You should never give whole milk to a child under 1 (I believe). I think you can introduce dairy, but in the form of yogurt (but always check with your pedi). You should not give a baby plain water until a certain time period and even then only very little (1 oz or so). Ask you pediatrician. The reason they can't have water is because they could have an imbalance in their system as we would if we drank too much water. This is why some babies have died from watered down formula. We were told we could give a small amount of water after 4 or 5months -again like 1 oz. Always ask your pediatrician when you are in doubt. Don't trust anyone on the internet to tell you the right answer with regards to food/water safety (or anything really) for your child. Sometimes we feel silly to call, but that is what we pay drs for, so don't feel stupid - just call them. We also have some friends who are pediatric nurses, so we trust their judgement.