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Part 2: Choosing First Foods

So, you’ve decided that your baby is ready for solid foods.  How exciting!  Now that you’ve decided to take the plunge, which first foods are best for your little one?

• Iron-fortified baby cereal*.  Baby rice cereal is a great choice for Baby’s first food.  It has a low chance of allergic reaction and it is easy for Baby to digest.  Full-term infants are born with 4-6 months of iron stores, so around the time solids should be introduced, they need an additional source of iron.
• Pureed meats, beans, and legumes.  Along with additional iron, babies need another protein source around 6 months to ensure optimal growth.  I used a combination of protein sources because, honestly, it seemed weird feeding my tiny baby meats.
• Vegetables and fruits.  These should be introduced after cereals and meats are accepted.  This later introduction ensures that Baby’s diet isn’t lacking in the much needed protein and iron.  Some recommend introducing veggies first so Baby doesn’t become too accustomed to the sweet flavor of fruits and reject the poor vegetables, but since non-sweetened cereals and meats have already been accepted at this point, that might not be an issue.

  

• Whether you buy store-bought or make your own baby food, use only single ingredient foods at first.  Once your baby is tolerating a few foods, it is okay to combine known foods together.

*Infant cereal should be introduced with a spoon and never given in a bottle.  The cereal changes the consistency of the formula or breast milk, making Baby work harder (read: waste energy) to get it out.  On the other hand, it could throw off Baby’s internal volume cues and contribute to obesity.  Also, adding cereal to a bottle at night does not help children sleep longer.  Rice cereal is a refined carbohydrate, which digests very quickly, so it won’t help Baby to feel fuller longer.  Very young babies need to eat every few hours (their tummies are so tiny) and experts consider “sleeping through the night” from about 11pm-5am, not all night long like adults.  If your baby wakes because he or she is hungry at night, feed your baby.  Please talk to your personal pediatrician or RDN before feeding your baby solids before 4 months or through a bottle.

Timeline and Other Tips

The introduction of individual foods should be spaced at least 3 days apart.  This way, it will be a little more obvious if a specific food is causing a negative reaction in your little one.  These can include: upset tummy, gas, loose stools, or a visible skin reaction, like a rash.  If you have a high history of family allergies or think that your little one may be having an allergic reaction to a food, contact your pediatrician immediately.

Be wary about heating foods in the microwave!  The last thing we want is for Baby to burn his/her sensitive mouth.  Not only does it hurt, but it might create meal time battles in the future.

Remember that when a baby is first starting on solid foods, they should still be receiving about 90% of their energy (read: calories) from breast milk or infant formula.  This ratio will decrease as Baby expands his/her palate and feeding skills, more foods are introduced, and Baby begins to wean from breast or bottle.

If Baby doesn’t seem to like a certain food at first, be patient.  Continue to offer the food with other foods that Baby does like.  It can take over two dozen exposures to a certain food before Baby develops a taste for it.  Breastfed babies may be more accepting of different flavors because they have gotten little samples of the tastes that Mama is eating.

Foods to Not Introduce

We talked about good first foods, so now which foods are better left until later?

• Choking hazards.  These include things like nuts or seeds, popcorn, raisins (or other small dried-fruits), whole grapes, stringy meats, hot dogs, hard raw fruits and vegetables, sticky foods (like nut butters) that can get stuck in the back of Baby’s mouth, and other foods that Baby can’t chew yet.
• Honey.  Until Baby is one year old, his/her digestive tract is too immature to handle possible botulism spores that may be found in honey.
• Milks that aren’t especially made for human babies.  Milks from cows, sheep, goats, and even soybeans or rice are not appropriate until baby is at least one year old.  Breast milk and infant formula are the ways to go for now.  (I will talk about other liquids in a future post.)  However, milk products, like whole milk yogurt and cheeses are acceptable for babies older than 6 months as complementary foods.
• Foods with added salt and sugar.  Babies do not need these additives.  Let them enjoy the natural flavors of foods, or add other herbs and spices to enhance flavor.  Some baby food companies sell “baby desserts”, which are completely unnecessary.  Fruit is nature’s dessert.  By not adding salt and sugar into Baby’s foods now, it is less likely that he/she will want them (or at least as much of them) later.
• Foods with excessive, unhealthy fats.  Growing babies need fat for good brain development, however, things like fried foods or items made with a lot of butter or cream can contribute to obesity and a taste for these high-calorie foods later in life.  Try healthy fats, like olive or canola oil, avocado, egg yolks, or salmon (once they’re introduced).
• Highly allergenic foods.  All new foods should be monitored for possible negative reaction, but these Top Eight Allergens (responsible for about 90% of all allergic reactions to food) should certainly not be the first foods offered to Baby.  These include: egg whites, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and cow’s milk.  I will write another post on food allergies and Baby.

Good luck with this new experience, Mamas!  Look for future posts on Baby-Led Weaning and more on my experiences feeding my daughter.

Don’t forget to see if your baby is ready for solids in Part One.

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