subject: Is It Time For Solids? Read About Baby Nutrition! [print this page] Baby Nutrition: How do I know It is time?
One of the signs to indicate that it is time to think about baby nutrition is when the first tooth comes out. Moreover, by the time and in order for your baby to eat solids he/she must have a strong shoulder belt and ability to hold his/her head up and move it from side to side. All of these are likely to happen somewhere between the age of 4-6 months, the time to start feeding your child with solids, gradually, of course
Baby Nutrition: What to start with?
First you should start with offering your baby small amounts (about 2 small spoons a day) of mashed vegetables. You may mash sweet potatoes, carrots, zucchinis, guacamole, etc. Sometimes adding some hot water helps in mashing it better. Try to avoid adding salt at this point. So start for instance with a potato and switch to a different kind of vegetable after 2-3 days to watch for food allergies (this way it would be easier to detect what causes the allergy in case it appears).
The most popular fruits for this age are bananas, apples, pears, peaches, watermelons, melons, and almost any fruit you would like to give him, except for tropical fruits like kiwi, carambola etc.
It is recommended to begin with vegetables rather than fruits because if you do it the other way around your baby will get used to the yummy sweetness of the fruits and will not want to give the "boring" taste of vegetables a try"
Remember, breastfeeding or formula meals are still your baby's main feeding source at this point.
Baby nutrition: 7 months
Around the age of 7 months your baby's diet gets a lot more varied, finally! Now you can cook pasta, rice, chicken and beef, all kinds of legumes, and even make toasts for your baby. You can mix these up with vegetables and can even mash it a lot less now, to get him used to chewing larger pieces of food. By this time solid food meals should replace 2 breastfeeding or formula meals.
Baby nutrition: 9 months
9 month? Your baby has really grown and is able to try eggs and dairy (milk products, NOT milk). Again, small amounts at first and wait a bit to watch for an allergic reaction! Now you can even replace 3 breastfeeding/formula meals with solids from the baby nutrition diet you have composed up until now.
By the time your baby celebrates his first birthday, his baby nutrition is almost the same as yours. He can even drink from a glass by himself, making a big mess under his chair...
Baby nutrition: Foods to avoid during the first year: honey and milk!
Tip: Get your baby a silicon or other soft spoon to protect his sensitive gums.
