How Did You Introduce Food into Your Babies Diet?

The best is to ask your Pediatrician, since he/she would know your baby best and any specifics.

the reason to offer 1 food at a time, for at least 1 week at a time, is to rule out any adverse or allergic reactions.

Every new food you introduce, keep it separate at first. Do not give any meats yet (baby food), it's too early and baby digestive system & kidneys cannot process this yet.

Build up slowly... solids at 1 meal per day. Then, gradually, (some say after several weeks or after a month), perhaps add 1 other meal. Then over time, before you know it, baby will have 3 meals of solids a day.

Usually, do an "orange" or "green" type vegetable first....then, at about 12 months (per my pediatrician) meats can be added. Later, tofu is also a great "vegetable" based protein. Also, do not give spinach yet....even baby food...for at least I think it was until 9 or 12 months old...there are certain things in it which is not good yet for a young baby.

Everyone is different...but my pediatrician prefers to add different food groups slowly and over time... not rushing it, over the course of leading up to 12 months old.

For me personally, I would introduce a new food after 1 month.

Keep in mind though, that for the first year of life, breastmilk/formula is the PRIMARY source of nutrition for a baby. Usually, solids is given after nursing. If giving solids "before" nursing...this is done to promote "weaning" from breast.

there are lot of different approaches... the point isn't to give the baby 3 meals a day right away...it is to introduce food, slowly, so their system can get used to it, and adapt to it. After all, a baby's digestive system & internal organs are still forming still.

Ask your Pediatrician though...they each have their own approach and ideas about it. Some more conservative and some more liberal.

Don't feel like an "idiot" for asking... any question is important to a Mom no matter how small.
All the best, take care,
~Susan

Hi! Go to babycenter.com They are a great resource for this sort of thing! Type in "feeding" in the search box. Then you choose your babies age bracket. They have tons of great information, pretty detailed too. I do know that babies by nature prefer foods mixed together. Let me know if this helped. good luck

Hi K.,

I say keep breastfeeding for at least one year. My son's dermatologist, pediatrician, allergist and my fertility doctor all recommended at least one year of breastfeeding. As for solids, we started with rice cereal, one meal a day about 1 - 1 and a half tbs. Did that for two weeks. then moved on to oatmeal cereal then on to multi-grain cereal ( one week each). After all three, we started the veggies. I was giving each exclusively at first. Then i started mixing the veggies with his cereal. He is 9 mos now and i still have not given him any fruits - sugar content is higher and i don't want to encourage that. No juices either. He is 9 mos now. I feed him cereal and veggies twice a day and breastfeed him about 4-5 times a day. He is now up to 3 and a half tbs of cereal and half of a 2nd foods jar of veggies. Oh yeah, since we are adding water to his cereal, i also add a scoop of formula to his food. If you are using breastmilk to mix her food, then you can skip the formula. His doctor suggested adding the formula for extra nutrition.

You've gotten some great tips on feeding, and I can't add anything there. But I wanted to comment on the biting while nursing. My babies all did that, I think probably most do. Anyway, my pediatrician recommended that when baby bites while nursing to lightly tap or flick baby on the forehead. Not to hurt, but to cause surprise. Baby will soon connect the biting to the surprise (tap, flick) and will stop doing it. I nursed my kids for 9 months (would have been longer, but I introduced the bottle and she decided that was easier and gave up nursing), 2 years, and 3 years respectively (the second two never had a bottle). Good luck!

Hi Kelly, Give her fruit and cereal in the morning for breakfast, then give her about 4 oz of formula to was it down ( that's what i did) then give her a bottle between breakfast and lunch, and the3n for lunch give her a jar of fruit and a jar of any kind of veggies, then give her a botttle between lunch and dinner, then for dinner you haven'y started her on meats yet, give her nother jar of fruit and jar a veggies, then if she isn't sleeping through the night yet, give her cereal before bed time, in between that you can give her gerber snacks. Hope this helps. J.

www.askdrsears.com or The Baby Book by Dr. sears if you have it - both resources have a great section on what to feed at what age.

M.