Starting Solids, What to Feed and When?

Karen G really is a gift to all of us. She gave you great information. Cereal than veggies tha fruit. Small amounts that increase. SHe said it all.

Good Luck

Hi there,

If you are breastfeeding, rice cereal really isn't necessary at all. In fact, sometimes the iron in it can cause constipation (my 2nd had a terrible problem with this, so i could never give it to her).

You can really start with whatever you wish-- usually fruits or veggies, introducing a new food 3-5 days apart so you can easily identify allergies.

If you are so inclined, it's easy to make your own baby food and not only will you know exactly what's in it and how it was produced, but your baby will get used to what real food tastes like in your house and it can improve his eating later on. ( I have tasted some of those "toddler meals" and they taste like TV dinners)

To make your own veggies/fruit, just boil or steam the item and then mash it up in a food mill, blender or food processor. You can freeze individual portions in an ice cube tray and keep them in a plastic bag in the freezer. When feeding, you can thin with water or whatever your baby normally drinks (breastmilk or formula)

Some foods you can introduce early on are: banana (just mash and feed), sweet potato, avocado, apple, pear, peach, butternut or acorn squash, zucchini or yellow squash, peas.

Believe it or not, some experts are now recommending that you start with protein-- like meat.

There's a lot of info out there, but I think the order in which you introduce foods to your baby is less important than offering a healthy mixture and watching for allergies. Here's a great site with all kinds of info:

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/first-foods.html

The nice thing about waiting till 6 months is that very soon your son will be able to eat "real" food with minimal mashing, so you won't have to work so hard-- you can just give him very tiny pieces to pick up and eat. Good luck!

Hi J.,
I too had so many such questions when my girls were begining with solids. Have you started him on any rice cereal yet? If not, I would start with that. If you have, I would try some oatmeal and then begin with some veggies, the sweeter ones first, sweet potatoes and carrots. I also would try the new solids in the mornings in case there are any allergic reactions or any upset tummies. Also try a new solid for a few days before starting a new one. A great book is "Super Baby Food", I can't remember the author but it was, still is, very helpful to me. Good luck!
Jen B

I really think it's all a matter of preference what you start with. Just be careful with carrots as nitrates are naturally occuring in them, and babies can't really digest nitrates until they're over six months.

For the record, both my children started with bananas and they eat very well-balanced diets now. All children are biologically programmed to dislike any bitter taste (like most vegetables) and like sweet. They have more taste buds than we do--this was a survival thing once, because poisonous foods usually taste bitter.

The trick is to keep them trying vegetables (at least a little) over and over--I think it takes 20 times--until they like them. Don't give up on a food because they dislike it right away.

I started with veggies because I was told if you start with fruit they might not like veggies later. I started with the jarred baby food (there is only like 5 of them) and would give one food only for 3-4 days. When I could I started giving veggies twice a day and then started fruit. Keep in mind some of the vegetable can cause gas (especially squash). Let me know if you have more questions.
N.

You should always start with that baby cereal, either rice or oatmeal and mix it with breastmilk or formula whatever you are doing. You start out by mixing it so it is quite runny til they get used to it and just thicken it up a bit over time depending on how your baby does. My dr. wanted us to do all veggies first and then fruits but what we did was alternate. And you must start a veggie or fruit and continue with only that particular item (in addition to the cereal you already do) for 3 days to ensure there is no allergy and then you can safely try another food. It was overwhelming to me at first too but you get the hang of it quickly and it's really exciting to see what they will love and what they'll make a face for :). Good luck!

Cereals really aren't necessary, in fact the US is one of only a few countries that even do such a thing. They usually taste terrible and can be very binding to a baby's system. Start with a small taste of fruits and veggies following the usual nursing or bottle.
Nutrition still comes from the breastmilk or formula and the solids serve only as taste and socialization at this point-so they should eat their normal 'milk' meal first and fill up. Their immature guts still cannot process or extract nutrients from the solids anyway until they mature more. I was advised by a local lactation consultant to start with avacado, sweet potato and banana as easily digestible good first foods. I also own the Smart Start Cwork-book and it advises along the same lines. I would stay away from any sugary processed baby/toddler foods including the cobblers, puddings, custards, and 'desserts'....why do they think infants need all this processed junk, additives and sugar anyhow??? Gross.

Also, let them touch i and make a mess! This is what the food/learning process is about! This makes eating with the family fun and exciting by exploring the foods textures and tastes, with thier mouths and hands! Also, if you notice alot of fussiness, gas or rash within a short time(anywhere from that day up to 3-5 days later) of any new food, you will know that they aren't ready for that food yet. Sometimes it's just a sensitivity, not a true allergy, and hopefully they will grow out of it soon. Best wishes for happy feeding!

DO NOT give him fruits or pudding until he learns to eat and like all his veggies. There is no going back. If he has fruit first you will never get him to eat veggies. He can have cereal to start with and then introduce veggies, then meats and fruits last..........

First, let me say that you have already received some great advice, and I am not sure if I can contribute that much more.

I started at five months offering organic brown rice cereal. He wasn't interested. I tried every week until he decided he was ready, and once he started, there was no looking back. After several days of rice cereal, we switched to oatmeal. I added one new food at a time, to observe for allergies. After a couple weeks of just cereal, we moved on to carrots, peas, squash, sweet potatoes and bananas, always introduced one at a time to observe for allergies. Later on, we added other fruit and fruit juice diluted with water. By ten months, yogurt, cheese (real cheese, not the plasticized stuff) and meat. Today, at fourteen months, he eats like a horse and will eat almost anything, including pickles and beets, cranberry relish, garlic, and all sorts of ethnic foods, Chinese, Indian, Ethiopian, Cuban, Mexican, Italian. The only thing he spits out are brussels sprouts. But we will keep trying.

I found a neat feeding device -- mesh bags. You put frozen fruit in them, such as bananas, blueberries or peaches, which the baby can gum on while teething. Whoever invented that idea deserves to be a millionaire.

As important as what to feed your baby is what NOT to feed your baby. Many sources agree that honey and nuts, especially peanuts should wait until age 2. Citrus fruit and fish should wait until at least the first birthday, and be fed sparingly after that. Some also say to wait for egg yolks. I have read these cautions in many publications (books and online) and have been told by doctors. Probably he could eat these things and be just fine, but why take any chances? There are so many other good things to eat.

For the most part, the baby eats what we do, and started eating our food at about eight months. We avoid sugar and junk foods, and being conscious about his diet has had a healthy impact on the whole family. I see these parents who feed their babies and toddlers soda and candy, and it just makes me crazy. I have to bite my tongue.

WHAT TO EXPECT THE FIRST YEAR, is a great book. I got mine at Target. Anyway, there is a whole chapter on starting solids. I started both my sons on yellows and oranges first; sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, (Stage 1). Then, I moved on to the greens; green beans and peas. Once they got used to the veggies, I introduced the fruits. My boys love their veggies, they are 3 and 1. I feel blessed.

Congratulations and best of luck,
J. L.
Tampa, Fl

J.,when my son was 4 months his pediatrician said to start with the baby rice cereal mixed with either breastmilk or formula. and you can maybe start with a friut (stage 1), this can even be mixed in to the cereal-n- milk. it is good to only try one flavor a week to make sure their are no alergic reactions to each food. T. (also a first time mom of a (almost 2 year old son.)

They say to start with rice cereal, fruits and veggies. When my baby started I usually gave him rice cereal with a few bites of a fruit (like bananas or applesauce) lunch a veggie and for dinner a little more rice cereal and bites of fruit or veggie. He will get the nutrients he needs, his main nutrients are from either breastmilk or formula (whichever your doing) and lots of those baby foods have a good amount of vitamins in them. And also when you make the rice cereal (or oatmeal) use apple juice to make it. As the cereal has iron in it and the vitamin c from the apple juice enhances the iron absorption.
And dont worry if baby doesnt eat too much-even if its a few bites it does help to start the meal routines with him.
Good luck

I started my oldest at 4 months and my second daughter at 6 months. I have to tell you, waiting until 6 months makes things so much easier...but if your son is ready now, start out with some Baby Rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula (whichever he drinks normally).

Start out serving him cereal for breakfast only. Try it an hour or so after he has breastfed or had his first bottle. Start in very small quantities, like one tablespoon of dry cereal with added milk/formula. He probably will only eat a few spoonfuls at first.

Since he is still only 5 months old, I would stick with Rice cereal for the first few weeks, until he is 6 months old. Just gradually increase the amount you feed him until he is eating 2-4 tablespoons for breakfast.

Once he is at 6 months, you can introduce Baby Oatmeal for breakfast and add a lunch. I started with vegetables instead of fruit for both my girls. it seems their sweet tooth doesn't get established quite so quickly that way. Start with something simple, like carrots. Again, start with a small quantity and work your way up. You should stick with carrots (or whatever you start with) for a few days, then you can add another vegetable at dinner time. Maybe something green like peas or beans. Again, start with small quantities.

You should wait a few days before introducing each new food. Once your son has the hang of say carrots and peas, you can mix them together for lunch and introduce another veggie plain for dinner. Keep this up adding squash, sweet potato, etc. and at around 8 months you can start adding meat to his meals. I make my own baby food, so I cooked brown rice or other whole grains and ground them up with whatever meat I was making at the time before I froze it. Babies don't need so much protein right off, so this helps dilute it and adds the ever important carbs to their diet.

A few things to remember: Sometimes it takes a couple of meals for a new food to start agreeing with the baby. Just because your son does not eat peas the first take does not mean you should give up on them! Keep giving them to him for several days. He will catch on to the new flavor soon enough. Making your own baby food provides its advantages, such as more vitamins and minerals are in the food if you do the cooking and processing rather than Gerber. there are many places online to find tips on how to make your own baby food. MOST IMPORTANTLY, your son will still be getting most of his nutrients through breastmilk or formula until around the age of 1, so don't worry about how much he is eating and whether he is getting a totally balanced diet from solid foods right now. Really from 5 months to around 10 months what you are doing is introducing new foods and flavors to him so that he gets used to the taste and texture. At around 10 months you might notice a drop in breastmilk or formula intake as he starts eating more and more solids. You can also start giving him Cheerios and things like frozen peas to him for snacks between meals around this time...

I realize this is a lot of information, but I remember how anxious I was with my first daughter, and so I thought I would try to give you as much as possible!

Hi J. remember that for the first year babies main nutrients come from the breast or formula which ever you decided. However, when introducing solids offer breast first(or bottle) then I would start out with a rice ceral for about a week or and then slowly introduce new food. Starting with vegies. Remember too that a baby can refuse food up to 10 times b4 they actually decide to go along with it. So the first time you give him green beans and he turns his nose, dont let that be the last. Good eating habbits start early.Also try one food at a time due to allergies. I also recomend getting a baby food grinder and just grinding your own fresh vegies or fruit. Hope that helps. Never be in to much of a hurry they grow up so fast. My daughter is 5 months as well and I do not olan to indroduce untill about 7 months! Good Luck