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Starting Solid Food
What Experts Say
Out of seemingly nowhere, your breast- or bottle-fed baby suddenly locks her gaze on your hand as you spoon cereal from your bowl. What's going on here? As early as 4 months of age and usually by 6 months, babies begin to notice food. It's a clue that while breast milk or infant formula will continue to be her mainstay, she's ready to supplement her liquid diet with solid foods.
Opinions vary on the ideal first food for babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Association of Family Physicians, and other experts have long recommended iron-fortified infant rice cereal. Most babies digest and tolerate it well, and it's easy to mix the cereal to the consistency she needs, plus it contains key vitamins and minerals plus iron. However, the AAP is rethinking...
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My wife and I found that our children tolerated rice cereal very well. We would use it to thicken up their formula as early as 3 months. Putting a teaspoon or so into a bottle of 4 ounces filled them up well and helped them sleep and it was fairly easy to still flow through the nipple.
Later, around 6 months, we started mixing fruits and vegetables into the cereal to the consistancy of yogurt and used a plunger like feeder. Minimal mess that way.
Mashed bananas are also a great starter-solid. The sweetness and moisture makes it easier for babies to get down.
Right as she was beginning solid foods, we happened to be in Japan, where infants' first food is not rice cereal, but actual rice, softened and watered down to the consistency of a thin puree. As a child grows, they eat thicker and thicker rice soup, until they're eating regular rice along with the family by about 12 mos.
Avoiding Additives By Grinding 'Real Food'
It was surprising to read the label on commercial baby food jars and see how often additives, especially salt, were present. Most commercial apple sauce also includes high fructose corn syrup. While taking into account the caveats mentioned above about nitrates in carrots and beets, parents may prefer to feed their children to fresh fruits, vegetable, pasta and other "real foods" in a baby food grinder. This can also provide a head start for acclimating kids to eat what the rest of the
family eats, which cuts down on the need for special meal preparation.
Mashed bananas are also a great starter-solid. The sweetness and moisture makes it easier for babies to get down.
Try Out Various Cereals & Foods
Introducing solid foods gradually, one at a time, we were able to gauge our daughter's reaction to each one. We started with rice cereal, then barley cereal, and then a wheat-based cereal, introduced about a month apart beginning at 6 months. When she appeared to have a mild allergic reaction to the wheat, we stopped it, then reintroduced it a few months later, with much success.Right as she was beginning solid foods, we happened to be in Japan, where infants' first food is not rice cereal, but actual rice, softened and watered down to the consistency of a thin puree. As a child grows, they eat thicker and thicker rice soup, until they're eating regular rice along with the family by about 12 mos.
Avoiding Additives By Grinding 'Real Food'
It was surprising to read the label on commercial baby food jars and see how often additives, especially salt, were present. Most commercial apple sauce also includes high fructose corn syrup. While taking into account the caveats mentioned above about nitrates in carrots and beets, parents may prefer to feed their children to fresh fruits, vegetable, pasta and other "real foods" in a baby food grinder. This can also provide a head start for acclimating kids to eat what the rest of thefamily eats, which cuts down on the need for special meal preparation.
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February 23, 2008
Cereal in a Bottle?
"My wife and I found that our children tolerated rice cereal very well. We would use it to thicken up their formula as early as 3 months. Putting a teaspoon or so into a bottle of 4 ounces filled them up well and helped them sleep and it... read more
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