Breastfeeding is a beautiful but challenging journey that you embark on with your baby. It’s not always easy to achieve and it can be hard to find someone to talk to when you have an issue! Continue reading »
Once it comes time to introduce solids to your baby’s diet, things can get a little confusing with all the well-meaning advice. We’ve asked nutritionist, mother of two and author of What Do I Feed My Baby, Leanne Cooper to clear up the confusion on starting solids with your baby.
Babies and families are all quite different which is why the recommendations are now more flexible. It’s recommended that babies begin solids when they show appropriate signs of readiness between four and six months (26 weeks).
At around four months, many babies start to show interest in the food you eat. Remember even though babies at a much younger age might seem curious about what you put in their mouth, to a baby their mouth is their whole world – if it goes into even your mouth it must be interesting. So in itself, this isn’t necessarily a sign of readiness. Babies need to have good head control to start solids – have you ever tried to swallow food when your chin is sitting on your chest?
Starting solids is a great stage and so many of us are keen to start baby on solids; however, don’t be tempted to start too early (before 16 weeks or before baby is physically ready). Early solids can be a challenge to baby’s immature immune and digestive systems; plus gagging or vomiting on food can put them off, to name just a few issues.
If you wait too long before starting your baby on solids, you do run the risk of compromising baby’s nutrition. At about six months of age the stores of iron that a baby is born with become depleted; that’s why iron-fortified baby cereals are often recommended as a first food. Starting solids is also important for motor development skills, for example chewing.
Sweet potato is a great vegetable to start with as it’s tasty and has a low GI. Avocado (which is in fact a fruit) is also an excellent starter; its fat composition is similar to breast milk. From there just keep working your way through the vegetables, interspersing them with fruit; before too long you will be adding other food groups. Keep in mind also that babies are born with a love of sweet tastes, so watch out for an over reliance on sweet foods, variety is the key.
Iron-enriched infant cereal is one of the best sources of iron. However, a number have high GI ratings, and on their own many babies find these quite bland and a bit on the dull side. Making infant cereal your second or third choice can help with baby’s acceptance.
Babies’ kidneys are not as adept as ours at processing the waste products from food; hence per gram of food they need more fluid to process it. Even the smallest sips of clean water (juice is not recommended in infancy) from an age- appropriate sipper cup regularly throughout the day can go a long way to avoiding any problems such as constipation. Even if baby rejects water at first, keep offering it as often as you can during the day (babies don’t have great thirst reflexes) they will eventually take to it.
