When We Can Start Solid Food for Baby
By the time your baby is 4 to 6 months old, you've probably got your breastfeeding or formula drill downwardly to an art. Don't become too comfy, though—your child will soon be set up for "real" food. Here's everything to know most starting Babe on solids, with tips for mastering mealtime.
When to Starting time Solids
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says yous should start your child on solids between 4 and half-dozen months, but the answer really depends on your infant. Here are some signs that your little one may be set up for infant food:
- They tin sit upright and hold up their head.
- They are curious, looking at everything around them—peculiarly what you lot're eating!
- They lost the natural language thrust reflex that automatically pushes food out of their oral cavity.
- They still seem hungry after getting a full 24-hour interval'south portion of milk (eight to 10 breastfeedings or virtually 32 ounces of formula).
Remember, there's no need to rush this milestone. Most babies are ready to start solids between five and 6 months. Don't start solids before 4 months.
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How to Introduce Baby to Solids
The AAP recommends exclusive breastfeeding for vi months, also as supplemental breastfeeding until your infant turns one. (Formula is too a great option for moms who can't or don't desire to breastfeed). Introducing solids is more than virtually getting them used to chewing and swallowing food than providing any significant nutritional benefit.
Give your babe the chest or bottle start thing in the morn, before or subsequently meals, and earlier bedtime. At the first, yous'll have to experiment to find what works best. If they're a big drinker—say, if they'd drinkable a whole canteen before a meal, given the take chances—feed them first with food and then with a canteen. If they're a moderate drinker, try the opposite.
- Upward to 9 months, feed your infant 20 to 28 ounces of formula daily or breast milk every iii to 4 hours.
- At 9 to 12 months, feed them 16 to 24 ounces of formula daily or chest milk every 4 to 5 hours.
As shortly as your little one understands the concept of eating and shows interest in mealtime (this usually happens betwixt 6 and 9 months), start them on a routine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even if they aren't hungry at times, they'll get used to the idea of eating on a schedule. (That said, never force or force per unit area your baby to eat. If they aren't interested, just take them out of the high chair and move on.)
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"My goal for the babies I care for is to get them on a big-boy or big-daughter eating schedule by the time they turn 1," says pediatrician Sara DuMond, Thousand.D. "This means they should swallow 3 meals a day with 2 to three snacks in between."
- At 4 to 6 months, feed your infant two meals, each two to four tablespoons.
- At 7 to 12 months, feed them three meals, each the size of your baby's fist.
Every bit your infant adjusts to eating solids, know that there may be days when they're more than interested in peas and carrots than in the chest or bottle and, on the flip side, days when all they'll desire to do is nurse. This is all normal as your baby begins to abound more independent, but for now, they notwithstanding need their normal mean solar day's worth of breast milk or formula.
Baby's First Foods by Age
At that place are no difficult and fast rules for a baby's first foods. It'due south more important to offer a variety of fruits, vegetables, and meats in any order to get your baby used to different tastes. Here are some suggestions.
4 to vi months: Single-grain cereals
The level of iron that's stored in utero drops after birth, and a baby reaches an all-time low at around 9 months. That's why cereals fortified with iron are an ideal early food. Combine ane teaspoon of unmarried-grain cereal with four to 5 teaspoons of breast milk or formula.
At outset, most of the cereal volition end up on your baby's mentum. "The point is to get your babe used to a dissimilar type of eating," says Westward. Allan Walker, M.D., director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School, in Boston. "Although information technology'southward sloppy and frustrating, you need to go through this process."
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Don't strength your babe to continue eating if they shake their head no, turn away, or refuse to open afterward simply i mouthful. And if they seem completely uninterested in trying cereal, expect a calendar week or and then and endeavour once again.
In one case your baby is used to swallowing runny cereal, thicken information technology past using less h2o or breast milk and more than cereal.
4 to 8 months: Pureed veggies, fruits, and meats
You may accept heard that eating fruits earlier vegetables can cause a lifelong preference for sweet foods, just there'southward no research to dorsum that up. So it'due south up to you to determine whether you brainstorm with bananas or carrots—or pureed chicken for that thing.
The AAP also believes that introducing allergenic foods early on tin reduce the risk of developing a food allergy, especially if your child is at risk. Mutual allergenic foods include peanuts, eggs, and dairy. Cheque out this article for more than information.
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half dozen to 8 months: Single-ingredient finger foods
Whether yous've begun with purees or are starting solids with finger foods, many babies relish experimenting with cocky-feeding from an early age. Don't offer any hard, raw foods (such as apple slices or carrot sticks) at this betoken. Make sure fruits and veggies are soft plenty to mash with gentle pressure level between your pollex and forefinger.
The shape matters too. Younger babies volition exist picking foods upwardly with their whole palms, and so a mound of mashed potatoes or a wedge of avocado volition exist easier to handle than smaller foods. Don't put salt or sugar in their food—it's best if your baby learns to like information technology without the added seasonings.
9 to 12 months: Chopped, ground, or mashed foods
As soon as your child is able, transition them away from smooth purees. Incorporate more finger foods with texture like yogurt, cottage cheese, mashed bananas, and mashed sweet potatoes. They tin can also employ more iron, and so try pureed meats like beef, craven, and turkey.
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Solid foods to avoid
You should avoid giving infants the following foods:
Cow's milk: Stick with breast milk and formula as a primary potable until your infant is one year old. It's fine to employ cow'due south milk in cooking or baking, though.
Choking hazards. Avoid these choking hazards during your infant'southward first year: nuts, seeds, raisins, hard candy, grapes, hard raw vegetables, popcorn, peanut butter, and hot dogs.
Tips for Managing Mealtime
Create a routine. A infant needs focus to eat, and so start a routine where you lot wash their easily, soothe them, and then sit them down to swallow. And maintain the calmness by turning off the TV and whatsoever loud music. "This will help your baby go witting of eating and acquire to recognize when he'southward total," says Marilyn Tanner, RD, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Empathise that starting solids takes time. It will take time for your baby to experience comfortable with the new sensations that go along with eating—the feel of a spoon in their mouth and the tastes and textures of unlike foods. "I reassure parents that you might get grimaces and horrible faces," says Laura Jana, Thousand.D., co-author of Food Fights. "My daughter used to shriek when I put a spoonful of food in her mouth. But she wanted more."
Set for messes. Your babe volition likely fling nutrient everywhere, especially if you're practicing baby-led weaning. This is common and doesn't necessarily indicate a dislike. "Getting food into his mouth takes coordination and practice for the infant," Tanner says.
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Spotter out for allergies. To brand pinpointing allergies easier, requite your child simply one new food at a time and await three or four days before trying another. Keep an center out for signs of an allergic reaction or intolerance, similar a rash, hives, wheezing, difficulty breathing, airsickness, excessive gas, diarrhea, or blood in their stools. Telephone call your pediatrician if you notice any of these symptoms (they can take minutes or days to appear), and go to the ER if the reaction seems serious.
Baby Nutrient Chart for Starting Solids
Take a page from our healthy-from-the-start handbook and take the guesswork out of what foods to introduce, and when. Impress it out...and start feeding!
Credit: Christina Minopoli
Source: https://www.parents.com/baby/feeding/solid-foods/starting-solids-guide/
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