Introducing Solids to Your Baby

When to start your baby solids?

Most peditricians will recommend that an infant receives only breastmilk or formula for the first six months of life. This is very different from popular practice thirty years ago (in the 1970's and earlier). Much research has been done on the benefits of breastmilk/formula only for the first 4-6 months as well as research on the detriment of introducing solids too early.

Babies who receive solids too early may have a higher liklihood of developing allergies to the introduced foods. This is largely due to an underdeveloped digestive tract. In general, infants do not create the necessary digestive enzymes until 6 or so months to break-down the food in their digestive tract. As a result, certain antibodies can be created against those foods which may cause allergies in both the short and long term to that food (and possibly other related foods.)

If you are not sure if your child is ready for solids, check with your pediatrician. It is better to play it safe and wait the full six months before trying anything.

Signs that your baby is ready for solids

There are some ways to tell if your baby is ready to move to solids. Here are a few things to look for:

• Able to sit well when supported. In order to swallow, a baby will need to be able to sit upright. It is ok if your baby needs the support of a high chair or pillows to stay upright.
• Head control. Your baby should have full head control by the time he starts solids. Head control is essential for swallowing food properly.
• "Extrusion Reflex" is gone. This reflex is what causes your baby to push things out of his mouth with his tongue. Once this reflex goes away, your baby should be able to pull food from the front of his mouth to the back of his mouth to swallow.
• Often when the above goes away, babies are likely starting to learn how to chew. The ability to chew or to move food to the back of the mouth to swallow generally develops at the same time that the digestive tract develops.
• Teething. In ancient indigenous cultures, it was deemed that a infant was ready for food when he got his first teeth. This can still generally be used as a guideline. Note though that babies teeth at all different rates. Some late teethers (who don't get teeth until they are 8+months old) will likely be ready for solids before they have any teeth.
• Have doubled their birth weight. While there is no golden rule about how much a baby should weigh before introcing solids, some doctors recommend to wait until their baby has doubled his birth weight. For the majority of babies, this happens by 4 months of age. It is important that food not be introduced too soon for babies that are underweight. Solids are not to be given in lieu of breastmilk/formula but rather in addition to.
• Growing appetite. A good sign that your baby is ready for solids is when they are getting their full amount of breastmilk or formula (likely around 32 ounces a day) and they are still hungry.
• Interest in your food. Often a baby will indicate that they are ready for solids when they show much interest in your food. They might do this by staring relentelessly at you when you are eating or by reaching or trying to grab your food.

Best First Foods

Rice Cereal. In general, the best solid to start with is rice cereal. Rice cereal tends to be the least allergenic and most digestable food. If possible, purchase an organic brand of rice cereal. Follow the directions on the box for the first feeding. Note that for the first few feedings you want to make sure that you do not thicken the cereal too much. You still want it to have a runny consistency.

Some pediatricians give the green light on starting rice cereal at 4 months of age. Some even suggest using it for babies who suffer from reflux as it can help to hold some of the liquids down in the belly.

Avocado. After the introduction of rice cereal, avocado can be a great second food. Again, stick with organic if you can. And make sure you use a very ripe one and possibly add some breast milk to make it even runnier.

Sweet potato. After the introduction of rice cereal, sweet potato can be a great second food. Again, stick with organic if you can. And make sure you use a very ripe one and possibly add some breast milk to make it even runnier.

Banana. Banana is also a great first food to introduce. And most babies love it. However, some moms like to wait a bit before introducing banana and other fruits as they do not want their babies to become accustomed to sweet flavors too early. Note that banana is the only recommended fruit to be given as a first feed. It is recommened that all other fruits be cooked when given as early solids.

There are many tips on foods to offer early and how to do. There are also recommendations on foods not to introduce until later. It is recommended to be as knowledgeable as possible about this before beginning your infants voyage into the land of eating solids! To learn more, pick up a book on feeding your child(a good book is Super Baby Food). Developing good eating habits early can be beneficial for your child's entire life.