As young parents, we are overwhelmed about what to need for our infants and how to start a healthy and proper diet for babies. The first food we introduce has a lot of cultural significance and varies across the globe.
While starting solid food one needs to be extremely patient with the baby. Keep distractions such as phones, tablets, and TVs away from the kid and start slow and give a variety of foods.
Exclusive breast feeding for the first 6 months or feeding formula feed as recomended by your pediatrican.
Again I cannot stress this enough "Exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months is probably the best start you can give for your child as a parent". Know more about diet during the first six months here.
When to Start Solid Food?
You need to start solid food typically from the age of 6 months. At 6 months your baby's needs cannot be met by just breastmilk or formula. To promote healthy growth and development even after beginning solid foods you can continue breastfeeding for one year or even more as mutually desired by the parent and the child.
A lot of older parents from the previous generation introduce solid food at the age of 3- 4 months, due to hunger cues from the baby, but ideally one must introduce solid food from 6 months and definitely not when the baby is below 4 months. Most mothers and families start solid food earlier because they think their baby is fussier than usual or wakes up at night, but this is normal. Exclusive breastfeeding is essential for the baby to get the essential nutrition and antibodies and it's important that the baby is developed enough to start solid food. Some physical cues that can help you according to the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) are:
Ability to sit with support or sit alone.
Able to control head and neck without support
Opens mouth when food is offered
Swallows food rather than pushing it back on the chin
Starts to bring objects to the mouth
trying to grasp a toy or a food
transfers food from the front to the back of the tongue to swallow.
Start solid food when the baby turns 6 months
What food should my baby eat first?
Different cultures have different ideologies about what should be a baby's first food. You can introduce anything soft, mashed, or pureed. It's important to explore different tastes and textures of food. A variety of foods like cereals (rice, wheat, barley, etc.), Vegetables (potato, carrots), Fruits ( banana, apple, tomato), green leafy vegetables like spinach, and yogurt/ curd can be given. Always introduce a vegetable before fruit as fruits are naturally sweet. We have a natural fondness for sweet tastes than bland and other tastes. Make sure you prepare food without salt and added sugar and honey.
It's important to explore different tastes and textures of food
What foods to avoid till baby turns 1?
Any food with added sugar- Can cause obesity, and tooth decay and can make babies avoid breastmilk, as sugar is sweeter than breast milk. Breast milk is still an important diet for your baby till the kid turns one.
Honey- Honey should not to added to babies diet until she/ he turns one. Honey contains bacteria that can cause infant boutislm.
Food with added salt- Your baby does not require food with added salt. Excess salt in babies can damage kidneys and cause hypertension.
Cow milk- Drinking cow's milk is not recommended for babies below 12 months. Introducing cow's milk early can cause iron deficiency anemia. But you curd and ghee are safe to giv.
Fruit juices- Many of us think fruit juices are substitutes for fruits and have high nutritional value, but according to the American Academy of Pediatrics even 100% pressed Fruit juices offer little or no nutritional value and contain high sugar and calories
Foods to avoid are added salt, added sugar, honey, cow's milk, fruit juices till age one.
How to prepare solid food?
Start slow. It doesn't matter if your baby is not eating a lot. Eating is a new activity for the kids. Start with blended, pureed, completely cooked, and strained food, Once your child is comfortable with this texture you can move on to mashed and lumpy food. Once, your baby is comfortable with lumpy food and learns to chew them you can start giving finger food.
Tips for preparing food for your kids:
Mix cereals and cooked, mashed, or pureed grains like rice, wheat, and barely with breast milk or formula
Puree or mash the vegetables into a smooth texture
If you are starting with hard fruits/ vegetables such as apples/carrots can be cooked and then mashed
While cooking food, make sure you cook until it can be mashed easily with a fork
Clean and remove fat, skin, and bones from meat and fish thoroughly before cooking
Wash and peel raw fruits and vegetables.
Remove seeds from fruit like grapes and oranges.
Cut spherical foods such as grapes, tomatoes, and berries into small pieces.
Cool hot food first and test them before giving it to your baby.
Start slow, Start with blended, pureed food, progress to mashed food then to lumpy food and finally finger foods. Always watch your baby eat. To prevent choking hazard cut spherical food into small peices.
How much and how often to give food?
Start slow. Remember that it can take even 10 or 50 tries for the baby to start eating and liking something. Be patient. In the beginning, just 2-3 spoonfuls of food 2-3 times a day will be enough.
According to WHO for a child 6-8 months of age 2-3 meals per day areWha sufficient and the rest of her needs should be met with breast milk or formula. For a child from 9-23 months 3-4 meals per day with 1-2 additional snacks as required.
Remember snacking is not treating and indulging time. Adopt healthy and nutritious snacks for kids.
Continue breastfeeding till the infant turns one or even more as desired.
According to WHO for a child 6-8 months of age 2-3 meals per day is sufficient and the rest of her needs should be met with breast milk or formula. For a child from 9-23 months 3-4 meals per day with 1-2 additional snacks as required.
How to give water?
Water is an important part of our diet be it adults or babies. Once solid food is introduced babies can be trained to take a few sips of water after every meal. Start with a spoonful of water and slowly progress to giving it in a cup. Make sure you buy a valveless cup or a beaker. A valveless cup is messy and a lot of work, since the kid will have to learn how to hold and drink water but it helps better in swallowing patterns and prevents cavities. Make sure the beaker or cup you choose does not have any sharp margins which can hurt your baby's mouth.
Advice your baby to take a few sips of water after every meal. Avoid using sippy cups and valved cups.
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