How to Introduce Solids To Babies: A Guide for Parents
Introducing solid foods to a baby is one of the most challenging jobs for parents, especially new mums. Though it is one of the exciting milestones, being a new parent, consider timelines, safety rules, and your baby’s needs while introducing solids to your infant.
Are you feeling worried if your child gags or chokes while consuming solid food? Well, this is a very common feeling that every parent goes through. Start focusing on the brighter side of the picture where a world of adventure awaits. With solid food, your baby will get exposed to new flavors and textures that they will keep on exploring as they grow. So, stop worrying and let your baby enjoy new foods. No matter if a good portion of food ends up on their bib, floor, or tray. Encouraging your bub to have solid foods takes their taste buds to the next level.
In this article, you will learn everything about solid starts. This guide is designed to make the milestone easy and exciting.
When to Start Solids
The answer to this question depends on your child’s development. According to paediatrics, the ideal age for introducing solids is 6. However, in some cases, babies are content waiting longer. So, even if you are eagerly waiting to hop on the feeding bandwagon, ensure your bub has reached the milestone and is ready to have solid foods.
The best way to understand if the infant is ready is to look for eating readiness signs. Here are some of the signs that you may consider before giving your little one a solid start:
Observe if your little one can hold their head up straight and sit with minimal support. Restrict solid food consumption for your baby until they can sit up straight. Usually, babies can hold their heads up and sit well by 6 months.
Before introducing solids, ensure your child’s tongue thrust reflex has disappeared. To test their thrust reflex, mix a little bit of strained food with breast milk and place the same into your infant’s mouth with the tips of a baby spoon. The baby will throw out the food if they have an active thrust reflex. This is an indication that the little eater is not ready for spoon-feeding.
The movement of your baby’s tongue can tell you a lot about their eating readiness. A child, ready for solid food can move their tongue up-and-down and back-and-forth. Change the eating pattern of your child only after critical observation.
Does your often baby pick up objects and bring them to their mouth? When a child can reach and grab objects, they are almost ready to have table foods. While dining, make your child sit on your lap. If they reach for table foods and cutlery or watch your bites intently, they might have grown up for solid foods.
Safely explore foundation skills for your baby with the aforementioned milestones.
Introduce Food Mindfully
Solid foods open up a new world for your baby. However, be very careful about choosing the first solid foods. Honey, nuts, raising, and hard veggies are some solid foods to be careful with. They are not safe for babies. Avoid introducing such foods to your child before they turn 1.
It’s a good idea to introduce solids in a strained form to your child. Super smooth food decreases the chance of choking. Ensure that the food you are giving your child is dripping off the spoon. If needed, mash the food well before straining it and then thin it with water for better swallowing and digestion.
As your little one becomes a more experienced eater, you may thicken the structure of the food.
You may include the following food in your infants’ daily diet:
Whole veggies, fruits, and cereals that are fresh and organic are great for little eaters. You may also include kelp, seaweed, and other sea vegetables in their diet as they are highly nutritious. However, ensure you cook these veggies or cereals well before introducing them to your baby. Organic fresh vegetables are good sources of vitamins and minerals that boost your child’s immunity and growth.
Cooked organic or hormone-free meats also make good food for babies. You may also give organic poultry and eggs to your little one. Fresh fish (cooked of course) is also a highly nutritious food to introduce to first eaters. Moderate portions of whole proteins and good-quality fats will promote your child’s overall development.
Pre-soaked and well-cooked organic legumes like lentils, chickpeas, beans, etc. can also be introduced to a baby’s diet. If you want, you can give well-cooked organic whole grains to your child as well.
Water should be the most crucial element in your child’s diet. All the cell and organ functions depend entirely on water. Thus, to promote proper your child’s development and avoid unnecessary dehydration, ensure that the baby gets the right amount of water.
Keep the foods separate until the baby develops taste. Wait 8-10 months before you add a new dimension to eating. Spice things up and introduce minced chicken, mashed eggs, cheese, or beans once the child is acquainted with the taste of a particular food. You may mix things up now since the baby is acquainted with different flavors and textures.
Food Allergies in Infants
Starting to feed your child solid food is always an exciting milestone, but parents must choose the solids tactically. Certain foods like milk, soy, wheat products, and eggs may cause allergies in a child. Thus, never introduce new foods to your baby in a hurry. Take time and let your child explore foods one at a time.
A food allergy is defined as the body’s abnormal response to certain foods. Such allergies may affect your child’s immune system and cause hives, asthma, itching, stomach pain, etc. Thus, while exposing your child to a new food, sensitize it through breast milk. If the child is allergic to that new food, symptoms will begin within minutes to an hour after consumption. As there is no such medication to prevent food allergy, avoid making your child have foods that cause the symptoms. You may also see pediatrics to find food groups to which your little one is allergic.
Some of the common foods that cause allergies in children are:
Eggs
Milk
Soy
Wheat products
Peanuts
Fish
Tree nuts
Shellfish
The aforementioned foods cause approximately 90% of allergies in children. Though each child may experience symptoms differently and many of them outgrow their allergies with time, allergies to shellfish, fish or nuts may last a lifetime and cause severe reactions. As some of the symptoms of a food allergy may resemble other medical conditions, it’s always a good idea to diagnose the problem with a doctor for better treatment.
Wholesome Cooking Methods for Infants
For example, microwaving a fresh vegetable may destroy 97% of its flavonoids. On the other hand, conventional boiling destroys 66% of the flavonoid content, and high-pressure boiling leaches out the content into the cooking water.
For children, cook foods on a lower flame for longer periods of time. This cooking process is known as wholesome cooking as it doesn’t destroy the nutritional content of the food. You may also steam veggies and fruits for your infant and then mash them for easy digestion. Steaming is an excellent cooking method as it preserves the natural goodness of the food.
Always remember that cooking methods affect the nutritional content of the food. Thus, while preparing food for your little one, be specific about the cooking method you are following.
Apart from steaming, you may also try out stewing, baking, pureeing, or sauteing methods for cooking. However, it’s better to avoid the boiling method for cooking food for children. Also, never give fried foods to babies as they may weaken their digestive power and impact their overall development.
Wholesome Nutritional Tips for Infants
Breastfeed your child as long as you can
Provide organic and seasonal fruits and veggies for better nutrition
Choose whole and simple foods for your baby
Ensure that the food is close to its natural state
Give fresh, warm, cooked food that doesn’t weaken your baby’s digestive fire
Give age-appropriate foods for proper digestion
Avoid giving dairy products and refined sugars for the first 18 months
Keep your baby’s digestive capacity in mind and, thus, avoid offering too many foods in one meal
Avoid over-feeding your child
Maximize their Omega-3 intake
Provide regular probiotics to your little one
Techniques of Introducing Solids
The method of child feeding is a personal choice that may vary from culture to culture. However, the two basic methods are- the spoon-feeding method and the baby-led weaning method. No matter which technique you follow, try to introduce finger foods to your baby by 9 months so that they can practice self-feeding more efficiently.
Baby-Led Weaning
Baby-led weaning is an interesting way to introduce solids to your little eater. In this method, spoon-feeding or puree-feeding is skipped so that the baby can explore solid foods from a very early age. This method of feeding is gaining popularity in recent times as it encourages the baby to be self-sufficient. So, if you do not want your child to be a picky eater or want to emphasize your child’s independence, the baby-led weaning method is the right choice for both you and your infant.
Pros:
The child becomes self-sufficient and learns the art of eating independently from an early stage
Develops total control over grasp; The baby gradually develops fine, gross and oral motor skills
As the baby eats independently, they gradually learn to stop when full; With the development of appetite control, they can now communicate with their caregivers more efficiently
With this feeding approach, the baby demands fewer special meals; they mostly eat what their parents eat
The baby gets exposed to different flavours and textures; self-exploration gradually reduces picky eating
The baby gets better nourishment as they are feeding upon real food; Baby-led weaning is a less expensive technique as it reduces the need for pricey pouches, jars, etc.
The technique encourages the baby to have meals with the family; promoting family bonding
When dining out, you may take your baby along; your child can accompany you as they can have finger foods.
Cons:
When your child self-feeds, they might leave their dining area messy
Food waste is one of the issues that you have to accept with baby-led weaning; half-chewed broccoli or carrot may frequently land on the floor!
When transitioning to finger foods, your baby might gag and vomit the solids; however, gagging reduces with time.
In the initial days, your little one’s intake of food might be less; the intake of food will increase as the baby learns the art of eating and develop their motor skills.
Spoon-Feeding
Spoon feeding is the most traditional way of feeding a child, where parents and caregivers are in total control. Here, in the initial stage, the food is served in a mashed or pureed form. However, to make the child more acquainted with flavours and textures, you should gradually serve solid chunks to your little eater. As the baby develops their motor skills (usually by 9 months), stop spoon-feeding them. Give your child the opportunity to eat on their own.
Pros:
As you are in control of feeding your baby, the chances of mess are minimal
Spoon feeding is less time-consuming; You have to put less effort to check if your child is eating right or not!
As you are feeding your child directly from a spoon, the food ends up in your infant’s mouth and thus doesn’t get wasted
With less wastage and clean eating, more food gets into your child’s belly
Cons:
Until the baby turns 9 months, they are dependent on you to eat
Babies get less exposure to textured foods, which may, later on, lead to gagging; they may prefer soft food to chunk food.
When you are in complete control of your child’s eating pattern, the baby is less likely to develop appetite control
You may over-feed your baby with mashed food or purees; far rapid reduction in the bottle and breastfeeds are likely to happen
With less exposure to a variety of flavours and textures, the baby may turn into a picky eater
The baby gets less opportunity to eat along with other family members and thus, is less likely to learn their eating patterns
Spoon feeding is less fun as the baby doesn’t get the opportunity to touch and play with different textured foods
***
Resources
https://solidstarts.com/readiness/
https://solidstarts.com/starting-solids/
https://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/feeding-baby/introducing-solid-foods/
https://www.parents.com/baby/feeding/solid-foods/starting-solids-guide/
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/introducing-new-foods
