Introducing Solids: A Parent’s Guide to Starting Baby on Solid Foods
- Jen Zanardi
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
You think your little one is ready to start solids? Congratulations! Infants are often ready to start solids at around 6 months of age. It is not recommended for a baby that is 4-month-old or younger to start solids. An infant younger than 6 months should have a diet that consists only of breastmilk or infant formula.
Signs children are ready to start solids:
They can sit up alone.
They have control of their head and neck.
They can bring items to their mouth.
There is no more tongue thrust reflex
Great first food options include:
Pureed veggies or fruit.
Pureed meat.
Mashed or pureed Avocado (very nutritious!).
Foods that are NOT safe for babies to consume include:
Honey (In children under 1, honey can cause botulism, a potentially fatal sickness).
Cow's milk.
Anything that can get lodged in the throat (choking hazard!).
There are two ways you can go about feeding solids to your little one. You can spoon feed them or practice baby-lead weaning or you can do a combination of both of them! The baby-led weaning method is exactly what it sounds like. The baby leads its own weaning. Instead of the typical puree or cereal, you give large pieces of soft food for them to chew on. With this method, they are able to use their motor skills to put the food in their mouth.
Pros:
Promotes Independence (babies feed themselves so they control what and how much they eat).
They get to practice their motor skills by being the ones that put the food in their mouth.
It’s less expensive since you won't buy pureed baby food pouches or jars.
Cons:
It is messy!
There is a possible heightened anxiety for parents due to worries about choking.
The spoon-feeding method is when you feed your babies purees, and you control the spoon.
Pros:
It’s not messy since you are controlling where the food goes.
Cons:
It limits exploration.
Food Allergies
The newest research suggests that introducing foods such as peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, soy, citrus, dairy, and seafood early, before seven months of age actually reduces the risk of the development of food allergies. The new approach seems to be working as we are seeing less peanut allergies these days.
