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First foods for babies?


alijac

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Hi everyone - my son is nearly 5 months old, and at his 4 month checkup, the pediatrician gave me a pamphlet on starting him on foods. It wasn't our normal ped, and he was talking about cereal (ugh!), so I didn't really bother to pursue any further questioning with him. We don't go back until my son is 6 months, so I am trying to gather info in the interim beyond typical "conventional wisdom" before I give him ANY food.

I've read avocados and bananas are good first foods, provided you mush the heck out of them. I'm leaning toward starting with veggies more than fruits so he doesn't get a sweet tooth like mom. ;) The last thing I want to do is give him something he can't handle (I've read to hold off on any meat until 8 months, then to start with tiny bits of chicken or fish), but I definitely want to give him the best start possible on lifelong healthy eating habits. I'm fortunate that his Monday-Friday caregiver will absolutely follow any directions I give. So, what I need to know is:

  • What are good foods to start with?
  • What are some foods you've seen other babies eat that you would definitely hold off on?
  • Any other tips re: quantity/frequency, etc? I know you shouldn't introduce more than one new thing at a time with several days apart (sounds like the 10 days after Whole30, no?)

Thanks a ton!!!

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My daughter's first food was ground up turkey (in the food processor, you have to add the broth to soften it). Then, we moved on to squashes (zucchini, yellow squash, acorn, pumpkin). I also feed her slow cooked meats pureed in the food processor. I didn't give her fruit until she was almost a year old. I'd hold off on fruit so your baby can develop a taste for veggies. Once fruit is introduced, veggies tend to be harder to get down, I've seen with other kids. Alternatively, you can mix a little fruit or carrot in with veggies that are harder to get baby to eat, once you get to that point.

I did new foods every couple of days for the first month, then I completely abandoned that. My daughter would eat just about anything I gave her. I also was fortunate to have the magical baby that never spit up, so maybe she has an iron stomach. They say not to introduce eggs, fish or nuts the first year, but I introduced fish and eggs before she turned one. I waited on the nuts though, I think that was because I'm not a big nut person.

But, another thought is there really isn't a hurry to introduce solids. Baby's nutrition comes from milk, not the mushed up foods, so really all that serves is to introduce a new experience. It's not nutritionally or even developmentally necessary at 6 months, so if by chance you're not feeling ready to do it, don't do it just because everyone else does.

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If you check out the way that digestion develops in a child through a naturopath.

My friend is trained in this area and I found her advice to be wonderful.

Proteins came much later as the digestion is not ready for them.The main point of food at this stage is about taste and texture.The main source of nutrition is coming from breast/bottle.

Lamb was the first protein to introduce and it wasn't until 12 months from what I remember,beef was the last one and it came much later(after 24 months).

All kids are different.Cook up something sweet to start,squash or sweet potato..food that is healthy is not going to give the child a sweet tooth,fruit is not the same as the sugar that makes us addicted.

I wish you all the best,it's a fun stage!

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La Leche League was Whole30 before there was Whole30. They recommend whole foods in as close to their natural state as possible. Their recommendations for first foods are avocado, sweet potato, and banana, and they say "watch the baby, not the calendar." (signs of readiness include sitting up, pincer grasp, and some others i dont remember...google.) Many years ago, LLL were talking about how rice cereal has no nutritive value, and the added iron actually increases the risk of infection. If there are concerns about iron, a blood test can be run, rather than supplementing as a default.

Check this out: http://www.babyledweaning.com/

I have 3 kids. None really ate mushy baby food from a spoon. They all preferred to eat things they could pick up with their fingers. I gave them tiny bites of food from my plate rather than near liquids. Don't be afraid to share spicy things, they might like it.

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Avocado was my first's first food and I will do that again with my 4-month-old. I am going to do baby led weaning from the beginning this time. I think that method is amazing and much more natural. I once watched a friend feed her 8 month old puréed avocado! That made no sense to me at all. Just dice it in tiny bites and let the baby go for it!

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  • 1 month later...

Yep, we do sweet potatoes, avocado, banana and mango - so far for our 6 mo old. I want to introduce meat soon, but my little guy hates purees, so I need to experiment with boiling/slow cooking to see what makes things soft enough for him to manage. The stuff we've done so far is nice b/c it's soft enough that we can just cut it into pieces and he can gum them up.

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Our daughter is 10 months now, but at 6 months we started her on egg yolks (pastured from our hens) and avocados. "Cados", as my son likes to call them, are expensive in the midwest, but they are such an easy and nourishing baby food. At this point our daughter eats pretty much whatever we are eating, and she loves to gnaw on large bones when we have pork chops or ribs!

My mom was pretty alarmed that we were going to give the baby egg yolks, but baby loves them and never had any problems with them. She gets a yolk every morning with fruit or some veggies.

Here is a link to the WAP article on feeding babies, we generally follow WAP eating guidelines.

http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/feeding-babies?qh=YTo4OntpOjA7czo3OiJmZWVkaW5nIjtpOjE7czo0OiJmZWVkIjtpOjI7czo1OiJmZWVkcyI7aTozO3M6ODoiZmVlZGluZ3MiO2k6NDtzOjQ6ImJhYnkiO2k6NTtzOjY6ImJhYmllcyI7aTo2O3M6NToiYmFieXMiO2k6NztzOjEyOiJmZWVkaW5nIGJhYnkiO30%3D

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  • 3 weeks later...

I know this topic is a bit old but...When my girl was younger, we breastfed for nutrition for the first year and adhered to the motto, "Under one is just for fun." She got mostly what has already been mentioned above but I wanted to reiterate that the bulk of nutrition is still coming from breast milk. We also found a little gadget that has a mesh type bag that attaches to a plastic ring that a baby can grasp. It was especially helpful when she was teething- I'd give her frozen peaches or bananas. Tasty way to alleviate some of her discomfort. Oh, and avocados can cause major stains :) Wash it out of clothing as soon as possible.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Baby led solids was great for us too.

None of my boys had foods mushed up. If they could put things in their mouth themselves they could eat it.

My oldest really didn't eat much food till after 1, but my other was shoving everything in from around 6 months from my plate.

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  • 1 month later...

Baby Led Weaning is fantastic and would be very pro Whole30. This is what we did with our 16 month old, before I even knew what Whole30 was! Even though we were eating occasional junk food, we didn't want her to, :). We started with avocados, sweet potatoes and bananas. From there you can really do anything, just keep it to one new food every few days to watch for reactions. We had a champion eater though and it seemed to be no time at all before she didn't even need things mashed, she loves to eat!

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