If you’re reading this you must be getting ready to start solids with your baby.\u00a0 It’s an exciting and fun time for both you and your baby.\u00a0 Here’s where to start!<\/p>\n
Is your baby ready for solid foods?<\/p>\n
Look under Ages & Stages<\/a> for detailed recipes.<\/p>\n Only introduce one solid food at a time and wait for 2-3 days to see if there are any allergic responses such as diarrhea, rash or vomiting. \u00a0Start with a tablespoon or two of food and increase the amount as your baby wants more. \u00a0Your baby will stop eating when they are full. \u00a0Use breast milk or formula to thin out solids.<\/p>\n A few nutrient dense basics to start with include:<\/p>\n We prefer to avoid grains the first year unless your soaking them to make it more easily digestible.\u00a0 Rice cereal doesn’t have much nutritional quality to it and may be hard to digest for babies under one year of age.<\/p>\n Here’s a list of suggestions for when to introduce certain food items:<\/strong><\/p>\n Cereals & Grains: <\/strong>Avoid for the first year<\/p>\n Fruits:<\/strong> Avocado, Apples, Ripe Bananas, Pears<\/p>\n Protein:<\/strong> Egg Yolk (no egg whites until 1 year old)<\/p>\n Dairy: <\/strong>Raw Milk, Cream (Not ultra pasteurized)<\/p>\n Cereals & Grains:<\/strong> Avoid for the first year<\/p>\n Fruits:<\/strong> Avocado, Melon, Mangoes, Banana and Papaya can be mashed and given raw.\u00a0 High pectin fruits like Apricots, Apples, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Cherries and Berries should be cooked to break down the pectin which can be irritating to the digestive tract at this age.\u00a0 Prunes can be stewed and pureed to ease constipation as well.<\/p>\n Vegetables: <\/strong>Pumpkin, Sweet Potatoes, Acorn Squash, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Beets, Green Beans, Peas, Zucchini (yellow and green).\u00a0 Steam and mash with a generous amount of fat such as butter or coconut oil to provide nutrients and aid digestion.<\/p>\n Protein:<\/strong> Pureed chicken, turkey, tofu or mashed egg yolks (no egg whites)<\/p>\n Dairy:<\/strong> Plain whole milk yogurt<\/p>\n Herbs and Additional Seasonings: <\/strong>Herbs and Spices can be introduced to your baby now. Always check ingredients and don’t add anything with MSG or other chemicals to food. Cereals & Grains:<\/strong> Although it’s believed to avoid grains the first year, soaked and thoroughly cooked brown rice is an option for a very mature baby.<\/p>\n Fruit: <\/strong>Blueberries, Figs, Dates, Cranberries, Cherries, Melon, Kiwi, Papaya, Grapes<\/p>\n Vegetables:<\/strong> Asparagus, Peppers, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Eggplant, Mushrooms, Leeks, Onions, White potatoes<\/p>\n Protein:<\/strong> Beans\/Legumes, Beef, Egg Yolk, Pork, Chicken<\/p>\n Dairy: <\/strong>Hard Cheese (no soft cheeses like Brie), Cottage Cheese, Not Ultra-Pasteurized Cream<\/p>\n Cereals & Grains: <\/strong>Although it’s believed to avoid grains the first year, soaked and thoroughly cooked brown rice is an option for a very mature baby.<\/p>\n Fruits:<\/strong> Citrus, Grapes, Dates, Cherries, Berries<\/p>\n Vegetables: <\/strong>Artichokes, Beets, Corn, Cucumbers, Spinach, Tomatoes<\/p>\n Protein:<\/strong> Whole eggs (at 12 months), Fish<\/p>\n Dairy:<\/strong> Whole Milk (at 12 months), Cheese (soft cheeses such as Brie after 12 months)<\/p>\n Now the real fun begins!\u00a0 You can offer your toddler any type of food you’re eating.\u00a0 Remember to be an example and make excellent food choices for vibrant health.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here’s a list of foods to AVOID during your baby’s first year:<\/strong><\/p>\n Honey (may cause botulism in infants under 1yr old) One controversial topic is the introduction of cereal to your baby as a first solid food.\u00a0 One thing to remember is the amount of breast milk and\/or formula decreases when solid foods are introduced.\u00a0\u00a0 When you introduce solids, it’s the first step in weaning even if you’re planning to do extended breastfeeding with your child.\u00a0 Nutrients that may be insufficient are protein, zinc, iron and B-vitamins.\u00a0 Grains and nuts have the most potential digestive disturbances or allergies.\u00a0 babies do not produce the enzymes to handle cereals, especially gluten containing grains like wheat before the age of one year.\u00a0 Even then it’s traditional to soak the grains and nuts in water and a little buttermilk for up to 24 hours which begins to break down some of the harder to digest components.\u00a0 Brown rice is gluten free and can be introduced at 8 months when soaked, cooked with plenty of water for a long time and made into a thin porridge.\u00a0 You can even mix this with other foods.<\/p>\n To increase your babies palette, take some of the same food you prepare for the family (before seasoning) and puree for baby.\u00a0 This is when the mini food processor or Baby Food Mill<\/a>.\u00a0 This Baby Food Mill comes in handy if you’re eating out as well, depending upon the food you order.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Nitrates:<\/strong> Certain vegetables such as green beans, carrots, spinach, lettuce, radishes, beets, turnips and collard greens, may contain excessive nitrates, which can be converted into nitrite (an undesirable substance) in the stomach.\u00a0 These naturally occurring nitrates can reduce the baby’s hemoglobin.\u00a0 When cooking vegetables that may contain these substances, do not use the water they were cooked in to pur\u00e9e due to the possible concentration of nitrates in the cooking water.\u00a0 These vegetables are safe for home preparation if fed to infants 6 months and older when prepared as described above.\u00a0 The American Pediatrics Association <\/a>recommends avoiding these foods until a baby is 3 months old.\u00a0 Our recipes here are for babies at least 4 months old, although 6 months is an ideal time to start solids in our opinion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you’re reading this you must be getting ready to start solids with your baby.\u00a0 It’s an exciting and fun time for both you and your baby.\u00a0 Here’s where to start! Is your baby ready for solid foods? Can your baby sit up and hold up their head unassisted? Does …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-923","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","column","threecol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefirstbites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefirstbites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefirstbites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefirstbites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefirstbites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefirstbites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":932,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefirstbites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/923\/revisions\/932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefirstbites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
4-6 Months<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6-8 Months<\/strong><\/h3>\n
8-10 Months<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n10-12 Months<\/strong><\/h3>\n
One year and older<\/h3>\n
\nPeanut Butter
\nTree Nuts
\nCitrus or Acidic Fruits
\nRaw Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries
\nCorn
\nEgg Whites
\nWhole Milk – as a drink
\nCereals and Grains
\nGrapes
\nShellfish\/Crustaceans<\/p>\n