Usually when your baby is about 4 months old you will start
getting the questions. “have you done cereal yet?” “you know, we did cereal at
4 months to help our baby sleep better” “It’s totally fine to offer food now!
My parents did it!” Even your own pediatrician may start to encourage you to
offer solid foods at 4 months.
Let’s start with the basics. It’s stated by many
organizations (including the WHO and AAP) that in the first 6 months of life
babies should only have breastmilk or formula.
Previously it had been thought by doctors and other organizations that 4
months was a good age, however more recent research into infant health has
caused the organizations to change their recommendations to 6 months. Remember
no matter when you start solids in the first year of life your baby’s primary
source of nutrition should be breastmilk or formula! Solid food does NOT
replace milk until after they are 1. http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/
Why 6 months? The one big reason for delaying solids till 6 months is to
give your babies gut and digestive system a change to mature. Starting solids
too soon can cause an upset fussy baby. Another big reason is the “open” gut.
Infants younger than 6 months contain an “open” gut which means that there are
spaces in the cells of their small intestines that allow macromolecules to pass
into the bloodstream. While this is a positive in terms of the antibodies
provided by breastmilk it is a negative in terms of solid food. The proteins
from these foods can pass through and this is thought to play a role into
allergies. There is no way to tell when your
babies gut has closed, but it is generally agreed that its by 6 months. http://www.thealphaparent.com/2011/07/virgin-gut-note-for-parents.html
Many moms are told by their pediatricians to start cereal
with iron because your baby needs iron. Ironically this is actually
counterproductive. This addition of iron fortified food early actually can
reduce how efficient your baby is at absorbing iron. Studies have shown that
healthy full term infants do not need any extra iron supplementation. If you
are concerned about iron levels in your baby the best course of action would be
to get a bloodtest to confirm an issue before adding cereal with iron. http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron/
Another reason to delay starting solid foods is to protect
your milk supply! Many people mistakenly think that frequent nursing and night
waking between the ages of 4 – 6 months means that their baby is “hungry” and “not
satisfied by milk alone”. This simply is not the case. Between the ages of 4 –
6 months babies sleep patterns and life changes immensely. This is the period
of time when babies are growing and developing new skills such as rolling and
trying to crawl. Babies are becoming more and more aware of the world around
them and may be more distracted when nursing, preferring to “snack” instead of
have long meals. Also remember that babies start to teeth between 4 and 6
months and this can cause pain which will lead to more night waking and
nursing! If you compare the fat and calorie content of milk vs the fat and
calorie content of most foods you can see your baby gets much more nutrition
from milk. http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/babyfoodcalories/ http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/solids-sleep/
So your baby is now 6 months old, are they really ready for
solids? Just because your baby has hit a
magic age doesn’t mean they are ready for solid food. It’s a developmental
milestone and all babies hit them at different times. Some babies are more than ready for solid
foods at 6 months while some don’t show an interest until closer to 8 or 9
months. What are the signs of being ready developmentally for solids? Kellymom
explains it very well:
Signs that indicate baby is
developmentally ready for solids include:
§ Baby can sit up well without support.
§ Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically
push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
§ Baby is ready and willing to chew.
§ Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or
other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the
food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer
grasp development.
§ Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food
and put it in his mouth.
We often state that a sign
of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse
(sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething
pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt.
However, it can be hard to judge whether baby’s increased nursing is related to
readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething,
growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to
increased nursing – sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of
solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing
alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby’s readiness.
So I should start with baby cereal right?
Wrong. Cereal was
originally suggested as a first food because it was considered to be a low
allergen food. Nutritionally most cereals are stripped of nutrients. If you
have waited until your baby is showing all the signs of readiness above and is
over 6 months old their gut should be closed and there is no need to start with
cereals at all. If you do feel like you want to start with a cereal go for a
whole grain cereal, not a baby cereal.
Ideally skip straight to soft whole foods such as avocado,
banana, or sweet potato. All are nutritious and perfect first foods for your
baby!
How you offer solid foods is up to you. You can offer puree
foods either made yourself or purchased from the store, or you can do large
easy to grab soft foods known as baby led weaning. This is when you let your
baby feed themselves from day 1 instead of spoon feeding purees. Just remember
that food before 1 is for fun and always offer milk before food. Try not to
stress out if your baby doesn’t seem interested in solid foods at first! Some
babies don’t really become interested in eating until closer to 12 months.
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/babyledweaning.htm#.UkBwcNLigVghttp://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/
Remember: babies should be showing all of the signs of solid
food readiness before introducing solids! Frequent nursing and night waking are
NOT signs your baby needs solid food. Food before 1 is just for fun. Milk
contains all the nutrition your baby needs in the first year!!
