When do I start solids with my baby?

 

The first 4-6 months, breast milk or formula provides all the calories and nourishment your baby needs.  Your baby's intestinal tract is not as fully developed during the first few months and introducing solids at this time can put your little one at greater risk for food allergies. Babies younger than 4-6 months also can’t swallow solids correctly.  If you notice most of the food getting pushed back out the mouth by the tongue, that’s a sign your baby is not developmentally ready for solids.

 

Cues that your baby may be ready for solids:

•  Head control. Your baby needs to be able to keep his head in a steady, upright position.

•  Losing the "tongue thrust reflex." To keep solid food in his mouth and then swallow it, your baby needs to stop using his tongue to push food out of his mouth.

•  Sitting well when supported. Even if he's not quite ready for a highchair, your baby needs to be able to sit upright to swallow well.

•  Chewing motions. Your baby's mouth and tongue develop in sync with his digestive system. To start solids, he should be able to move food to the back of his mouth and swallow. As he learns to swallow efficiently, you may notice less drooling. He may also be teething around the same time.

•  Significant weight gain. Most babies are ready to eat solids when they've doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least 4 months old.

•  Growing appetite. He seems hungry — even with eight to ten feedings of breast milk or formula a day.   Though remember that it is a myth that feeding cereal will get your baby to sleep through the night.

•  Curiosity about what you're eating. Your baby may begin eyeing your bowl of rice or reaching for a forkful of fettuccine as it travels from your plate to your mouth.

 

First Foods

 

Rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula is the best first food.  Start with very thin cereal and gradually make it thicker as he or she gets used to it. 

Your baby will need extra iron for his growing muscles so give iron fortified cereal.

 

Once past cereals, you can try cooked, well-mashed or pureed fruits and vegetables.  Offer just a couple of times a day.  Cook and mash your own, or try "flash-frozen" baby food, which preserves the nutrients at peak content levels instead of adding preservatives.

 

8-9 Months

You can start offering sources of protein.  These include well-cooked, strained or ground plain meats (chicken, beef, turkey, lamb, fish), mild cheese, or egg yolks (no egg whites as there is a high chance of allergic reactions in infants less than 12 months old).

 

As your baby begins to be able to grasp by folding his fingers over his palm, he will be ready for finger foods.  Make sure anything you give him is soft, easy to swallow, and breaks down into small pieces that can't possibly choke him.  Good choices for you baby's first finger foods can include:

Ø  Cut up ripe banana

Ø  Cut up ripe avocado

Ø  Cubes of cooked apple or pear

Ø  Baby crackers

Ø  Pieces of soft bread

Ø  Dry cereals, like cheerios, that are easy to swallow

Ø  Cut and well cooked vegetable pieces, like green beans, potatoes, or peas

Ø  Small pieces of cheese

Ø  Cooked pasta

Ø  Small pieces of well cooked meats

Ø  Cooked mashed potato

Ø  Cooked cubed sweet potato

Ø  Chopped garbanzo or other beans

 

Even if you think your baby is ready for finger foods, be sure to always supervise your child when he is eating them in case he does choke.

 

How much protein does my baby/child need?

 

Breast milk or formula offers sufficient protein for growing babies.  Once your child has transitioned to solids, you should offer a good source of protein at each meal.

 

Good sources of protein include eggs, dry beans and peas, and peanut butter, as well as meat, poultry, and fish. Milk is also a good source of protein.  These foods are important for protein, iron, and zinc.

 

Limit hot dogs and processed lunch meats to once a week.  Make sure the meat is tender.  Kids have trouble chewing dry meat.

 

What About Food allergies?

 

It’s a good idea to start just one new food at a time and watch for reactions.

 

Some foods have a greater incidence of allergy than others.  Giving these foods before a baby’s intestinal tract is mature enough to digest the proteins in these foods can lead to food allergies. 

 

If there is no history of food allergies or symptoms of allergy in the family, including asthma, hayfever, or eczema, it’s generally safe to give these more allergenic foods at one year of age.  If there are symptoms of allergy in the family, you should wait until 3 years.

 

Don’t give the following until 12 months:

Ø  Cow's milk

Ø  Egg whites

Ø  Peanut Butter–if there’s no history of allergies or symptoms of allergy

Ø  Citrus and tomatoes

 

Don’t give the following until age 3 (because allergies to these foods tend to be the most severe if your child has a reaction)

Ø  Shellfish

Ø  Peanut products—if there is a family history of allergies or symptoms of allergy.

 

Signs of food sensitivity

Here are the most common signs of a food sensitivity or allergy.  If you see these symptoms, hold off on the food for another few months, then reintroduce it.

 

Ø  Bloating and gassiness

Ø  A sandpaper like raised red rash on the face

Ø  Runny nose and watery eyes

Ø  Diarrhea or stools with mucus

Ø  A red rash around the anus

Ø  Generally cranky behavior

Ø  Vomiting or increased spitting up

 

Should I start with fruits or vegetables?

 

Some parents like to give vegetables first because they believe that giving the sweeter fruits first will lead to a less positive reaction to the vegetables.  Maybe there is a grain of truth to this, but I don’t believe that it really matters too much.  Offer up both regularly.  If your baby is reluctant to try solids, you may find better success with fruits than vegetables.

 

 

How do I raise a kid who eats their vegetables?

 

Your best bet is to be a good role model!  Serve vegetables frequently and enjoy them yourself.  Prepare them in an appetizing way (sautéed with olive oil, covered with cheese sauce, in a cream sauce, roasted, grilled, or whatever tastes good to you).

 

Don’t assume your child won’t like vegetables.  Some children don’t like them early on, but others may surprise you.

 

I also believe that the way to raise children who like vegetables as adults doesn’t involve “hiding” the vegetables in other food.  They should realize what they are eating, understand that this food is tasty, and see adults enjoying it for what it is!  Even if they don’t eat it immediately, the long term benefit is that they will grow up having a positive view of vegetables rather than seeing them as something that is so awful it has to be “snuck” in.

 

How do I ensure my baby is getting enough vitamins/minerals?

 

Offer up healthy vitamin and mineral rich fruits and vegetables throughout the day. 

 

Offer variety.  Color usually is derived from the antioxidants and phytonutrients that are in fruits and vegetables.  If you offer up varying color options, you will be ensuring that all the vitamins and minerals are there.

 

Specifically, offer a Vitamin C and Vitamin A containing food every day.  Foods that contain vitamin C include apples, cantaloupe, citrus fruits, cabbage, strawberries, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, kiwi, leafy, green vegetables, tomatoes, green peppers and red peppers. 

 

Foods that contain vitamin A  include milk, cheese, and other dairy products, meats, tuna, cantaloupe, peaches, yellow squash, spinach, plums, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, spinach, kale, tomatoes, winter squash, green peppers, pumpkin, sweet potatoes.

 

After your child has transitioned from getting most of their calories from breast milk or formula, offer milk 2-3 times per day.  Calcium is also found in broccoli, tuna, beans, and kale.

 

How do I get my child to eat the family dinner at the table?

I highly encourage a family dinner.  Children who eat a family dinner have been shown to get higher levels of vitamins and minerals, drink less soda, and have healthier eating habits. 

 

Encourage your child to sit with you at dinner, even if they are choosing not to eat.  Consider it “family time.”  Make sure that this time is pleasant and stress free. 

 

Be sure that your child is hungry when they come to the table.  They will be more likely to try new foods and eat if they are hungry. 

 

Don’t offer alternatives.  Be sure that there is a nutritious balance of foods on the table (some protein, a carbohydrate, and a vegetable or fruit).  Making a separate meal for a picky child, or immediately offering up an alternative devalues the time and energy you have just spent on the meal. 

 

Kids don’t have to eat substantially every day.  If your child eats a dinner that is lighter than you think they should, remember they are trusting their hunger signals.  They are not going to starve.

 

What is Organic?

Organic foods sold in our stores are products that carry the USDA labels, which have been certified as such and meet the USDA standards. Produce that earns the USDA organic certification is grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, bio-engineering or ionizing radiation. To be labeled "organic," the farm where the food is grown is certified to make certain the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. 

 

Organic meats are from animals raised organically. They must be fed products that are 100% organic.  They must not be given hormones or antibiotics for any reason.  The animals must also have access to the outdoors. 

 

What Do the Various Organic Food Labels Mean?

Single-ingredient foods, such as vegetables and pieces of fruit, carry the USDA Organic label either as a sticker or on the sign above the bin. Meat, cartons of milk or eggs, cheese earn the organics label if they are grown or produced on organic-certified farms. The USDA Organics label means that these foods are at least 95-percent organic.

For foods with more than one ingredient, the labels differ:

Ø  Foods with 100% organic ingredients are labeled "100-percent Organic."

Ø  Foods that contain 95-percent to 100-percent organic ingredients are labeled "Organic."

Ø  Processed foods that contain at least 70-percent organic ingredients can use the phrase "Made with organic ingredients" and list up to three of the organic ingredients on the display panel.

Ø  Processed foods with less than 70-percent organic ingredients cannot use the term organic anywhere on the main display panel, but may identify the specific ingredients that are organically produced in the ingredients statement.

Ø  Look for the name and address of the government-approved certifier on all packaged products that contain at least 70-percent ingredients.

 

What's the Difference Between Natural and Organic?

 

Only food labeled "organic" has been certified as meeting USDA organic standards. The term "natural" means that a food product is basically free of artificial and synthetic ingredients and for meat and poultry, the products are also minimally processed. Truthful claims, such as "free-range," "hormone-free" and "natural" can also appear on food labels, but they don't mean that the food is organic.

 

Is organic more nutritious?

 

It is not a definite fact that organic produce is more nutritious because quantities of nutrients are always going to vary depending on the soil and growing conditions.  However, there is some evidence that organic produce has higher levels of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus, as well as antioxidants.

 

Is Organic Food Safer?

 

Organically grown produce contains lower levels of potentially toxic pesticide residues.  In conventional farming, synthetic chemicals like pesticides leave residues behind on fruits and vegetables. There is no evidence that these residues in such small quantities is harmful, but little is known about the long term effects on human health. Buying organic produce can minimize, but not eliminate, this risk.

 

Small amounts of pesticide residues are unavoidable, even on organic crops. Wind or water can spread pesticides, and some persist in the soil for years and are taken up by plants long after the land has been certified organic.

 

Buying organic food and supporting organic farming has other benefits as well, including more humane, ethical treatment of animals, promoting sustainable farming practices, safeguarding groundwater from chemical fertilizers and supporting diversity of produce (small farms tend to grow more varieties than big commercial farms).