Introducing solids is one of the most awaited milestone for parents but it is also a roller coaster ride. You may spend lots of time and energy preparing dishes for your child just to see her playing with food. On the other hand, sometimes these kids amaze us by emptying out the whole bowl. Every parent wants "THE BEST" for their child, whether it is terms of when to start, how to start solids; what to give to her to eat (more importantly what not to give) etc. In this post, I would like to share some basic and important points about introducing solids that I learnt through my journey with my child.
When to start solids: The first and foremost question every parent has is "Is my baby ready for solid foods"? You can easily judge this through below checklist:
- Has your child started showing interest in food; i.e. she curiously observes you eating and wants to grab the food.
- Has your child got good neck support i.e. can hold her neck without support.
- Has your child started sitting without support. (This is required for BLW that we will learn later)
- Has your child lost tongue thrust? Tongue thrust is a natural phenomenon in babies that prevents them to eat and choke. e.g. If you offer something to very young(0-3 month old) baby, they try to push it with their tongue. It is called tongue thrust. check this video
Most of the babies are ready for solids in 4-6 months. If your child does not meet any one of the above mentioned criteria by 6 months except 3rd which is only required for BLW, please talk to pediatrician before starting solids.
What to avoid: It is a general guideline to not give certain food items to children till they achieve a certain age, which I also learnt through experience and talking to mother community.
- Salt, sugar and honey should be avoided till your child attains 1 year of age. But natural sugar can be given to them; so for sweetness, you can add fruit (banana, apple, papaya, pear, mango etc.) purees or dry date powder. Although there is no alternative to salt, but you can add a very small quantity of lemon juice and other spices (hing, jeera, ajwain, black pepper etc. ) for enhancing the taste.
- Avoid giving animal milk (ideally any animal protein) till one year of age. you can use it in small quantity in making any dish (e.g. porridge, kheer etc. ) and make sure it is boiled. Never give it to drink directly. If you want to completely avoid animal milk, you can add formula milk in the end (while serving) because formula milk can't be heated/cooked. You can give animal milk products (paneer, curd, ghee, butter etc.) to your child in small quantities.
- Juices, coconut water etc. are not recommended till one year of age because it may displace BM/FM.
How to Start :
- Start with only one meal and prefer to give it in morning by 11am to rule out any allergy.
- Start with seasonal vegetables or fruits. My son's first food was steamed carrot.
- In the beginning, introduce only one food at a time. Don't mix multiple items. Again it is advised keeping allergy in mind.
- Gradually add a meal to your child's meals. After 3-4 weeks, you can add one meal. By your child's first birthday, she should be on 3 meals and 2 snacks.
Water :
When you start giving solids to your child, you should start giving water also. Start with small quantities. Water is mostly for oral hygiene in the beginning and as you increase number of meals. Increase quantity of water as well. Water is important to prevent constipation and dehydration.
For quantity, I would say go by your own intuition. Don't follow any formula or number. Quantity of water depends upon so many factors e.g. weather. If weather is hot, you can offer more water. In winter season, small amount should also be fine. So don't go by any golden number or rule. Babies anyway don't take much water initially.
Important points to remember
- Till one year of age, breastmilk/formula milk is main source of nutrition. So don't skip bm/fm for solids. Food till one year of age is just for fun.
- Offer solids after 45 min of BM or 1 hour of FM because when child is super hungry she will not accept solids and similarly when she is full she will not accept.
- Always feed child in sitting position either in your lap, booster seat, high chair or on the floor. In the beginning, many children are afraid of sitting on high chair or booster seat so make them sit on floor if child can sit by her own or make her sit in your lap. Then gradually (in 1-2 months) they may start sitting on high or booster chair. Avoid feeding in rocker as well.
- Never feed child in lying position. It can choke them.
- Avoid forceful and distraction feeding. In the beginning this trick may work but in long run it will not. Keep play and meal time separate. In fact, discipline your child from the beginning for the meal time.
- Introduce varieties of food of different texture, color and taste.
- All days are not same. On some days, kid don't eat much which could be because of multiple reasons(illness, teething, age related milestone etc. ). Be patient and don't force-feed or distract feed.
- Babies are like monkeys. They are very good at copying you. Eat along with them so that they can learn how to eat and chew.
- Children's gum are strong enough to chew. So it is not necessary to give food of running consistency and wait for teeth to come to offer solids. It is fine to give them soft solid foods(e.g. banana, steamed carrot sticks, steamed broccoli etc. )
Choking Hazards :
- Grapes or similar shaped fruits/veggies.
- Candies
- Nuts
- Chips (It does not seem an obvious choking hazard so be careful with it)
What to offer :
Check this post for food options that you can offer to your child.
Weaning Approaches
- Traditional weaning: In this approach, you start with pureed food and then gradually move to mashed food. You feed the baby yourself with spoon. It is a mess free and clean approach because you are feeding baby.
- Baby led weaning : In this approach, you entirely skip pureed and mashed food and directly start from soft finger food where baby feeds herself. Expect a lot of mess to clean afterwards because baby is going to eat by herself. It is a modern scientific weaning approach which is really helpful in long run.
I am a big time supporter of baby led weaning. I have been following BLW for my son and it is working well for us so all my weaning posts will be with respect to BLW.
Accessories : These are some of the things that I tried while my journey of introducing solids to my child and these really helped me to achieve my goal.
- Pressure Cooker : I prefer to use steel pressure cooker for cooking. Aluminum utensils are not good for health so you should also avoid it.
- Booster seat : It has an removable tray with cover. Since this tray gets fixed, you don't need to buy extra suction plate.
- spoon : Though in description of this spoon, it is for 8+ month child. But I used for my 6 month old son and works well for me. It is good for self feeding as well as if you want to feed your child yourself i.e. for traditional as well as baby led weaning.
- Steel glass : This glass has an embedded ghanti(ring) in it which kids find very fascinating and it makes easier for parents to feed water in it.
- sippy cup : I prefer to use open cup/steel glass for feeding water at home but while travelling it can be messy so I bought sippy cup for such occasions or if there is hot summer(may, june weather of north india) and child is refusing to take water in steel glass.
- bib :
- zigzag cutter : It help in cutting vegetables or fruits in finger shape. Because of zig zag mark, it is easier for child to hold and eat.
- vegetable chopper : It is most useful product. You can chop any vegetable in it and use for stuffing paranthas or add in khichdi/dalia.
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