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Your baby is now twice his birth weight and the doctor says it’s time to start introducing solids. A well-rounded diet is logical enough, but with all the choices available decision-making can be overwhelming. Make the transition smooth for everyone concerned when you use this practical guide.
Start with baby cereal. Whole, single grains are always best, offering your baby plenty of nutrients. At first it will be a challenge for baby to swallow. Drinking from a bottle or breast is very different from swallowing a solid. A good portion of what you put in your youngster’s mouth is sure to end up dribbled out. Don’t be alarmed. This doesn’t necessarily mean baby doesn’t like the food. He’s probably just working out the mechanics.
To prevent any allergic reactions, wait a week before introducing a second grain to your child. Most reactions will manifest within a week, so this is a good timeline. As you move on to the third, and fourth grain, be sure to wait a week as well.
After you have introduced your child to wheat, rice and oatmeal, you can begin introducing fruits and vegetables. Yellow and orange varieties are the easiest digested and are a great place to start. Potatoes, carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, nectarines, peaches pears and apples will bring a great base to your baby’s diet. Unlike cereal, you can introduce a new vegetable or fruit every two days. Quickly you will learn which flavors baby likes best.
Once fruits and vegetables are introduced and your child is maintaining a healthy weight gain, you can start serving juice and water to him. This adds a tremendous amount of interest to boring cereal meals. A little grape juice adds just a touch of fruity flavor when used to mix dry cereal. This can be a savior to the parent who can’t get Junior to eat his rice.
By six months, most doctors are encouraging parents to feed their babies dairy products and meats. Calcium and protein are important to your tiny one and he’s probably getting less now that solid foods have cut a good portion of formula or breast milk out of his diet. Yogurt, cheeses, fish, turkey and chicken replenish the building blocks.
By nine months of age your baby should be able to eat just about everything you eat. It’s still too soon for milk, corn and any kind of citrus fruit or juice. Until baby is at least one year old his digestive system can’t handle these foods. If our recipe calls for some milk you shouldn’t have a problem, but presenting it too early can cause your child to be lactose intolerant. Corn, citrus pulp and acid is too abrasive and can cause blockage.
Stay away from all the choke-ables. Grapes, uncooked carrots, sliced apple, chips, baby biscuits and hot dogs can cause trouble—it’s best to just avoid them altogether. If you just can’t wait to feed your baby some of the items mentioned, be sure the food is reduced to tiny pieces that can fit down your baby’s esophagus whole. That way if he does happen to swallow before chewing—which is very likely—he’ll be fine.
Make whole-food choices. Slice up a piece of fruit, bake your own bread so your family isn’t eating preservatives and steer clear of canned, boxed or pre-prepared foods. These types of whole-food choices will help to keep your whole family healthy.
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