When to Start...

1. What age to start
2. Equipment
3. The 4-day rule
4. Which foods, when?
5. Introducing protein
6. Foods to avoid
7. Herbs & spices
8. Eating is a teaching moment
9. Recipes & Resources

**always consult your pediatrician before starting your baby on solids or if you are unsure about introducing a new food**

1. What age to start?

Around 4-6 months. Many Moms start with rice cereal mixed with formula or breast milk for the first week. Some launch straight into the fruits and veggies. Consult your pediatrician if you are unsure about your preference.

2. Equipment

What puts many people off making their own baby food is that they think they need to go buy all this fancy equipment : not true !

All you need is a saucepan, a steamer, cuisinart and/or immersion blender (looks like a wand) and some ice cube trays. Run everything through the dishwasher to make sure it’s sterilized and you’re ready to start.

Don’t forget to wash your hands !

See Resources for babyfood kit you can buy online.

3. The 4-day rule and the concept of building

Pediatricians usually advise a “4 day rule” whereby you give your baby one single ingredient exclusively before moving on to the next. Once your infant has had a number of single fruits and veggies you can start to build by mixing them into duos and trios i.e. if she has had sweet potato then give it her with carrots. Once she’s had carrots you can then give her carrot & cauliflower, or carrot & parsnip. If she’s already had apple you can give her apple & mango later on which may be a bit more palatable than mango on its own. Clearly some combinations of foods are more palatable than others and in my recipes section at the end I will list some.

4. Which foods when?

1. At the very beginning:
Organic baby cereal (fortified with iron. Either rice, oat or barley)
Fall/winter squash good source of vit A and beta carotene
Sweet potato good source of vit A and beta carotene
Pears good source of fiber, vit C
Apples good source of fiber, vit C
Banana good source vit B
Avocado good source of vit E, vit B

2. Then start to build:
Carrots good source of vit A and beta carotene
Cauliflower good source of vit C
Parsnips source of potassium, fiber
Peas good source of vit B, vit C,
Potatoes
Rutebaga
Turnips
Zucchini

Apricots
Dried apricots good source of vit A, beta carotene, iron
Mango
Nectarines
Peaches
Plums
Prunes good source of vit B
Pumpkin

3. Then build on top of that:
Asparagus good source of folate
Broccoli good source of vit A, beta carotene, vit C, calcium. folate
Leeks
Mushrooms
Onions
Red peppers good source of vit C
Spinach good source of vit A, beta carotene, calcium, folate

Blueberries good source of antioxidants
Kiwi good source of vit C
Melon good source of vit A and beta carotene, vit C

*Berries such as strawberries and raspberries shouldn’t be given before 1 year.
*Citrus fruit and tomatoes can be acidic (though not allergenic) and are better tolerated given after 1 year. They are a good source of vitamin C. Oranges are a good source of folate.
* Sweet corn is not nutrient-rich and better introduced later on (it is good source of fiber though !).

5. Introducing protein

Can be introduced around 8 months in the form of:
Red meat good source of iron, zinc, vit B
Chicken dark meat good source of zinc, vit B
Tofu good source of calcium
Yogurt good source of calcium, zinc
Cheddar cheese good source of vit A, beta carotene, calcium, zinc, vit B
Egg yolks good source of zinc
Lentils good source of iron
Liver good source of iron. Not much used nowadays due to paucity of organic liver

Can be introduced at 1 year:
Fish good source, omega 3, vit B
whole eggs good source of vit A ,beta carotene, iron, vit B
whole cows’ milk good source of vit A and beta carotene, vit E, vit B
Honey
Peanut butter (1-2 years depending on family history)

Can be introduced at 2 years:
Shellfish
See Resources at the end for Safe Fish guide

 

6. Foods it’s better to avoid altogether – what they don’t know, they don’t miss

Those that seem to be ‘marketing a healthy message’ but aren’t:
Commercial teething biscuits
a good alternative teething food: dried apple rings; frozen bagels

‘Baby’ yogurts
It’s fine and cheaper to start babies on plain wholemilk yogurt either on its own or with some fruit sauce mixed in. What they don’t know, they don’t miss!

*Fruit Juice
Juice is empty calories which make children less hungry for real food. Juice can be good as part of breakfast, especially freshly squeezed orange juice or calcium added to orange juice if your child doesn’t drink milk

Chocolate/ Processed sugar/ Salt

Butter – use sparingly and try to use olive oil instead for cooking.

 

7. Herbs and spices – good flavor replacers for salt & sugar

When ?
- Most pediatricians recommend waiting until around 8 months.

Why ?
- Add to variety of taste
- Minimize use of salt & sugar

Which herbs & spices are good ?

• Ginger
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Cardamon
• Mint
• Basil
• Garlic
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Rosemary

Many of these aid digestion as well as adding to the taste palate thus decreasing need for salt & sugar.

8. Eating is a teaching moment

Don’t forget at this stage, (i.e. up to 1 year) milk still provides your baby’s main nutritional needs. Your job is to teach her to eat and to try a variety of different tastes, colors and textures. In this way YOU are deciding what your baby should and shouldn’t be eating, as she is too young to know.

But she does know how much and will guide you as to how much food she wants on any given day. Do give her some gentle encouragement though, as she needs to know from you that eating is a positive experience.

When she is older and able to eat table food, the best way to get her to eat something is to eat it yourself. So always try to sit down and eat with her, making sure you are eating something which you want her to try.

This way eating becomes a slower, more considered experience and forms the basis for family meals, i.e. sitting down and eating together as a family. This connectedness is what is so often missing from childhood, as kids rush around with their individualized meal (and everything else!) plans. There is no shortage of child psychology books nowadays on the subject of the need for connectedness in children’s lives. Mealtimes are one way to provide it.

In other words, in order to lay the foundation for physical and psychological health, it matters just as much how you feed your babies, as what you feed them.

Resources

Baby food equipment & advice
Freshbaby.com
Wholesomebabyfood.com

Safe fish information
Edf.org/seafoodselector

Organic/Green stuff
Ewg.org - for most & least pesticide sprayed fruits and veggies
Organic-center.org – for the latest organic research
Thegreenguide.com – healthy home stuff

Local Mom stuff
Bostonmamas.com – a beautifully-designed local blog for Moms & kids.