2008 March
Babythings4u.co.uk, helping inform you to make the right decisions

Stage 3

As solid food becomes a large part of your baby’s diet, it’s important to offer a range of different foods. This is to provide your baby with all the vitamins and minerals he or she needs. Your baby should still be having a minimum of 500-600ml of breast or formula milk a day.

Try to give two to three servings a day of starchy foods such as potatoes, yams, rice or bread. Fruit and vegetables make good finger foods and should be included at two or more meals each day. Your baby should have one serving of soft cooked meat, fish, egg, tofu or pulses such as beans or lentils (dahl) a day. Red meat such as beef, lamb and pork is an excellent source of iron. Eggs (well cooked) are a quick, nutritious and cheap source of protein.

As babies continue to develop, foods with a thicker consistency and a lumpier texture can be introduced to encourage them to learn to chew and manage small pieces of food, even if they don’t have teeth yet. Give finger foods such as toast, bread, breadsticks, pitta bread or chapatti, peeled apple, banana, carrot sticks, or cubes of cheese. Avoid sweet biscuits and rusks, so that your baby doesn’t get into the habit of expecting sweet snacks.

Always stay near your baby during feeding to give encouragement and to make sure he or she doesn’t choke.

Stage 4

As your baby becomes increasingly used to eating solid foods, he or she should be learning to fit in with the family by eating three minced or chopped meals a day, plus breast or formula milk as the main drink (around 500 - 600ml a day). Give your baby fruit or other healthy snacks between meals.

If your baby is on the move, (he or she may have started crawling), you may need to increase the amount of food you give. Babies have small stomachs and they need energy to grow, so make sure you give them full-fat dairy products. Cutting back on fat is sensible for adults, but not for babies or young children.

Give three to four servings a day of starchy foods and of fruit and vegetables. Don’t encourage a sweet tooth by giving biscuits and cakes to your baby, because these foods will fill your baby up without providing the right nutrients.

If you have decided not to give your baby meat or fish
Make sure you give two servings a day of pulses (such as red lentils, beans or chickpeas), or tofu to make sure they get all the energy and nutrients they need. The vitamin C in fruit and vegetables helps our bodies absorb iron, so remember to give your baby fruit and vegetables at mealtimes.

Stage 2

Feeds will still be mainly breast or formula milk (around 500-600ml a day). But when you’re both ready, you can start very gradually increasing the amount of solid food you give, either before, during, or after the milk feed. Try to react to your baby’s appetite, so if he or she is still hungry, you can give a little more.

At the same time, you can move gradually from solid food at one feed in the day to solid food at two, and then three feeds.

You can give your baby full-fat cows’ milk products, such as yoghurt or cheese sauce as a solid food.

Try to give cereals to your baby just once a day. Begin to add different foods and different tastes. You’ll be able to use lots of the foods you already cook for yourself. Just mash, sieve, or purée a small amount, but remember, don’t add salt, honey or sugar.

Using your own food is cheaper than buying baby foods, you’ll know what the ingredients are, and your baby will get used to eating like the rest of the family. Preparing larger quantities than you need and freezing small portions for later, for example in an ice cube tray, can save you time and effort.

More first foods to try
Add to the vegetable, fruit and cereal purées other foods such as:

• Purées of meat and poultry
• Purées of pulses such as lentils (dahl), hummus
• Full-fat milk products such as yoghurt or fromage frais - unless you’ve been advised otherwise by your health visitor or GP
• Full-fat milk can also be used for cooking, for example in cheese sauce, but avoid giving it to your baby as a drink until after he or she is a year old

Stage 1

When you start giving your baby solid foods, mix a teaspoon of one of the following with your baby’s usual milk (breast or formula):

• smooth vegetable purée such as carrot, parsnip, potato or yam, or
• fruit purée such as banana, cooked apple, pear or mango, or
• cereal (not wheat-based) such as baby rice, sago, maize, cornmeal or millet.

Offer this to your baby before or after one of your usual milk feeds, or in the middle of a feed, if that works better. If the food is hot, make sure you stir and cool it and test it before giving it to your baby.

Most babies take time to learn how to take food from a spoon. So be patient and be prepared for some mess. Your baby may cry at first between mouthfuls - until now, food has come in one continuous stream, but now there are frustrating pauses.

Don’t press the food on your baby. If the food really doesn’t seem to be wanted, stop and wait until next time. The main aim at this stage is to get your baby used to the idea of taking food from a spoon. He or she will still be getting most of their nourishment from breast or formula milk (around 500-600ml a day).

Starting on solid foods

When to start From six months old, you can gradually increase the amount of solid foods you give your baby so that by twelve months, solid foods become the main part of your baby’s diet, with breast or formula milk making up the balance. Remember that cows’ milk isn’t suitable as a drink for babies under a year old.

By giving your baby solid foods you will be introducing them gradually to a wide range of non-milk foods. So, by a year old, they will be eating a varied diet.  But remember that all babies are different. Some start solid foods earlier, some later. Some take to it quickly and some take longer. Some are choosy, others seem to like everything.

Here are some suggestions to make this process easier and safer:

• Go at your baby’s pace. Allow plenty of time for feeding, particularly at first. Your baby needs to learn to move solid food from the front of the tongue to the back, to swallow it. The food is going to taste and feel different - so it’s bound to take time.
• Spoon out the amount you think your baby will eat and heat this, rather than heating a large amount that then goes to waste. This is because you’ll need to throw away any of the heated food that your baby doesn’t eat, as it’s not safe to reheat previously warmed food. It’s important to heat food thoroughly and allow it to cool, stir well and test, before offering it to your baby. Also, don’t refreeze any food that’s been warmed or previously frozen. And remember that everything you use for feeding your baby needs to be really clean.
• Always stay nearby when your baby is eating to make sure that he or she doesn’t choke.
• Don’t rush or ‘force feed’. Most babies know when they’ve had enough to eat. Don’t spend a lot of time persuading your baby to take food - they soon learn that refusing food is a good way of getting attention.
• Ideally, choose a time of day when both you and your baby are relaxed.
• Encourage your baby to help with feeding. When your baby shows an interest in feeding him or herself, this is a good sign. So encourage this by giving your baby the spoon, while you try to spoon in most of the meal with another spoon. It will be messy at first, but try not to worry about it.
• Offer a wide variety of foods that you and your family usually eat, as this might help avoid choosiness later on. Avoid giving your baby any eggs, or salty, sugary or processed foods that haven’t been specifically designed for babies (see What foods should be avoided? below). Aim to encourage your baby to eat a variety of family foods and adapt to your pattern of eating.
• Use mashed-up family food when you can. This way, you’ll know what the ingredients are and you’ll be getting your baby used to eating what you eat. Commercial baby foods can be useful but don’t let them replace family foods altogether.

Remember, cows’ milk isn’t suitable as a drink for babies under a year old.