Give your baby a solid start – tips for introducing solids

Introducing solids is a new and exciting phase of your baby’s development. Before you introduce the first veggie, make sure that your baby has met the following developmental criteria;

1. Your baby has doubled his or her birth weight.
2. Your baby can sit with support and is able to keep his or her neck steady.
3. When doing tummy time, your baby can fully extend his or her neck and back.
4. He must be able to swallow a teaspoon of milk (breast milk or formula) without gagging.
5. He starts to show an interest when you eat your food.

How old should my baby be?

Between the ages of four and six months – It is in this age group that most babies are developmentally ready to experience their first taste of solid food.

Waiting until after six months to introduce your baby to solids might result in food fussiness as he rejects the new textures offered to him.

A messy affair

From eight months on, eating becomes not only fun, but an extremely messy affair. Be sure to feed baby in his high chair or on a tiled floor so that the mess is kept to a minimum.

When solids become more important than milk

When you first introduce your baby to solids, milk is should still be his or her primary source of nutrition. This means that you will always offer milk before you offer solids. The priority shifts once baby hits the twelve month mark. At this age, baby should not be drinking more than 600mls per day as his primary nutrition should now come from solid food.

What to introduce first?

You can start with any pureed solid food. While it’s traditional to start your baby on solids with a single-grain cereal, there’s no medical evidence to show that introducing solid foods in a particular order will benefit your baby.In fact, the modern trend is to skip the cereal and go straight to veggies, introducing the cereal only at a later stage when baby can benefit from the extra carbohydrates (for example, when he starts crawling).

The general rule of thumb is, veggies first and then fruits (so as to avoid your baby developing a sweet tooth!).

Good veggies to start off with include;

• Butternut
• Sweet potatoes
• Squash

Avo is also being put forward as one of the best foods to start baby on.

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Lara Bestbier

Writer. Creative. Word-nerd. Aspiring photographer. Old wife. Brand new member of the elite society called mommy-hood. Mom to the only drama queen more demanding than me. “Life’s too short to keep a straight face”.

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