suggestions for first foods?

Sarah - posted on 01/31/2010

Rice cereal and meat are the two easiest foods for an infant to digest. Heinz has some great beef broth and chicken, the beef is a little higher in iron though. We start our son in the am with some cereal then @ lunch give him some meat. I've been told not to feed him too late in the evening so digesting all the new foods bother them while they're trying to sleep and night. We have al the canned baby veg and fruit, but are holding off until his little body gets used to digesting. BABY STEPS RIGHT?

Tara - posted on 01/31/2010

I have been reading an excellent book called The Healthy Baby Meal Planner By Annabel Karmel. The suggestions for first foods are root veggies such as carrots, sweet potato, potato and squash. First fruits suggested are easy tasting fruits such as apple, pear, banana and papaya. My 6 month ols has loved everything except papaya and banana but if you introduce foods they may not like now, to them again later they are bound to start liking the tastes!! This book is excellent. It tells you what foods are safe for what age and many tips and recipies to make the weaning process easy for you and your baby, I highly reccommend it. ISBN# 978-1-4391-0278-7. Good Luck

Sarah - posted on 01/27/2010

My daughter LOVES squash and sweet potatoes! She's not a huge banana fan or peas fan, but she will eat them just will a little "mom, this doesn't taste very good" look on her face. She also eats green beans, peaches, pears, and carrots. I just started mixing rice cereal in with them because she does not like rice cereal alone :)

Natalie - posted on 01/27/2010

In Belgium they encourage mums to give pureed potatoes (an ice cube size portion if making it at home). I started with carrots and potatoes. Avocado was a HUGE hit too! However my pediatrician was more in favour of carrots, I disagreed (she is rather conservative). My daughter now eats pureed peas, spinach, brocoli and we're going to try leeks soon.

April - posted on 01/26/2010

hmmmm, i started with plain rice cereal, than fruits....than i added veggies..actually i mixed it... fruits in the morning, veggies during the day..she would drink bout 6 oz of milk after a 1st Food friut or vegetable bowl. I actually tried giving her custard and she liked it. i've grown up in a culture where they start feeding the baby everything!!!!!!!!!! at a very early age..like 3 mths, but i didnt do it..and im glad.

Tamara - posted on 01/26/2010

Oh the pediatrician also said only feed the baby solids once a day unless they want to keep eating, then move it to twice a day. If the baby wants to eat too much, they said to give them some water in between.

Tamara - posted on 01/26/2010

Our pediatrician firmly suggested starting with fruits and veggies. We're loosely following the suggestions in Super Baby Food which recommends starting with avocado, sweet potato, and bananas each mixed with breast milk. After our 6 month appt. yesterday, it was reinforced that the next 3 months of solid food tasting is not for nutrition, rather to get used to eating from a spoon (and that it should be stress-free and fun). We started our son on avocado and breast milk yesterday (a teaspoon full) and he was interested in eating it after making some faces initially. We'll give him the same for the rest of the week (we're not in a hurry to get him through too many foods) in order to check for allergic reactions. Good luck!

Odette - posted on 01/25/2010

banana is good and easy to start, also puree carrots, sweet potato/potato, almost any vegie can be pure, once they are used to each one, try putting a little of each vegie. I think a mix is good, i use fruit in the morning, and vegie for dinner. I also prefer to make my own, as the bought ones tend to have more things than just the vegie wanted in them. I add a small bit of water to cook, but nothing else.

Spring - posted on 01/25/2010

I started with rice cereal (its rich in Fe and infants are usually lacking this by 6 mo)

Then I was told by my GP to introduce any Green or Orange veggies

I started with sweet potatoes (my daughter loves these)

Avoid berries, citric foods and sea food

Also you can start introducing meet at 6 month.

My daughter however did not like it at all- So I am going to wait a month or so!

Wait 2-3 days before introducing a new food, just in case there is allergies.

Rice cereal can cause constipation, a good cure is to add prunes into the diet :)

Kristen - posted on 01/25/2010

the docs recommend rice, oat, or barley cereal mixed with breastmilk or formula but my son hates the cereal. We moved on to applesauce and peas. He loves them both. Applesauce is what I would recommend if your little one doesn't like cereal.

Annalyn - posted on 01/25/2010

i started with rice (cream of rice with milk). at 6 mos, squash, potato, sweet potato, carrots, bananas, apple sauce.
use only single ingredients and waits about a week, between introducing each new food. Then, if something upsets your baby, you will know exactly what it was.

Gabriella - posted on 01/24/2010

I agree with everyone: start with rice cereal or baby rice, then veggies then fruit. Start with solids first once a day, keeping to either breastfeeding or bottle feeding as normal, then once the solids go down well go on to twice a day. My suggestion is to then have solids at breakfast (cereal with pureed fruit) and supper (veggies or mix veggies/potatoes/sweet potatoes/meat/etc). Slowly go on to chunckier chews as he progresses. After a while you may want to go over to BLW (Baby Led Weaning - plenty of information online to be found. Just google it).

Hope this helps.

Kim - posted on 01/23/2010

There is a book called Super Baby Foods that will give you some guidance, especially if you want to purée your own food. My son's doctor actually suggested we try avocado first so we did at about 5 months. It made for some classic pictures. I've only given my son rice cereal once - it doesn't smell too great and I have a hard time making my son eat something my husband or I wouldn't eat ourselves. However, I understand that it can be added to any purée as a thickener.

Bonnie - posted on 01/23/2010

always start out with rice cereal and mix it with breast milk or formula, and then you can start fruits or veggies, doesnt matter what ones i mix them up i try a fruit and then veggie a fruit and then veggie and only trying them on a new one every 3-5 days, the best ones to start out with are the ones less likely to give a reaction, bananas, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, carrotts, apples, they say not to give babies berries right off the bat because they are higher risk of allergies, and not to give babies fish, nuts, pork or eggs until one year old

Vicki - posted on 01/23/2010

We started with finger foods - steamed carrot sticks, beans, cucumber etc. At first he just played with it, now he's eating a bit. Messy but fun!

Angela_M_X - posted on 01/23/2010

I started with baby rice but it was to plain for my little boy so he now has fruity porridge & strawberry & bananna which he loves:)

Katy - posted on 01/22/2010

Try plain baby rice to start off with. Give him one or two little spoons full to start off with so he can get used to pushing round his mouth before swallowing.

Once he's used to it you can try the Stage 1 food jars so that he is trying lots of different tastes. My son LOVES the Plum pouches with Quinoa flakes. Sounds weird but they're great. He doesn't like the baby rice anymore, but it was good to start him with. Baby porridge or ccereal is good too.

The HiPP baby club is really good for advice on stages etc. And if you join, they'll send you free samples. They also have a table/planner giving you step by step on how to wean properly: http://www.hippbabyclub.co.uk/feedingyou...

The Plum baby food is more expensive but nice: http://www.plum-baby.co.uk/our-food

I hope this helps x

Moneque - posted on 01/22/2010

Try cereal first, with breastmilk of formula so it's something he's already familiar with. My daughter never liked cereal by itself so I added a little babyfood to give some flavor. And start with veggies, the sweetness is addicting lol. my daughter has been on solid for almost 2 months and she loves all her veggies and fruits. I am just now switching to 2nd foods.

Kristina - posted on 01/22/2010

If you haven't got them on cereal start that first, plain rice cereal to start.

After cereal veggies first, anything green and not overly sweet. I can't stress enough how much of a bad idea it is to start babies on fruits first, they'll get attached to the sweetness and won't want to try other things. After green veggies, move on to orange/yellow, then reds

Victoria - posted on 01/22/2010

Rice cereal is good until they get used to the spoon motion and swallowing a different texture other than milk. Our boy never liked rice cereal so I was suggested to try oatmeal. Personally, we are holding off on fruits, they are very sweet, and I believe that once they get used to the sweetness, you may have a hard time getting them to eat veggies. Alex had applesauce, banana and pear for a few days once he turned 6 months a few weeks ago, then I was told to give him veggies, and wait on the fruit until he's used to the less sweet taste of the veggies. He's eating green beans at the moment, doesn't seem to like it as much as the fruit, but he's eating it. Whatever you start you're precious bundle on, give them the same food for at least 3 days, only the one food (other than milk of course). That way, if he has a reaction, you know what food it is. I do warn you though, his poo may be a lot smellier and thicker once he's on solids, I am not a squeamish person normally, but the first solid poo diaper I changed threw me for a loop. If you are buying your food, look at the pots, they will guide you as to what food you're baby may be ready for. If you are feeling adventurous, and would like to puree your own, a good website for ideas is http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com

Yujing - posted on 01/21/2010

I started with rice. I know many start with potato. Root vegetables are mild and good to start with for these young little ones.