Starting Solids

[susieSA]

When would be a good time to start a baby on solids?

How do I start?

What do I start with?

[Gwen]

http://www.gerber.com/promos/fpidea?ideaid...amp;promoid=346

http://www.gerber.com/fptimeline

i love gerber's rediness tips and such. don't believe everything they say, they are obviously selling a product.

one tip from my kids dr that i found helpful was when starting and looking for allergies, feed them what you eat. don't go to the store and get crazy vegies and things you've never tasted. it's ok if the goal is to expose them to new things, but odds are they will tolerate what you tolerate, in terms of being concerned for allergies. once eating well i fed my kids from the table (modified versions of it anyway lol). i did buy jars of baby food and such for when we were traveling, at chruch or visiting other ppls homes and i didn't know what would be avaliable, and for those odd feedings when the baby got hungry and it wasn't meal time. saved me a lot of stress and work that way.

i must say though, gerber has a strawberry, apple sauce that is wonderful. if they sold it in big jars i would eat it and feed it to all my kids. much better than regular apple sauce. sometimes i wonder why they don't, if it is so healthy, and older kids would eat it why not. anyway lol

[susieSA]

Yayyyy, we get Gerber over here

[Gabelma]

When would be a good time to start a baby on solids?

How do I start?

What do I start with?

LOL How old if your baby?

I am going to be very unhelpful intially but I would start a baby on solids when they are ready, when you feel they need more than just formula or breastmilk and when they are ready to take it. I started my daughter at just over 3 months my son only just started solids when he was 6-7 months, every baby is ready at different times whatever the books say. Both of mine have been ready for mash rather than puree straight away and then moved onto family food cut. My son had a lovely time with a pizza a couple of minutes ago. The World Health Organisation recommend waiting until 6 months our local health authority says 4-6 months. If you have a history of allergies in your family then probably waiting until 6 months is a good idea.

You can start on what in UK we call baby rice but with both of mine I started both mine with mashed fruit and veg. I never made anything special for my babies just don't cook with salt and mostly from scratch. I then look at the meal and adapt it for example - Egg, beans and chips I would scramble Gabey's egg then mash the beans and mash together. You could just use a hand blender and whiz stuff up. Some babies only take a few mouthfuls mine both skipped the ice cube stage

Charley

[mcdoodle]

My pediatrician told me to start solids when my son would reach for my food to try, or was moving his mouth like he was chewing while watching me eat. He was about 4-5 months old when he started some solids, but I kept breastfeeding until he was over a year old.

I just bought baby food, and would portion out onto a plate a couple of tablespoons of each food and freeze. Any kind of baby food, and your baby will let you know which ones they prefer. :) Then I would put these frozen portions into ziplocks in the freezer. My mother did this for us, and told me to do it...it saved me a lot of money!

If you can cook without a lot of seasoning, you can also make baby food. Later I had a little food mill I got at a yard sale, and would just mash up whatever I had cooked up. He loved it. You have to be careful not to have very little salt (just a dash) or seasonings, though. My doc said its just better to give them very plain foods.

[Gwen]

i forgot lol that rice cereal and such, mine would never eat it plain. for the very first feedings i would put some cereal in the bowl add a small spoonfull of apple sauce or small amt of fruit juice, then add the water or milk to the consistancy i wanted. added that bit of flavor. didn't take long before they moved past the rice to just eating the foods.

[susieSA]

Thanks ladies...

You tips, info & links have been very useful :)

Thanks again

[susieSA]

Well, we went to see little man's doc this morning & asked him about when to start solids....

He said at 6 months as well... Golly gosh!!!! Thas is in 2 weeks

He was great & even gave us samples of what we can get over here - very different to what is available in South Africa & also very reasonable too... He was happy to hear that I would like to make me own baby food Not sure I know what I am letting myself in for...

How do I know when he has had enough when I start feeding him solids?

Any other ideas/tips as to what worked for you or what flopped big time?

Thanks :)

[Guest Yediyd]

making your own babyfood is easy...just mush down what you are eating. I breastfed mine till they started reaching for my food, then I started giving them "bites" and we evolved from there...I bought baby food jars just for the diaper bag...but at home...it was mashed potatoes, yogert, apple sause, those boxes or rice cerial flakes mixed with my breast milk and yogert or apple sause...and my blender was my favorite kitchen gadget for a while. When the kids got to the point of finger food....cheese, cottage cheese, cheerios, and cut up fruit were favorites.

[susieSA]

making your own babyfood is easy...just mush down what you are eating. I breastfed mine till they started reaching for my food, then I started giving them "bites" and we evolved from there...I bought baby food jars just for the diaper bag...but at home...it was mashed potatoes, yogert, apple sause, those boxes or rice cerial flakes mixed with my breast milk and yogert or apple sause...and my blender was my favorite kitchen gadget for a while. When the kids got to the point of finger food....cheese, cottage cheese, cheerios, and cut up fruit were favorites.

Mmmmm, yummy... I think I need to start making myself some of those snacks

Thanks Yediyd

[Gwen]

with my kids i started using the sign language for "more" and "finished" when i fed them. they learned them rather quickly. when they got fussy at the table i could ask what they wanted and know if i should give them seconds or clean them up. it was very helpful. much better than giving them seconds when they wanted down so in response they would throw the plate to the floor and we had a mess. i liked having them use some words...sort of. i would just sign it when i said it and did it. "ok we are all finished" (making the sign) then clean them up, put them down and tell them again that meal time is finished (while signing it). even the kids that didn't take up signing would respond postitvly to the one they wanted and i could still figure out what they needed.

http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/f/finish.htm

http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/m/more.htm

i repeat the motion to my kids several times so they can really see it. with "more" one of mine modified it where they would point with one finger into the palm of the other hand; a very natural sign for more. i used that and the proper, alternating between them, he did eventually do it right.

[susieSA]

Thanks Almom...

That's a great idea

[Annabelli]

Go by your doctor's advice. Go by the book....like your baby's life depends on it. Starting on solids just means starting your baby on rice cereal. They first agree to a taste and usually 2 ounces of prepared rice cereal fills them up. It's like they go from a taste to a dab.

Homemade baby food is very serious business. It all as to be made from fresh food. Nothing canned in brine, frozen, or dried and cured.

Homemade baby food is more for the junior toddler (pre toddler....14-16 months).

Babies take a long time before they have the ability to digest most food. Be kind to your baby.

[Gabelma]

I was thining about you today Susie we were eating out and you just popped into my mind. There is no reason why a newly weaning baby can't be done on fruit and veg we had a lot of contoversy with cereals here at one point so my son got fruit some quick easy thing at least in the UK baby food has less regulations on it than adult food so for example a baby rusk can contain as much sugar as a jam doughnut.

Some things we do are use the Innocent Smoothies they don't have added sugar so are better than the fruit in a jar and taste better lol

One of the easiest food is mashed potato. You can chew the food yourself and give it to the baby - I am slowly learning you don't need to spend hours doing homemade stuff now know number 3 won't have to have anything from a jar

Last night we had a japanese meal - I chewed the lamb for him and he managed the rice and melon on his own.

http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/

Here is an article on Baby Led Weaning I've done mostly this with both of my children whilst also doing some spoon feeding, but have yet to use a puree with either of mine unless its part of the food

Charley