FEEDING YOUR BABY

Posted by :  Sarah Kertin 

1- BABY’S FIRST FOOD 

This article is about feeding your baby from six months to one year. It has information and answers questions you may have about breastfeeding and starting solid foods. Breastfeeding is all your baby needs for the first six months. Then continue to breastfeed for two years and beyond while introducing your baby to a variety of solid foods and liquids. Breastfeeding provides your baby with important nutrients and immune protection even when solid foods are started. Breast milk protects your baby’s health in ways that infant formula does not. You can breastfeed as long as you and your baby want to. There is no age when a baby is too old. The longer you breastfeed, the more benefits you and your baby get. If you include infant formula as you are introducing solids, you will make less breast milk. This can lead to early weaning. If you stop breastfeeding, it can be hard to start breastfeeding again and re-establish a plentiful milk supply for your baby. If you are thinking about using infant formula, get all the facts first. Babies who are breastfed or receiving breast milk need a daily vitamin D supplement of 400 IU (10 micro grams). Continue to give your baby a vitamin D supplement for as long as he is breastfed or receiving breast milk or talk to your health care provider about when you can stop. After two years of age, a vitamin D supplement is no longer recommended. Babies who are not breastfed do not need a supplement because vitamin D has been added to infant formula

2- INTRODUCING SOLID FOODS 

When starting to introduce solid foods, it is important to follow your baby’s signs of readiness for food. Growth Spurts Your baby will have many growth spurts. It is important to know the difference between growth spurts and your baby’s readiness for solid foods. During a growth spurt, your baby may have some days when he seems hungrier than usual. During those times, breastfeed your baby more often. The more you breastfeed your baby, the more milk you will produce. Growth spurts are not a sign that your baby needs solid foods. Starting solids does not help your baby sleep through the night. How do I tell if my baby is ready for solids? When your baby is showing the following signs of readiness, you can introduce solid foods in addition to continued breastfeeding:

•  Holds his head up steadily
• Can sit up and lean forward.
• Opens his mouth wide when you offer food.
• Can let you know when he is full (e.g., turns head away).
• Can pick up food and try to put it in his mouth.

 At first your baby may not accept new foods. If he shows you that he does not want the food by closing his mouth or turning away, try again another day. It can also help to try different textures. Your baby does not need teeth to start eating solid food. His gums are hard enough to chew a variety of textures.

 When to introduce solid foods?

 Each baby is different. Try not to compare your baby to other babies. Follow your baby’s signs of readiness for food. Introduce solid foods no later than just after six months. Your baby needs the extra iron from foods that are rich in iron. For foods that are rich in iron check page 4. Talk to your health care provider, a registered dietitian, or a public health nurse, if you need more information about when your baby is ready for solid foods.

 How to introduce solid foods?

 Since birth, your baby has been growing on breast milk. At six months of age, breast milk is still the most important food but the time has come to add solid foods, especially iron-rich ones. Solid foods provide a variety of nutrients, flavors, and textures for your baby. The first foods you offer your baby need to be rich in iron such as:

• well cooked meat or meat alternatives;
• beef , chicken  , turkey , lamb ,fish ,pork
• whole egg , tofu , legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas)
• iron-fortified infant cereals;
• rice infant cereal , oats infant cereal , barley infant cereal , wheat infant cereal , mixed cereals

 What kind of textures can I start with?

Offer your baby finger foods and a variety of soft textures such as lumpy, and tender-cooked and finely minced, pureed, mashed or ground. Offer finger foods when your baby reaches for food or seems to want to feed himself such as finely minced, mashed cooked meat, boned fish, and poultry; pieces of soft-cooked vegetables and fruits; soft, ripe fruit such as banana; grated cheese; and bread crusts or toasts. Here are some textures to try It is also important to introduce a variety of textures from other food groups.

For more information on how to introduce other food groups contact us 

 How should I introduce my baby to a new food?

• Introduce a new food when your baby is happy and hungry.
• Feed your baby when you or other family members are eating.
• Sit your baby up straight. Do up the safety strap to help keep your baby safe.
• Always supervise your baby when he is eating.
• Keep mealtimes pleasant. Your baby will tell you he has had enough to eat when he turns his head away or keeps his mouth shut. Let your baby guide you.
• You may put a small amount of food on the tip of a small spoon. Hold the spoon so your baby can see it. Then put some food on his lips. Put food in his mouth only if he opens it.
• Offer your baby minced, mashed, or grated pieces of food as well as finger foods. Allow him to grab them and put them into his mouth on his own.
• Gradually give your baby more food. Start slowly and work towards offering solid foods three to five times per day, depending on your baby’s hunger cues and appetite.
• Help your baby learn to drink from an open cup. You can offer tap water. Babies do not need juice.

 What if my baby refuses new foods?

 If your baby does not accept a food the first time you offer it, try again another day. It may take 8-10 tries or more for your baby to accept a new food.

• Mix solid food with breast milk to make it more familiar to your baby.
• Let your baby feed herself with her fingers or fists.
• Serve the food at different temperatures.
• Offer solids when you think your baby is most hungry and not tired.

3- FOOD ALLERGIES 

 What should I know about food allergies?

 Some foods are more likely to cause a food allergy than others. Many of these foods are also good sources of iron. You can introduce common food allergens as part of your baby’s first foods. If there is a family history of allergies, talk to your health care provider.

When you introduce a common food allergen for the first time, only offer one per day and wait two days before introducing another food allergen. This will help you to know which food caused a potential allergic reaction. If there is a reaction, it will likely appear within 48 hours. You do not need to wait to introduce all other foods but should always be watching for signs of an allergic reaction. If you, your partner or siblings has a food allergy, talk to your health care provider for advice on how to safely introduce solid food.

Signs of an allergic reaction are rash, vomiting, diarrhea, or breathing problems. Stop feeding a food if you think it causes any of these symptoms. Talk to your health care provider. Call 911 if your baby is having trouble breathing.

Once your baby eats a common food allergen, such a peanut butter, offer it regularly to help maintain tolerance to the food. Some of these foods, such as peanuts and tree nuts, may be a choking hazard.

 4- SIX TO NINE MONTHS

 What to feed your baby from six to nine months?

• Your baby needs iron for good health. It is important to continue to breastfeed according to your baby’s cues and to offer iron-rich foods two or more times a day.
• After introducing iron-rich foods, introduce other food groups in any order. The four food groups are: Vegetables & Fruit, Grain Products, Milk & Alternatives, and Meat & Alternatives.
• Feed your baby solids at regular times. Keep meal times pleasant. Include your baby at family mealtimes.
• Remember to offer your baby a variety of soft textures. See page 4 for more information about textures.

 What kinds of meats and alternatives should I feed my baby?

•  Continue to offer well cooked meat or meat alternatives such as beef, chicken, turkey,
• lamb, fish, pork, egg, tofu, and legumes.

• If cooked meat or meat alternative is dry, add water, expressed breast milk, broth or mix with
• vegetable puree. Cook and cube, mash, or puree tofu. Cook egg white and yolk well.
• Offer your baby deboned fish such as salmon, halibut, sole, char, haddock, cod, or trout.
• Do not give your baby fish high in mercury more than once a month. These include swordfish,
• shark, fresh or frozen tuna steak, marlin, orange roughy and escolar. Canned albacore tuna
• contains less mercury than fresh tuna. Do not give it more than once a week.
• Limit or avoid giving your baby deli meats such as ham, wieners, bologna, salami, or sausages.
• These are high salt and low in essential nutrients. Also limit or avoid dried fish, since it has been
• preserved using large amounts of salt.

 What types of grains should I feed my baby?

•  Continue to offer iron-fortified infant cereals such as rice, oats, wheat, or barley.

• Mix dry cereal with breast milk to add more nutrients. You can make the cereal thicker by
• adding less breast milk.
• Choose plain infant cereals. Cereals with added fruits have extra sugar.
• If you are trying to avoid milk protein due to an allergy, be aware that infant cereals listed as
• “Just add water” usually have infant formula or milk solids in them. Read the labels.
• Do not add cereal to a bottle.
• Other grains such as bread crusts or toast, cooked muffin, bran flakes, and unsweetened
• o-shaped cereal can also be offered to your baby.

 Adding other food groups from six to nine months  :

 After your baby has started eating iron-rich foods, your baby needs food from all of the four food groups. Remember to introduce common food allergens one at a time and wait two days before introducing another common food allergen. Continue to breastfeed as breastfeeding is an important source of nutrition for older infants and young children as complementary foods are introduced. If you choose to not introduce or offer your baby certain foods or food groups for personal or cultural reasons please connect with your health care provider or a registered dietitian to help ensure your baby has a well-balanced diet.

What kinds of vegetables and fruits should I give my baby?

 You can offer any type of fruit or vegetable that your family eats, including squash, peas, sweet potatoes, green or yellow beans, apples, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, avocados, and bananas.

• Wash and peel fresh vegetables and fruit before using.
• Give your baby mashed or pieces of cooked vegetables and fruit. You can mash or cut lengthwise bananas, papayas, avocados, mangoes, melon, and canned fruits without cooking them.

• If you use store-bought baby fruit avoid “fruit desserts”. They are high in sugar.
• Store-bought combination vegetable and meat dinners have less nutrients than jars of single foods.

If you use them add extra meat or alternatives and vegetables to your baby’s meal.

What kinds of milk and alternatives should I give my baby?

• Milk products such as cheese and plain yogurt can be introduced at 6 months of age.
• Avoid skim, 1% and 2% milk products and products that are sweetened with honey or artificial sweeteners.
• Do not give your baby homogenized (3.25% M.F.) cow’s milk until he is 9 to 12 months old, and only if he is also eating a variety of iron-rich foods. Introduction of cow milk should be delayed until 9 to 12 months of age since it does not have enough nutrition to be their main milk source.
• Do not give soy, almond, rice, coconut or other plant-based beverages. They do not have enough nutrients that your baby needs for proper growth and development.

 What about water and other drinks?

 Your baby gets enough to drink from breast milk. If you want to offer water to your baby, give tap or bottled water in an open cup. She will need help at first but this will help her learn to drink from an open cup. Do not give distilled, carbonated, or mineral water.

• Your baby does not need juice. Offer whole fruit more often than juice. If you decide to offer juice, limit to ½ cup (125 ml) of 100 % pure juice per day. You do not need to add water to juice.
• Do not give your baby herbal teas, sports drinks or drinks with caffeine. These may include coffee, tea, hot chocolate, soft drinks or energy drinks

 5- SAMPLE  MENUS  FOR BABY 

 When solid food is introduced, breastfeeding continues on cue.

• Breast milk can be offered before or after solid foods.
• These menus are only a guide. You can decide according to your convenience and your child’s cues.
• Every baby is different. Trust that your baby knows how much to eat.

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