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Very first foods
Some mums feel confused about when to introduce solids. The Department of Health used to recommend that babies were started on solids between the ages of four and six months. Then, in May 2003, they issued the following statement: "Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first six months of an infant's life as it provides all the nutrients a baby needs".
In the end, as a parent, it is up to you to decide when your baby should start solids. If you feel your baby needs to start solids before six months, do talk it through with your health visitor who will be happy to advise and support you.
One of the first things your baby has to learn when weaning begins is how to swallow "non fluids". So that your baby doesn't have to cope with new flavours as well as using different muscles, bland baby rice mixed with baby's usual milk is the most common first food. However, there's no reason why you can't try vegetable or fruit purées first. You may prefer to introduce one food at a time so that you can tell if your baby reacts adversely to a food, or you may want to mix baby rice with, for example, apple or carrot purée. Try:
• Purées of vegetables such as carrots, swede, parsnips, sweet potato, courgette, butternut squash
• Purées of fruits, such as apple, pear, mango, papaya, or mashed banana
• Gluten-free baby cereals, such as iron-fortified baby rice or maize flour, mixed with baby's usual milk.
What next? Once your baby is happy eating from a spoon, increase the range of foods you offer to include:
• Purées of lean meat or poultry
• Purées of lentils or split peas.
• Purées of mixed vegetables with potatoes or rice.
• Purées which include green vegetables, such as peas, cabbage, spinach or broccoli.
• Try to limit the number of sweet or cereal purées to one a day, and always include a vegetable purée. Gradually make the food a thicker consistency.
• If your family has a history of eczema, asthma, or other allergies, avoid giving cow's milk or milk products (cheese, yogurt, fromage frais), fish and shellfish, soya beans, citrus fruit (including orange juice) or eggs, until your baby is six months old. You may introduce these foods earlier if there is no family history, though many parents prefer to wait until six months anyway.
• Babies from such a family should also avoid peanuts and sesame seeds up to the age of three years
• The risk of developing coeliac disease is reduced by avoiding foods containing gluten, such as wheat, rye and barley-based foods. That includes bread, flour, pasta, some breakfast cereals and rusks until six months. Oats are best avoided, too, in case they contain traces of gluten.
• Avoid follow-on milk until your baby is six months
• Don't add salt or sugar, honey or other sweeteners to your baby's food.
From eight to 11 months From now your baby's ability to join in with family meals increases enormously. You should offer him a wide range of foods to fulfil his nutrient requirements, and to get him used to eating different flavours. There are also fewer foods to avoid.
If you are buying commercially produced food, the ranges normally go from four to seven months and seven months upwards. In fact, there's no nutritional reason why a baby of six months can't eat jars of food labelled seven months plus (although the consistency may need adjusting).
Now's the time to introduce:
• Mashed or minced food, not purées. Be sure to include some lumps.
• A wider range of starchy foods — bread, cous-cous, pasta, baby breadsticks, breakfast cereals, oats, in addition to cornmeal, potatoes, rice and millet. Give 2-3 servings a day of starchy foods.
• Cooled boiled water from a beaker with a soft spout, when she is thirsty, in addition to her daily breastmilk or 500-600mls/ 17-20oz of formula. Stay off juices and baby squashes as long as you can.
• Citrus fruits, such as oranges and satsumas. If you do give fruit juice, dilute it 1 part juice to 9 of cooled boiled water, and use a beaker with a soft spout. Keeping this to meal times helps with iron absorption and reduces the risk of damage to emerging teeth.
• Eggs which are well cooked, fish and shellfish can be added to the other protein-rich foods in her diet — lean red meat, poultry and lentils. Aim for one serving of protein-rich food a day.
• Nut butters are fine for babies who don't have a family history of allergic diseases. Use unsalted smooth versions, or make your own.
• Dairy products, such as fromage frais, yogurt and cheese. Although you should wait until one year to introduce cow's milk as a drink, it can be used in cooking, so make cheese sauce to add to vegetables or pasta.
• Follow-on formula can be used if you wish.
• Finger foods are great once your baby can hold things, and allow her a degree of control. Try cooked green beans or carrots, cubes of cheese, slices of banana or soft pear.
From 11 months Meals should be more adult-like now. They should be chopped or minced and follow a two to three meal a day pattern along with one or two snacks and 500-600mls/ 17-20oz of breastmilk or formula. At this stage your baby should be having:
• 3-4 servings of starchy foods, such as bread, pasta, potatoes or rice, a day
• 1 serving of meat, fish, eggs, or 2 of pulses (lentils, peas, beans) or nut butters
• 1-2 servings of cheese, fromage frais or yogurt as well as breastmilk or formula.
What should babies under one year avoid?
• Still keep off salt, sugar, honey and artificial sweeteners. Try sweetening desserts with mashed banana or a purée of stewed dried fruit if possible, or use a minimum of sugar.
• Avoid the temptation to add a little tea to baby's bottle. The tannin in tea interferes with iron absorption.
• Avoid giving fruit squashes or diet drinks to your baby. Artificial sweeteners are not suitable for babies and young children.
• Avoid foods which may carry a risk of food poisoning, such as soft mould-ripened cheeses (brie, camembert), liver pâté, and soft-boiled or raw eggs.
• Don't give cow's (or goat's or sheep's) milk as a main drink under one year.
• Low-fat milks, spreads, yogurts and reduced-fat cheeses — always offer your baby the full-fat versions.
How much fat should babies and toddlers have? Up to the age of at least two, fat is an important source of energy for your baby, so full-fat versions of milk, cheese, yogurt and fromage frais are important. When she is two, and only if she is growing well, you can gradually introduce lower-fat versions. By the time she is five years old, only about a third of her energy should be provided by fat.
How much fibre? Be cautious about introducing too many wholegrain foods and pulses for babies and young children. These tend to be bulky and can fill up a small tummy leaving little space for other higher energy foods. So give your baby and toddler a mixture of white and wholegrain cereals and breads. If your toddler regularly eats pulses and lentils as part of a vegetarian diet, make sure that she has some white bread, rice and pasta as well.
