The Little Gourmet
Practice Your Choo-Choo Trains and Your Flying Airplanes, Because Your Baby is Ready for Solids!
Parenting Tips from American Baby

Only four short months have passed since you were full of questions about feeding your suckling infant. Now it seems that just when you’ve gotten the hang of breast or bottle-feeding, that same baby is suddenly drooling over the sight of solid food. You probably feel as if you haven’t had enough time to prepare for this, but the transition needn’t be difficult.

While babies develop at their own pace—for example, one baby might be ready at 4 months, another at 6 months- even the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says there are no rigid rules on expanding your child’s diet. To relieve the pressure of what, when, and how much to feed, here’s a rundown of advice to kick you and your baby off to a smooth start.

Let’s Eat

Out of all the milestones, baby’s readiness for solids is probably the subtlest. It’s not like when he’s teething!

Relax and follow your budding epicure’s cues: By 3 or 4 months, he’ll lose his tongue-thrust reflex, nature’s way of keeping everything but liquids from entering a young infant’s mouth. Next, he’ll show interest in table food by drooling, opening his mouth, or leaning forward. By this point, he should have head control and be able to sit up with help.

And more isn’t always best: Don’t jump into serving baby three meals a day. Gradually work up to it.

4-6 Months - It’s mealtime.

Start with iron-fortified rice cereal, which will provide baby with 30 to 45 percent of his daily requirement of the nutrient. Unlike wheat, it doesn’t contain potentially allergenic gluten. Mix one teaspoon of cereal with 4 to 5 teaspoons of breast milk or warm formula until it has a semi liquid consistency.

Homespun Advice

Making your own baby food is something you might like to do. But certain vegetables - beets, turnips, carrots, collard greens, and spinach - may contain large amounts of nitrates. Parents sometimes give young infants this produce, sys Frank Greer, MD, on the AAP Committee on Nutrition, but these vegetables may cause a rare type of anemia in infants under 3 months. Some baby-food companies don’t even test all the time for the chemical, so it’s safer to never feed this produce to young infants, Dr. Greer says.

The Milk Enthusiast

A fine meal should be paired with the right drink. Solids don’t replace breast milk or formula in the first year. Here, a guide to how much your baby will drink each day.

4-5 months: 30 oz.
5-6 months: 35 oz.
6-7 months: 28 oz.
7-9 months: 24 oz.
9-12 months: 22 oz.

6-8 Months - Open Wide!

Individually introduce pureed fruits, oatmeal and barely cereals, vegetables, and strained meats. Space each trial run two to three days apart; look for allergic reactions like diarrhea, rashes, and wheezing. If you baby has a reaction to a food, try again within a few months and then consult her doctor.

7-10 Months - She’s growing up fast.

Baby is now ready for strained or mashed fruits and vegetables. Pasta, veggies, and fruit should all be cooked until soft. (Bananas need only be mashed.) Meats and poultry should be finely chopped. With ever-increasing independence, baby is ready to try small finger foods that dissolve easily, such as Cheerios.

9-12 Months

By this point, baby is no longer a bystander at the family dinner table. Short of engaging in conversation, she is now noshing on entrées and sides like everyone else. But she still doesn’t have the mouthful of choppers to handle everything, so feed her soft combination foods such as casseroles and macaroni and cheese and keep crunchier items bite-size.

Choking Hazard

Babies don’t chew much, so food that isn’t cut into very small pieces is a risk. The AAP also recommends that no child under 4 years old be given any of the following fare:

• Raw vegetables
• Candy
• Nuts and seeds
• Raisins
• Spoonfuls of peanut butter
• Popcorn
• Gum
• Hot dogs (unless cut into pieces with skin removed)
• Grapes (unless cut)
• Berries

If at first you don’t succeed… when your infant rejects a new food, try again; studies show it may take 8 or 9 tries for a baby to accept a food.

Q. Which should baby taste first- fruits or vegetables?

Don’t stress over the choice, says Carol Berkowitz, MD, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. If you think about it, “breast milk is sweeter than formula,” she says. So order doesn’t matter: Give your infant pears before green beans if you want. Tasting the sweetness of fruit first won’t turn baby off to veggies.

Baby’s Sensitive Palette

There are some potential food-allergy triggers in the first year. (Processed foods may contain these ingredients, too.) Talk to your doctor before giving baby anything off this menu:

• Whole cow’s milk (cheese and yogurt are okay by 9 months)
• Wheat (okay to introduce after 8 months)
• Egg whites (yolks are fine after 8 months, but could be contaminated by whites)
• Peanuts
• Tree nuts (hard-shell nuts like almonds and walnuts)
• Soy
• Fish (introduce after age 2)
• Shellfish (introduce after age 3)
• Corn
• Citrus fruits
• Fresh strawberries

Set the Table

A fun placemat keeps baby happy: Stephan EnterprisesÕ water-filled Train Placemat Set ($13; stephanenterprises.com) lets baby push a train through floating glitter around a track; it comes with a fork and a spoon.

Unbreakable dishware is key: Jack Rabbit Creations’ Supperware set ($34; trampolini.net) is made out of enamelware; melamine and plastic sets also work well.

Ready for a sippy? At around 7 to 9 months, baby can start to make the transition from bottle to cup. Gerber’s Soft Starter ($4; gerber.com) feels good on baby’s lips, and two handles help give him a secure grip.

Encourage fruits and veggies: To prevent baby from swallowing seeds - and to let him taste fresh food before he’s got many teeth - place food slices in MunchkinÕs Fresh Food Feeder ($4; munchkininc.com). Baby strains the food himself by sucking it through the mesh bag.

Babies can feed themselves: Starting at about 7 months, baby can use Gerber’s Lil’ Dipper ($4 for 2; gerber.com) to eat cereal and mashed food.

Keep ‘em covered: You’ll want inexpensive bibs, but go stylish with one from Icky Products ($19; pamperedtot.com).

“I’m Full” Although you won’t hear this from your infant, hi body language - pursed lips or a turned head - will tell you when your baby has eaten enough.

Growing up but not a grown-up: At 6 months, infants only need about 850 calories per day from solids and breast milk or formula.