Baby's First Foods
Baby’s first food - well isn’t this a confusing and often overwhelming topic?! Ohh I hear you!
Let’s keep it simple - begin with food. Like vegetables - sweet potato or avo. Not grains - rice cereal is NOT a natural first baby food.
When to begin a baby on solids?
The current recommendations from worldwide organisations including WHO and the National Health and Medical Research Council are that babies be exclusively breastfed (or formula-fed) for the first 6 months.
Solids are to be introduced from 6 months of age because they have additional nutritional requirements, which can’t be met with breastmilk/formula, such as zinc, iron and essential fatty acids.
I tend to recommend you offer babies a meal after his breastmilk/formula for the first 2 months, then you can offer him/her breast milk/formula after the meal.
Should you offer allergic foods to you infant?
Short answer, yes!
Research shows that until a few years ago, is was advised that parents delay the introduction of these foods for a couple of years, but this is outdated advice. We know that the best approach is to introduce common allergens before 12 months to reduce allergic reactions.
A study showed that babies introduced to cooked egg at six months were less likely to develop an egg allergy than those who waited to 12 months.
You DO NOT need to introduce one new food every few days. You can introduce them to a variety of foods, but you may want to introduce the allergic foods one at a time, so you can monitor if there is a reaction.
Some of the first foods:
I recommend we teach our infants and children to eat how we were metabolically designed to eat; eating a lot of plant matter - vegetables and then fruits. I don’t recommend starting with grains like a rice milk formula.
I focus on up to 70% of their plate to be veggie focussed.
From 6-7 months I focus on veggies, veggies, veggies and then I introduce fruit.
From 7-8 months I start to incorporate bone broth, liver, ghee, butter, olive oil, slow cooked chicken/lamb, herbs and spices like cinnamon and parsley, etc., a fermented dairy like goats or cow’s yoghurt, cooked egg and ground nuts/seeds.
How often should my baby be eating?
Don’t overcomplicate it - go nice and slowly.
6-7 months - one meal a day
7-9 months - two meals a day
9-12 months - three meals a day
12 months + - three meals a day and one or two snacks
If you want nutritional help I can help you with general nutrition guidelines for you baby, meal ideas and recipes. It’s best to book in for a consultation! Book here