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One of those common questions that every parent eventually wants to ask: When should I introduce my baby to solid food?
The answer:
Between 4 and 6 months, although most commonly closer to 6 months. Breast milk or formula will provide all their nutritional requirements during the 4-6 months. At around 6 months, the iron stores that your baby gained while in mummy’s tummy begin to run low, which is one of the reasons why we start solids around this time.
Too early or too late?
- Introducing solids too early can be a burden to an underdeveloped digestive system (most babies' digestive systems remain inadequate up to about 6 months of age), as well as impairing maternal milk supply.
- Other concerns include increasing the risk of food allergies and exposure to bugs that may lead to diarrhea and other gastric problems.
- Most parents soon realize how convenient breastfeeding is (especially if it is your second time around).
- The tendency to want to delay introducing solids creeps into the minds of many mothers, however… According to research, your baby will not benefit from having solids before 6 months.
- However, if you leave the introduction of solids too late, you risk undermining your baby's nutritional status. Iron and zinc levels, in particular, decrease in breast milk as your baby's demand increases.
- Other problems include immune challenges and reduced motor development, for example, the skill of chewing.
Quantity queries:
- It generally takes about a month from the time of the first introduced food for babies to work up to taking more than 10 ml a day (just over 2 teaspoons), and a month and half to be able to consume more than 100 ml a day.
- Babies who were started on solids at a younger age seem to take longer to get to these amounts; hence introducing solids at 6 months appears to shorten the time.
Tips on starting foods:
- Foods should be a fine, runny puree and smooth in consistency.
- Introduce foods one at a time and ensure they don't include salt, sugar or flavoring of any sort. Maintaining baby's milk source helps to ensure that any reactions can be attributed to the single food.
- Rotate foods so that you give the same one only once in a 3-5 day period. There's nothing worse than eating the same thing over and over again. This will also help reduce the risk of food reaction or allergy, and in the unlikely event of a reaction, it may become evident before the end of the day.
- Once a variety of foods has been introduced successfully, make sure you vary them frequently so that your baby gains a balanced diet. Variety at this early stage may also help you get through that fussy stage in the toddler years.
- Be persistent. Many studies show that it may take up to 10 opportunities to try a new food before your baby accepts it.
- Avocado (it’s not as easily available as other vegetables, but you could give it a try) can turn into a favorite starter because its fatty acid makeup is similar to breast milk. Once you've diluted it with water into a runny paste with breast milk or formula, it can be an option that your baby will learn to enjoy early on.
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The information published herein is intended and strictly only for informational, educational, purposes and the same shall not be misconstrued as medical advice. If you are worried about your own health, or your child’s well being, seek immediate medical advice. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website. Kimberly-Clark and/ or its subsidiaries assumes no liability for the interpretation and/or use of the information contained in this article. Further, while due care and caution has been taken to ensure that the content here is free from mistakes or omissions, Kimberly-Clark and/ or its subsidiaries makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information here, and to the extent permitted by law, Kimberly-Clark and/ or its subsidiaries do not accept any liability or responsibility for claims, errors or omissions.
