Have you been asking yourself, how do I start my baby on solid food and what do I need to
know before making the first food introduction?
In this video I’m going to answer 5 of the most common questions that parents ask me
about starting their baby on solids.
If this is our first time meeting, I’m Dr. Belousov.
I’m a board certified pediatrician and I equip parents with knowledge, so they can
care for their children with confidence.
Introducing your baby to solids is an exciting milestone.
But I find that a lot of parents have anxiety surrounding it.
I’m not sure if it’s because there is just so much information out there, that it’s
hard for parents to sift through.
Or if it’s just the anticipation of doing something new with the baby that they haven’t
done before, and not knowing how the baby is going to react, that makes parents nervous.
I also acknowledge that with how rushed our medical appointments are these days, I don’t
think that the medical community has been doing a great job with guiding parents on
the process of introducing their baby to solids.
That’s why I wanted to put together a Youtube video series to show you how simple and enjoyable
the process can be for both you and your baby.
This video is the first one in the series, so be on the lookout for more, released on
a weekly basis.
Hit the subscribe button and ring the bell so you get notified when the newest video
is released.
Of the most common questions that parents ask me about starting solids, the first one
is: When should my baby start eating solid foods?
Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend starting
children on solid foods around six months of age.
You might be saying, but my pediatrician told me to start feeding my baby solids at 4 months.
I have been seeing that trend among pediatricians the past several years, and will admit that
I too jumped onto that bandwagon because that's what all my colleagues were advising parents
to do.
However, after taking the time to educate myself on the current feeding recommendations,
I agree with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization's recommendation
to start around 6 months.
The other component is that babies need to be showing the 5 signs that they are developmentally
ready to safely start taking solids.
I’m going to briefly mention the signs, but I’ll have a separate video that dives
into more detail.
Once it’s released, I’ll have it linked at the end of this one.
So the baby should be able to sit upright on her own with little to no support.
The baby needs to have good head control.
The baby should no longer have the tongue thrust reflex.
The baby needs to show an interest in food.
And the baby should be reaching for and grasping objects and bringing them to the mouth.
Most babies will be showing all of these signs at around 6 months.
Question number 2: Should I spoon feed my baby purees or let my baby do baby led weaning?
For some of you, this may be the first time hearing that there are several different ways
that you can go about introducing solids to your baby.
I’m finding that more and more parents want to do a combination of purees and baby led
weaning.
When we think of starting the baby on solids, most of us think of the traditional approach
of spoon feeding a soft semi-liquidy puree to the baby.
With the traditional approach, the parent or caregiver is the one holding the spoon
and feeding the baby.
The consistency of the purees starts off as being very soft and liquidy and then gradually
becomes thicker with more texture.
Whereas with the baby led weaning approach, the baby is offered food in pieces that are
the size and shape that he can handle easily, and he feeds himself.
And if foods are offered in the consistency of a puree, they are given on a preloaded
spoon, and the baby is the one feeding himself.
I’ve had the opportunity to teach multiple parents how to introduce solids to their babies
using both approaches.
At first many parents have a hard time believing that their babies can feed themselves, but
it’s incredible to watch how quickly they take to it.
The baby led weaning approach is definitely more messy, but I’ve been finding that a
lot of babies and parents have an enjoyable experience doing this or a combination approach.
Since I’m finding that more parents are looking to be educated on baby led weaning,
and would like to use this or a combination approach of spoon feeding purées and letting
the baby self feed, as a pediatrician I want to be sure to cover both approaches in this
feeding series so that, irregardless of what approach you will be doing, you know how to
safely introduce solids to your baby.
Hey if you’re finding this information helpful, hit the thumbs up button.
Question number 3: What food should I start with?
I personally recommend starting with a vegetable or fruit such as avocado, sweet potato, broccoli
or banana.
There is no evidence to suggest that starting with a fruit will make a baby less likely
to take vegetables.
For a long time, the recommendation was to start with giving iron fortified rice cereal
as the baby’s first food.
However there is no evidence to suggest that there is greater benefit to starting with
a baby cereal over starting with a vegetable or fruit.
And in fact, over the past several years multiple studies have shown high levels of arsenic
in rice cereal.
It’s a naturally occurring element in soil that is linked to cancer and a decrease in
intelligence.
You might be asking “why does rice have high levels of arsenic?.”
Rice naturally absorbs higher amounts of arsenic from soil, than other grains.
Rice cereal is known to be a baby’s top source of arsenic exposure.
For this reason, I personally don't recommend giving rice cereal to babies at all.
Better alternatives are oatmeal, barley, or a multi grain infant cereal.
But like I said, I personally recommend starting with a vegetable or fruit and in upcoming
episodes, I will show how to prepare the foods and will do a step by step demonstration of
a baby’s first food introduction.
Once they’re released, they will be linked at the end of this video.
Question number 4: How much food should I be giving my baby?
Throughout the entire food introduction process, I want you to remember that your baby’s
primary source of nutrition will remain breast milk and/or formula.
Solids are just complimentary to the milk that they are already taking, not a replacement
for it in the first several months of starting solid foods.
When babies start eating solids, it’s a developmental process of exposing them to
new tastes and textures and giving them the opportunity to learn how to move food from
the front of the mouth, back towards the throat and swallow it safely.
I find that some parents expect the baby to eat an amount that they think the baby should
be taking, and then they have unnecessary anxiety if the baby does not take that full
amount.
Some parents have told me that they have force fed the baby a puree because they didn’t
think the baby was eating enough solids.
When babies have bad feeding experiences, it causes them to develop a negative association
with food and can lead to picky eating behavior in the future.
So take the pressure off your baby and off of yourself on how much you expect the baby
to eat when you’re introducing solids.
Starting off it might just be a teaspoon or two of puree.
And if your baby is doing baby led weaning, it might just be a few bites.
Don’t be surprised if most of the first solid-food feedings end up on your baby's
face, hands, bib or the floor.
At this age your baby is curious about everything, food is no exception.
The taste and texture of solids is new to your baby and it can take time for your baby
to figure it out.
Remember that starting solid foods is a gradual process and is complementary to the breast
milk and/or formula that your baby is already taking.
All babies are unique and will go at their own individual pace with how quickly they
take to solids.
So let your baby experiment and enjoy watching the many funny faces that your baby will be
making during this process.
Question number 5: Should I make my own food or buy premade baby food?
I realize that a lot of families make their decisions based off of their schedules and
the time they have available to prepare food.
Of course the benefit of purchasing premade baby food is that it’s convenient and requires
no time to prepare.
The benefits of making home made foods is that it allows you to have control over all
the ingredients that go into the food opposed to potentially exposing the baby to the preservatives,
extra salt and sugar that may be added to the store bought premade baby purees.
It also allows you to introduce your baby to the unique foods and flavors frequently
eaten by your family, and have your baby be a part of the family meal time.
In addition home made foods end up being less expensive than store bought baby foods.
Another thing to consider when making this decision is that over the past several years
there have been repeated studies from various organizations that have tested a lot of the
commercially available readymade baby purees, and show alarming levels of multiple heavy
metals in a lot of them.
I will have a seperate episode coming up that goes into more detail and I will also talk
about the things you can do to minimize your baby's exposure to them.
It will be linked up here once it’s released.
In the comments section below, let me know, what was your biggest takeaway from this video.
I’m looking forward to seeing you in my next video.