Topics:
Baby's first foods
The new rules for starting your little one on solids
When he's ready for solids
At about six months, your baby is ready for solid food. Where should you start? For most families, the conventional choice of fortified, single-grain baby cereal still makes sense, says Daina Kalnins, a registered paediatric dietitian at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. “It’s easy to prepare and it provides babies with the energy and iron they need.” But, she adds, you can just as easily offer iron-rich puréed meat as a first food. Iron is essential to good health, as it transports oxygen throughout the body. While bottle-fed babies should be getting iron from fortified formula, breastfed babies rely on stores of iron they were born with. When the supply begins to run out about six months after birth, it’s important to introduce dietary sources of the mineral.
Forget the old rules about serving vegetables before fruit. There’s no scientific evidence that a baby who tastes bananas before broccoli is doomed to develop a sweet tooth. Offer a wide variety of flavours, textures and colours, and see what baby likes best.
Spice it up!
Baby’s first foods should be soft, but they needn’t be bland. Seasoning puréed meats and vegetables with herbs and even some spices “exposes babies to stronger flavours,” says registered paediatric dietitian Daina Kalnins. Just steer clear of adding extra salt or sugar.
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