New Foods for New Babies

New Foods For New Babies

Food introduction for new parents can be daunting. There are many books, charts and experts to tell you what to do and how to do it. My book “Simple and Savvy Strategies for Creating Healthy Eaters” condenses this information and makes eating with your new eater stress free and fun. To get started, here are several simple rules to remember:

• Make sure your child is ready for solids. You will know when this happens as your child will, all of a sudden, intently focus on you when you eat.

• Offer any food that is the proper consistency. (Think applesauce, or a little thinner.) You don’t have to start with rice cereal, or offer vegetables before fruits. Meats or fish, if they are moist and the consistency of applesauce are as good as pureed carrots or blended bananas.

• The only food NOT to offer is honey, either room temperature or cooked into a food. Honey may contain a heat resistant botulism that can be fatal to infants.

• Don’t entertain, just offer a small amount of food on a small food—if your child opens his or her mouth, put the food in. If your child pushed is out with their tongue or gags after 2 tries, stop. Decrease the thickness of the food.

• A grimace is not an indication that children do not want the food again. Stop feeding when your child does not open his or her mouth when the spoon approaches, pushes the food away, or keeps looking away.

• Offer only one new food every 3rd day. After each new food look for signs of allergy, including but not limited to vomiting, rash, swelling of lips or tongue, or diarrhea. If there is any breathing difficulty, call 911 immediately.

• Let your child be involved in the process. Don’t let them be distracted with TV, videos, games, toys, books or loud music. Let them set the pace of the feeding. Let them decide when they have had enough to eat, whether they ate nothing or more than they have ever eaten before.

• Remember that children’s eating patterns are inconsistent. Eating a certain amount one day does not mean that the child will usually eat this amount. Eating or rejecting a food does one day does not mean they will eat or reject the same food any other day. Food acceptance and quantity will change day to day and meal to meal.

Why Do You Think They Call It Formula?

Many parents ask me if they should use baby formula or formulas for children after their first birthday. For the vast majority of children the answer is no. By one year of age a child should be eating enough quantity and variety of solid foods to meet their nutritional needs.

Toddler formulas were created to enlarge the market share for baby formula companies. After all, what company wants to have to replace their customers every year, wouldn’t it be better to keep customers for at least 2 years? So by creating a new product they can extend their market. Toddler formulas contain many important nutrients. But a product containing all of these nutrients, is more like a food than a drink. Reliance on theses products may result in a child who relies on the formula for energy and sustenance but does not learn to develop a taste for a variety of foods. Your child will be drawn to the nutrients that they need. It is always preferable to obtain nutrients from their natural original source; food. The more a food is processed or created in a lab, the less like food it really is. Why do you think they call it FORMULA?

All of the nutrients found in toddler formulas can and should be taken in from food. The early years are critical for allowing a child to learn to accept a variety of tastes and textures. Children need to learn how to chew and swallow different types of foods. It is a time for children to learn to enjoy the color, touch and smell of new foods. It is also a time for a child to learn about all of the joys of eating with family and friends.

So let your child eat what you’re eating. Except those who are avoiding certain foods due to allergies, all foods are fair game. Offer food of an appropriate consistency and size to avoid choking, but don’t limit your child’s choices to standard “kid food”. Many 1 year olds can eat meat loaf, tender chicken cut into small bits, or fish (no bones). The more choices you offer now, the wider range of acceptability your child will have as an adult.