When to Start Giving Solid Foods to Your Baby

Doctors videos. Starting solid food for babies meet our experts. When can my baby start eating solid foods? Most babies are ready to eat solid foods at 4 to 6 months of age. Before this age instead of swallowing the food, they push their tongues against the spoon or the food. This tongue-pushing reflex is necessary when they are breastfeeding or drinking from a bottle. Most babies stop doing this about 4 months of age. Energy needs of babies begin to increase around this age as well making a good time to introduce solids. Source: American Academy of Pediatrics. Cereals, Rice and Oatmeal cereals are the least of the allergenic grains and thus most of babies are started out with those cereal. Vegetables: Always serve cooked until after 12 months old or when baby can chew well enough so that no choking hazard is present. Source: Wholesomebabyfood.com What food to start with? Once your baby's pediatrician has decided that your baby is ready to start solid foods the first typical food that parents start with is rice cereal. This can be mixed with breast milk. Formula or water the desired consistency. Starting with a thin soupy consistency maybe easiest for baby to accept, other babies may prefer a thicker mixture. Keep in mind that your baby will need to get used to eating from a spoon and eating food with a different consistency that she is used to start slow and expect a mess. Make sure that your first feeding is at a time when your baby is starving and not tired, this will ensure a more successful first meal. At this point your baby is still receiving most of her nutrition from breast milk or formula so it is important for your baby to accept that milk or formula. Source: Suite101.com fruit juice, fruit juice seems like a good idea for babies because it is a natural source of fluid and vitamins and kids like the taste. But I am not a big fan and neither is the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In a policy statement released in 2001, the AAP urged pediatricians to steer parents of children under six months of age away from a fruit juice. They are reported that there is no nutritional value to be gained from drinking juice may reduce the child's intake of the protein fat vitamins and minerals found in breast or bottle milk. They also warned that excessive juice consumption in childhood has been linked to both obesity and short stature in children. Source: ecomii.com Your baby should sit up while eating and be supervised all times. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children under 4 years old should not eat: Hot dogs Nuts and seeds Chunks of meat or cheese. Whole grapes Hard, gooey or sticky candy Popcorn Chunks of peanut butter Raw vegetables Raisins Chewing gum No honey for the first year of life!!!! A hundred of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, how big my house was, or what kind of car I drove; But the world maybe a little better, because I was important in the life of a child.