Baby's First Foods

At about six months, if your baby hasn't started on solids
yet now is the time to start. Waiting until six months is
ideal as your baby's immune system is developed enough to
start protecting him against infection. This reduces the
risk of developing allergies.

To avoid allergies, and so that any reactions to certain 
foods can be noticed, introduce single fruit or vegetable
purées one at a time; don't give it again for four days so
you can observe any reactions, for example diarrhoea, rash
or runny nose.

After the first two or three weeks you can begin combining
two or more foods in the same meal. Gradually introduce a
wide variety of different foods so that your baby receives
a broad selection of all the various nutrients needed for a
healthy diet.

Suitable first foods are:
· Fresh fruit purées
· Fresh vegetable purées
· Dried fruit purées
· Gluten-free grain purées including rice
· Pulses and bean purées
· Organic poultry, game and meat purées

First foods must be very liquid because your baby is used 
to this consistency and will find them easier to swallow.
Steaming is the best cooking method as more nutrients are
retained than by other methods such as boiling. If you
don't have a steamer you can use a colander over a pan and
put a lid on top.

To purée a food you can:
· Mash it
· Push it through a sieve or a mouli
· Put in an electric blender

What you do will depend on the type of food and the 
equipment you have. The only way of making meat smooth is 
by blending, but you must chop it finely first or it will be
stringy.

To thin a savoury purée, add a little of one of these:
· Expressed breast milk or formula - this makes a new food
more tempting because it adds a familiar flavour
· Water in which you have cooked vegetables
· Water
· Homemade vegetable or chicken stock - you can freeze this
in an ice-cube tray so you can use one cube at a time

To thin a sweet purée, add a little of one of these:
· Expressed breast milk or formula
· Water in which you have cooked fruit
· Water

Until your baby reaches the age of one, he will still need
to drink 600ml (1 pint) of formula or breast milk each day.

During your baby's first year you must avoid giving:

· Added sugar - the sugar you add to food not that which 
naturally present in fruits, vegetables and milk.
· Honey - there is a small risk of food poisoning from a
toxin which is very rarely present in unpasteurized honey.
· Salty foods - if babies have too much salt their kidneys
might not be able to get rid of it.
· Added bran - this could prevent iron, calcium and zinc
being properly absorbed.

The first time you feed your baby solid food, give just a
little taste from a teaspoon or even from your finger. 
Then if your baby likes it give a little more. Do the same
for each new food you try. Let your baby decide how much
food he wants - he knows! Happy feeding.

Chrisoulla Nicolaou 
Copyright © 2001 all rights reserved.