Best baby food to start with – An Essential Guide

Robiul Islam on  Updated: June 4, 2024

Are you worried about best baby food to start with? Adequate diet and nutrition during early childhood are important to make sure the health, development, and growth of babies to their full potential. It is because inappropriate nutrition can cause a number of health issues, which is likewise an increasing problem in different countries of the world.

What is the best baby food to start with? This is one of the main questions asked by mothers. In this article, we will answer this question and remove any of your concerns regarding the best food to start with. Read on!

When you start your baby on solid foods, then, it is a significant milestone in his or her life. Until around 6 months of age, the nutritional needs of the baby are met by breast milk and infant formula. Even after you start your baby on solid foods, you need to know that breast milk is still an essential source of nutrition and nourishment.

When should you start solid foods?

When your baby is around 6 months of age, it is important that you start feeding him or her with solid foods. These are essential to meet your baby’s nutritional and developmental needs.

When your baby is capable of holding his head up, control his tongue, and become interested in what other people eat – i.e. when you notice him or her looking for, reaching, and grabbing food – then, you should start solid foods.

In addition, it is not recommended to start solid foods too early because it won’t be appropriate for your baby as his or her swallowing skills are not up to the mark yet.

Likewise, your baby’s digestive system is not ready to cope with foods before 6 months of age. Also, you must not start solid foods too late because it can lead to nutritional deficiencies such as iron deficiency.

How do you feed your baby?

First, you need to find a quiet place where your baby can only concentrate on the food. This will also improve your baby’s cognitive skills and proximity to solid foods. You can start the mealtime routine from the first solid meal. So, therefore, you need to start with a small taste of food after breastfeeding your baby once a day. After a couple of days, you can feed your baby 2-3 times a day.

Start with smooth progress to lumpier and thicker textures – when your baby starts to eat a range of smooth foods. In addition, when you feed your baby with a spoon, he or she might push the food out of his or her mouth for some time. It is because the baby has yet to learn taking food from the spoon. You don’t need to worry about this because this does not mean that your baby is not liking the food. It may take numerous tastes before your baby accepts a new food.

So, it is important that you feed your baby in stages such as the smooth food should be fed for the first tastes, soft lumps for learning to chew, and self-feeding, as well as family meals. At the start, you need to offer a breastfeed with a small amount of solid food. After breastfeeding your baby, you need to wait for at least an hour to give your baby solid food.

You can start by offering once a day. Then, you can feed him 2-3 times a day as your baby is familiar with solid food. According to WebMD, babies need additional iron in their food at the age of 6 months.

Therefore, it is essential to include one iron-rich food in your baby’s first foods in order to prevent iron deficiency. The best baby food to start with – when it comes to iron isbaby rice cereal, cooked pureed tofu, pureed meat, and poultry dishes. You can likewise give him or her cooked beans, lentils, and pureed legumes.

Best Food to start with

You can start with grains such as rice cereal, which is rich in iron to meet your baby’s nutritional needs. You can mix rice cereal with breast milk, full-cream cow’s milk, etc. You can also feed him with pureed meat, fish, pureed tofu, and poultry.

Your baby will love fruits, so start with pureed stewed fruits like apricot, apple, berries, and well-meshed bananas. Legumes and vegetables also provide essential nutrients and antioxidants to strengthen your baby’s body systems. In this regard, experts recommend starting with pureed and cooked vegetables like potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, zucchini, peas, carrots, and cauliflower.

Dairy products such as baby yogurt that is low in added sugar and custards are some of the best foods you can feed your baby with. Although breast milk will provide most of the nutrition needs of your baby, you can also start with a cup of milk at around six months. You can use tap water, infant formula, and/or small amounts of cow’s milk. You need to make sure to include foods that are rich in iron to prevent iron deficiency.

If your baby has been breastfeeding, it is important to check with your pediatrician regarding pureed beef or chicken when you are starting solid foods. Both chicken and beef contain absorbable forms of zinc and iron. Your baby needs these nutrients by 6 to 8 months – according to Healthline.

At around 9 months, your baby has already familiarized himself with a wide range of foods – which include breast milk, vegetables, cereal, fruits, meats, fish, and egg. By now, your baby has the ability to settle on 3 meals a day along with 2 snacks. So, it is recommended to let your baby consume about 4 ounces of solid food at each meal.

Moreover, save cow’s milk and honey for after your baby’s first birthday. You need to know that there is a risk for baby botulism with honey –i.e. bacterial poisoning. So, breast milk is better nutrition for your baby than the milk of the cow at this point. Additionally, you need to be careful with certain food items such as adult processed foods or any items that are choking hazards – for instance, peanut butter, marshmallows, and hard food, which are not easy to soften. These include popcorn, seeds, and nuts.

Allergenic Foods

Many parents show confusion about allergenic foods, which are allergy-causing food products. For example, they include fish, dairy, eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts. Previously, the doctor would advise parents to avoid these food items for their babies. However, today, pediatricians are recommending parents to start these foods items early – nonetheless, in age-appropriate format, which means you can start with purees and soft textures.

According to David Stukus – representative of the “American College of Asthma, Allergy, & Immunology,” it is good to use dairy as a starting point – for example, cheese and yogurt. Stukus likewise lays emphasis on trying scrambled eggs in small amounts. However, your baby might not like the texture of this food item at first.

When it comes to peanut products, a new clinical guideline issued by the National Institutes of Health highlights the risk for peanut allergies. According to the guidelines, you can incorporate peanuts into your baby’s diet at 4-6 months of age.

When you give peanut products to your baby actually reduces his risk of developing peanut-related allergies. According to the guidelines issued by the National Institutes of Health, the risk of peanut allergy is reduce by 81% when your child is 5 years old – compared to children who are given peanut products later in life.

Furthermore, parents of children without the risk of food allergy can start feeding them peanut products whenever they would like. However, parents need to ensure that such types of nuts are in the age-appropriate form. You can thin out the peanut butter with water and/or mixed them into vegetable or fruit puree. You can also mix peanut powder with fruits and cereal. Remember, you must not give your baby whole peanuts in order to avoid the risk of choking.

Conclusion

Babies need to develop appropriate eating habits early on. As a parent, you should know the significance of nutrition to your baby’s mental and physical development to grow and nurture.

Good nutrition is an essential part of your baby’s healthy lifestyle. Your baby’s diet can help him reach and maintain a good weight, reduce the risks of various childhood diseases, and promote overall well being.

Breast milk contains all sorts of essential nutrients your baby need for his body and brain to develop and grow in the first 6 months of life. After this particular age, zinc and iron stores start to deplete – thus, need boosting via additional food intake.

The introduction of solid food to a baby is really a great time of excitement. For parents, it is a time of experimentation. When your baby learns the mechanics of taking solid food from the spoon, chewing as well as transferring the food from the front area of the tongue to the back of the mouth is a moment of happiness for you as parent. However, this requires some time, patience, and practice.