Lots of Baby Food Questions

I was really slow to introduce lots of foods, not because I was worried about allergies but because my daughter seemed fine with whatever I gave her. I think we started finger food when she was about 8 months, when she was getting really good at grasping. We probably could have started a lot earlier. At a year old, our pediatrician told us that she could have everything except shellfish and nuts. Those we're supposed to wait until she's two (or 3, I can't remember). However, I know lots of people who've been giving their kids peanut butter sandwiches since they were about 8 or 9 months old.

One thing that I've discovered about parenting is that there is science and research to back up just about every view point. Ultimately you have to decide what fits best within your philosophy and go with it. The way I figure it, if kids were as delicate as we first time parents make them out to be, the human race would have died out a long time ago!

Dana K. gave you great advice.
I have an awesome pediatrician who is very laid back about the whole solid food issue. When it was time to start my first baby on solids I was prepared to have her teach me all the rules about what he could have and when. Turns out it is way less complicated than we try to make it. Our doc recommend that we "open the cupboards and have fun." It really is that simple, at least for the most part, but there are a few things you should keep in mind.
-no honey til age 1, that is a hard-fast rule
-teeth aren't necessary to "chew" food, just make sure that any finger foods are very soft or dissolve in the mouth. Letting baby chase a few Cheerios around on the highchair tray is a great way for him to practice hand/eye coordination and may buy you some time to load the dishwasher or something.
-there is no need to add lots of salt or sugar to baby's food, but there is also no need to shy away from spices, put some cinnamon in the apples or sweet potatoes and mash up some black beans with some cumin, give the kiddo some flavor. If all the baby eats is bland food, that is more likely to be what the learn to like.
-early exposure to highly allergenic foods is probably better than waiting in cases where there is no family history of allergies.
We started solids at just over 5 months with our first son and by 8 months he was eating everything you can think of. We fed him what we were eating, just cut things smaller or cooked them longer so he could manage them.
Have fun watching your baby experience foods for the first time, some of the faces are really priceless!

You are going to get lots of different ideas and opinions because according to my pediatrician, there is no one way to do it. The only thing he said was to introduce foods one at a time and give them each a few days before adding new ones or making combos to make sure there are no allergies. Some foods (like meat and dairy) should be introduced later (9-10 months) and peanuts, honey, strawberries and whole milk at 1 or older. I would ask YOUR pediatrician what he/she recommends and go from there.

We started with fruits and vegetables at 5-1/2 months. After a few weeks (3 days on each novel item to make sure no problems, then add another) we started adding dairy, eggs, meats, fish, etc. We did berries (including strawberries) at between 5-1/2 and 6 months since they were in season at that time. We pretty much just fed him what we were eating - single ingredients first. Once he had had the major ingredients in a dish separately - we would just puree what we were eating. While we stayed away from salt and sugar (we still do), we included spices in his meals from very early since we wanted him to learn to like these flavors. Finger foods are as soon as they can grasp. Since you will be feeding them soft finger foods (think carrots steamed until soft enough to squash with fingers), teeth are not really important.

The current thinking on allergy is that early exposure to food is less likely to result in food allergy than waiting until they are older. If this information had been available, we would have started solids closer to the 4 month mark. Also that exclusively breast fed babies may benefit from the early (4-6 months of age) introduction of meats (or I assume other iron containing foods) as infant iron requirements exceed what if found in breast milk at between 4 and 6 months of age.

They should not have honey until over a year because of the risk of botulism - infants are more susceptible. Also foods need to be in a texture that is not a choking hazard - so we did Chinese noodles in peanut sauce early, peanut butter sandwiches much much later. Good luck - it's messy but fun.

My boys were pretty much done with baby food around 9 months, because they wanted to feed themselves. Once they were pretty good at it I started giving them food from my plate. My experience might be a bit different than many moms because we didn't stick with baby food. That being said ...

By 10 or 11 months my kids had tried most foods that my husband and I eat. We didn't do anything that had an age suggestion, ie. we waited on honey, shell fish, egg whites, any food that a baby book told us to wait on. The only thing in your list my kids didn't have were nuts, and that was because they are a choking hazard. We waited quite awhile before doing nuts, raw veggies, raw apples or any other food we thought required molars and a mature eater. My kids are now 2 and almost 5 and doing great!

My older son didn't get his first tooth until he was 11 months old. Obviously I didn't give him raw veggies or nuts, but most things he could just gum. It's amazing how strong their gums are!

I'm with the second pediatrician. Whatever you are eating is just fine for the most part. I would give just a couple of pieces of food at a time until you've seen baby eat successfully and you feel very safe. After that you can give more food at a time. I usually didn't because of the mess they can make. I actually put our kids in a booster seat at the table, sat next to them and little be little put food in front of them. As they ate it, I gave them more. When they started throwing food on the floor I usually stopped.

Just try to have fun with it. Baby will be fine! Good luck.

We kept my kids off of peanut butter (and other nuts), egg whites, and strawberries, and chocolate until 1 year. Veggies started at 6 months followed closely by fruits. We also started yogurt at 6 months too but probably waited for cheese, etc. until about 7-8 months. We fed both my kids meats, of all kinds, at about 8-9 months. My daughter even ate salmon for a short time as well as basic turkey, chicken, beef, pork, hot dogs, lunch meat, etc. My daughter refused baby food at 8 months so she was feeding herself from then on. My son was strictly self feeding at about 10 months. Teeth are not a requirement to eat. Their jaws are very strong plus they don't know how helpful teeth are yet b/c they don't have them so it really doesn't hinder them, just make sure to cut things up pretty small at first. Once my kids were self feeding they ate everything we ate and although I stayed away from spicy things, I didn't hinder putting in spices or small amounts of salt into our food. I made it the way we wanted and fed it to them.

Wanted to add this website wholesomebabyfoods.com ...it's awesome and really helpful!

What I introduced first at 5months: rice cereal, yogurt, bananas, avocado, applesauce. Our first veggies were sweet potatoes and peas--babies LOVE those! We introduced a new food at least 4-7 days after to watch for reactions. It'll take a few months to introduce all the different foods you want to try, and then you'll be moving on to table foods already. You can mix foods too. I mixed all kinds of flavors together--yogurt in cereal, sweet potatoes with avocado, I even stuck my peas and hamburger off my own plate into my Magic Bullet, pureed it and my baby loved it--it tasted like split pea soup. (That's how you introduce protein prior to finger foods--puree it in the blender).

I never added salt or sugar to any of my kids' foods until they were over 2 yrs and then it is just on veggies to make them more tasty. We do a lot of salt-free seasonings though.

As for "finger foods", they can gum things that dissolve easily. That's why I LOVED Gerber puffs. they are sooo safe. They'll be getting some teeth by that point too, but the front teeth are first and those are the "biters" not the "chewers" (molars). Once they are comfortable with puffs and cheerios, you can break/cut other foods really tiny for them to pick up. You can do fruit, chicken, cheese....etc that way. My daughter loved tomato pieces, but then I learned they are acidic (avoid acidic foods if they have bad diaper rash).

There is a lot of contradicting info out there and different pediatricians recommend differently too, so use your judgement and watch your baby's reactions with each new food. (I'm so glad you are smart enough to question all the information and not feed your kid junk.)

We waited until after 1 year to introduce eggs, I know alot of people who don't though. The acidic food we started before 1 year and ended up stopping because it made their poop so acidic it would cause diaper rash instantly. Certain juices, apples and oranges were the worst. We started yogurt about the same time we started baby food. Cheese we waited until they had a few teeth and good finger control to pick it up. I just started letting my daughter (2 this week) eat nuts. I'm not talking peanut butter, I mean actual nuts. We started peanut butter toast after 1 year. Another thing we fed them was oatmeal. Not the baby oatmeal you can buy in the jars, but oatmeal like we eat and cottage cheese. Bananas, hummus, and avocado are great too.

Not alot of information, but I hope it helped some!

I have been told that fruits and veggies can be started between 4-6 months of age, proteins (meat based) between 9-10 months of age. Any food that is known to be a "high" allergy food - eggs, nuts, berries should not be started until they are at least a year old and NO whole nuts or pieces until at least 3 - mostly a choking hazard. I started yogurt at 1 year because it was milk based and that is when they started drinking cow's milk.

You will get a lot of conflicting advice from anyone you speak to whether it is the Doctor or other Moms - even nutritionists. I think if you feel comfortable with it the try it. If they are on formula or breast milk they don't really need any other food until they are over 1 anyways. As far as finger foods go you can certainly try when they are old enough to pick things up but I was told they need to have the pincer grasp (able to pick it up with thumb and forefinger) Try foods that melt easy in the mouth and do not require a lot of chewing. Crackers, cereal, mushy fruits like bananas.

What has your Pediatrician said?

Just as an aside: Kiwi fruit can cause allergies in some. My Daughter has Kiwi allergy. She used to eat it all the time, then one day she got a reaction to it.

Ask your Pediatrician, for how to introduce foods.

I started with apples, pears, bananas, avacados, sweet potatoes, carrots, rice cereal (with breastmilk) at 6 months. I fed one meal per day and just kept an eye out for any reactions. I also got that yobaby yogurt and introduced it early on.

At 7 or 8 months I introduced the first meats, (i started with beef and the chicken) as well as tomatoes (with the meat).

I think she was 9 or 10 months old before we introduced berries... I think blueberry applesauce was the first... then we introduced citrus near 11 months. That was around the same time that we were close to about 50% breastfeeding and 50% food. she was eating cereal like those gerber puffs then. usually the first finger foods should be super soft or dissolving, and they actually gum then to mush more than chew them... but by about a year old they can mash nearly anything!

At her first birthday she got her first taste of chocolate cake (healthy-ish version made by me, and she got to try french fries for the first time.

After age 1 she was cleared to eat eggs, peanut butter, and anything else except for choking hazard items (unpeeled or unchopped grapes, hotdogs, nuts, etc...) Oh and honey (before that there is a risk of getting infant botulism from it) My pediatrician said that most likely she wont have any problems with allergic foods at this age if I ate them while breastfeeding and she had no reaction then... he also said kids often develop food allergies later in life.

Now she can eat anything- at 2.5, with supervision of course.

We have few allergies in our family history. I am allergic to bell peppers, my dad is allergic to eggs and chicken....

Good Luck!
-M.

PS: I made my own baby food... it is super easy to do, and very cheap! If you have a blender, a pot, and an ice cube tray you can make baby food. The best thing about it was my food had no preservatives, added colors, or "mystery ingredients" so IF there was a reaction I knew exactly what went into my baby's mouth. I really think it is an awesome thing to do if you can. I made about a months worth of baby food in 1 day of cooking on a weekend... for pretty cheap. Just an idea...

I started finger foods about 9-10 months. I started really slowly with those dissolvable snacks ( look for them, their great!). Once he got comfortable, I started with small pieces of bread with butter, then onto pancackes ( french toast) etc. He just turned 11 months and he eats everything. He still doesn't have teeth, so I cut everything very small. I started baby yogurt around 9 months. I know some peds say to hold off until after 1 year and others say after 6 months. The only 3 things I will not let him have until he is a year is: chocolate, nuts and honey. I am not against having milk earlier, but I will introudce it when he is year, like I did with my daughter. My son has had onions, but it was blended into whatever he was eating, so was the tomatoes. Hope that helps.

HI--
I think you're right about the whole if they have no teeth how do they chew thing. Every baby is different, so you do have to follow your little ones clues. Keep in mind all the following. Solid food is not necessary for nutrition until age one. So anything you give now is just practice. Second, think about what you could give a baby with no teeth if you couldn't process it. You could easily do bananas, avocados, cook sweet potatoes, etc. You couldn't do meat, though, until they could chew it. Some babies get their teeth early and start eating nearly everything. Some don't get it until around a year and refuse solid food until they have teeth. Most babies don't like meat initially and don't eat it until around 18 months to 2 years---incidentally, when they get their molars in. I think there is a definite correlation between teeth and eating. My thought is--if you're questioning it then it isn't time. Trust your instinct :-)
Good luck,
J.