Feeding your baby the right food and the right way can seem quite complicated and confusing at first, especially to new parents. During the different stages of your baby’s development, there are corresponding ways and kinds of food that you can feed your baby.
During your child’s first four months, you should be feeding them only breast milk or formula. Your newborn baby will probably want to be fed from 8 to 15 times a day, or at least every two to three hours. You will know that your baby is being fed enough if he’s gaining an ounce a day by his fifth day after birth. This will go on until he is at least 3 months of age. Solid food is still off limits at this stage, as your baby’s digestive track is still in its developing phase.
By the time that your baby reaches four months old you should still be feeding them breast milk or formula. However, along with this you should also feed semi-liquid iron-fortified rice cereal and move on to other grain cereals later on. You should start by feeding your baby 1 teaspoon of dry rice cereal mixed with around 4 or 5 teaspoons of milk. It should be very runny as your baby is still getting accustomed to a thicker consistency. Slowly increase the thickness of this consistency. Your baby may not want to eat the cereal on the first try. If that happens, try doing this again a few days later.
When your baby reaches the age of 6 months you can start adding to their menu pureed or strained fruits like banana, applesauce, and peaches. You can also feed your baby pureed or strained vegetables like avocado, cooked carrots, and sweet potato. Your baby is probably ready for solid food if he can hold his head up, make chewing motions, and show interest in food. Other signs are if your baby sits well in a high chair, moves their tongue back and forth and is starting to teeth. You should introduce new foods to your baby one at a time, with at least three days in between. This is to ensure that your baby is not allergic to the food that you feed.
At 8 months your baby is probably ready to eat mashed fruits and vegetables (pears, avocados, squash, and potatoes) along with finger foods (well-cooked spiral pasta, crackers, low-sugar o-shaped cereal), small amounts of protein (pureed meats, beans, split peas), and non-citrus juice. You can tell if your baby is ready for finger foods if they can move objects from one hand to the other and can pick up items with their thumb and forefinger.
Finally from an age of 10 months to 12 months, your baby can start eating more solid foods. Along with breast milk or formula and the previously mentioned foods, your baby can start eating more kinds of food like combo foods, fruit cut into cubes, yogurt, protein, and more finger foods. Also you should keep in mind that you shouldn’t feed your baby cow’s milk until they reach at least a year old.
Feeding your baby may be confusing at first, but with the right amount of care and knowledge, it can end up being an enjoyable and successful learning process.
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