Feeding Your Baby Solids

Around now you will probably be wondering when to start offering solid food. A young baby is unable to digest solid foods before at least three months, so don't be tempted to give solids earlier than this. Also, the earlier you give other foods, the more likely she is to develop an allergy to them. However, there will come a time when your baby starts to demand more food, and milk alone seems not to satisfy her. This often coincides with the baby wanting to put things in her mouth and also with a decline in her need to suck.

Start off with small quantities and don't give your baby too many new foods at a time - if one food seems to upset her, you will immediately know which it is. At this stage the foods are really 'tastes' rather than meals, and you may have more success in giving them if you offer them to the baby when she is not too hungry. Some mothers sandwich first solids in the middle of the usual breast- or bottle-feed; others find it easier to give a 'snack' between meals. Either way, prepare yourself for this first experience with a bib, plenty of tissues or a facecloth - and do not be in a hurry.

If your baby doesn't take to solids at first, don't despair; she doesn't really need them yet. Just keep offering them and sooner or later she will get the idea. If she appears to spit them out, this may be only her initial attempts at swallowing.
You may find trying to prepare and feed such small amounts both frustrating and time-consuming, especially if most of the food ends up on the baby's clothes! If you have a freezer, one tip is to sterilize a plastic ice tray and fill it with cubes of puréed food - you then only have to pop one or two out when needed. Packets seem easy at this stage, but if your baby gets used to tasting at least some home-prepared foods from the beginning, this will help her not to become a faddy eater later on.

Many mothers are concerned about whether they should sterilize the equipment used in preparing foods for a small baby. If the food you use is cooked and freshly prepared, you do not have to sterilize the bowl, spoon and grater - they should be clean of course, and you can rinse them in boiling water before using them. If food is to be stored in the fridge (for up to forty-eight hours) you should sterilize the container.

The best foods to give your baby as first solids are gluten-free cereals, such as rice, or fruit purées. Rice needs to be ground and cooked - specially prepared 'baby rice' is available which can be used straight from the packet - and mixed with the milk you are giving your baby, whether this is expressed breast-milk or formula. You can use water but this is too bland for the tastes of many babies.

Fruit needs to be cooked and puréed, except for banana, which needs to be very ripe and mashed till liquid. You can also give her purées of cooked vegetables such as carrots, potatoes and cauliflower; although some breast-fed babies are disappointed that the last two are not sweet.