baby first food

Introducing your baby to solid foods is exciting and rewarding - but it can be difficult to know exactly how and when to get started. 

Your baby should be four months of age at the very least - before this, his immature digestive system will find it difficult to cope with solid food. Most medical professionals, however, will advise waiting until your baby is at least six months of age, to reduce the risk of food allergies.

Your baby's age is not the only consideration and there are other factors to take into account when determining whether or not the time is right for baby's first foods.

Look for signs of readiness in your baby - does he watch you with interest when you eat, following the progress of your food from plate to mouth? This increased interest in solid food can indicate that he's ready to try it for himself.

Does your baby seem dissatisfied after his usual milk feeds, or is he waking at night after previously sleeping through? Although these may be signs of an increase in his appetite, they can also be triggered by discomfort from teething. It is important to try to establish whether or not teething is the cause, to avoid introducing solid foods before your baby really needs them.

Your baby should have good head control and be able to sit well, as this makes swallowing easier. Younger babies may not be able to sit unsupported, however, so it is very important to provide the appropriate support if this is the case.

The decision to introduce solid foods to your baby must ultimately be made by you and your child's doctor. You may feel pressured by other people - particularly the older generation - to give solid foods to your baby earlier than medical advice recommends. It is important to remember that a great deal of research has been carried out in order to provide this advice and such information simply wasn't available in the past.

So what is the best first food for baby?<br>

Baby rice, an easily digestible, single grain cereal, is the ideal food to start with. It can be mixed with warmed breastmilk or formula, so its taste will be familiar to your baby. Initially, you can mix it to a fairly runny consistency that your baby will find easy to cope with, thickening the texture slightly with each subsequent feed.

baby rice

About a tablespoon of baby rice is the perfect amount to start with. Try giving this first solid feed around lunch time, but take the edge off your baby's appetite by giving him some of his usual milk feed before the baby rice. If he is too hungry, he will be frustrated and distressed.

He will respond well to supportive gestures and smiles, so stay relaxed and don't worry if he pushes the food back out of his mouth! Most babies do this instinctively at first and this "tongue-thrust" reflex will subside as he becomes accustomed to the new and unusual textures he is experiencing.

If he does not seem interested, simply take the food away and try again the next day, or a few days later. You should not try to force him to eat, as this is traumatic for him and will only make things more difficult. After all, there is no rush - at this stage, breastmilk or formula is meeting all of his nutritional needs.

Once your baby is comfortably enjoying baby rice, then try introducing pureed, fresh vegetables. It is worth noting that some babies do not like baby rice at all and begin by eating vegetables straight away.

Introduce only one new vegetable at a time, leaving four days between each new food. This will help you identify any foods that cause an allergic reaction or trigger digestive problems in your baby.

Some good vegetables to introduce as baby's first foods are butternut squash, sweet potato, carrots, swede (or rutabaga) and white potatoes. These can be boiled or steamed, then pureed. Alternatively, sweet potatoes can be baked in their skins, then the soft flesh scooped out, ready to serve - instant, healthy baby food!

You can try combining different vegetables for some delicious new flavours - examples include parsnips with green beans, sweet potato and squash and swede (or rutabaga) and carrots. The possibilities are endless!

Once your baby is enjoying vegetables, you can add fruits to the menu. Good choices include pureed banana, avocado and cooked, pureed apples and pears. Citrus fruits should be avoided for the first year, as they can trigger allergic reactions.

For something really different, try combining fruits and vegetables, such as apples with carrots, or bananas with sweet potato, for some unusual but tempting new flavours.

Follow your baby's lead and increase the amount and frequency of his meals as his appetite dictates. Always watch carefully for any signs of allergic reactions and discuss any concerns with a medical professional.

Above all, have fun introducing baby's first foods - by selecting and preparing these fresh and wholesome ingredients, you are getting him off to a wonderfully healthy start.

baby quotes

To become a mother is one of life’s greatest blessings. It is a lifelong event that forever changes you. Becoming a mother changes your heart, your thoughts, and your actions. However, you may soon wish you had a few extra hands.

As a mother, you find that they first tug on your sleeve and later on your heartstrings.

To share in some of the joys of newborns, here are some popular baby quotes: 

A baby is an angel whose wings decrease as his legs increase.  ~Author Unknown

Babies are always more trouble than you thought - and more wonderful.  ~Charles Osgood

Babies are such a nice way to start people.  ~Don Herrold

When babies look beyond you and giggle, maybe they're seeing angels.  ~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

It was the tiniest thing I ever decided to put my whole life into.  ~Terri Guillemets

A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.  ~Carl Sandburg

Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  ~Elizabeth Stone

A new baby is like the beginning of all things-wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities. ~  Eda J. Le Shan

A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.

A baby is born with a need to be loved - and never outgrows it.

My friend has a baby. I'm recording all the noises he makes so later I can ask him what he meant.
~ Stephen Wright

I can't think why mothers love them. All babies do is leak at both ends. ~ Douglas Feaver

Laughter is like changing a baby's diaper. It doesn't permanently solve any problems, but it makes things more acceptable for a while ~ Unknown

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? ~ Milton Berle

I always wondered why babies spend so much time sucking their thumbs. Then I tasted baby food.
~ Robert Orben

Parents have the glorious opportunity of being the most powerful influence, above and beyond any other, on the new lives that bless their homes.
~ L. Tom Perry

The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children. ~ Elaine Heffiner

Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be. ~ David Bly

your baby save

Keeping your baby safe at all times is one of your greatest concerns and responsibilities. There is so much to consider and it is very easy to overlook something that might be fairly obvious to some but escape others.  Things like covering electrical outlets, putting up baby gates and turning pot handles to the rear of the stove are discussed in this article and is presented in a question and answer format.

<b>Q. What is the best way to approach baby-proofing our home?</b>

The best way is to see your home from the eyes of your child. It is recommended that you get down on your hands and knees and crawl around your home. This will enable you to see hazards you might not have recognized at your full height. Are electrical outlets in baby’s reach or are there electric cords hanging down that your baby can pull on or get tangled in? Does your furniture have sharp corners?  Are there precious items at your baby’s level that should be put up out of reach?

<b>Q. What is the most hazardous situation for my baby?</b>

Any situation that places your baby in harm’s way is the worst situation for your baby. The most hazardous situation for your baby is choking or anything that might cause him to stop breathing.  The most hazardous situation for you baby is one that caused an injury that could have been prevented.

<b>Q. What are some things I need to consider when I am baby-proofing our home?</b>

There are many things to consider.  Your baby is a quick mover so it is never really safe to leave him unattended if at all possible. Consider putting up all valuables and breakable items out of reach of your baby’s. Anything that is small enough to fit in his mouth should be removed. If in doubt as to whether any one item is small enough to fit in your baby’s mouth and pose a choking hazard take an empty toilet paper roll. If it fits inside the tube it go in his mouth and possibly harm him.

<b>Q. Why do I need baby safety gates?</b>

Baby safety gates can be placed in doorways or at the top and bottom of staircases. The gates can prevent your baby from getting into the kitchen or bathroom.
They can also prevent your baby from tumbling down the stairs or climbing the stairs and falling. The mesh or the holes in the gate should not be large enough for your baby to put his toes through to climb the gate. Gates now are being made to operate hands-free or one handed. There are gates being made with the bars going vertical instead of horizontal reducing the chances of your baby being able to climb the gate.

<b>Q. What are electric outlet covers or locks?</b>

Electric outlet covers look like plastic plugs when they are inserted and prevents your baby from sticking his fingers or something else in the outlet and getting a serious shock.
Electric outlet lock plates can replace typical outlets and in order to insert anything into the outlet the plug has to be inserted and turned.

<b>Q. It was suggested to me that I have motion alarms on our doors and windows, why would I need them?</b>

Some kids are very active and able to do things you would be very surprise about.