Feeding Solids
There is no set time for introducing solid foods into a baby’s diet. Some parents start offering their baby cereal as early as six weeks, but this can place considerable strain on a baby’s digestive system. Generally, a baby thrives on a liquid diet, supplemented with vitamins, for the first six months. Depending on the individual baby, any time between four and six months may be suitable for the introduction of solids.
Remember that solids given to a baby represent a replacement for milk and are an addition to the baby’s previous total consumption. Milk is easy to digest and goes through a baby’s system fairly rapidly; solids take longer. The result is that the number of feedings per day can probably be reduced by one, once the baby is on solids. A parent usually chooses the least convenient feeding time as the one to be dropped—generally the A.M. feeding.
There are many signs to tell a parent when a baby needs more than merely milk. A baby is ready for solids when he or she:
- wakes during the night demanding to be fed, having previously for some time slept right through every night without complaint;
- gains only one or two ounces (30 or 60 grams), or nothing at all, during a week;
- seems restless between feedings during the day and wakes up crying too soon before each feeding;
- is no longer satisfied by an eight-ounce (240ml) bottle, or, if breast-fed, interrupts nursing and plucks at the mother’s clothing, trying to chew it;
- shows a readiness to chew by picking up objects and trying to put them in the mouth.
A baby’s first solid food should consist of a single cereal. Begin with only one teaspoonful of the new food at one mealtime, gradually introducing new foods and flavors over a period of weeks. In subsequent weeks, single pureed fruits and vegetables may be added.
