Should i feed my baby fruits or vegetables first

How to Start Introducing Solid Foods to Babies

Introducing solids to your baby can be intimidating. With safety and nutrition top of mind, we’d like to help simplify the introduction process. Starting on solid foods allows babies to get accustomed to eating, establish a feeding routine, learn about textures and experience using utensils. Our guide will help you transition your baby during their first year of life as they explore the diversity of solid foods.

Ready to start solids?

Prior to introducing solids, make sure your baby is developmentally ready. Consider the following readiness cues and benchmarks. Is your baby:

Holding their head up without assistance?
Sitting up without assistance?
Propping up on their elbows while lying on their tummy?
No longer sticking out their tongue automatically when something is put in their mouth (also called the “extrusion reflex”)?
At least 4 months old?

When you’ve answered yes to these questions, and you’ve discussed starting solids with your pediatrician, we recommend introducing single ingredient purees. Don’t be surprised if your little one only eats a spoonful or two, as it can take a few days or even weeks before they learn to eat off a spoon. As you introduce solids, it is also important to remember that up until 12 months, babies should receive most of their nutritional needs from breast milk, formula or a combination of both.

What foods should I start with my baby?

Since babies are naturally inclined to prefer sweeter foods, it’s important to introduce vegetables prior to fruit in order to increase acceptance of more savory flavors. Additionally, when your baby starts eating, try one new puree every 2–3 days so your baby can get used to the new tastes and you can monitor for any allergic reactions.

Help your little one embark on their food journey by following these guidelines for choosing which purees to introduce.

Orange vegetables first

When first introducing solids, start with orange vegetable purees, like butternut squash, yam, sweet potato or pumpkin. These offer a natural sweetness that tends to be easily accepted by babies. Increased acceptance can lead to an eager eater, so if your baby has a good first experience with foods, they’ll be more likely to try other purees later on.

Green veggies next

Once your baby accepts orange veggies, begin incorporating green veggie purees to their eating schedule while continuing to offer orange veggies. Green bean, pea and zucchini purees are a great place to start. These are slightly bitter in taste, which means your baby might need some help adjusting to these new flavors. If your baby is having difficulty accepting green veggies alone, try mixing in some of an orange veggie puree to add a little sweetness.

Finally…fruit!

While your baby continues to enjoy orange and green veggies, slowly start introducing naturally sweet fruit. Fruit purees such as mango, apple, strawberry and pear are great single ingredient purees to start. Once your baby enjoys the sweetness of fruit, they may be less eager to enjoy veggies. Consider offering these less frequently or towards the end of the meal.

Frequently asked questions about starting solids

1. Should I feed my baby rice cereal?

In addition to fruits and vegetables, single iron-fortified grains like rice are a popular choice for first foods due to their bland taste, smooth texture and low allergen risk. Until they are about five to six months old, most babies have adequate iron stores acquired in-utero, so at six months, we recommend introducing foods that naturally contain dietary iron and pose a low allergy risk. Rather than traditional rice cereal, consider trying more fiber-filled, nutrient-dense grains or legumes such as buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, quinoa, beans or lentils.

2. What is the best way to introduce solids for the first time?

When your baby is first starting solid food, it’s important to start mealtime when your baby is hungry and eager to eat. We recommend offering food before breast milk or formula is offered. Learn how to encourage interest in mealtime and exploration of new tastes in our full post on tips for introducing solids to your baby

3. How much food should I offer per feeding? How many times should I offer purees to my baby throughout the day?

We recommend starting with three meals per day, offering a few spoonfuls at each “meal” and progressing as your baby shows interest.

4. How can I prevent food allergies for my kid?

According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, allergists now recommend introducing certain foods as early as 4–6 months, which may reduce the potential of an allergen risk. Be sure to discuss introducing allergens with your pediatrician before starting solids. For more information on food allergies in children, check out our two part blog series with Dr. Steve Handoyo of the University of Chicago: Part 1, Part 2.

Starting solids with your baby is meant to be a time for food exploration and motor skill development. Remember that each baby is different and their starting solids experience will likely deviate from fellow babies’ experiences.

If you have questions or would like further guidance in designing the meal plan that is best for your child, feel free to contact our team at [email protected].

The Order of Solid Food Introduction to Baby - Fruits or Vegetables First

Fruits before veggies, green before orange?

Does it matter if babies are introduced to fruits before they are introduced to vegetables?

In it’s latest update, and further updated in 2011, the American Academy of Pediatrics published the following concerning the order of starting solid foods:

“Though many pediatricians will recommend starting vegetables before fruits, there is no evidence that your baby will develop a dislike for vegetables if fruit is given first. Babies are born with a preference for sweets, and the order of introducing foods does not change this. ” AAP

A Common Assumption: Giving a Baby Fruits First = Veggies Never

Myth: Giving your baby a fruit as a “first” solid will cause baby to reject and dislike veggies.

Truth: The order of food introduction really doesn’t matter. Some say introduce the vegetables first so that your baby does develop a “sweet tooth” for fruits. Others say fruits first so that baby will enjoy her first foods and not be as likely to reject solids. If your baby is breast fed, she is already receiving the sweetest food there is.

Many advise that you should start yellow veggies first and then introduce green; of courseothers say that it is crucial that you begin with the green before yellow so baby doesn’t reject the yellow. It is believed that green veggies are less tasty than yellow, hence the “advice”.

There is no hard scientific evidence to prove any of the above; you find many babies LOVE their green veggies and HATE their fruits and v. v.

We personally introduced foods in an order something like sweet potato then bananas then peaches then another veggie then another fruit and some homemade cereal along the way too.

Order of Solid Food Introduction Does Not Matter – Study 23 January 2007

In doing some research for an upcoming article on our site, I ran across this tidbit. Many parents are convinced that they must offer veggies before fruits so as to avoid developing a sweet tooth. We have always said that this was a myth as our pediatricians and dieticians advised. Now here it is in one (of many different studies and research papers) study more plainly stated than we have ever seen.

“We found that some recommendations concerning the order in which complementary foods should be introduced and how often new foods should be introduced were not based on sound scientific evidence. As a result, the new guidelines are more flexible in these areas,” he said. (CNRC scientists Dr. William Heird)

The Start Healthy Feeding Guidelines for Children Ages 6 to 24 Months were developed jointly by the American Dietetic Association and Gerber Food Products Company with guidance and oversight by a panel of academic pediatric nutrition specialists.

The panel included CNRC scientists Dr. William Heird and Dr. Nancy Butte, Tufts University professor Johanna Dwyer, Indiana University professor Dr. Karyl Rickard, WIC project nutritionist Laura Graney, and nutrition consultant Kathleen Cobb.

The guidelines were published in the March 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and also appear on the CNRC website.

Research Question:

d) How quickly and in what order should complementary foods be introduced?

Conclusion:

There is no evidence for a benefit to introducing complementary foods in any specific sequence or at any specific rate.

However, it is generally recommended that first solid foods be single ingredient foods and that they be started one at a time at 2 to 7 day intervals. The order of introduction of complementary foods is not critical, except for providing nutrients required from complementary foods. Meat and fortified infant cereals provide many of these nutrients. Combination foods (instead of single-ingredient foods) may be given to older infants after tolerance for the individual components has been established. The Start Healthy Feeding Guidelines for Children Ages 6 to 24 Months

Note – While resources say the order of food types does not matter when introducing solid foods, it still may be beneficial to follow the 4 day wait rule and be mindful of any possible allergy issues.

Remember, always consult with your pediatrician regarding introducing solid foods to your baby and specifically discuss any foods that may pose allergy risks for your baby.

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Complementary foods for a child - the introduction of fruit puree, fruits and juices into the diet of infants

Historically, fruit juice was recommended by pediatricians as a source of vitamin C, calcium, and other vitamins. The juice is delicious, sweet, children drink it with pleasure, and suddenly it turned out that there are potential risks: the high sugar content in the juice increases calorie intake, overweight and the risk of caries. More recently, about twenty years ago, doctors recommended the introduction of complementary foods, starting with juices and fruits. But now the situation has changed. Children's nutritionists believe that the optimal time for the introduction of juices is 1 year after the child gets used to the main complementary foods: vegetables, cereals, meat, fish, fruits. At the same time, you can find recommendations to give juices from 6 months or after 3 years. Carbohydrates, which are abundant in juice, change the child's appetite, but to get the required amount of vitamins, you need to drink a lot of it, about 1 liter! In addition, they do not give a feeling of satiety and the child may be prone to overeating.

Introduction of fruit juice American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations: download

Optimal to completely avoid the use of juice in infants until 1 year of age;
AAP and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry guidelines state that juice should be offered to babies in a cup, not a bottle, and that babies should not go to bed with a bottle in their mouth.
They concluded that long-term exposure to the sugar contained in the juice on the teeth is the main factor influencing dental caries.
After 1 year, fruit juice can be used as part of a meal or snack. It should not be drunk like water during the day or used as a means to calm an upset child.
Do not give juices if the child has diarrhea, oral rehydration solutions only.
The development of perioral rash in some children after feeding freshly squeezed citrus juice is most likely due to the chemical irritant effect of the acid.
Diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms that some children experience are most commonly associated with carbohydrate malabsorption.
Although fruit allergy can develop at an early age, this is rare.

Baby food - fresh juices

It is not recommended to introduce freshly squeezed juices to children under one year old. But there is no strict ban. Juice up to a year is not useful, unlike children older than one year . It contains a lot of fruit acid, which can lead to increased peristalsis and intestinal walls, pain, and digestive disorders. Dilute with water in a ratio of 1:1. And remember, fresh juice retains its maximum amount of vitamins in the first half hour, so do not store juice for later. With a later introduction of juice, their better tolerance is noted. This is due to the maturation of the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract and its readiness for the absorption of juice. But even with this, the child may experience pain and bloating, regurgitation, and stool disorders. This is due to the presence of organic acids in juices, which have an irritating effect on the gastrointestinal tract.

How do I start adding juice to my baby?

First, a teaspoonful (about 5 ml) between feedings, observing the baby's reaction. For children under 3 years old, juices are recommended to be diluted with boiled or baby water in a ratio of 1:2. Freshly squeezed juices - up to 7-8 years. The amount of juice: from 1 year to 1.5 years - up to 100 ml, should not be exceeded. At 2 years - 200 ml.

It is best to give green apple or pear juice first. Juice from plums, apricots, peaches - it is better to give at an older age, they have a slight laxative effect.

Then you can give a mixture of juices from 2 or 3 fruits. You can give a mixture of cherry, cherry, currant, raspberry juice, orange juice, pineapple, mango, grapefruit and mixtures thereof. It is better to give grape juice from 5-6 years old, there are a lot of carbohydrates.

It must be remembered that:

Apple, carrot and pear juice - strengthen
Plum, pumpkin, apricot, peach - weakening

This can be used if there are digestive problems.

If we choose industrial juices - carefully read what is written on the label, there should be no artificial additives, dyes and preservatives. Do not use opened packages. Should I give industrial juices for baby food? Why not? They are made from high quality, proven, specially selected raw materials, production is strictly controlled, they have balanced compositions and optimal taste. Until the age of 3, buy juices for your child only marked “baby food” on the package.

Introduction of fruit and fruit puree - European recommendations

If your young child has already tasted vegetables and accepted them, it's time for fruit. The season is always for them, but the best is in autumn, when the most delicious apples, pears and plums appear. Fresh fruits from all over the world are available in stores all year round, but it's worth starting with seasonal, locally grown ones. And these are: apricots, raspberries, apples, pears, plums. They contain not only vitamins, dietary fiber, but also minerals, including valuable microelements, which should be present in the child during the expansion of the diet.

Fruit is usually recommended from 6-7 months of age. Complementary foods often begin with fruit or vegetable purees. But it is better to start with vegetables. Fruit puree tastes better, is sweeter, and the child may then eat vegetables worse. But vegetable puree will not affect the baby's desire to eat fruit dishes. Therefore, more often pediatricians are advised to give fruit dishes after the introduction of vegetables and cereals. Start complementary foods with fruits in the form of mashed apples or bananas or pears. Then you can add fruits that grow in your area of \u200b\u200bresidence. Then you can include fruit and fruit and vegetable mixtures.

Fashionable but exotic fruits or with strong flavors - strawberries, mangoes, kiwis, currants - are best introduced later. But there is no strict ban.

Fruit puree should be started with 1 teaspoon in the morning, increasing to 100 g over 2 weeks.

Homemade or factory made? As you wish, subject to the basic hygiene rules of cooking. If you have time, make your own fruit puree. Plums, apricots, banana can be mashed in a mortar or blender. Grate apples and pears on a fine plastic grater. For the first time, the apple can be boiled, then it will be soft. Pour the prunes with boiling water and leave for 15 minutes. Do not add sugar!

Homemade fruit puree - don't forget about hygiene

Pour boiling water over a grater, preferably a plastic one or a blender, wash and peel the fruit.

Gradually make the fruit puree coarser.

Start with liquid puree, at 8 months - finely ground puree, at 10 months of age. - puree from larger particles.

When the child has 6-8 teeth, you can give pieces of fruit and he will eat them on his own.

Properties of various fruit purees

Banana puree is a good source of trace elements: magnesium and potassium, calcium, iron and phosphorus. Bananas rarely cause allergic reactions
Prune puree can act as a mild laxative that increases intestinal motility. Contains potassium, vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin).
Blueberry puree contains tannin - tannin, contains pectin, which has a disinfectant and anti-inflammatory effect, contains a large amount of provitamin A - beta-carotene, which is good for vision, manganese. In addition, blueberries are low allergenic. Apricots are an excellent source of potassium, carotene, vitamin C and pectin.

Tips from the Nyankovskih Healthy Child University

Fruits are sweet and can be used instead of sweets.
Fruits should be included in the child's diet as the second food group after vegetables. They can be given quite early, when the baby is four months old (between 17 and 26 weeks of age).
Initially it can be a mousse (or puree from a jar) and then an apple scraper with a spoon.
In a few days the child can try other fruits, berries, currants, raspberries. You can serve them on their own or add them to cereals, desserts. When a child is 10-11 months old and knows how to eat fruit purees and mousses, he should start learning to eat fruits in the form of soft particles, as well as himself, with a pen. Offer him peeled peaches, apricots, plums, grapes (no seeds!).
The new rules for baby food are a real revolution. Parents no longer have to stick to rigid patterns. The parents decide what the child eats and the child decides how much he eats.

Video: child feeding - introduction of fruits, fruit puree, juices, feeding in gdudnoy and artificial feeding

9000 Let your children be healthy!

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The first vegetables in a baby's life / Where to start complementary foods - an article from the section "The Right Approach" on Food.ru

When it's time to introduce vegetables

WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months. Before this, the baby's gastrointestinal tract is just being formed, it is not ready to receive and digest other food. Accordingly, children begin to receive the first complementary foods from six months. For those who are on artificial or mixed feeding, complementary foods are recommended to be introduced from 4 months.

In any case, all terms are individual, you should take a closer look at your baby. Child ready to taste vegetables:

sitting with support;
healthy;
active;
his innate spoon-pull reflex has disappeared;
keenly interested in what is on the adult's plate;
strives to put everything that comes to hand into the mouth;
Holds objects confidently.

If you can tick most of these boxes, it's time to start complementary foods, if not, it's better to wait a little longer. Vegetables are not going anywhere.

Initially, pediatricians recommend either vegetables or cereals as the first food. It depends on the individual characteristics of the development of the child. So, children who are not gaining weight well are recommended to start with cereals. And everyone who adds well in grams to breast milk or formula is first introduced to the world of vegetables.

How to properly introduce vegetables into the child's diet

The main thing that parents need to remember about the first complementary foods is just getting to know the food. Complementary foods are by no means a substitute for breast milk or formula. He gradually introduces variety into the diet, teaches the child's digestive tract to process new food. Therefore, the acquaintance of the baby with the first vegetables should be careful and accurate.

Just follow five simple rules.

Any complementary food, including vegetables, is offered to the child before the main feeding. This means that first you give a couple of tablespoons of vegetables to taste, and only after that - breast or mixture.

If you do the opposite, a well-fed child will not eat unusual food. No hunger - no appetite - no interest in trying new things.

Feeding with vegetables is a responsible matter. You need to start literally with 1-2 spoons, and not with those with which you are used to stirring sugar, but with children - they are smaller in volume.

If the child asks for more, take your time. You cannot predict how a growing body will react to a new food. As you know, any, even the most useful, product can be harmful in large quantities.

To save money, buy small jars of baby food at first so you have less to throw away. And remember: an open jar of baby food can be used up to a maximum of 24 hours, provided that you store it in the refrigerator.

Rule 3: enter one at a time

Only one vegetable should be introduced to a child at a time. That is why the lines of children's products first offer single-component purees.

It takes 3 to 7 days to get to know each person. Did you enter one vegetable? Excellent. You can move on to the next one. And when you introduce your baby to at least five or six, you can combine them, gradually expanding the taste palette.

A food diary is a useful thing. And parents whose children are prone to allergies or have problems with the gastrointestinal tract cannot do without it at all.

This diary, where you enter new foods, feeding time and serving size, will allow you to track your child's reaction to a new vegetable or fruit. That is why it is recommended to follow the previous rule. If it is violated, you simply will not know what exactly the child gave a negative reaction to.

Experts insist that only by offering a child one product 10-15 times and getting a refusal, one can conclude that he did not like it.

Taste is known to develop with age. And the fact that the child did not take parsnips or celery at 6-8 months does not mean that we should put an end to these products and not offer them after a while. Evolution ordered that most of the papillae on the tongue perceive the sweet taste - the taste of breast milk, and all the rest are gradually revealed to the baby.

Vegetables to start with

Not so long ago it was thought that complementary foods should start with seasonal vegetables and fruits from the region where the child lives. However, now most experts are in favor of the fact that any vegetables can appear on the table of a child during the feeding period, that is, in the region of 6-8 months.

Traditionally, white hypoallergenic vegetables with tender fiber are the first to go – zucchini and cauliflower. They do not cause allergies, digestive disorders, and are easily digested.

Broccoli and Brussels sprouts are usually introduced next, followed by carrots, pumpkins, and potatoes. The complementary feeding scheme is developed by the pediatrician together with the parents.

Many of these vegetables may seem bland to most adults. They can hardly imagine how a child will eat them without salt and sugar.

It's simple: for children, this is a priori a new taste, it is bright in comparison with what they have tried before. Everything is relative. Therefore, experts recommend starting complementary foods with conditionally unleavened vegetables, and then introducing sweet fruit purees, because after peach and mango, the child will not want to eat a boring zucchini.

How to serve vegetables

The first vegetables on the child's table, as a rule, appear in the form of one-component homogenized (ground to a homogeneous state) mashed potatoes.

Parents can choose store-bought baby food or make their own using a steamer and blender. They can follow the path of complementary foods, when the child receives micro portions of vegetables, fruits and everything else from the parents' plate.

It is worth remembering that these meals are by no means a substitute for food. This is just an introduction to new tastes, textures and products. Those portions that a child eats at first do not cover his daily need for calories, nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

If a child spits vegetables

The most common reason a child refuses vegetables is the late start of complementary foods, when the food interest has already faded. Or the introduction of sweet fruit purees into the diet, and only then vegetable ones. But even in this case, not all is lost.