When can babies start eating pureed foods

When, What, and How to Introduce Solid Foods | Nutrition

For more information about how to know if your baby is ready to starting eating foods, what first foods to offer, and what to expect, watch these videos from 1,000 Days.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend children be introduced to foods other than breast milk or infant formula when they are about 6 months old. Introducing foods before 4 months old is not recommended. Every child is different. How do you know if your child is ready for foods other than breast milk or infant formula? You can look for these signs that your child is developmentally ready.

Your child:

Sits up alone or with support.
Is able to control head and neck.
Opens the mouth when food is offered.
Swallows food rather than pushes it back out onto the chin.
Brings objects to the mouth.
Tries to grasp small objects, such as toys or food.
Transfers food from the front to the back of the tongue to swallow.

What Foods Should I Introduce to My Child First?

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that for most children, you do not need to give foods in a certain order. Your child can begin eating solid foods at about 6 months old. By the time he or she is 7 or 8 months old, your child can eat a variety of foods from different food groups. These foods include infant cereals, meat or other proteins, fruits, vegetables, grains, yogurts and cheeses, and more.

If your child is eating infant cereals, it is important to offer a variety of fortifiedalert icon infant cereals such as oat, barley, and multi-grain instead of only rice cereal. Only providing infant rice cereal is not recommended by the Food and Drug Administration because there is a risk for children to be exposed to arsenic. Visit the U.S. Food & Drug Administrationexternal icon to learn more.

How Should I Introduce My Child to Foods?

Your child needs certain vitamins and minerals to grow healthy and strong.

Now that your child is starting to eat food, be sure to choose foods that give your child all the vitamins and minerals they need.

Click here to learn more about some of these vitamins & minerals.

Let your child try one single-ingredient food at a time at first. This helps you see if your child has any problems with that food, such as food allergies. Wait 3 to 5 days between each new food. Before you know it, your child will be on his or her way to eating and enjoying lots of new foods.

Introduce potentially allergenic foods when other foods are introduced.

Potentially allergenic foods include cow’s milk products, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame. Drinking cow’s milk or fortified soy beverages is not recommended until your child is older than 12 months, but other cow’s milk products, such as yogurt, can be introduced before 12 months. If your child has severe eczema and/or egg allergy, talk with your child’s doctor or nurse about when and how to safely introduce foods with peanuts.

How Should I Prepare Food for My Child to Eat?

At first, it’s easier for your child to eat foods that are mashed, pureed, or strained and very smooth in texture. It can take time for your child to adjust to new food textures. Your child might cough, gag, or spit up. As your baby’s oral skills develop, thicker and lumpier foods can be introduced.

Some foods are potential choking hazards, so it is important to feed your child foods that are the right texture for his or her development. To help prevent choking, prepare foods that can be easily dissolved with saliva and do not require chewing. Feed small portions and encourage your baby to eat slowly. Always watch your child while he or she is eating.

Here are some tips for preparing foods:

Mix cereals and mashed cooked grains with breast milk, formula, or water to make it smooth and easy for your baby to swallow.
Mash or puree vegetables, fruits and other foods until they are smooth.
Hard fruits and vegetables, like apples and carrots, usually need to be cooked so they can be easily mashed or pureed.
Cook food until it is soft enough to easily mash with a fork.
Remove all fat, skin, and bones from poultry, meat, and fish, before cooking.
Remove seeds and hard pits from fruit, and then cut the fruit into small pieces.
Cut soft food into small pieces or thin slices.
Cut cylindrical foods like hot dogs, sausage and string cheese into short thin strips instead of round pieces that could get stuck in the airway.
Cut small spherical foods like grapes, cherries, berries and tomatoes into small pieces.
Cook and finely grind or mash whole-grain kernels of wheat, barley, rice, and other grains.

Learn more about potential choking hazards and how to prevent your child from choking.

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When Can My Baby Start Eating Solid Foods? (for Parents)

A friend just started giving her 3-month-old applesauce and rice cereal. My son is just 2 weeks younger than hers, and I am wondering if I should be introducing solids soon too. When should I start?
– Taylor

Doctors recommend waiting until a baby is about 6 months old to start solid foods. Starting before 4 months is not recommended.

At about 6 months, babies need the added nutrition — such as iron and zinc — that solid foods provide. It’s also the right time to introduce your infant to new tastes and textures.

Some babies may be ready for solids sooner than 6 months, but don't start until your baby is at least 4 months old.

How do you know it’s the right time to start solid foods? Here are some signs that babies are ready:

They have good head and neck control and sit up in a high chair.
They're interested in foods. For example, they may watch others eat, reach for food, and open their mouths when food approaches.
They don’t push food out of their mouths, which is a natural tongue reflex that disappears when they’re between 4–6 months old.
They weigh twice their birth weight, or close to it.

Talk to your doctor about the right time to start solid foods.

How Should I Start Solids?

When the time is right, you can start with a single-grain, iron-fortified baby cereal. Start with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cereal mixed with breast milk, formula, or water. Feed your baby with a small baby spoon. Don’t add cereal or other food to a baby's bottle because it can lead to too much weight gain. Let your baby practice eating from a spoon and learn to stop when full.

When your baby gets the hang of eating the first food, introduce others, such as puréed meat, fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, or yogurt. Try one food at a time and wait a few days before trying something else new to make sure your baby doesn't have an allergic reaction.

Foods that are more likely to cause allergies can be among the foods you introduce to your baby. These include peanuts, eggs, cow’s milk, seafood, nuts, wheat, and soy. Waiting to start these foods does not prevent food allergies. Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about food allergies, especially if any close family members have allergies, food allergies, or allergy-related conditions, like eczema or asthma.

Infants with severe eczema or egg allergies are more likely to have allergies to peanuts. Talk to your doctor about how and when to introduce these foods to your child.

When starting your baby on solids, avoid:

foods with added sugars and no-calorie sweeteners
high-sodium foods
honey, until after the first birthday. It can cause botulism in babies.
unpasteurized juice, milk, yogurt, or cheese
regular cow's milk or soy drinks before 12 months instead of breast milk or formula. It’s OK to offer pasteurized yogurt and cheese.
foods that may cause choking, such as hot dogs, raw carrots, grapes, popcorn, and nuts

Also, do not give fruit juices to infants younger than 12 months old.

Over the next few months, introduce a variety of foods from all the food groups. If your baby doesn't seem to like something, don’t give up. It can take 8 to 10 tries or more before babies learn to like new foods.

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD

Date reviewed: February 2021

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

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when to introduce potatoes into complementary foods

Reading time: 6 minutes

Potatoes are one of the most popular products of Russian cuisine. This product has a light, delicate and pleasant taste, is very quick and easy to prepare, and also contains a large amount of useful substances necessary for the human body. Due to its excellent nutritional qualities, potatoes are often used in baby nutrition from an early age. That is why many parents are interested in when to introduce potatoes to baby food and how best to cook it for the baby.

1 From what age you can give the child potato puree

1.1 Useful properties of potatoes

1.2 Useful recipes for the children's menu

1.5.1 Similar entries:

Useful properties of potatoes

Potatoes are often used in the children's menu, because this vegetable contains a large amount of vitamins, micro and macro elements, as well as other nutrients. They provide good health, as well as the full intellectual and physical development of the baby.

Useful properties of mashed potatoes for the baby's menu:

Vitamins A, B, C - ensure the full physical and psycho-emotional development of the baby's body.
Potassium, magnesium, iodine, iron, phosphorus and other minerals - improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
Stimulates the growth of muscle fibers.
Organic acids and antioxidants - increase the body's immune defenses.
Improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, normalizes intestinal peristalsis.
Potato contains a huge amount of vegetable fiber, which accelerates the removal of toxins from the body and prevents the development of constipation.
Normalizes blood cholesterol levels.
Corrects the acid-base and water-salt balance of the body.
Improves the functioning of the central nervous system, stimulates brain activity.
Accelerates the healing of various injuries, burns and other skin lesions.

Mashed potatoes for babies saturate the body of newborns with energy, increase tone and activity. Toddlers most often like potato dishes, as they have a pleasant, delicate taste.

When can I give mashed potatoes to a baby

When answering questions about how many months you can start giving mashed potatoes to a baby and how to properly feed a baby, pediatricians recommend that parents take into account some important nuances.

Baby mashed potatoes - from what age can be given:

An infant who is exclusively breastfed is fed potatoes for the first time at 6 months of age.
A formula-fed baby is allowed to add boiled potatoes a little earlier - after reaching 5 months.
To test the reaction of the child's body to a new product, the introduction of complementary foods begins with potato broth. With good tolerance for several days, mashed potatoes are introduced into the diet.
Chopped dill or parsley can be added to mashed potatoes prepared for babies of nine months.
The introduction of mashed potatoes is recommended after vegetable mashes of broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini have already been added to the baby's diet.
For the first course of a 6-month-old baby, it is recommended to make boiled potatoes, puree them with a blender so that there are no lumps.
After 10-11 months, the baby can be treated with boiled potatoes, cut into small pieces. It should be soft and boiled so that the baby does not choke.
For feeding a child, mashed potatoes with boiled meat are given to a child only after 1.5-2 years of age. Fried potatoes are allowed to be offered to children only after reaching 3 years.
By 9-10 months, the portion size increases to 150 g, a one-year-old baby is allowed to give up to 200 g of mashed potatoes.

When should carrots and potatoes be added to a child's diet? Tips for parents - The Union of Pediatricians of Russia

Watch this video on YouTube

For the first feeding, the baby should be fed a small amount of puree - the serving size should not be more than a teaspoon. If the child eats the new food well, digestion is not disturbed and an allergic reaction does not develop, the next day he can cook a slightly larger portion and gradually increase it.

Weaning potatoes: possible harm and contraindications

When deciding which mashed potatoes can be prepared and given to a child, parents should remember that this vegetable can also be harmful to the baby. Potatoes contain a large amount of starch, which can cause digestive disorders and allergies.

An allergic reaction is accompanied by bloating, stool disorder, skin rashes and redness, runny nose, lacrimation, sometimes a sharp increase in body temperature is possible. With the development of allergies, the baby must be shown to the pediatrician or allergist.

Before introducing mashed potatoes into a child's diet, it must be taken into account that this vegetable has a high glycemic index - this is very important if the baby suffers from diabetes or other diseases of the endocrine system.

How to cook mashed potatoes for your baby

For the first "acquaintance" of a 6-month-old baby, we prepare mashed potatoes. The greatest amount of vitamins and other useful substances is contained in the uniform, therefore, when preparing complementary foods, boiled (in boiling water or a double boiler) or baked potatoes in their skins can be used.

How to prepare healthy mashed potatoes for babies: you need to grind boiled potatoes - you can use a blender for this, after which you can add breast milk or milk formula to the mashed potatoes. For children older than six months, it is allowed to add olive oil to the dish - this is especially useful for a baby who is not gaining weight well.

Introducing potatoes to children's diet - useful tips:

Before boiling potatoes, you can soak them in cool water for several hours - this will help reduce the amount of starch and nitrates in the vegetable.
Potato tubers must be free from green or dark spots, rot or mould.
A new, fresh meal should be prepared before every feeding.
New baby potato dishes should not be salted at first - only for older babies.
If the child has problems with being overweight, potatoes should be added to complementary foods in small quantities and no more than 2 times a week.

Due to the large amount of starch in the composition, potatoes can be too heavy for the child's digestive system, so it is recommended to give the baby no more than 2-3 times a week.

Healthy recipes for children's menu

For children's diet, it is recommended to boil potatoes in water, steam or in a double boiler or bake them. These heat treatment methods are considered the most optimal - they retain the delicate taste of the vegetable and the maximum amount of useful substances in its composition.

There are many tasty, hearty and nutritious potato dishes that can be used for children's menus.

Omelet

potatoes - 300 g;
chicken eggs - 4 pcs;
hard cheese or cottage cheese - 50 g;
milk - 5-6 tbsp. l;
butter.

Boiled potato tubers, peeled and finely grated, lightly salted. After that, pour into a baking dish, greased with butter.

Whisk eggs with milk until frothy, pour this mixture over potatoes and sprinkle with grated cheese. The form must be sent to the oven for 15 minutes, the finished dish can be served with herbs or sour cream. 100 g garlic cloves 1 piece (optional)

Potatoes should be mixed with chicken fillet or other meat, finely chopped onion and minced garlic. All ingredients should be beaten with a blender until a light homogeneous mixture is obtained.

A piece of wheat loaf must be softened in warm milk, then also added to the minced meat. You can salt the finished mass a little, form small cutlets out of it and cook them for 25-30 minutes for a couple or in a double boiler.

Complementary potatoes are a satisfying and nutritious product with a pleasant, delicate taste, rich in vitamins and other useful substances.