When can you start feeding your baby jar food

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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Starting Babies on Solid Foods

Reviewed by Dan Brennan, MD on November 23, 2022

That's the recommended time to introduce solid foods. But it's not just about age. Before starting solids, your baby should be able to sit up (with support), turn their head away, and make chewing motions. They should also be past the reflex that makes them spit out anything including liquids.

Babies usually don't eat a lot of solid foods right away. So think of solids as something you’re adding to your baby's diet, not as a replacement for breast milk or formula. Remember, you're introducing solid foods, not totally changing your baby's diet or eliminating milk. That will happen gradually.

You don’t have to -- there's no hard-and-fast rule about what solid foods you should start your baby on first. in fact, you don't have to start with cereal at all. But if you do, try a single-grain, iron-fortified infant cereal with a neutral to no flavor. It also will be a bit easier to notice any food allergies than with a cereal made from several grains. You may want to mix it with formula or breast milk to get a runny consistency at first, so it's not a drastic change for your baby. Gradually thicken it more until your baby gets used to the new texture.

It may seem like it’s something natural, but being fed by a spoon is new to your baby. Up until now, they have only had a liquid diet. They’ll need practice to get used to the spoon and to the feel of having solid food in their mouth. So don't expect them to eat a whole lot -- maybe a teaspoon or two at a time -- when you start. Instead of trying to get them to eat a certain amount, focus on letting them get used to the experience.

Fruits, vegetables, grains, and even pureed meats can all be on the menu for your baby. You may want to introduce them one at a time to see how your little one reacts to the flavor and texture and to make sure no allergies develop. If your baby won't eat them at first, try again later. Babies need to reject a food at least 5 to 10 times on different occasions before you can truly say they don't like the food. Tell your pediatrician if you think your baby might have any food allergies to any new foods tried. Use soft baby food from a jar, or soften foods by heating and/or pureeing them. Put just enough on the spoon for your baby to swallow easily. Don't force feed the food.

Most pediatricians say you should wait until after your baby's first birthday to start offering cow's milk. That’s because nutritionally it doesn't measure up to Mother's milk or have the nutritional value of specially developed formulas. And, don't give honey to babies younger than 1 year. That’s because of a possible botulism risk that a baby's developing immune system can't fend off.

Your baby will let you know when they are done eating. They might swat at the spoon, turn their head away, zip their lips tightly, spit out whatever you put in their mouth, or cry. Don't make them eat more than they want. Kids will eat when they're hungry and stop when they're full. Honoring those instincts may help them avoid overeating now and when they get older.

Just because your baby doesn't immediately like a new food doesn't mean they are doomed to be picky forever. Wait a few days and try again. And again. And again … It may take your child more than a couple of times before they are ready to give peas a chance. Remember, you're a role model, so your baby may be more interested in foods they see you eating and enjoying. But don't force your child to eat, and don't make a big deal about new foods.

As your baby grows, they'll try to feed themselves. Chances are, a good bit of food is heading for their face, hands, hair, bib, clothes, or high chair tray -- not to mention you or any surfaces within flinging range. Learning to eat solid food is a full-body, tactile experience for your baby. Put a mat underneath their highchair to catch some of the mess, dress accordingly, and be patient -- this phase won't last forever.

Around 9 months or so, your baby will be able to pick up small pieces of soft table food to eat. You'll still need to spoon-feed for a while, and continue formula or breast milk. Some great "finger foods" include ripe banana pieces, cooked chunks of carrots, cottage cheese, well-cooked pasta, dry cereal, and scrambled eggs. Avoid choking hazards like hard candy, chips, raw vegetables, grapes or raisins, hard cheese, and whole hot dogs.

IMAGES PROVIDED BY:

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REFERENCES:

American Academy of Pediatrics: "Parenting Corner Q&A: Starting Solid Foods," "How Do I Know if My Child is Eating Enough?" "Vitamin D Deficiency Clinical Report: Patient FAQs."
FDA: "Food Safety for Moms to Be: Once Baby Arrives," "When Should Solid Foods Be Added to a Baby's Diet?"
KidsHealth.org: "Finer Foods for Babies."

Nutrition: why go into the jar? | 74.ru

Should you feed your child commercial baby food or cook it yourself? When is it necessary to start accustoming a child to adult food and how to do it? These questions are of concern to many young mothers, not only when the time for the first feeding comes up, but also later, when the babies get older. We will try to understand some of the nuances of choosing industrial baby food and cooking food for babies at home.

The first question that mothers face when they need the first complementary foods is whether to buy cereals and mashed potatoes in the store or cook them on their own. Of course, the main thing at the same time is the benefits of products for the baby. Manufacturers claim that commercially prepared, vitamin-enriched meals are better than home-cooked foods, and many pediatricians support them in this. But in the minds of most parents there is a stereotype: a jar is preservatives and a lot of different not very useful additives. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine how useful mashed potatoes can be, which is stored for two years, and even at a temperature of 25 degrees. nine0003

In fact, the long shelf life of baby food is ensured by sterilization and packaging features. With proper storage, they can be used without fear, but it’s often impossible to find out how and where the jars were stored before they hit the counter. Moreover, some unscrupulous sellers interrupt expiration dates in order to sell expired goods - such mashed potatoes or porridge will definitely not bring any benefit to the baby. It remains to hope for the decency of the seller or cook it yourself, so as not to expose the baby to unnecessary risk. nine0003

“Industrial nutrition for young children makes life very easy for the mother. Firstly, instant porridges, they only need to be diluted, and secondly, they are well homogenized and designed specifically for a small age. But from ten months, of course, it is advisable to include porridge in the child's diet in the traditional version in order to teach the baby to chew food, stimulate chewing, ”explains Tatiana Tabak, head of the department of gastroenterology of the Chelyabinsk children's hospital No. 9.

However, no one forbids mothers to cook porridge for a young baby on their own, especially since today there are so many helpers in the form of double boilers, blenders and other equipment in the home kitchen. The main condition is to observe the dosages to obtain porridge of the required consistency and rinse the cereal before sending it to the pan. Up to a year, it is better to offer the baby low-allergenic cereals - rice, buckwheat, corn.

But vegetable and fruit purees are preferable to store-bought ones, especially in winter and early spring, doctors say. “By using commercially produced purees to feed children, we can give the child a wide range of vegetables and fruits, especially at a time of the year when their supply is very scarce. You can offer the baby and parsnips, and green beans, and green peas. The only thing is that you need to choose these jars correctly, - warns Tatyana Alekseevna. – Industrial purees are prepared with different degrees of grinding for each age. Homogenized purees are designed for the age of four months, at six months the baby can already be offered pureed puree, and from ten months - chopped with small pieces of vegetables and fruits. In jars, which are recommended from ten months, there are already good pieces, which again teach the child to chew. Unfortunately, a mother often takes a jar, looks at the composition of the products, and if it is indicated that it is recommended for children from five months, she buys it for her older child. It is not right. Children need to take food that is appropriate for their age.” nine0003

“When we started complementary foods, I was in favor of jars. I have seen enough advertisements, beautiful pictures in fashionable children's magazines, - says mother one and a half year old Ilyusha Anna . - For a couple of weeks, I honestly tried to cram canned cauliflower, pumpkin, potatoes into my child. Writhed, spat out. I had already decided that my son did not like vegetables. But then I decided to buy the same products, only natural ones. And you know, gobbles up both cheeks! I buy frozen cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, beans. I froze pumpkin, zucchini. There are always potatoes, carrots, and buying them in winter is not a problem. He eats this with pleasure. And diversifying the menu, having different ingredients, is very easy. For lunch, for example, zucchini, broccoli and spinach with meat, and for an afternoon snack, pumpkin and apple. I cook all the vegetables in a double boiler, it turns out delicious. nine0003

If you wish, it is really easy to prepare a vegetable dinner for your baby. To do this, you need to choose beautiful fruits without spots and cracks and rinse thoroughly under running water without soap. It is better to cook them for a couple, since when cooking, many useful substances pass into water, or bake. In this case, the loss of vitamins will be minimal. It is also possible to use frozen products: all useful substances are perfectly preserved in them. The finished vegetable must be chopped with a blender or rubbed through a sieve. You should not chop the vegetables that you give your child for the first time with a fork or a crush: the child’s body, most likely, will not be able to digest such mashed potatoes. Nothing is usually added to the first purees, especially sugar and salt, but in some cases it is possible to bring the puree to the desired consistency with breast milk or formula. Later, you can add a little vegetable oil. nine0003

Babies under one year old can be introduced into the diet of zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, green beans, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots. Closer to the year - corn and peas. It must also be remembered that mashed potatoes, beloved in our country, are a rather heavy dish, so it is advisable to mix potatoes with other vegetables. And one more thing: it is not recommended to warm up homemade purees, it is better for the baby to receive them freshly prepared.

As for fruits, they start with apples and pears. They can be given fresh - first scraped, then cut into pieces, added to porridge. In the form of mashed potatoes and baked fruits, any kid will also like it. Compotes are very useful, but it is better to postpone acquaintance with freshly squeezed juice for up to a year and a half and give it only in a diluted form. nine0003

Another question that worries many parents is at what age should a child be transferred to regular food? “I'm already exhausted. Everything I cook in the steamer goes into the bucket! One and a half years and a full mouth of teeth - and eats only canned food. I tried to give food in pieces, and crushed in a blender, and just from my plate - my mouth was locked and hysterical. How much longer can you hold on the banks? - asks young mother Olga Li .

“Introduce ordinary food, but well pureed, preferably from a year old. Up to two years, only chopped food is recommended, Tatyana Tabak advises. - You can’t give a child meat in pieces - he simply won’t chew it. For this age, minced meat is used with three passes through a fine grate of a meat grinder. Soups are only pureed. From two years old, you can already have soups with small vegetables, salads from raw vegetables, beef tongue, cut into small strips. And acquaintance with minced meat and goulash is better to postpone until three years. Until the same age, it is not advisable for children to give fresh pastries, it is better to replace them with dry cookies, and up to a year - with children's cookies. nine0003

As for milk and dairy products, which are so necessary for a baby, up to three years of age, doctors recommend using milk formulas rather than whole milk, at least for city dwellers. For children under six months, the first formula is produced, with a low protein content, safe for the kidneys and liver of a small child, in the second and third formulas its content is higher. Why is it undesirable to use whole milk? In the milk in the package, we only know the content of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and what other vitamins are in it, what the cow ate, where she lived - it is not clear, therefore there is a risk. Children's milk is filtered by proteins, fats, carbohydrates, 15 vitamins and several microelements are also introduced there - this is fortified milk, which is more useful only fresh milk. However, the townspeople do not have the opportunity to drink it, only pasteurized is available here, in which there are practically no vitamins left. nine0003

Cooking or buying canned food? Should I give my baby formula or whole milk? Transfer a child to an adult table from a year or from two years? Definitive answers to these questions will never be found. It all depends on the preferences of the baby, the capabilities of the parents and many more nuances. It is only important to remember that the sooner a child begins to get acquainted with a wide variety of foods, the easier it will be in the future to adapt to any situation, including gastronomic, and the more useful vitamins and minerals it will receive. His health directly depends on this. nine0003

Canned nutrition - Understanding age

Viktoriya Levchuk©

Parents often come across complementary feeding tables and schemes that indicate the approximate portion at each age stage, and when which product should be introduced into the child's diet. The dream of any mother is a unified policy for the introduction of complementary foods, so that the industrial production of baby food agrees with pediatricians and mothers on the age of introduction of the product into complementary foods. Some brand labels can be confusing when to use prepared foods and how to combine canned food with home cooking.

The popular Gerber brand has registered trademarks labeled "1st Foods", "2nd Foods" and "3rd Foods". Other brands simply use "1", "2" or "3" or indicate the child's age in months, and some use it to indicate the stage at which a child is ready for a certain type of food consistency.

WHO baby feeding steps

Table of Contents:

The World Health Organization, in its brochure Infant and Young Child Feeding and Nutrition, divides childhood into several stages. These main stages are calculated up to the year of the child, they imply a smooth transition of the baby "from mother's milk to food from the family table." The most popular brands of baby food use the main stages of the transition of the child's diet in the labeling of canned food. There are four stages in total, starting at 4 months and ending at 12 months. These steps are not standardized. nine0003

You can read more about the age stages of baby food in the following articles:

First stage of baby food: (4) 6-7 months
Second stage of baby food: 7-8 months
Third stage of baby food: 8- 10 months
Fourth phase of complementary foods: 10-12 months

Food can label

Stage 1: Age at (4) 6 to 7 months

Start of complementary foods at (4) 6 to 7 months of age, includes foods from one-ingredient, soft, light texture without a single lump, with low levels of allergies, without salt, sugar and seasonings, for example, rice porridge or zucchini puree.

Here are some examples of popular brands:

Silent porridge Fleur Alpine from 4 months
rice porridge HIPP from 4 months
rice porridge Sempler Sempler from 4 months
puree from 4 months of 9 months 9 zucchini Sady pridonya from 4 months
Gerber zucchini puree from 4 months

Stage 2: Age 7 to 8 months

When children are 7 to 8 months old, they are given one-component and two-component products, simply pureed, medium density, sometimes products that seem to rubbed, i.e. food appears in pieces that are easy to swallow, but do not choke. Products are given with a low level of allergy, but slowly they begin to introduce the child to the average.

Second step product examples:

Bebivita vegetable soup with beef from 8 months
Bebivita mixed vegetable puree from 7 months
Rabbit stew with Gerber broccoli from 8 months
Semper vegetables with veal liver from 8 months
Carrots with potatoes and salmon Hipp from 8 months
Mixed vegetable puree Hipp from 7 months
Welling oatmeal with banana and prunes Semper from 8 months

Stage 3: Age from 8 to 10 months

Between 8 and 12 months of age, babies receive a thicker textured meal that is easy to chew and swallow. There are more three-component purees. Foods with small pieces help stimulate baby's chewing. Sugar, salt and spices are still missing from baby food.

Examples of products from the third stage:

Hipp noodles with sea fish and vegetables in creamy sauce from 10 months
Mediterranean risotto with sea bream Semper from 10 months
Italian Gerber treat from 10 months
Marmaluzi mashed potatoes with fish pieces from 9 months
Vegetable stew with salmon and Semper rice from 9 months

3-stage jar food is very easy to find in the store. Around this period, according to manufacturers of baby food, the child's appetite increases, respectively, and the portion he consumes, so we focus on jars of 200-250 grams per serving. But usually a child is not able to eat that much at the age of 9-10 months, even if this portion is written in all textbooks on baby food. But what about throwing away the leftovers?

Calm down, around this period, many mothers begin to cook for 2 times (the dish is stored in the refrigerator for about 24-36 hours), the child's body is already strong enough and adapted to complementary foods that pathogenic microbes in the finished dish are not dangerous to him. We just follow the rules of cleanliness, namely, we took a clean spoon, put a small portion from the jar into a separate plate, put the jar in the refrigerator with the rest of the food, and warmed up the postponed dish, fed the baby. nine0003

Stage 4: 10 to 12 months

Approximately one year old, the consistency of baby food is close to that of an adult table. If by 10 months the dish is thick with pieces of food, then closer to 12 months the baby eats small pieces of food, by 1.5 years it completely eats adult dishes, only occasionally large pieces that are difficult to chew, for example, meat, are crushed by adults.

By the age of 2, the child eats completely from the common table without the help of strangers. At this point, you can continue to feed the baby with canned food or completely transfer the baby to an adult table. Parents who initially fed the baby only canned food, by about 2 years old, are transferred to homemade food, i.e. up to 2 years they do not refuse jars, simply because they are used to it and it is convenient, safe, etc. nine0003

Examples of products of the fourth stage:

Young potatoes with green beans and Hipp rabbit from 12 months
Italian pasta with trout in Semper cream sauce from 11 months
Heinz0 multi-grain milk porridge apple-raspberry-blackcurrant from 12 months
Heinz0 from 166 months
Porridge Veling multi-cereal Semper from 11 months

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Vegetables with rice and beef stroganoff Semper from 18 months
Apple-raspberry puree FrutoNyanya (fruit pieces) from 12 months
Fleur Alpine Organic apple marmalade cookies from 18 months

However, it should be noted that after a year, all age restrictions indicated on canned food most likely carry information on products allowed for a given age, and not on food consistency. We also take into account that the portion for a 3-year-old child is much larger than for a one-year-old baby. For example, Frutonyan has milk porridges of 200 ml from 6 months, and 500 ml from 3 years old, the porridge can be identical in composition, the difference is only in the portion. nine0003

Canned food age recommendations

Please note that the age recommendations for each stage are only general recommendations. The age of introduction of complementary foods for each child is individual, so one will be ready at 5-6 months, and the other closer to 7 months. We look at signs of readiness for complementary foods, consult a pediatrician.

Moreover, the transition to a new consistency also occurs individually, as the baby is 7-8 months old, it is impossible to abruptly transfer the baby to thicker food or add hard pieces, there may be consequences in the form of vomiting or suffocation. It is important that the child gradually learns to chew food, with gradual complication, for effective skill acquisition. Don't forget our pediatricians, who can help a mother determine if a baby needs extra time to learn chewing skills or if it's time to move on to the next stage. nine0003

Consistency of food up to a year. Click on me!!!

And a little about baby food manufacturers. They indicate early dates for the introduction of complementary foods, this is a common marketing ploy to sell more, or they simply do not want to revise the layout of their labels, taking into account the recommendations of Russian pediatricians or the World Health Organization. Although recently, there is less and less canned food on sale, recommended from 3 months.

The main thing is that parents understand and know the rules and terms for the introduction of complementary foods, as well as listen to their intuition, which does not deceive. The appearance and abilities of the baby will tell parents more about the readiness for complementary foods than the age marking on canned food. nine0003

Chaos in canned food

It's a strange name for a subtitle, but it's hard to describe in another way what is happening in the industrial production of baby food. Each brand has its own recommendations for the introduction of complementary foods, based on their data, they label jars. Moreover, it is very difficult to understand their logic. The first two steps are easy for many parents because in general one or two ingredient purees are easier to navigate than multi-ingredient purees.

Therefore, the first 2 stages parents either listen to a pediatrician, or look at a diagram from the Internet, or follow the feeding table, which is listed on the website of their favorite canned food manufacturer. Although here, too, manufacturers can spoil the situation, so I met thickeners in the form of oatmeal in one-component baby purees (to which an allergy is possible at the beginning of complementary foods). Think for a moment, a one-component puree should contain 1 product and water, the only additional ingredient, but no, they can put any thickener, and it’s good if it’s rice or oat flour, but if the thickener is a preservative? Therefore ALWAYS read the composition of baby food before you buy it.

The first 2 stages seem to be not difficult, but as soon as the child approaches the 3rd stage or lumpy food, then it's just a disaster. Either some manufacturers do not produce food with pieces, then they do, but the composition is complex, there are many ingredients, more than half of the child was not introduced into complementary foods. Parents have to switch from one brand to another or choose 2-3 brands that inspire confidence.

Consider the situation on the example of milk. Now pediatricians, scientists and most parents agree that it is better to introduce dairy products into complementary foods gradually, starting with fermented milk, and milk is given after a year. But what do manufacturers of baby food offer us, milk porridge from 6 months old, or goat milk porridge from 4 months old. It seems that the recommendations of doctors for brands of baby food are empty space, the main thing for them is to offer an assortment, and parents will have to take care of the children. Therefore at the beginning of complementary foods, it is important to decide on a strategy, namely, to choose at least approximately a table of complementary foods or to make a list of the introduction of products, focusing on the recommendations of a pediatrician. You can not blindly buy canned food, looking at the age on the label.

No one canceled the risk of an allergy to a product, and the sooner a child gets acquainted with a highly allergenic product, the stronger the reaction, read more here. If you feed the baby only canned food, focusing on age markings, that the child will eat delicate light food that will not teach him to chew, and then at 2 years old the question arises: Why does the child vomit on adult food? And the answer is simple, his body simply does not know how to chew, swallow and digest ordinary adult food. Therefore, as always0051 I speak and will speak and write, everything in moderation, the golden mean.

Canned nutrition is convenient, simple and easy, but should be in moderation. Up to a year, diversity, diversity, the first 2-3 months is a quiet pace, which grows and grows by the year. We offer the child different food, canned and homemade, but at stage 3 we try to give more homemade food, because it is always different, well, it is not possible to make mashed potatoes always the same, especially if you use only a fork, this is what the baby needs, different textures, different components, as in the game - different levels, for complication.