Baby's first foods

Transcript

Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land and pays respect to Elders, past present and future.

This video provides general advice about feeding babies. If you have any questions or concerns about feeding your baby, please contact your child health nurse or GP.

Always closely supervise your baby when eating

The introduction of food to your baby's diet is an exciting and important milestone. Before babies are ready for their first foods, they need to develop a number of physical, cognitive, and social skills. This video is about how to know if your baby is developmentally ready for their first foods.

Your baby requires breast milk or infant formula for the first six months of life. After this time other food sources are introduced for their health and development. There is no set regime of how to introduce solids. Let yourself be guided by your baby's cues. It is not recommended to attempt before four months of age.

Waiting until your baby is developmentally ready will result in greater enjoyment at meal times as well as reducing the risk of choking. There are four main signs that your baby is developmentally ready to start solids.

1. Your baby can sit upright when supported and has good head and neck control. This will decrease their risk of choking as well as ensure that they have enough muscle control and strength to engage in feeding.
2. Your baby does not push food out when it is placed into their mouth. Babies have a protective reflex called a tongue thrust. When ready for food, the reflex will no longer be present and babies will be able to swallow the offered food. If your baby is showing other signs of readiness but still pushing food out of their mouth with their tongue you can keep trying with a tiny amount of puree every few days until the reflex is not present.
3. Your baby is intentionally watching you while eating. Your baby may also show interest in your food by leaning forward opening their mouth or vocalizing.
4. The final sign of readiness is that your baby can pick up objects and bring them to their mouth. Your baby may try to grab your food or grab your utensil and bring it to their mouth.

Starting solids

Once it has been established that a baby is developmentally ready to eat, parents can provide both soft finger foods and purees. Babies usually commence with having small tastes of one or two foods. Let yourself be guided by your baby's cues. Soft finger foods will encourage your baby to learn self-feeding skills such as bringing food to their mouth. Whereas purees will ensure your baby is consuming enough nutrients and iron through their food. There is also no order that foods must be introduced however it is recommended that iron rich foods be among the first foods. Examples of iron rich foods include

• iron-enriched cereals,
• pureed or minced meat,
• chicken or fish,
• green leafy vegetables,
• cooked tofu,
• well cooked eggs, and
• legumes such as cooked lentils and beans.

Introducing a variety of textures from a range of foods will help your baby's teeth and jaw development.

You will know that your baby is ready to move to the next texture by trying out small amounts. Remember they might not get this right at first and they may gag. Gagging is not choking. It just means your baby is still practicing with that texture.

The way your baby will become proficient with the new texture is to keep offering small amounts as opportunities to practice. As they become more skilled at feeding and interested in food, you can also increase the amount and variety of foods that is offered.

When your baby starts solids, you can start to offer cool boiled water in a sippy cup with meals. This will help your baby to start to learn skills that they will later need to drink from an open cup.

At this stage, breast milk or infant formula is the main source of nutrition.

If you're concerned about feeding your baby talk to your local child health Nurse or GP. You can also call the 13 health number if living in Queensland and asked to speak to a child health nurse.