Just a few years ago I remember reading the guidelines for introducing food to a baby, which fruits and vegetables were considered "stage one" while meats were held off for later months. When you talk to your parents and grandparents you'll hear how they had to start with rice cereal then to another grain before you even introduced fruits or vegetables or how eggs and peanut butter were held off because of allergy risks. I was recently at our pediatricians office and learnt that isn't the practice anymore, I was still surprised when our family doctor and even the health nurses at Lillith's six month shots explained the changes.
"You can start with whatever you want"
They still suggest beginning with an iron-fortified cereal because iron levels, especially in breastfed babies as iron is added to (most?) formula, begins to deplete at this age but that can also be combated depending on the foods you choose to introduce.
The only real rule? Try out each food with at least four days before introducing another just to make it easier to identify an allergy. Which is a good idea anyway because taste buds adapt and what may seem like a vegetable your baby doesn't like one day will often change after giving it a few more tries. But otherwise, it is entirely up to the parents.
Up until six months old, Lillith was exclusively breastfed and I am so happy to say that I have been able to exclusively breastfeed my daughter for six months, I hope to meet our goal of one year. Lillith had been showing signs that she was ready a few weeks before turning six months old; watching everything we ate and trying to grab at it, she would often try to mimic our mouths chewing and we knew she would likely transition to solids fairly well. While we weren't holding off until the age marker we were also not in a rush to jump into it either. We like the fun saying "food before one is just for fun" since they are still receiving vast majority of their nutrients from the breast milk (or formula) and don't need much to meet their nutritional requirements unlike us who rely on nutritious meals throughout the day.
To maintain the priority of breast milk in her diet we always nurse first before heading to the high chair, that way she isn't filling up on cereal (for example) and skipping out on breast milk. We started with infant rice cereal, I don't know if we will switch to oats or wheat cereal and I was a little uncertain about starting with infant cereals at all but learning about her iron levels swayed me to include it in her diet. I add breast milk instead of water and also her vitamin D, then I get a little excited over the amount of nutrients in the little bowl as I get her ready. Lillith quickly caught on to keeping the cereal in her mouth instead of pushing it out, and opens her mouth wide with a smile as the spoon approaches.We waited a little over a week, not only because of the attention to possible allergies but also because I wanted to build her little appetite, after all she has been on a liquid-only diet her whole life. We have since introduced her first food, after a lot of back and forth we decided to start with peaches. Initially we wanted to start with a vegetable, something that wasn't so naturally sweet, but after noting how sweet my breast milk is we decided that starting with something that was a little sweet would (hopefully) help her enjoy experiencing new tastes as we went on. We also liked that it is easy on her tummy, has some fiber to help her stay regular and iron to keep those levels up along with great vitamins.
Years ago I helped make my dear nephew's food and loved doing it, and although I have nothing against the store bought jars I couldn't wait to start making food for my own child. I didn't go out of my way to purchase any of the baby food appliances and instead I opted for a good blender because I'm the kind of person that doesn't often buy things without seeing long-term use (and ideally multiple purpose) and am borrowing the storage cubes that my sister in-law used (although I hear an ice cube tray works fine).
The peaches were super easy to prepare, after washing thoroughly we cut them into quarters and peeled them. I used one and a half peaches and ended up with six portions.
While I started preparing peaches for her to actually eat we decided to wash a full peach and let her play with it. She gave us some pretty surprised faces and eventually tried to get it into her mouth. We watched her closely while she put little chew marks into the peach before traded it out for a bowl of pureed peaches. Which she seemed to have mixed feelings for, she would come towards the spoon but not quite like she does with her cereal - although this is the first taste and texture that is very different from the only things she's ever had, which is breast milk (I don't know if the cereal really has a taste but it is incredibly sweet from my milk). But every time she got some of the peaches into her mouth she would make this scrunched up face and we giggled so much at her reactions, grateful that we were also able to capture them, overall she ate really well and only left a little bit in the bowl. I think we can call it a success!
xo, Anne.
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