Introducing solids: the cheatsheet

Introducing solids to babies

Solids are an important milestone for babies. Some will love it, some will be a bit reticent at the beginning. So there are 50-50 chances to have a successful food diversification start. Having 2 kids, I can tell you that we experienced both situations:

• Bianca gave us signs that she’s ready to eat around 6 months of age, but she wasn’t so thrilled:

• With Giulia it was totally different: she sat in an upright position at 5 months of age and was reaching for our food even earlier. She gave us many signs that she’s ready to eat. We started diversification with her a few days after she celebrated her 5 months birthday:

HOW?

You have to know that there are 2 main ways to give baby food:

1. baby-led weaning (BLW): solids are introduced as finger food; it is recommended to start with this method when babies are 6 months old or older;
2. puree

 

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Of course, you can do a mix of the two. This is what I did. I used a pressure cooker to soften the food and if I decided to give purees, I used a fork to smash the food until soft with no or small lumps.

If you don’t have a pressure cooker yet, I recommend this one, we’re using it on a daily basis.

WHEN?

Different countries have different recommendations related to when to start giving food to your baby.

My Data Science intuition tell me that the 4-6 months milestone is positively correlated with how much maternity leave a parent can take.

For example, when we were based in Ireland, the general advise was to give food to babies starting with the 4 months of age (I believe that this is related to parents going back to work earlier). Now we’re in Romania and here you can have a long maternity leave (it’s paid by the Government and you can take up to 2 years). So here, the paediatricians advise to start with solids at 6 months of age.

HOW MUCH?

I followed a super easy rule for both Bianca and Giulia:

• gradual increase of food: started with a spoon and reached a cup at each meal;
• number of meals by age:
  • 4-6 Months old: 1 meal / day;
  • 7 Months old: 2 meals / day;
  • 8-9 Months old: 3 meals / day;
  • 10-12 Months old: 3 meals + 1 snack / day;
  • 1 Year+ : 3 meals + 2 snacks / day;

WHAT?

I’ll start this section with what NOT to give the baby: salts, sugar and honey are forbidden in the first 12 months.

4-6 Months old – 1 meal / day :

1. LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins

• Vegetables: sweet potato, parsley, zucchini, carrot, parsnip, green beans, pumpkin, bell pepper, onion, garlic, leek;
• Proteins:  homemade cheese, chicken, turkey, quail, rabbit, beef, egg (hard boiled);
• Others: Olive oil, parsley leaves, lovage, dill;

7 Months old – 2 meals / day :

1. BREAKFAST: Fruits
2. LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins

• Fruits: apple, pear, avocado, apricot, peach, nectarine, plum, banana, blueberrie­s, watermelon;
• Vegetables: same as month above;
• Proteins: same as month above;
• Others: caraway, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, thyme, oregano,
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8-9 Months old – 3 meals / day :

1. BREAKFAST: Fruits
2. LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins
3. DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products

• Fruits: same as months above plus grapes, cherries, sour cherries, papaya, dehydrated dates, raisins, kaki, mango, cranberries
• Vegetables: same as months above plus red beets, green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, red lentil, green lentil, celery, lettuce, endive;
• Proteins: same as month above plus yogurt, butter, sour cream, liver, white fish (trout, cod, perch, hake, gray mullet, dorada);
• Cereals/ Pseudocereals: millet, rice, bulgur, couscous, oat, barley;

 

10-12 Months old – 3 meals + 1 snack / day :

1. BREAKFAST: Fruits
2. LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins
3. SNACK: Fruits
4. DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products

• Fruits: same as months above plus quince, figs, kiwi, chestnuts, pineapple, strawberries, raspberry, blackberries, orange, lemon, grapefruit, pomelo, pomegranate in a smoothie, goji, olives, nuts – peanuts – cashew –  pistachio- almond crushed;
• Vegetables: same as months above plus tomato, aubergine, spinach, mushroom, wild garlic, turnips, white potato, asparagus, cucumber;
• Proteins: same as month above plus  ricotta, mozzarella, mascarpone, kefir, pork, mutton, goose, duck, lamb;
• Cereals/ Pseudocereals: same as month above ;

1 Year – 3 meals + 2 snacks / day :

1. BREAKFAST: Fruits
2. LUNCH: Vegetables + Proteins
3. SNACK: Fruits
4. DINNER: Vegetables, Cereals, Dairy products
5. SNACK: Vegetables

• Fruits: everything ;
• Vegetables: same as months above radishes, peas, artichoke, sorrel, cabbage, nettles;
• Proteins: same as month above plus fish, cheese, cream cheese, cheddar, parmesan, edam, gouda, svaiter, grana padano, emmental, pecorino, goats cheese;
• Cereals/ Pseudocereals: everything ;

WHAT?

I’ll start this section with what NOT to give the baby: salts, sugar and honey are forbidden in the first 12 months.

 

Get a long bib that attaches to the highchair and let the baby explore the food, it will be fun!

 

 

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