The type of food you first introduce is of the utmost importance. A good rule of thumb is to start with a hypoallergenic cereal such as rice or barley cereal with added breast milk, formula or water. Give your baby one to two teaspoons on a rubber tipped spoon to start. Begin with just a small amount on the spoon itself. Follow the cereal with some formula or breast milk to aid in digestion. Remember, this will be a very foreign feeling for your baby, so do not be surprised if s/he spits it out and does not eat that much. Like any other newly learned skill, babies need practice with eating foods. Keep on feeding your child once a day at a time that is convenient for you and when you feel your baby is hungriest, increasing the amount of food every week or so.

As your baby successfully eats more and more cereal (more than 2x per day), you can then move on to introducing other solid food choices. As a general rule, it is best to introduce fruits and/or vegetables on a one by one basis with a three day interval between each food to ensure your child has no reaction. While some experts believe it is best to introduce green vegetables first, the choice is up to the individual parent. We recommend introducing our single ingredient recipes first (i.e. Sweet Potato or Broccoli) and then moving on to our fruit recipe (Banana Blueberry). In other words, after cereal, the recipes we recommend for first introduction are:

    Sweet Potato or Broccoli
     Banana Blueberry

The above recipes are rich in Vitamins A and C and are perfect “starters” for your little one.

After 8 months or so, your growing little tot will be able to move his jaw in a chewing motion and will want to put everything into his mouth! Your baby will likely be able to pick up small food objects with his thumb and forefinger and can transfer objects from hand to hand. At this stage, an infant’s energy and nutritional demands also change with an increasing need for protein and iron. The recipes we recommend as a second introduction are:

Veggies & Chicken
Lentils & Root Veggies
Veggies, Beef & Barley

When you first introduce food, do not be alarmed if your baby’s stool changes color and has a different smell; this is completely normal. Remember, your baby has only been on formula or breast milk up until this point. If your baby’s stool becomes hard and firm, try switching from rice cereal to barley cereal.

Reprinted with permission from Sweetpea Baby Food http://www.sweetpeababyfood.com/