Cool Hand Luke and Solids!

by Andrea
(NOLA-SuperBowl Champs!)

Luke and his big Sissy Olivia

Luke made 7 months on the 10th and he nurses. I am trying to decide when to start solids and WHAT to start with. I have read some places that cereal is not the best first thing and I do not know what to do.

His doctor said that starting foods at this age is not about nutrition but getting them used to food.

I started Olivia like they told me with rice cereal 6 years ago mixed with breast milk. I guess he is ready at 7 months now??

Just not sure what to do??

Thank you for all the great info and updates on Galen..

Answer:

Hi Andrea,

Luke is looking adorable as usual (and big sis Olivia is quite the beauty!)

I agree with your doctor, that at this point solids are more of an experiment than anything else, to help Luke start to get accustomed to new tastes and textures. He's already experienced a variety of flavors from your milk, so it's not a totally new experience.

In general I do recommend you start with a little bit blander flavors, but I'm not a fan of starting babies on grain. I don't think it's horrible for them, but research is showing that babies don't really develop the full complex of enzymes to break down grains until they're around their second birthday.

Good foods to start with are mashed avocado, egg yolk (no whites until he's a year), banana, and sweet potato (Galen loves sweet potatoes!)

Around eight months or so you can start introducing meats. Do wait on shellfish, but you can introduce other meats.

Meats, veggies, and some fruits are a great diet for Luke. Do hold off on salad greens, which are harder for him to digest right now, but all other veggies are ok. If you serve them seasoned with a little butter it will make them even more digestible for him.

You can start giving him finger foods to see how he does, but you can also quickly and easily puree foods for him in the blender.

Check out Natural Birth and Baby Care.com's own guide to nourishing your baby First Bites and Beyond.

You can get a lot of good info out of this article: Nourishing a Growing Baby.

There are two books with excellent information on feeding babies, as well:

Read my review of Healing Our Children.

and

Real Food for Mother and Baby - which I am reading right now so I don't have my review done yet!

You may also want to read my answer to Kimberly's questions on starting solids, her little one is about the same age as Luke:

Solids, Where to Start?

Remember to enjoy introducing Luke to new foods and textures - and keep nursing on demand as he expands his world of culinary delights!

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Cool Hand Luke and Solids!

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Feb 18, 2010
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Response...
by: Andrea

I have heard about avocado, sweet potato and banana for starts but not the egg yolk. What is the reason for no whites?
Since they push cereal first I was confused. But I have read like you said that about the enzymes. And have also read that you can do more than 1 food a week. He had a little congestion so I was waiting until he was over that to start anything.
We are from New Orleans and I was curious where you are from?
Thank you.
Also, no sign of teeth yet either. Is it better to do the whole I chew it first thing?

Feb 18, 2010
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prep
by: Anonymous

Also, sorry, is it recommended that you cook the banana and avocado??

Feb 18, 2010
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Watch His Cues
by: Kristen

Andrea,

Many think that giving egg whites before a year can increase the chance that they'll cause egg allergy. Some people dispute this and say it makes no difference, but generally I just say stick with the yolk to err on the side of caution.

He has his teeth under his gums, and he can chew pretty effectively without teeth - if you feel his gums you'll feel the hard teeth under there. In fact, it probably feels good to him to chew a bit. But the best way to tell what consistency is good for him is to try different things and see what's easiest.

When I've first introduced meats and things I've always chewed it a little (put it through a baby food mill if you don't want to chew it first) - until I saw that my babies were comfortable with handling the bigger bits.

Chewing it a little first can also be helpful because some of your digestive enzymes go to work on the food for him. But again, it's your comfort level and what he's doing well with.

You can simply mash up avocado and banana and give those to him. I wouldn't cook the avocado at all, but if you wanted to you could gently sauté banana with a little butter for him. That's also a good way to serve "tougher" fruits like apples and peaches because they get soft and mushy.

We're all the way up in the great white north of Northern MI!

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