My eldest and my youngest child are nine years apart. It seems this time was long enough for the pediatricians to completely overhaul the concept of feeding babies solid tasty world. If nine years ago I was supposed to start with rice cereal once my baby turned six months old (even that was revolutionary, other moms started their babies on solids at 4 months of age), with the last child I got the advice “start on different food, one at a time, but give her a variety of choice, and by the age of 12 months she is ready to eat family food”. I couldn’t agree more and was happy to hear it because I have been an adept of the idea to introduce solid food naturally into baby’s nutrition for quite some time now.
Let us make a little journey back in time. Some hundred years ago families were big with a lot of children. I guess feeding babies special food was unheard of. Mothers would not cook a separate meal for a baby and then puree it so that it would be easier to eat. It would not occur to anybody. Everyone had to eat whatever there was for dinner, no exceptions. So a mother would hold her baby and eat with her on the lap, occasionally giving her a bite or two of the food from her own plate. In this way the baby was gradually introduced to the family food.
I find this approach to feeding babies very natural and easy to implement, perfect for busy moms with more than one child. In Russian-language baby forums it received a nickname “pedagogical feeding”, as opposed to “pediatric scheme”. Let me give you more detail.
Not earlier than 6 months. Before that, the digestive system cannot handle food other than breast milk, which is digested in the intestines, not in the stomach. While every baby is different, and some might be ready before that age, you never know for sure in each case, so it’s a good idea to wait – better to be safe than sorry! Also look for the psychological readiness: your baby will become interested in what you are eating and will try to reach for food on the table: a good sign that the baby is ready to try new food.
Place your baby on your lap when you are eating. Have a variety of healthy choices on the plate. If your baby gets interested in your food, offer a so-called “micro-dose”, 2-3 grains of rice, a piece of boiled potato or bread, small enough that the baby won’t choke on it. You can also offer your baby finger food: a piece of apple, or banana, or carrot, or dried bread – anything she can hold in her small hand and nibble on. She won’t eat much, the idea is just to taste it. Often after getting a micro dose a baby would have some breast milk to finish the meal. Do not exceed the amount of 2-3 micro doses at first. If your child consistently eats the same food 2-3 days in a row, increase the amount up to one teaspoon.
Receiving pieces of food your baby gets used to them. Sometimes babies who were eating only pureed food had difficulties handling pieces of food. Your baby is able to mush those pieces with jaws and tongue and then swallow. “At the exit point” in the diaper or potty you would sometimes see the food almost undigested: do not worry! It is hard for digestive system at this age to deal with fiber, especially in raw food, so it will transit the system. It won’t do any harm to the child. The main purpose here is to get used to this food, to try different kinds of it and to learn to break it into nutrients.
Purees are hard to “deal with” and often result in constipation. They form a layer in the stomach (which is not trained to break it down yet because breast milk goes straight to the intestines and is digested there) and thus overload the whole system. They are also not the food everyone else in the family eats at the mealtime, so the child would think she’s missing on something. She won’t be interested in the purees; she’ll be interested in the contents of her mom’s plate. It’s true that a baby can eat more of pureed food, but that’s totally unnecessary at this stage. Babies create a “bank” of all types of food their family members eat to form their own preferences later. Breast milk is still their main source of nutrients.
