info on starting solids

lytedark

we're planning to start solids a bit after V is 6 months and i'm looking for info on how to start.  i've heard some people skip cereals and so would love to hear if you've done that if you went straight to purees/BLW.  is there really a point to cereal or is it more for starting at a younger age??

where do you find out about what foods to start with, what to avoid, how long to wait between new foods?  if you make you own baby food, is it really just like...a steamed veg/fruit that is then pureed?  is it true babies can't have any seasoning in their food?

ETA: and most important - does the poop change right away so you have to start rinsing on day 1 or can you 'tell' when they're actually taking in enough that it's necessary?

cz0828

We started DD on solids at 6 months and no you do not have to start with cereal. We started with sweet potatoes.

You should wait 3 days between new foods to make sure there are no reactions to it. Yes, when you make your own it really is just steam or baking the foods. You should avoiding adding salt to the food, but you can add other spices like cinnamon to them. You can check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com for more information on making your baby food and which ones for good for certain ages.

DD's poop consistancy did not change for like a month.

 Hope this helps some.

MidwestTexan

Cereal is important because of the iron. As your baby takes more solids, they will get less BM or formula which has been their primary iron source up to that point.

lesalia217

we are doing BLW  (www.derrickvsfood.blogspot.com)  We use cereal as a coating on slippery foods so DS can get a better grip. 

 

I like this site for reference and this too

MrsBlayne

Wholesomebabyfood.com has a great chart that breaks down by age what foods are appropriate. Making your own is easy, for bananas and avocado you don't even have to steam, just mash with a fork. The solids are in addition to BM/ formula, not to replace it, and BM has the most easily absorbed form of iron for babies, so the cereal is really not necessary. It is also constipating. My DDs pop changed right away - she didn't have a poo for 3 days after starting solids and we fought constipation for the next month. I thought I read that you are not supposed to add spices until 9 months. I know I would at least want to make sure she was not allergic to the food by itself before I added a spice to the mix, in case she had a reaction to that.

MrsBlayne

Spices in baby food

https://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/tipspices.htm

crackerjackprinter

You do not have to do cereal.  If you're doing BLW you can do puffs and then cheerio type cereals instead of pureed.  We did find that oatmeal with prunes for breakfast for a while until his system adjusted to the sudden meals 3x a day was helpful.  But that's a special circumstance...usually you'd add slow enough that hopefully constipation won't be an issue.

DS started with bananas and DD started with avocado.  DS has been doing finger foods from the start and DD did purees for about a month.

The iron thing is negotiable.  Every baby is different.  DD hardly ever had cereal and never had iron issues.  DS did and had slightly low iron.  BUT the pedi recommended just doing meats at that point so that's what we did and he's really loved them.  So much like his daddy, lol.

We also spice the baby food (as long as it isn't hot) however we normally would.  Both kids love the food with more spices on it.  And our kids have been really receptive to new foods.  I really think that using spices to flavor foods (again, keeping it from being TOO strong) is great for the kids.

jwpbride

MrsBlayne:

The solids are in addition to BM/ formula, not to replace it, and BM has the most easily absorbed form of iron for babies, so the cereal is really not necessary. 

This. I actually see rice cereal as a choking hazard (since the only liquid DS ever had was BM and went straight to the back of his mouth- he would have done the same with the liquidy cereal, but it's thicker, therefore he could have choked) but then again we did BLW and it made 100% perfect sense to me so I'm biased.

I say go for it with the spices- just no salt (or sugar). Noah l.o.v.e.d. anything with curry powder on/in it! haha

Genevieved

WE did BLW and started DD with veggies cut  like sticks so she could hold them I didn't add spices to them just because I didn't think about it but now we do.  DD tends to like her food with more flavor and will not eat just plane steamed  veggies anymore.  We don't add salt or sugar to her food.

Don't over steam them or they are too soft for your LO to hold we made this mistake the first time or two

ElloPoppet

I like this reference https://www.rapleyweaning.com/

and we skipped cereal. I do have a box of earths best oatmeal but i've only (recently) mixed a little in with other mashed foods for consistency. we started with puffs and have recently added goldfish-like crakers, yogurt drops, graham cracker sticks. brown rice and tj's "harvest grains" mix cooked in veggie broth are both a huge hit. We do some purees and jarred foods, but that's because he likes them, and it's easier to hand MIL a jar if she's going to watch him for a bit. He currently is in love with my homemade applesauce so I've been mixing stuff like sweet potatoes & butternut squash in with it, and also because of the applesauce love, he wants me to SHOVEL it into his mouth instead of grabbing the spoon for himself as he did with other foods.

ditto pp, don't over-steam things you want her to pick up on her own.

Also, i have pics and videos of Max attempting to feed himself if you're interested to see what you're up against