Introduction to Solids: What to include and what not to include

Introduction to Solids: What to include and what not to include

We have a longer blog about how to introduce your baby to solid foods here but we wanted to capture the highlights because while introducing solids is an important milestone for your baby, sometimes you need a quick reminder instead of a long article, right?

Here are a few quick tips about what to include and what not to include in your introduction to solid foods journey with your baby.

TO INCLUDE:

• Whole grains: stay away from the ultra-refined grains and steer towards the whole grains, they will bring more nutrients to your baby’s diet than refined grains do.
• Variety: introduce a variety of different flavors, you want to include lots of choices and colors for your baby
• Real food: get the closest thing to homemade or if you don’t have the time, choose the most minimally processed foods possible.
• Taste, Smell and texture are all important parts of introducing your baby to solid foods. Make sure that you are introducing all at once so that your baby learns to identify the taste with the smell and texture of the fruits and vegetables
• Fruit is easy, make sure you remember to include vegetables, legumes and protein sources so your baby is getting a well-rounded diet.

NOT INCLUDE:

• Highly processed foods, anything that has ingredients on the back you wouldn’t have in your kitchen, stay away from.
• White rice cereal, it’s highly processed and doesn’t do much to your baby’s diet.
• Avoid raw honey during the first 12 months
• Avoid choking hazards and hard foods
• Sugar: Your baby does not need any more sugar than the natural sugars from the fruits and vegetables. Even for 4-8 year olds, the American Heart Association recommends no more than 4 tsp a day of added sugar. For a baby it is even less and the naturally occurring sugars in the fruits and vegetables are more than enough.

TIPS:

• Don’t worry about the “when” and “where”, every baby is different and is ready for solids at different times.
• Listen, you know your baby best. Listen and watch to learn how they are reacting to the introduction to solid foods.
• Don’t give up, remember that it can take 3 to 6 tries for your baby to learn to like a new flavor.
• Reintroduce foods – if your baby didn’t like it the first time, wait three days to a week and introduce the food again. Your baby’s taste buds develop very quickly and can change just within a few days.
• Every bite matters, make sure you keep down the “emergency” situations with the foods you know aren’t the best and plan ahead to try to make the healthiest choice for your baby.
• Keep the family involved, your baby will learn to trust what you and your family (Siblings, spouse, etc.) are feeding your baby, make sure that you are setting the right examples for healthy choices.

Introducing solids is a fun and challenging time for most parents, especially if it is your first child. At Amara Organic Foods, we offer an introduction to solids that includes both fruits, vegetables and root vegetables to kick start your baby’s first step to solid foods. We know that you don’t always have the time to make homemade food so we carefully pick every ingredient and use a proprietary technique that locks in the nutrients, tastes and textures of the fruits and vegetables. This helps your baby recognize the taste, smell and texture of the real fruits and vegetables so that when they are growing they easily transition to healthy whole meals.

Featured Photo @Beingsummerlewis - thanks for sharing!