Introducing solid foods Page2 continue.......

Keeping a favorite-Food Diary.

You might find it helpful to make a food diary with four columns on a page. In the first column list the foods that baby seems to like; in the second column, foods that you have found by trial and error that baby does not like; in the third column, possibly allergenic foods and the signs of allergies; and in the fourth column, the techniques you have learned to get more food into your baby with the minimum of hassles.

  The food diary helps you learn your baby's food preferences and capabilities at each state of development and is another way of getting to know and enjoy your baby. In case your baby may be intolerant to or allergic to a certain food, space each new food at least a week apart and keep a diary of which foods baby may be sensitive to or simply doesn't like. Also, the timing and progression of solids is much slower in the allergic baby.

Favorite First Foods

rice cereal peaches
barley cereal applesauce
bananas carrots
pears squash
avocados sweet potatoes

How Much To Feed
  After baby eagerly accepts the first finger-tip-full of food, gradually increase the amount. Remember that tiny babies have tiny tunnies, about the size of their fists. So don't expect baby to take more than one isful of food at one feeding. Expect erratic eating patterns. Baby may eat a couple tablespoons one day and only one the next.

When to Feed
  Offer solids at the time of the day when your baby seems hungriest, bored, or when you both need a change of pace. Choose a time of the day that is most convenient for you, since a little mess is part of the feeding game. Mornings are usually the best time for offering solids to formula-fed babies, because you have the most time with your infant and usually do not have to worry about preparing a meal for the rest of the family. If breastfeeding, offer solids when you milk supply is lowest, usually toward the end of the day. feed your baby solids between breastfeeding. Solid foods may interfere with absorption of valuable breast milk iron if both solids and breast milk are fed at the same time. 

  Since babies have no concept of breakfast, lunch, and dinner it makes no difference whether they receive vegetables for breakfast, or cereal and fruit for dinner. If you have a mental picture of your baby sitting still in a high chair eating three square meals a day, forget it! Babies don't sit still very long in one place even to play, let alone to eat. Allow your baby the fine art of grazing. Remember, tiny eaters have tiny tummies. Nibbling throughout the day is nutritionally better than eating three big meals. Three squares a day is more of an adult pattern, and, for that matter, even for us it is not as healthy as more frequent, smaller meals. Forget fast feeding. Try to time baby's feedings for when you are not in a hurry. Infant feedings are very time-consuming. Babies dawdle, dabble, spew, spatter, smear, drop, and fling.

Feeding Strategies
  To get more food into your baby than onto the floor, mix together your child's developing skills with a large pinch of patience and sprinkle in a few laughs. Here are some tips to help get more food into your baby with fewer hassles.

Enjoy table talk. Eating is a social interaction. As you offer your baby solids, consider that he may be thinking. "Something new is coming from someone I love and trust." Talk about both the food and the procedure so that baby learns to relate the words with the type of foods and the interactions that follow. Here is an example you might try. "Anthony want carrots... open your mouth!" as you approach Anthony's mouth with the solids-laden spoon. As you asked Anthony to open his mouth, you also opened your mouth wide, and he will mimick your facial gestures. Eager eyes, open hands, and open mouth are body language clues that baby is ready to eat.

  Show and tell. To entire the reluctant eater to eat, model enjoyment. Capitalizing on baby's newly developing social skill -- mimicking her caregivers' actions -- feed yourself in front of baby, but an an exaggerated way, slowly putting a spoonful of baby's food into your mouth. With big wide-open eyes showing how much you enjoy the taste, overreact, saying "Mmmmm, good!" Let baby catch the spirit and want to do likewise.

  Open mouth, insert spoon. Wait for a time when baby is hungry and in a mood for facial gestures and interaction. As you engage your baby face-to-face, open your mouth wide and say, "Open mouth!" Once your baby opens the "door," put the food in,.

Use lip service. Try the "upper lip sweep." As you place a spoonful of solids in your baby's mouth, gently lift the spoon upward, allowing the upper lip to sweep off the food.

  Observe stop signs. Pursed lips, closed mouth, head turning away from the approaching spoon, are all signs that your baby does not want to eat right now. Perhaps at this time baby wants to play, sleep, or simply is not interested or hungry. Don't force-feed. Some babies eagerly take solids by six months, while others show little interest as late as nine to twelve months. You wan your baby to develop a healthy attitude toward both the food and the feeding.
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