Introducing your baby to their first food other than breast milk or formula can be anxiety-inducing for first-time parents. What to feed her, when to feed her, and how—purées, pieces, baby-led weaning? As with every step of parenting, I aim to simplify new routines, which can become habits and special traditions. Most importantly, the introduction of ‘first foods’ is one of the many starts of “family.”

Here is a simple response to the question of what to feed your baby: Feed her what you eat.

Since becoming a mom in 2002, I have experienced first-hand what a “picky eater" looks like. I’ve seen friends and family struggle with their picky eater. Since 2011, I have been carefully observing from a holistic perspective the “picky eaters” in my practice. (Please see prior posts for further guidance on picky eaters.)

Here’s some guidance, based on my personal and professional experience with children to get you started with your baby’s first foods (and avoid raising a picky eater in the future).

1.    Begin with vegetables, not fruit or cereal typical of the Standard American Diet aka SAD.

Babies’ taste buds prefer sweet, so once they’re exposed to the sweetness of fruit, they may reject more bitter foods like asparagus, for example. You may then have the baby who “will eat his vegetables but only if I mix in some blueberries,” as one mom of a nine-month-old mentioned. Here starts the picky eater.

Certainly, fruit is healthy and has its place in our diet. However, it does NOT need to be consumed in the quantity the SAD suggests. Because your baby may not have teeth yet, fruit may need to be offered as a purée, which often results in a serving size that is a bit more than the baby would consume if the fruit was served intact. When this is done, the result is quite a bit more fruit than a child (or an adult for that matter) would consume versus the piece being served intact. An overload of a sweet purée can inundate your baby’s gut and cause the following issues: It may be challenging for their digestive system to break down fruits, as it is raw and cold; the sugar from the fruit can feed the bacteria that crave sugar and we inadvertently create an environment where the gut flora is suboptimal and the ‘bad’ bacteria takes over, which leads to altered digestion.

With 80% of our immune system in the gut, your child has a greater risk of getting sick or having chronic symptoms like nasal congestion, constipation and skin rashes among other health issues. Additionally, vegetables contain more minerals, vitamins, digestible fiber, and are generally a healthier option than fruits as your baby’s first food.

Once your baby has a full set of teeth (around 1yo), I encourage parents to introduce fruits as part of the meal but not the entire entree'.

**Many baby food books recommend banana and avocado as your baby’s first food. First, avocado is a fruit. Second, these two foods are two of the more difficult foods to digest at this time, and often lead to constipation. They should be avoided for the first year of life and then offered in small amounts (ideally, avocado is served warm).

If your baby hasn’t been born yet or isn’t yet six months old, but you’re planning to breastfeed—or, if you’re already nursing—you can start now by expanding your diet of vegetables. Your baby will taste what you eat through the breast milk, and you will get a head start on meal planning for your family.

As a rule, offer a variety of colorful vegetables. For example, carrots and sweet potatoes are always a hit, but if you feed your child these foods over and over, they will turn orange! Offer white, yellow. orange, green and purple vegetables seasoned with herbs, spices, oils and butters.
**There may be foods/herbs/spices your child should avoid. This can be reviewed with your pediatrician.

2.    Feed your child what you eat.

The first foods we offer our children are one of the first steps toward family. Food is medicine, habit, ritual, tradition, and celebration. It forms part of the daily routines that tie together the days, weeks and years that create our children’s core memories.

Ask yourself and your partner these questions:

Do you eat vegetables? If so, which ones? Make a list.
(Please refer to the attached list of vegetables below if needed.)
Do you eat breakfast? It is the MOST important meal of the day—especially for kids. (The importance of breakfast is discussed in another post.)

If you don’t eat vegetables, don’t expect your child to. Role modeling behavior starts early, and babies want to eat what you’re eating. By about 5-6 months, most little ones will start to grab for your fork, so a colorful with a variety of options is ideal.

Roast, sauté, boil, bake vegetables for yourself—don’t prepare foods just for your baby. I cannot stress this enough. Many parents use different devices to purée and blend in place of jars and pouches, which is great (I don’t encourage jars and pouches), but simplify it and prepare a meal the entire family can enjoy. (**More on that below.)  
At 6 months, your little one begins experimenting with foods—mashing it with his whole hand, attempting to get it into his mouth, and experiencing a spoon filled with flavor for the first time. Children move at different paces—some eager to eat, others more cautious—but in another six short months, you will have a one-year-old whose main source of nutrition is food—not formula or breast milk. Start feeding them what you eat now and enjoy the same food with them.

3.    Avoid jars, pouches and ready-to-feed baby food.

There are many organic ready-to-feed baby foods on the market, but I discourage using them.
Fruits and vegetables selected for these prepared foods may be organic, however, they would be parts of the produce that you most likely would not select from the store…the piece of produce that is over ripened, bruised or even moldy. These prepared baby foods are often recalled due to contaminants. Also, most of the options contain a vegetable and a fruit. Again, fruits should be avoided until your baby has a full set of teeth, around 1yo.
•    Using jars, pouches or powdered foods for your baby’s first foods initiates a habit by parents of NOT needing to cook meals. Again, feeding your baby is one of the first rituals of family and the work, traditions and habits that go along with it. Consider food as medicine and a celebration. It is ideal for parents to begin this critical new habit in a way that encourages not only healthy eating but healthy routines for meal prep and planning. If you find that you don’t have time to prepare meals daily or weekly, evaluate your current lifestyle to identify any areas where you can utilize resources or support to accomplish this incredibly important domestic task.

Consider how your current schedule can be adjusted to make the time and space for not only creating meals but eating them, too. This doesn’t mean you are sitting as a family for three meals a day. It means the meals that you create are enjoyed by everyone, not just your baby.

•    As previously mentioned, adults don’t eat from jars and pouches (I hope!) so when a young child is given food that is very different from what they see their parents eating, it is confusing to them. Beginning at 6mo, children role model the behaviors of the adults caring for them. They want to eat what you eat! Eat what you would like them to eat!

•    It is both cost effective and more efficient to feed your child what you eat (vegetables) . Your six-month-old should also be able to to pick up small pieces as well as purées from the spoon. This cannot be accomplished with jars/pouches.

4.    How and when to feed your baby

Around six months old, your baby will show signs of interest by reaching for your fork, watching you eat. Ideally your child can sit stably, as well. Most providers encourage parents to wait until their baby is six months of age to offer food. Confirm with your medical provider that your baby is ready for this milestone. Offer one new vegetable per day. There is need to wait three days to introduce another, as there is very low risk of an allergic reaction to vegetables.

Offer vegetables as a purée and in pieces. At six months old, a baby uses their whole hand to pick up food. Offer small, soft pieces for your baby; they will attempt to rake them in with their whole hand. You may also use the baby-led weaning technique by offering your baby a hand-sized piece of soft, cooked vegetable. These foods must be soft to avoid the risk of choking. In addition to pieces, offer purées. Purées can be made by blending soft-cooked pieces of vegetables with a bone or vegetable broth to add extra nutrients and flavor. I encourage an organic unsalted broth, which can be store bought or homemade.

Ideal times to offer new foods are in the morning or early afternoon so that just in case your child does have a reaction, it won’t be late in the evening or at bedtime.

At six months old, a baby’s primary source of nutrition is breast milk or formula but by 12 months, food (in pieces and purées) will be their main source and may be offered multiple times throughout the day. Begin with a few teaspoonfuls and slowly increase the volume and frequency at your baby’s pace. By around seven or eight months, you can introduce legumes and meats also as soft pieces and purées.

Create healthy and strong habits and routines around meal prep and planning. For reference, refer to K. John Paynes book, ‘Simplicity Parenting,’ which has a chapter entitled “routines and rituals.” Here, he simplifies family meals (although he focuses on dinner, please replace dinner with breakfast/lunch) by recommending menu planning. This method enables both partners (not just Mom!) to know what groceries are needed daily/weekly and which meals are planned for the day, empowering both partners to take a role in the process. Today, your little one is tasting the asparagus from your plate, but in another very quick six months, he will be a one-year-old demanding his own dish of food multiple times a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for the next 17+ years!

Bon Appetit!!

Did you find these tips helpful? If you would like to seek additional support with Jennifer Zethner, RN, MS, CPNP, Holistic Pediatric Nurse Practitioner/Holistic Primary Care, please call the Northport Wellness Center at (631) 262-8505.