Skilled spoon control is not a necessity for babies.
According to the Mayo Clinic, when a baby begins to reach for adult's food he may be ready to start tasting new and interesting solid foods. This usually happens when a child is 4 months to 6 months old and allows parents to offer new foods along with the baby's breast milk or formula diet. The baby will not have an educated palate, but as each small child is an individual, a parent should be prepared for the baby to dislike certain foods and be wildly enthusiastic about others.
Instructions
1. Check that your baby can hold her head up steadily and has control over her neck movements. She should also be comfortable with sitting up once you or the chair gives her some support. Being able to close her lips around a spoon is another indication of readiness for solid foods.
2. Get your pediatrician's approval before you feed a baby snacks. This is especially important if a relative on either the father's or the mother's side has any food allergies. According to the Mayo Clinic, the traditional view that parents should avoid feeding the baby foods such as peanuts, eggs or fish in order to avoid food allergies in the future is not accurate. However, if your child is at risk of an allergy, the pediatrician may be able to advise you on the correct method of handling it. Do avoid foods that can cause a choking hazard because infants do not have the ability to chew their food.
3. Offer the child one new food every five days once the child is accustomed to eating solid foods, perhaps a month after it is first introduced. If there is an allergic reaction, you will know which food caused the problem. The Mayo Clinic advises that baby cereal be baby's first solid food. You can mix it with some breast milk or formula to make a runny consistency, and give it to the baby on a baby spoon instead of in a bottle. The baby should be hungry but you can feed him a little breast milk or formula beforehand to get him comfortable.
4. Stop feeding the child as soon as he indicates that he doesn't want any more food. He may turn his head away or otherwise resist the food. If you force him to eat it, he may develop problems in the future judging when he is full.
5. Mash up or puree other foods, such as fruits and vegetables, once the baby is skilled at eating the baby cereal. For practicality's sake, you can mash up a vegetable or puree some meat from the family dinner and feed it to the child along with his milky diet.
6. Feed the child finely chopped finger foods from 8 months onward if she can eat them without problems. Steer clear of foods that are a choking hazard such as raw carrots, popcorn or grapes, until the baby is at least a year old and has enough teeth to properly chew food before swallowing it.
Tags: breast milk, breast milk formula, Mayo Clinic, milk formula, solid foods