Best foods
to introduce to baby
I have really strong opinions on healthy baby food, so I’ll absolutely get up on my soapbox for it! Although I contend homemade baby food can be quite convenient if you adopt a straightforward strategy, convenience doesn’t always equate to quality, and many of the current pre-made baby food options are clearly NOT the finest first foods for newborns!
What Do Babies Need?
My favorite topic to discuss is nutrition for young children, largely because it is so crucial. Since babies and children have much smaller bodies than adults do, any bad foods can injure them much more severely than healthy meals can, but the opposite is also true.
On this same subject, I must also admit that I did follow the guidelines for first foods with our first child, and I believe this contributed to the fact that he was for a long time our pickiest eater (albeit he now happily eats most meals thanks to our “food rules”).
In order to determine which solid foods to introduce and when, let’s first take a closer look at the food that nature created for infants.
Begin With Breast Milk (If Possible)
The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics concur with my assertion that breast milk is the healthiest first feeding for infants. It is an absolutely ideal and complete diet for infants.
Fatty acids, antibodies, nutrients, protein, fat, and bioactive compounds that are protective are all abundant in breast milk. A baby’s protein and fat requirements change as they develop, and breast milk has a far higher whey to casein ratio than cow’s milk and infant formula, making it easier for the baby to digest.
Breast milk is the healthiest first feeding for infants, according to the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics. For newborns, it is the best and comprehensive diet.
Breast milk contains large amounts of fatty acids, antibodies, minerals, protein, fat, and bioactive substances that are protective. Breast milk has a far higher whey to casein ratio than cow’s milk and infant formula, making it easier for the baby to digest. A newborn’s protein and fat requirements alter as they mature.
What If You Can’t Nurse?
I am fully aware that there are situations in which breastfeeding is not an option, and I never want to make a mother feel bad about having to give her baby formula. While breastfeeding may be optimal for the baby, there are times when it may not be possible or advantageous for the mother.
Thankfully, it is possible to create a real-food formula substitute that at least closely resembles the nutritional composition of breast milk. If I ever find myself unable to breastfeed a baby, I would employ this.
Even purchasing the unique ingredients needed to manufacture it with this recipe kit is made simple by Radiant Life.
When to Feed Baby Solid Food (& Common Mistakes)
Even though breastfeeding is the best meal for babies, they eventually want or need solid food. Around six months old or when the baby can sit up without assistance, handle small objects, and show interest in food, this may occur. (They have their own techniques for making it clear!)
Each baby’s motor development naturally differs, so rather than waiting for a specific day on the calendar, pay attention to your baby’s cues that he or she is ready to consume solid food. The process of determining when the infant is prepared is less stressful thanks to this article from Mama Natural.
I waited at least six months before introducing solid food to my most recent babies.
Problems With Conventional Baby Foods
Ask your mother what she would recommend as a baby’s first food, and the majority of pediatricians would likely respond with oatmeal or rice cereal.
After that, fruit purees, starchy vegetables like squash, various watered-down combinations of processed meats, over-steamed vegetables, and eventually an appalling variety of fluffy, puffy, sweetened grain-based snacks are frequently recommended for the following stage.
This is the advice that many new mothers receive every day regarding baby food, and it is what I did with my first child because I didn’t know any better. It turns out that not only is this not what mothers do in many countries throughout the world (even those with significantly lower rates of obesity and allergies), but studies may even be against it!
Don’t Start With Rice
Iron-fortified rice cereal is the most frequently advised first food in the United States. At first look, this seems sense because, by the time they are six months old, newborns naturally require more iron than they can get through breast milk. The idea of offering a fortified food rather than one that naturally includes iron and other minerals is controversial among mothers because iron-enriched processed foods are a relatively recent creation.
It also makes sense that newborns’ growing needs for nutrients like iron at around 6 months should provide information on what their first foods should contain and how much of these nutrients they actually require. It makes reasonable that there would be a built-in means for a newborn to receive this vitamin that doesn’t use current fortified meals if a kid is going to need a certain nutrient at a certain time that isn’t supplied by breast milk.
Need for Iron Gives a Clue
There are several significant reasons for the need for iron at this age, as Heather of Mommypotamus describes in this thorough post, and a rational and natural manner that babies obtain it:
Since many dangerous bacteria, such as E. coli, require iron to survive, a baby’s lack of iron may act as a defense against these bacteria once the child begins consuming solid foods.
Babies begin to desire to spend more time on their bellies on the ground around the age of four to six months in preparation for crawling. Babies were regularly exposed to dirt, which is a natural supply of iron and zinc in a non-sterile world.
It also makes sense to provide babies meals that naturally contain these nutrients rather than fortified and artificial nutrients, as babies do have a dietary need for extra minerals like iron and zinc. Perhaps rice wasn’t meant to be a baby’s first diet because it isn’t a natural source of these nutrients.
All About That Amylase
The fact that babies under the age of six months do not produce enough of the amylase enzyme, which is necessary to break down most carbohydrates, is another reason why rice cereal and other starchy meals are not the greatest first choices for infants. This means that some babies may experience discomfort as a result of starchy foods like rice upsetting their digestive systems.
In fact, certain meals can literally sit and begin to disintegrate in the stomach if there is not enough amylase present, which may raise the risk of allergies to this specific food.
It appears strange that grains and fruits, which are starchy and sweet, are advised as first feeds for babies given the paucity of amylase in these foods. It seems sense that introducing less sweet (yes, fruit does include sugar) items like veggies to a baby first would make it challenging to do so later. This is one of the reasons why in nations like France, these foods are introduced later after the baby has discovered a wide variety of wholesome foods that they enjoy.
A Different Approach to Healthy Baby Food
Baby food doesn’t need to be difficult to prepare, and in the majority of the world, it isn’t. There aren’t many countries that have entire industries creating diluted baby purees or a market for equipment, containers, and gadgets to prepare your own baby food.
Mom may only chew a small amount of her meal before feeding the infant in some cultures (sounds gross but it can actually help digestion). In nations like France, babies are fed non-starchy meals initially since it is believed that feeding them starches early can ruin their taste buds. In France, a lot of dishes are broth-based, and meat and broth make up a large portion of a baby’s first meals.
Healthy Baby Foods I Recommend
Starches and sugary foods are frequently not offered as first meals at all. Many businesses instead serve animal products like broth and little bits of meat.
Surprised?
When considering the digestive enzymes in a baby’s system at the time of first foods, proteins and fats make sense and are more safer options. I’ve done a lot of research, and the first baby food I’ve ever given to any of my kids has varied a lot over time.
I myself now introduce foods in this order. I introduce foods one at a time for the first week or two to see how the baby responds rather than mixing them.
1. Broth
While I’m glad my first child has no allergies and is a terrific eater now, this was never recommended to me, and I wish I’d known then what I know now to be able to give him more nutritional first meals.
Although broth may seem like an odd first food for a baby, after my third child struggled with eczema and dairy intolerance (after being delivered via c-section) and we used the GAPS diet to help reverse his problems, I realized that broth is a superfood for gut health during the GAPS diet, making it a logical first baby food as well!
The reason why babies are born with a leaky gut is so that healthy antibodies and immune-boosting enzymes from mom’s milk can enter the bloodstream. In order to prevent food particles and germs from also entering the bloodstream, the stomach eventually needs to seal. As a fantastic source of gelatin, amino acids, bioavailable minerals, and other nutrients, broth closes the intestinal wall. It is also a simple transition for baby because it is a liquid!
To help ensure that the gut is prepared, I usually give my newborns broth as their primary source of “real food” for about a month before introducing any other foods.
What I Do: Warm broth should be served in modest amounts in a bottle or with a spoon. I used to make my own broth for my infants, but there is now a high-quality, shelf-stable type of pre-made broth available. It has all the same benefits as homemade soup. Learn why this is different.
2. Meat + Liver
I’ll then add cooked, finely grated liver and high-quality, pasture-raised, grass-fed meats to the broth. As a first food, beef is a complete source of protein and amino acids, and liver is nature’s multivitamin. This appears counterintuitive again.
If giving meat to a newborn as their first feeding sounds odd, consider this:
The natural supply of iron that newborns require is meat. It also doesn’t need amylase to be digested, which makes it an obvious first food for babies and a preference across many cultures.
Unlike rice, beans, and vegetables, meats are a complete source of protein and offer more calories and nutrients per ounce than other foods. Although most of the rest of the world understands this, meats were some of the last foods to be introduced in the United States. Toddlers receiving “kid-friendly cuisine” may even frequently receive processed foods like hot dogs!
Even a tiny amount of these foods will assist provide baby the iron and zinc they need at this stage, and these foods are less likely to cause allergies than many other foods. Of course, you want to make sure that these are really high quality meats from ethical and nutritious sources.
What I Do:Cook liver that has been raised on pasture or with grass. Use a baby food processor or grater to shred into small bits. Add to broth and then serve. As the infant grows, you can also freeze food in little pieces to add to other foods. My meat and liver come from the USA. When a local farm I trust is not an option, I get my meat from Wellness Meats or Butcher Box.
3. Mashed Banana + Avocado
I’ll now include a few low-allergen fruits and veggies, such avocados and bananas. These are frequently mashed into the meat or broth. Although I don’t particularly enjoy the flavor of bananas, they are one of the few fruits that contain amylase, which makes them simpler for most newborns to digest. Since they are sweeter, I prefer to blend them with beef or liver rather than giving them straight, preventing the baby from becoming too accustomed to sweeter tastes too soon.
The avocado is a natural source of potassium, magnesium, folate, iron, fiber, and healthy fats. Being soft and simple to chop or mash makes it one of the greatest first fruits (or vegetables) to feed to a baby.
What I do:Serve in cubes, a puree, or a mixture with some banana to add amylase.
4. Butter + Other Vegetables
For the healthful fats and vitamin K2 in the butter, as well as other non-starchy vegetables, I will now add grass-fed pastured butter. I normally space out the addition of each veggie by about a week.
Since veggies have a better nutritious content than grains and a lower risk of allergic reaction, I introduce them nearly exclusively before any grains, including rice.
What I do:I’ve discovered that adding little amounts of finely chopped vegetables to baby’s broth and cooking them until soft is the simplest method to accomplish this. I now strain the soft vegetables out, let them cool, and allow the baby to feed herself.
5. Present Mixed Foods, Textures, and Finger Foods
The majority of the meat, vegetables, and fruits that we are already consuming at the dinner table can now be shared by baby. Since feeding a baby with a spoon takes time, I like to just make a quick “hash” with chunks that are small enough to be safe for the infant but thick enough for them to pick up and eat on their own.