For quick reference, I’ve compiled a list of simple rules to refer back to.
- Feed your infant only breast milk or baby formula in the first year. Do not offer her cow’s milk until after the 12-month-mark.
- Introduce solid foods anywhere from 4 to 6 months, depending on your child’s development and your family’s history of allergies.
- Offer new foods one at a time, with at least 2 or 3 days between each new introduction.
- At the 6-month-mark, make sure you’re feeding your baby foods with good sources of iron (such as iron-fortified cereals)
- Serve pureed solid foods to start. At around 8-10 months introduce lumpier, mashed foods.
- Avoid foods that may cause choking.
- Refrain from adding salt and sugar to your baby’s meals.
- Make sure the food your serve is warmed to body temperature.
- Limit any juices to around 4 ounces per day, diluted with 3 parts water to 1 part juice.
Continue to breast feed or bottle feed your baby everyday. Solid foods are simply an addition to this.
