Many pediatricians give the go ahead to begin solids at 4 months of age, of course, this all depends on the baby's development and the parents readiness. Sometimes, with food allergies in mind, many decide to wait until the 6 month mark to begin baby's first food, and have experienced large success in avoiding allergies.
This past week marked the 6 month milestone for our little one and so, after much preparation and research, we decided upon sweet potatoes for her first meal. We had read about the cons of starting off with rice cereal, and are keeping that on the shelf for a later date.
"Why skip rice cereal?" you might ask. Well, after researching and discussions, as well as label reading, we came to the understanding that rice cereal is made with white rice. Besides being very low in provided nutrients, the Gerber product WIC provides is also very processed, leaving behind mostly sugar. Not only does a high diet of sugary foods lead to childhood obesity and type 1 diabetes, it causes bad eating habits from the beginning.
Because sweet potatoes are one of the recommended stage one foods, we decided to go with that (especially since allergies to this root are pretty uncommon). Not only did our daughter finish the entire jar and enjoy every bite, she cried the next day and day after to eat a jar again. Generally she would pitch a fit if we set her in our high chair, and now after eating solids, she begs to get into it.
Once your child has eaten the same fruit or vegetable for three to five days without a reaction, it's generally safe to say you can move onto something new. Many would argue that avoiding fruit right off the bat is ridiculous, and that is completely up to the parent. We will mostly be trying veggies to see what our little girl likes best.
No comments:
Post a Comment