How and when to introduce solid foods into a baby’s diet
We explain how to go from milk to porridge and solids in the baby’s diet as it grows.
The introduction of foods other than milk in babies (either maternal or artificial, commonly known as formula milk), or what is known as “complementary feeding” is one of the issues that causes more doubts and that many times is not known. they come to clear. Within this complementary feeding it also causes many doubts when to start giving solid foods to the baby. This is so because each autonomous community, or even within each one, in different health centers, there are different protocols that dictate when and how to introduce said food.
Most health centers have been updating these protocols, and adapting them to the recommendations of the WHO (World Health Organization) and the AEDP (Spanish Association of Pediatrics), but there are many that still follow old protocols that are not the same. more advisable according to the latest scientific studies carried out. That is why I will base myself on the recommendations of both the WHO and the AEDP , since they are the highest authority in this regard.
We will start by talking about when to start introducing food, since it is where we can find the greatest disparity, and we will explain, always according to scientific studies, why this moment.
BEFORE 6 MONTHS THEY CANNOT DRINK ANYTHING OTHER THAN MILK
If we advance the complementary feeding we will be exposing the baby’s digestive system to foods for which it is not yet ready, so we can generate allergies or food intolerances. It is also not recommended to delay it for more than 6 months, since milk does not contain iron, and the baby’s body has reserves of this mineral for about 6 or 7 months, so that with the introduction of food we will be giving it the necessary iron to avoid anemia.
In some cases its introduction can be advanced, it is usually the case especially in mothers who only give breast milk and start working at a schedule that makes it impossible for them to express enough to give the baby the hours that he will be away, this should never be before 5 months and in order to advance this moment, WHO recommends that 3 requirements be met:
– That the baby shows interest in food.
– That he can stay seated.
– That he has lost the extrusion reflex (a reflex that babies have by means of which they expel everything that is put into their mouth).
Having clarified the moment in which we can start giving other foods apart from milk, I will talk about how it can be done . For this we can speak of two methods, the traditional one, by means of which we begin to introduce food into the baby’s diet in the form of porridges or purees and we gradually switch to solid foods; and a novel method, endorsed by numerous pediatricians and nutritionists, known as the BLW method, by its initials in English “Baby Led Weaning” , which more or less translates to “baby-directed feeding”
Index
TRADITIONAL METHOD
Through this method, complementary feeding is introduced based on porridges or purees. It does not really matter that you start with fruits, vegetables or cereals, as long as it is little by little to be able to see if any food of this new diet feels bad. What is usually recommended is to start with fruit porridges in the snack, also accompanied by milk, which can be incorporated into the porridge.
You should never put more than two fruits at the same time , and you should give the same fruits for several days, and do not change them until you are sure that none of them feel bad. Approximately a month later, the vegetable porridge begins to be introduced, also a maximum of two in each porridge and about a month later we begin to incorporate meat, in the puree, first very small pieces of chicken and then of veal. The question if we follow this method is when to start incorporating solid foods . The fear that they will eat less or choke is one of the main causes that mothers delay this moment as much as possible, waiting for the baby to have several teeth to ensure chewing.
The normal thing if we follow this traditional method is usually to wait until the baby is one year old and from then on little by little solids will be introduced and also accompanied by porridges to guarantee that they will not eat less as they are used to the texture of the diet they were carrying. until then. It is advisable to go giving them in small pieces the same that we will give in the puree , always without forcing since it could cause a rejection of the baby towards solid food.
MÉTODO BABY LED WEANING
This novel method is being increasingly supported by pediatricians and child nutritionists, with it we introduce complementary food in the form of solids into the baby’s diet without going through the phase of purees, porridges or crushed . It is spreading widely within the circles that are now known as “natural parenting” (characterized by prolonged lactation , co-sleeping , attachment, carrying …) and is very common in the United States and increasingly widespread in European countries.
At first it was highly criticized, since with the BLW, the baby sits at the table with his parents, in his highchair, and is put on the same solid foods that they will eat so that he is the one to investigate, exploring textures and new flavors with his hands and he is the one who puts the food in his mouth and savors the ones he likes the most and the least. Since this is done from 6 months, it could be thought that the baby was not ready for it, but more and more studies support this type of feeding . In addition, it can only be carried out with foods that are easy to chew, which do not carry a risk for the baby and always introducing them little by little to avoid allergies and intolerances as happens when we introduce purees.
It will begin by letting the baby experiment with their hands, and a few months later, approximately a year later, they begin to leave the cutlery on, so that they, too, begin to work with it.
ADVANTAGES OF THE BABY LED WEANING METHOD
Like all new currents, their advantages and disadvantages have been extensively analyzed. Among the strengths we find:
– Healthier food for the family, since this will be the most similar to that of the baby to be able to share it with him.
– Thanks to the exploration of food, the development of the baby’s senses is improved (by putting the food in front of it, it develops all the senses, touch, smell, taste, sight …) and later, when leaving the cutlery, its coordination.
– It avoids that there are rejections towards food, since he feels less obliged to eat since he is the one who regulates himself.
MAIN DISADVANTAGES OF THE BABY LED WEANING METHOD
Everything has its good part and its less positive part. Some disadvantages of this method include:
– It requires a lot of time, since you have to maintain constant vigilance and for the baby to eat all the amount he needs it can take much longer than if we gave it all in a porridge.
– You have less control of what the baby eats , since much of the food can end up on the floor, clothes …
– In addition to the time it takes to make each meal, the cleaning time must be added. After practically every meal, the baby has to be washed whole, in addition to the high chair, table … everything that is available to them since in the research stage they also discover the pleasure of throwing things away .
– Fear that the baby will choke, since he will not have all the teeth yet, there will even be babies who do not have any, chewing will be very little. For this reason, it will be necessary to find a balance between what we give it and the size in which we offer it , always avoiding very large or difficult-to-chew foods.
As we have seen, there are tastes for everyone, following one method or another does not mean being better or worse parents. Both are completely valid and we can try both of them , many times babies have no interest in porridges and what their parents eat attracts much more attention, in this case we can risk trying BLW, although at first it gives us a little scary, if on the contrary with the BLW method you do not eat enough we can always try some porridge.
The most important thing is always the well-being of the baby , therefore even if we start with complementary and solid food, we must not forget that it is only that, complementary, so we must not forget the necessary milk supply, which is usually covered with 4 breast feeds or 500 milliliters of formula milk. And we cannot forget to keep a good control of the baby’s weight every time we change his diet, since this can help us to know if it is being adequate.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.