Introducing Solid Foods to Babies
Their tummies are not yet fully capable of digesting solid foods, thus the cause of diarrhea and constipation. If they are not yet satisfied after breastfed, try breastfeeding them more until they are full.When the baby reaches six months old, his body is now ready to absorb solid foods. During this stage, milk alone could not satisfy his physical needs because he is now starting to move around and become restless. Thus, he needs solid foods to help his body catch up with his now many activities.
During this stage also, the baby is learning to be independent; grabbing just about anything and putting it in his mouth. He is also starting to be interested in joining family meals. In this stage, we need to teach him how to feed himself so that he may be able to join in the family meals.
Trying to teach your child to feed himself is a messy job, and patience is needed to attain it. You should not scold the child for being messy because he is still learning and it requires a lot of practice before being able to feed himself without too many clutters.
When you start introducing solid foods in your baby, you should take it slow. Meaning, you need to slowly feed your baby one kind of solid food in small portions for several days before trying another kind of foods. This will help the baby to adjust to the new kind of taste.
Offering one food at a time on several days offers advantages on the baby\"s part and your part as well. The baby will get to adjust slowly to the new kind of taste and texture of the food. And if an allergy occurs, you could easily determine what kind of food to blame.
When feeding for the first time, start on baby cereals. These are semi solids, so the baby will get to readily adapt to the food transitions. You can also feed him several fruits and vegetables, but be sure to make it mushy to help the baby digest it well.
To help stimulate the baby\"s appetite to solid foods, you can try giving him his own feeding utensils. In this way, he gets to enjoy what he is learning. To avoid clutter and your child being messy, put a washable bib on him every mealtime.
Milk is still needed, so be sure to give your baby lots of it everyday.