Reminders Before Introducing Solid Food

On my previous blog post, I shared about our baby led weaning experience.  But before giving your baby a chunk of brocolli or a strip of ampalaya, please read the following reminders.  I learned them from reading articles, attending seminars and from Baby Led Weaning Philippines on Facebook:

1.The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends to start giving solid at 6 months and not earlier because early than that, it could lead to problems for babies.  Study shows that a baby given solid food earlier than 6 months of age has higher risk of obesity and diabetes and starting on solid food earlier than 4 months of age can lead to allergies and eczema.  Here is the link to the article: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/25/too-early-solid-food-could-lead-to-problems-for-babies/

2.The AAP recommends breastfeeding as the sole source of nutrition for your baby for about 6 months.  I only breastfed Baby C for the first 6 months  of her life.  This means no vitamins, no water, no solid food, just breastmilk.  This is also a surprise for me.  I only learned about this when I attended seminars about breastfeeding when I was still pregnant.

3.Your baby should be able to hold head unassisted and to sit up to swallow well.

4.Baby is already showing signs of readiness to eat solid food.  When Baby C started eyeing our food and chewing, I knew that she was almost ready.  Before she turned 6 months, she started grabbing my food and put them straight into her mouth!

5. Give age appropriate food.

6. Don't give your baby egg whites until she is 1 year old.  But the recommendations about introducing egg whites and whole egg before 1 year of age is changing.   I want to play safe so I don't give Baby C egg whites.  Here is an article about this: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/eggs.htm#.UfUvY3_iSIw. 

7.  Don't give food causing allergies and if there is a history of food allergy in the family (and even if none just to be sure), give baby the same food for 3 days and watch out for any allergic reactions. 

8.  Another reason to give the same kind of food for a few days is to allow your baby time to get used to each new taste and texture.

9. Don't give honey before the first year.  Here's why.  http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/infantbotulismhoney.htm#.UfU09X_iSIy

10. Doing BLW or not, it is better to equip yourself with some first aid knowledge.  I read articles, watched videos and attended a seminar on first aid to make me more confident to do BLW.

And finally..

 11. Research, research and research some more.  Remember friends and readers, "knowledge is power!"



Mommy Edel